Just another old Texan

[oldcrustyone]

My name is Russ and as my user name suggests, I'm a little crusty but I'm a softie underneath that exterior. I'm from Texas and have been a welder my entire life. I survived the crunch of 1986 and then again in 2008 and as things tighten up now I'll continue to survive because I am prepared to retire financially. Besides, physically I'm tired but mentally.....ah hell.... mentally, I'm tired too! But I still like to fabricate and I'm going to start building 1965 C-20. It's just an old pickup right now but one day.......I'm in no hurry because hell, I'll be retired! Man, I honestly never thought I'd ever be able to say that. Life is good!

[rexcormack]

Howdy neighbor!

[oldcrustyone]

Thanks y'all! My Grandfather was a farmer and my mother and her brothers, (my uncles) all forced him to retire at 75 or 80. I don't remember his exact age but he was still going strong and they forced him to retire "For his own good". It made me so damn angry! Me and my cousins all pitched in when he needed a hand because there were things he couldn't do anymore and we all knew that. But he didn't want to retire and he was still pretty damn strong for an old man and could have kept right on working and doing most everything. So after they made him retire he would walk 10 to 20 miles a day. He'd walk in the morning and again in the evening and they had a fit about that! It's too damn hot they'd say or too damn cold...."You're going to have a heart attack and die" They'd tell him. I say "they" when it was really mostly my mother. And she made him move into a retirement community in town with Grandma and within 5 years he was dead. I remember he'd call me and ask me to pick him up in my truck because he'd found something on his walk that he wanted but couldn't carry home. One of those times it was an 80 pound anvil! It probably fell out of someone's truck running down that dirt road. He'd picked it up and carried it out of the Bar ditch to the side of the road. I asked him where that damn thing was and he pointed to the other side of the ditch and just gave me a big ol' smirk and told me that he thought I could probably use it. I laughed so damn hard and told him that I didn't know if I could pick the damn thing up and my mother thinks you're not fit to keep farming! And we both laughed at that. He was still strong as an ox! He didn't have the stamina he once had but he still had the strength. I miss that man every singe day.

[shortfuse]

Russ, welcome to WW from an old retired ex-Texan. Enjoyed your story about your grandpa. Reminded me of my father-in-law...one eye, one good ear and tough as a piece of wire rope.

Hope you guys are weathering the COVID ok over there. Stay safe.

[CAVEMANN]

Russ, enjoy your retirement! I've been retired since February 2013, not by choice but need, I tore up my back, I don't recommend it. Have fun, I don't think I need to tell you to find something to keep busy with! Enjoy that C20 I had a 1966 C10 years ago.

[Popeye an old miner]

It soubnds like this fella has led an intresting life, i chuckled at the story about Grandpa, my Grandpa was pretty banged up what I remember of him, so there wasnt much he could anymore as far as workin but he loved to go squirrel huntin. Deer season was too cold for him to go. But he loved squirrel huntin with an old 22 and sometimes he would sneak up on a rabbit and take him too. Welcome Russ enjoy your retirement

[CAVEMANN]

Squirrel, pretty good eatin' if ya can get past the part of em looking like a rat. LOL!

[scsmith42]

Russ, welcome from a former Austinite and Georgetown grad.

[oldcrustyone]

It soubnds like this fella has led an intresting life, i chuckled at the story about Grandpa, my Grandpa was pretty banged up what I remember of him, so there wasnt much he could anymore as far as workin but he loved to go squirrel huntin. Deer season was too cold for him to go. But he loved squirrel huntin with an old 22 and sometimes he would sneak up on a rabbit and take him too. Welcome Russ enjoy your retirement

Thank you and thanks to everybody for the welcome. And I'm sure that your grandpa could spin a yarn or two even after he was limited physically. And my grandpa's stories are what I carry with me today and will always cherish. Well, except for his pocket knife. I'll explain: My grandpa was born before the turn of the century but I'm not sure of the exact date but it was before 1900. And many times his stories centered around swapping knives. Which is a fascinating phenomena to me because it's just not something that I ever even considered. But he and his buddies always seemed to be swapping pocket knives and I've heard the same from others around his age so it might have been fairly common. But when he'd reached the end of his road it was hard to visit with him because he always seemed like a mountain of a man to me as a kid and now he was skin and bone and had long lost the ability to walk. But I made a point of visiting with him as often as I could even though it was so heartbreaking because his eyes would light up and it seemed to make his day. But one evening I went to see him and he was sitting up in bed and I sat with him and I relived stories that he'd told me and adventures we'd been on and made damn sure that he knew how much I loved him. And as I stood up to leave I told him that if he had his pocket knife I'd like to swap knives with him and a smile came across his face as big as Texas. He pointed to the dresser in his room and sure enough, there among the keys and change and dollar bills was a Kabar pocket knife that I'd never seen before but it was obvious it had been carried for many years and sharpened many times. I put that thing in my hand and it was all I could do to not break down and I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Case Stockman, which I'd carried for years and had sharpened many times as well. I walked back to his bed and handed him my knife and asked him if he wanted me to put it in the drawer and he said no. He grasped it tightly in his hand as I bent down and kissed him on top of the head and told him that I loved him.

He passed on the following day and after the service a few days later we all met up at my Uncle's house and my cousins and I exchanged stories, some were based in truth and some pure fiction but we all enjoyed the company because we had all lost our hero and we needed the company to try and feel whole again. Well, my cousin Donnie was ecstatic because grandma had given him grandpa's knife and he showed it off proudly. Donnie and I have always been like brothers and I didn't have the heart to tell him that no, he had my knife and I had swapped with him the day before he died. Although, technically, he did have grandpa's knife, I guess. But I know the truth and grandpa knew the truth and I have kept that Kabar close to me at all times, right here with his favorite set of dominoes, that none of them know I have either.

I miss my grandpa every day but I'll always have his stories and better still I'll always have his pocket knife and his favorite set of dominoes. How he loved to play dominoes and once a week for his entire life he'd drive to the "domino parlor" and play with the other oldtimers in town. If your grandparents are still alive go see them or give them a call because it's too common for old folks to just be forgotten in our society. And hell, now I'm one of those old folks!

[BillE.Dee]

Got a story for y'all about grandpa. He was a little guy, built like a pencil, but strong. He'd carry 2 barrels of taters into the store, one on each shoulder. I couldn't even tilt them over and roll them. He drove a team of horses on his first job delivering produce to stores. During the story, he'd tell me "It's a darned good thing those horses knew how to back up." Great guy and gentleman, wouldn't say s^&t if he had a mouthful. Oh SHAW was his strongest cuss. Great guy, greatly missed along with Hap, other grandpa and lifelong coal miner, quite the boxer, dropped some nitwit on the road at the age of 82. Y'all stay safe and healthy.
gramps

[docwelder]

My name is Russ and as my user name suggests, I'm a little crusty but I'm a softie underneath that exterior. I'm from Texas and have been a welder my entire life. I survived the crunch of 1986 and then again in 2008 and as things tighten up now I'll continue to survive because I am prepared to retire financially. Besides, physically I'm tired but mentally.....ah hell.... mentally, I'm tired too! But I still like to fabricate and I'm going to start building 1965 C-20. It's just an old pickup right now but one day.......I'm in no hurry because hell, I'll be retired! Man, I honestly never thought I'd ever be able to say that. Life is good!

welcome russ. glad you got through the last couple economic crunches. i barely got past the one in the 70's myself but it showed me the importance of planning for the future and retirement.