How much gas is left in your tank?

Damn, I thought you guys were on the same location and schedule.

 

its the real deal, no petting or playing. Same on my last job, for fun, danger reef, Caribbean reef shark dive

 

its the real deal, no petting or playing. Same on my last job, for fun, danger reef, Caribbean reef shark dive

 

2 real!

 

dad dropped out of school in the 8th grade, lied on his app to get into gm (oldsmobile, in lansing michigan), lied again to work a second job at a drop forge. walked several miles to drop forge worked a full shift, walked to gm, worked a full shift, walked home, ate, slept and did it all over again. went to korea, gm told him he would have a skilled trades training opportunity when he returned from korea, the drop forge offered more up front money, and a 25 and out pension, upon return.

dad returned, took the forge job, worked 32 years, developed a "back problem" immense pain daily. docs couldnt figure it out. finally 18 months in, the bomb dropped and it was the big C, in the spine, 5 year max expiration date. he retired, drew SS, and a bit of pension. family of the drop forge embezzled almost all funds from the company, inc the pension plan. lived on SS, sat at home watched tv waited for the next pain pill. was tough to watch that. when he was hospitalized those first 18 months, i rarely went to see him... I REGRET THAT THE MOST.

i sold myself on, i was young, (21), mad at him, life, god etc... all my life this guy was a GIANT, 6' 2", 225, solid muscle, could pick up a 50 lb block on raw steel, with a 6 foot pair of tongs, and throw it in the furnace for the press, WITH HIS WRISTS. Told me all through life, once my 25 is up, WE are going out west to hunt, going north to fish... at 53 his life ended, with cancer in remission, last chemo treatment, enlarged heart, massive heart attack at the hospital during treatment. he was 5' 10" 140 lbs, never seeing any of the things he wanted to because, "he was putting his time in".

at the time of his death my wife and i were expecting our child, his first and only grandchild, he never was to see her, she was born 10 days later. i regret that a lot too. mom passed 7 years later at 60 from the big C too.

to me, this hit hard because, i was adopted, and a greater power chose these people to raise me, and they did a great job, i have work ethic, generally a good person, kinda well mannered , etc.. then that greater power took them both away in 7 years, and left me a feeling, i traded my current life an situation for their lives. i never sought out my biological parents, and have less than zero interest in doing so. these were my mom and dad, and i feel fulfilled in that peace.

their lives and the life i and my wife (still married to the same saint of a girl), and daughter, (and now grand daughter), are all doing well. i live my life, not wanting to leave anything on the table. i live "no one wishes they worked more" on their deathbed. the last few weeks some of you know i have been going through a rough health time, mostly self inflicted due to our way of life of playing hard, and loving harder. i have been feeling sorry for myself, not interested in rehab for the injuries to get me back to "normal". this thread helps put things into perspective, of why i live like i do.

now i have to get to work, i have more to do, see, etc... thanks to all that have supported this thread. thoughts and good energy to those that have lost someone, or are going through this now. we all have more in the tank, how you choose to use the last tank, is up to you. Ski

 

We were for the longest time, but aren't right now. She has been moved to the headquarters in Copenhagen. I was also offered a job in CPH, but the package wasn't right so I turned it down.

Hopefully we can get our locations sorted out soon.

 

^this

And ^ that

Much wisdom in that post. Those are the two that stand out to me.

 

It's ironic that this thread is on a racing forum. I have always believed that we as racers are on a different plane from the normal rat race types. We are involved in a sport where we take risks, and a second (or a few tenths) is EVERYTHING to us, yet to 99% of our peers in everyday life, it's meaningless. So I have always accepted it as a fact that we understand something about enjoying life that not many other people do.

I have a close friend who races with me occasionally. He's the guy you love to hate, good at everything first time he tries it, Great genetics and athleticism. He is always marginally employed and never works very hard. He'll make a bunch of money, then quit or his job evaporates and he'll spend money for a year until he is about to move back in with his parents. Then he'll find something to make money again. The other day we were talking, and he said "I know when I'm 65 I'll be living in a studio apartment, but I'm doing what I want now, not later." It's easy to dismiss this for all the right reasons, but there's something you have to admire about it, too.

 

I am somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to like 60-70% towards his direction.

Ultimately 18% of my check goes into retirement (10% from me, 8% from the company). The wife does the same. Aside from that, about 90% of her check goes straight into savings, and I play with stocks. But that's it. Part of me will be very surprised if I live long enough to enjoy any of it. So I have always done and bought what I wanted.

I have always said that I refuse to be the dude who retires with an assload of money in the bank, but is then to old or crippled to enjoy it. I would rather enjoy it now. It may mean we have to retire in some place cheaper like the Philippines, but so be it.

 

the crippled part is starting to catch up to but,...

well said Chris. Ski

 

Screw that he needs to man up and do both. Nothing is more pathetic than a 30 year old dude trying to be cool (well except one even older). He is headed to 65 living in the projects and flipping burgers at 65 if he lives that long. Apparently the one thing he sucks at is life

 

You all know my point of view by now. I'm not rich and not stupid. I'm in Mexico paying 500 a month for a nice studio 200 meters to the beach

 

Do what makes you happy and don't eff people over while you do it.

I just found out that the first "best friend" I ever had as a child, starting school, died yesterday. 2 months younger than me and always athletic and a body builder, work out kinda guy.

No specific details, but one of his friends posted that he was found in the woods with a possible heart attack and his organs had started shutting down. Transported and passed in the hospital.

Live NOW!