Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Reflecting

 


I went to the college the other day to get a little advice from the boss and make some copies of the handouts and quiz for my class. The boss man said one of the other instructors was in the shop, so I went down there to see him. He was a student of mine and he's an all around swell guy - I always enjoy talking to him. As usually happens when two "shop" instructors get together, we commiserated a bit on what's going on with the school and with our students, and somehow Primitive Pete came up in the conversation. I remember seeing this when I was in 8th grade shop class. The one above is Part 1, there's a Part 2 and a safety film as I recall. 


This is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs. It came out in '64, about the time I was coming of age. My top three priorities about that time were motorcycles, cars and girls, in that order. As I got a little older, the order got mixed around but it was still those three. After graduation from high school, working, college and money came into the mix, but motorcycles, cars and girls were never too far out of the picture. Now the priorities are staying healthy, family, boxing, with motorcycles and cars still high on the list. 

I went to the boxing gym Saturday morning, walked 3 miles with a group from the gym on Sunday, and went to the health club yesterday. Need to stay hale and hearty in order to take care of the Missus and things around the shack, as well as maybe finishing a few of the projects. Might need to be in good shape for security reasons as well.


Marvin Gaye's masterpiece album from 1971. At that time, I wasn't too worried about the environment but more concerned about getting drafted. I was in the first lottery and came up with number 232. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but my draft board went down to 190 something, so I was off the hook. I got married in March of that year and have been with the same women ever since. From a priority standpoint, I still like girls but not enough to chase after them and end up giving half of everything I own away. As Cuzzin Ricky tells it, an old man like me chasing after a young girl is like a dog chasing a semi. Even if I caught it, what would I do with it? 

Life's pretty damn good these days, in spite of all the bullshit going on in the country. Just wishing to be left alone to live out the rest of my life with a minimum of problems. Those knuckleheads in charge don't make it easy, though.

Save your money, work on your preps and hold on tight. It's going to get interesting.
 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also need to stay healthy to take care of the wife. Let myself go for a good 3 years.
Back on track again. Lots of things around the house got ignored also. Have a list and working it off. Good advice on saving your money, work your preps and hold on tight. I would add make your peace with God. I've got a feeling that we're all going to have are "come to Jesus" moment soon.
Brother Jim

Shop Teacher Bob said...

We can't take care of the wives if we don't take care of ourselves. There's a lot of trouble brewing. Good health is going to be a tremendous asset.