My goldfish pond

[herzausstahl]

I was with my hospital 37 years, they almost did not hire me, said I was too educated for the job. The other 4 hospitals would not hire me. The job required a high school diploma, I had a masters in science.

What did you do addy? obviously you liked it to do it for so long! I wonder if the others were afraid to hire you for fear you wouldn't stick around being too overqualified fo it. I know that's a fear sometimes for us.

 

[sissy]

I had ford motor company paying me until the social security kicked in ,plus I had the big sale from my house in NJ that was almost paid off .From ford we got over 4 thousand a month and this house had no mortgage and we had bought the land over a year before putting the modular home on it .I wanted a house built in a factory that was dry and I got it and designed it myself and norris homes bought the plans from me also and paid 89 thousand for a 2440 sq. ft. house .I really think the land and trees and grass and driveway cost me more than the house .If you can afford to retire RETIRE because you never know what the future has in store for you .Congrats Keith and go for .I did not want to travel ,I did that before retiring .I wanted peace and to be outdoors working on my property .That is what makes me happy .When I do go out I miss home

 

[CometKeith]

Keith do you have anyone you could promote trust/cost wise to run your business leaving you in more a consultatory role that would allow you to set your own hours but be able to travel as your wife wants? I see all sides to your dilemma having worked at my family's restaurant since I was 14 & seeing my dad still not fully retired at 75/76. Our produce supplier is also a family run business & the dad is the same as mine, still involved somewhat every day. Could also be that he has no hobbies either. Your 4 years out yet, so plenty of time to groom someone for the position. Possibly too early to approach them about it unless you can figure out a timeline to incrementally increase their responsibilities & pay from now until then to keep them interested & around. Look on the bright side tho, you've got time to think it over & don't have to decide tomorrow!

Nathan. Thanks for your suggestions. I have a foreman that is great at running projects but probably isn't inclined to do all the paperwork and bidding. My youngest daughter is an engineer and could handle what i do but she just got a new job at Apple and I doubt she would be interested. My other two daughters/spouses would not be interested as they are busy with their own stuff. In the perfect world I would stop doing construction for other people and maybe do one project a year for myself to supplant our income.

I had ford motor company paying me until the social security kicked in ,plus I had the big sale from my house in NJ that was almost paid off .From ford we got over 4 thousand a month and this house had no mortgage and we had bought the land over a year before putting the modular home on it .I wanted a house built in a factory that was dry and I got it and designed it myself and norris homes bought the plans from me also and paid 89 thousand for a 2440 sq. ft. house .I really think the land and trees and grass and driveway cost me more than the house .If you can afford to retire RETIRE because you never know what the future has in store for you .Congrats Keith and go for .I did not want to travel ,I did that before retiring .I wanted peace and to be outdoors working on my property .That is what makes me happy .When I do go out I miss home

Thanks Sissy. I agree. If only I had a crystal ball....
Well the new Koi look happy. Here are two pictures. The first one they are on the right and are right next to each other and besides the large white goldfish. In second picture they are in the middle towards the top of the picture. They are both Sanke with white bodies with red and black spots. The black will get much stronger over time so I tried to get Sanke with the lightest black spots I could find. All the rest the fish in the pictures are goldfish.....shubunkins and sarasa comets!

 

[j.w]

When my hubby retired he thought too it would be nice to be able to still work whenever he wanted to. Just choose the days you wanted to and enjoy the rest of the time off. Well it turned out nice for awhile just him working once in awhile when his old job needed an extra hand. Then it got to be more often and then he was starting to feel like he hadn't really retired so he called it quits and does not go in anymore and that's working out just fine now. He will still do free work for neighbors, friends and family but that's it! He worked in sheet metal and everyone needs something welded now and then. He also has equipment for doing fun jobs for me and himself also. He made my waterfall container, a windmill, butterflies, dragon fly etc. He does good work!

 

[addy1]

What did you do addy? obviously you liked it to do it for so long!

When I graduated I worked in neurological research, my thesis, could not stand the work. Boring, slow and the worse harming animals.

My bf at the time was being trained in fixing ultrasound machines, (brand new technology) I was fascinated with the process. Begged two women to train me, worked for them for a year gratis, then attempted to get a job.

When the hospital hired me, nobody knew what ultrasound was for, used for, good for. Over the many years working there I ran the department computer system, we used file cards when I started, was temp director for a bit, supervisor for years, always did ultrasound, loved it. Very good paying job, well started pretty darn low, but it climbed. Only retired early to move east and marry my honey.

 

[CometKeith]

When I graduated I worked in neurological research, my thesis, could not stand the work. Boring, slow and the worse harming animals.

My bf at the time was being trained in fixing ultrasound machines, (brand new technology) I was fascinated with the process. Begged two women to train me, worked for them for a year gratis, then attempted to get a job.

When the hospital hired me, nobody knew what ultrasound was for, used for, good for. Over the many years working there I ran the department computer system, we used file cards when I started, was temp director for a bit, supervisor for years, always did ultrasound, loved it. Very good paying job, well started pretty darn low, but it climbed. Only retired early to move east and marry my honey.

Addy. That's interesting. You were really on the forefront of that technology. When I was in college I studied neurobiology as part of my biology major. I took a bunch of grad courses as an undergrad. I disliked working in the labs at night by myself to measure end plate potentials of frogs legs etc. That was the only time things were quiet enough to get good readings. That experience pretty much ended my interest in going further in biology because I'm more of a people person and it was a little lonely . Little did I know that I would have frogs in a pond I would have some day... or at least hope to have frogs!
On another note I saw a Monk Parakeet the other day close to my pond. They look like small green parrots. I didn't know exactly what it was when I saw it, but talked to a bird owner since then and was able to identify it. I have heard of them living in Hyde Park Chicago close to University of Chicago,but didn't know they were on the north side of Chicago at all. I'm hoping they have a nest near me as it would be nice to see one again! This article explains how the population is changing.
https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2016/03/21/why-are-monk-parakeets-leaving-hyde-park

 

[Lisak1]

Very cool @CometKeith - maybe you'll attract a whole colony!

 

[addy1]

@CometKeith I disliked the fact I worked with a set of monkeys, testing regrowth of damaged nerves using different drugs. The doc I was working with, wrote up a paper saying it worked, when it was a total failure. Three years of testing this one group of critters, the test set up was wrong, they were totally paralyzed and could still "feel". I hated it. The doc tossed out all of my data.

A lot of weird off hours to doing the testing, working alone, hours and hours of testing. I had to get out.

So tossed away my Masters and went to work in a job you only needed a high school diploma. That has changed now. But I knew how to learn.

Ultrasound was like breathing to me, totally natural, my eyes could see what a lot could not. I found out when I hired people, I went for painters, photographers, anybody that could "see" the detail needed in that gray screen.

 

[CometKeith]

@CometKeith I disliked the fact I worked with a set of monkeys, testing regrowth of damaged nerves using different drugs. The doc I was working with, wrote up a paper saying it worked, when it was a total failure. Three years of testing this one group of critters, the test set up was wrong, they were totally paralyzed and could still "feel". I hated it. The doc tossed out all of my data.

A lot of weird off hours to doing the testing, working alone, hours and hours of testing. I had to get out.

So tossed away my Masters and went to work in a job you only needed a high school diploma. That has changed now. But I knew how to learn.

Ultrasound was like breathing to me, totally natural, my eyes could see what a lot could not. I found out when I hired people, I went for painters, photographers, anybody that could "see" the detail needed in that gray screen.

Addy, That's interesting how you found something that made more sense for you and how you found people with talent in the field you worked in. I understand the interdisciplinary approach. Sometimes someone is trained in one thing and it makes them better at doing something than other people in a totally different field. Personally I feel that has helped me a lot in what I do. I have studied a number of different things and the skills I have learned all come into play in what I do.
Re: Monkeys. I went to school at University of Wisconsin and they had Rhesus monkeys in the public zoo that people said came from UW. I'm not sure if they were from biology or psych labs but they had some weird behaviours!

 

[addy1]

they had Rhesus monkeys

The monkeys I worked on where Rhesus. They were not pleasant monkeys, nasty personalities, but I would be nasty if I was treated the way they were treated.

Loved to pee on our heads.

 

[CometKeith]

Well. I lost a goldfish. I'm guessing it had a digestive tract problem. It was crooked on one side for a while and then got larger and larger but not in a good way. I gave it some green peas and other greens I could find and then switched to some antibiotic food I had. I think if I could have caught it and isolated it right away I could have proved better treatment. Poor little fish. I'm glad it doesn't have to suffer any more. I didn't even want to take it's picture. It really did not look good in the end

 

[addy1]

Bummer...............

 

[Lisak1]

Oh, that's too bad @CometKeith . It's always sad to lose a fish.

 

[Tara]

 

[sissy]

Sorry to hear but you did what you needed to do .I have been there with 2 dogs that got cancer and it broke my heart .We tried to cure them but it was not going well and in the end we need to stop and do what we have to do .I lost 4 baby fish to cats .I put window screening in the pond to catch them by throwing food in it and caught 9 of them for people and cats got them that night and I felt guilty as heck .