---- PT 2 -----
In retrospect, I was just a kid then, maybe 18-19. I was rolling in money and got in over my head. We worked HARD, no cold was too cold, no weather
was too ugly, no excuses... you rolled. Bigger, better, trucks, more debt; it was all okay then because the money was flowing out of a 4” hose
straight into your wallet! Banks would loan you anything if you had a job then. Interest rates were crazy, but who cared? We ran rigs 24x7.
ON-CALL ALAWAYS
Then the crash hit. They were capping some of the biggest gas wells on Earth (BTW…these remain capped to this day). Wells big enough to supply the
entire USA with natural gas for 500 years.
Overnight all the heavy hitters left the area. Halliburton left, Tuboscope left, SMITH Tool left, Schlumberge left. They vacated millions of square
feet of buildings and ground…they just left.
It was over.
Overnight an entire City of over 50,000 people went from Boom to Bust…just like that. I was there. I saw it.
I’ve written a lot of words here, but I hope some are still following; this was about retirement, right? It takes a while to get there, honestly,
but I will.
So cutting a REALLY long story short, my parents went back to Michigan, a place I guess the loved. They said it was in “the middle” for all of us
kids. Didn’t want to show any favorites (but I know different).
Dad said he was happy to retire after all the madness we’d lived…he seemed happy.
Then the told him…
-I’m sorry, Sir, you can’t barbeque on this property!
-I’m sorry sir, you can’t smoke your cigar on the porch, it’s offensive
-I’m sorry sir, you showed a resident a firearm…there are NO firearms allowed in this facility.
His WHOLE life he worked for this, and then he was shamed into a corner; my Father! This was his retirement….and they eventually drugged him up so
much he didn’t’ even know what day it was.
Healthcare for the old…they just WANT you to DIE…it’s cheaper.
I flew into town, I came in and sat there with Dad, I sat there and held his hand as he died; I did.
Retirement.
That’s not what I want.
edit on 6/23/2018 by Flyingclaydisk because: (no reason given)
edit on 6/23/2018 by Flyingclaydisk because: (no reason
given)