Yea..Every once in a while I get sentimental

Thanks! I've been going through the "poor me's" and couldn't shake the feeling of uselessness.I have health issues that prevent me from working full-time.It's been 12 years since I had a job with decent pay.My family never complained much about being poor.We always had food and my boys knew I loved them.They are grown and still live at home.The neighbour told me yesterday what good young men they were and I should be proud of them.
This post and that comment put it all into focus.I'm a very rich man!

 

Thanks everyone!
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
For you young guys.... this is what its all about man.

We get so caught up with life so much sometimes we all need to stop and look at exactly what the hell were doing.
It all comes down to..
Not the number of our possesions, They only force us to do things that we really dont want to do. And during these times we overlook the real reason
for all of this before us. I get really sad when i think of all those folks who not only lost their possesions but more importantly lost their love ones.
Without them we might as well die.
God Bless you!
PJ

 

you hit so many points on the head. I am 34 now, and owe my p***ion for hot rods to my dad, now 60, and still building rods. When we talk about our projects, I STILL see the same "teenage" enthusiasm is his eyes as we talk that I feel. Besides the fact that we get along so well, I am so thankful for him and our common love of traditional hot rods, and wish I could slow the p***ing of time so I could learn more from him and spend more time with him doing what we love. Thanks for the great post

 

I was going over all the posts I created over the years here.
Try it sometime....
Its a reality check on how much you really are contributing to the Hamb, I need to work harder,..
And above all of these posts, I think this post is the one that shines above every technical post I ever made. It really makes you think.
For those that missed it. PJ

 

Great post, Petejoe!

I wonder if a Depression wouldn't do more good than harm, about now. Got to "sharpen the knife daily", as the motivational speakers say... We're all too often a little too "comfy"...

I read an article about what the typical American millionaire is like. Most buy only used cars, live in a house that is 2500 sf, and buy clothes at JC Penny. Not at all the glamorous flamboyant lifestyle they show on TV.

 

PJ, First of all that was a wonderful post and thank you for bringing it back up. Very worthy. Actually something that should probably be read and re-read every year or more often.
I'm only 32 but I remember my grandparents and their midwestern sensibilities. You tended your garden and preserved the harvest for winter. You hunted your meat for the same reason. My granddad was a car guy thru and thru and I lost him when I was about 11 and it's rare that a day doesn't go by that I don't wish I could have spent more time with him. I have some memories, photos, one of his rifles and best of all, an old homemade bench grinder that he made. belt driven, two wheels heavy as a dead horse. He probably coulda bought a new one back in the day, but he had what he needed to make one so that was what you did. I long for those days and do my best to live by the principles that he lived by. That's probably why I don't have a rod yet...Won't borrow to get it, and with 2 kids, house and my wifes car to pay for, I'm gonna be waiting awhile. That's ok, though because our society today is way too much about instant gratification and not working for what we want. When was the last time you heard someone say
"I can't go out to eat, to the movies, (whatever) because I'm saving up for a
(insert something you want but don't have the money for here)". Hardly ever. Well that's all I got.

Thanks for the post and thanks to the HAMB for letting me feel a part of something even if I'm not.

BTW, PJ if you look at all of your contributions and think "****, I need to work harder" then you might as well just take me out behind the woodshed and put me out of my misery.

I'm out.
Scott

 

Petejoe,
I am very glad you returned this particular post to the top as I had not seen it before today. Beautiful sentiment and eloquently written. If you don't mind I copied it and it will be framed on my garage wall for a timely reminder when things seem overwhelming. I have lost both of my parents, in fact, I am the oldest member of my family at 40. I have been caught up in acquiring things, and you are right it makes you lose sight of the things that really matter. As you in your wisdom have said, FIX the things that are most important in your life. You will be very happy that you have done that. Appreciate what you have given and not what you have and you will be a truly rich person. Once again, a very sincere thanks for this post.

 

Thanks PJ for bringing this back, the timing is always right for this.

Just yesterday I was talking with a guy about how cars now are not made to be rebuilt or overhauled. Just get a new part (or new car) and throw away the old. The old cars we all like had parts made to be rebuilt, such as new brushes in the generator, engines that had enough meat to overbore, starters with removeable solenoids radiators that are all metal and can be recored, etc.

Many times we lose track of what is important, your post helps to set us back in line.

 

Thanks PJ, you are a wise man....

CC

 

I sometimes long for a simpler past time, but then I also sometimes remember things from that time that were not-so-good, that I would not want to revisit from the fifties and sixties.....

Things like seeing friends with polio because there wasn't a vaccine yet....

Standing outside a restroom looking at the "white only" signs......

The treatment I got from kids at school for being a "jap" ......

Cold War bomb drills at school......

The list is longer than I want to remember. Sometimes, I wish we could capture the best of those times and eliminate the rest of the garbage.

But, I look at the blessings I have now; my family, my wife, my terrific kids and friends, and I realize that these are the good old days.

 

I agree. It's so easy to say "I'll go over and visit later" , or "I ought to call them or go visit". Next thing you know it's been 3 years, or someone died and you didn't do what you knew you should have. Luckily I realized someday I was going to regret not doing more with my father and made it a point to go get him and make him come and do things (fishing, help repair or build things, lay a small concrete patch, go on short road trips & a big vacation to Cali.) about 3 years before he p***ed away. It doesn't sound like much, but it's one of the most meaningful things I have to look back on.

We get so caught up trying to engineer the day to go right, you look back and see you flubbed up the real important things.

Good post.

 

Ditto all of the above.

I'd also add...
It's not the size of your garage, it's how many fellow hot rodders you've helped to get their wrecks back on the road.

 

Yep, yep!!

 

Damn PeteJoe, I just copied that and saved it as a file called "Very Wise Words".

If the Donald Trumps of America would spend a few bucks on bill boards and TV ads reminding people of exactly your thoughts, maybe, it would help folks to get their lives in check. As I read your piece, I couldn't help but think of all the status "I have this and it costs this much and I'm throwing it out tomorrow because there will be something new" conversations I have with people day to day. It's really disgusting. We all strive to achieve, but people lose focus on the important things!

Well, since "The Donald" is stepping up any time soon, all we can do is lead by example.

 

Thank You Petejoe
having just lost my Dad a few weeks ago, you really hit the nail on the head.

I would like to add one thing.
old friend, relalitive, new friend, who ever, Just call and check in every once in a while, makes no difference if anythings up or not.
because there will come a time that when you can't do that anymore.
i just found that out.

 

Sometimes you sit and wallow about all the misery that life throws your way, and then you read something like this that reminds you of the IMPORTANT things in life, and all of a sudden, those things don't seem like misery at all.

Thanks for the reality check, PJ.

 

Came across my old post and thought it would be a good read for those newer Hambers here.

 

I needed to see that today. Thank you for bringing that back up!

 

Petejoe: My parents were the same ...especially my Dad .He'd spend 3 days and damn near nothing fixing something he could have gone and bought for 2 bucks...It was only after he p***ed that I saw the wisdom in that...He thoroughly enjoyed the trip of saving something by using his skills...
And my Mom , there's not enough paper to write down all the things she taught me...
I owe them both for the life-skills they drilled into my hard head...

Thanks for the wake-up Pete..

 

Thanks Pete,we do need reminders....

 

Pete you need to put the original message on a plaque and sell it. It really has a lot of meaning. Sharing this with the kids. Thank you again.

 

Seems a rather well-timed revival of an old thread, considering 3WLarry's current condition.

Roger

 

Amazing, thanks

 

NEVER !..... Love anything, That can't Love you back.........

 

Thank you,
I need to be reminded of this more often,

 

This was a perfect way to start my weekend. Thank you.

 

Well said. Thanks PEteJoe.

 

PJ--if ever there was a recipe composed that listed the ingredients for a life well lived it's in your post. You made me think, man, and I thank you for that. Feb 15---just reread your post. Makes me thankful for what I have. Thanks again.

 

Thanks Petejoe, as soon as I get the tears outta my good eye I'll add my two cents. That could have been my grand parents, parents...... hell even my wife and me. I've still got parts from my first old car project, a Model A I bought in 1958. We reuse most everything. I just can't get my wife to reuse the toilet paper yet!
Lately rather than writing about how to replace the engine in a 1927 Henway or rebuild old car parts, I've gotten sorta sentamental too. To the point where I get way off topic and make guys like Ryan nervous. I still look at myself as a new member and expect lots of **** and harra*****t. At my age I really don't care or maybe I'm too stupid to realize it.
There's a fairly fresh ongoing thread about one of our beloved members in the hospital. Makes me proud to be a member. I've also noticed other posts and threads about feelings and the good ole days.
Here's another bit from a reply to your post......... I've been in $40,000 houses in the ghettos of Chicago's West Side to $1,000,000+ houses on 20 acre lots in the country and I've learned one thing in these houses; it's who lives in them that makes them a home.
I worked at factories all my life, a blue color worker. When we retired to NW Florida, an area unknown and unseen by 99% of the tourists, we bought a double wide mobile home on five acres. From the big city close to downtown to trailer trash in the boonies. Friends come to visit and 99% of them tell us how they love the place and wished they lived here rather in their castles in those larger cities. We serve coffee, soda, or cheap beer and talk about old cars, camping, and women.
I was embarrased living on a dead end dirt road with nothing but pine trees across the road, in a trailer! But in the past 22 years this has felt more like home than anyplace we've lived. We've visited in castles and shacks. Most often it's the trailer trash and those with modest homes who seeem the happiest.
Sadly we aged and are moving back to the midwest yet out of town. I'm rambling again. Just wanted to say it's great to read about the past and how other members feel about life. Good friends and good health are more important than fast cars and gold chains.

 

Powerful, PJ
Thank You