It's the final count down.

For real. Less than a week until retirement. Macho has worked for his company for over 42 years. It isn't a desk job. He isn't the boss. The winters are cold. The summers are hot. He is wet when it rains. He gets muddy. He deals with sunburn, mosquitoes, ticks, snakes, and the possibility of alligators every now and then. He has lost vacation days for, at least, 8 years. I wish I had $100 for every person I have explained this to in the last 6 months. ("Why is he retiring so young?")

Macho's last day of work is next Friday. He thought he might get to slide into retirement, but no. He has worked overtime for 3 weeks now. They are squeezing blood out of this turnip. That is who he is. A class act employee. No one can accuse him of being a slacker. He is conscientious beyond measure. His first month of work back in 1976 he over slept and was late for work one day. His boss asked him why and Macho told him he just over slept. The boss appreciated his honesty. After work that day he went out and purchased a new alarm clock and has never been late to work since.

In the '80s he had one accident at work and burned his hand pretty bad. He was treated at the hospital and was back at work the next day. Lost time accidents were frowned upon by The Company. The hair still doesn't grow on the back of that hand.

Sick days have been rare.

I hope the powers that be know what they are losing. This man is rare. He knows his territory and is impressive with detail recall over 100s of miles of pipeline.

 When he started with this company he had some mentors that were retired early in the '80s. I wish they were still alive for this moment. Macho appreciated those men and learned from them. There were some characters among them. We like to think about them and talk about them. They were the good guys.

More to write as the next week progresses.

Shalom for now.