PSA to our young/just starting out auto technicians

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It's pretty much any trade out there that has it share of dangers! Lucky for most young people, they don't want to work in the trades so they don't have to worry! I'm 52, and have been the only guy on site most times when there's climbing, carrying heavy things up and down ladders, or any other laborious activity that has hazards to be concerned with! For the young people who are entering any vocational trade, yes, by all means protect that body, those eyes, ears and lungs! I've had tinnitus since March 20, 2000, from playing in a band all my life, another hazard to deal with!!!
 
cosgig said:
It's pretty much any trade out there that has it share of dangers! Lucky for most young people, they don't want to work in the trades so they don't have to worry! I'm 52, and have been the only guy on site most times when there's climbing, carrying heavy things up and down ladders, or any other laborious activity that has hazards to be concerned with! For the young people who are entering any vocational trade, yes, by all means protect that body, those eyes, ears and lungs! I've had tinnitus since March 20, 2000, from playing in a band all my life, another hazard to deal with!!!
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I don't know if you have heard the advertisement for Lipo Flavonoid that is a cure for tinnitus? Save you time and money, I'm waiting on my refund now. They offer a money back guarantee put for me it is was waste of time. You have to take 2 pills 3 times a day for 60 days. That is like 4 bottles of a 100 pills at $29.99 bottle. Didn't do a thing for me. Now lets see how long it takes to get my money back!
 
Like I said, this is my fault.

A lot of it came from pushing myself. Twelve hours days with no breaks. Flat out haul ***.

Running the restoration shop? I was 27 when Pop and I started it. Seventeen, eighteen hour days, seven days a week for months on end.

Flat rate and production shops. Taking time for breaks meant lost money.

Then I'd get home and be out in the yard working for hours at a time. Sarah, and now Karli, would yell at me to take breaks.

Remodeling the house, one room at a time. Up and down ladders. Building trains, up down ladders and mezzanines all day long. Building amphibious buses, in and out of hauls doing assembly work in places I barely fit.

Yeah. Get the job done. I was the guy who was hired to show everyone how to haul *** and increase productivity while eliminating comebacks. Working through the injuries and pains. Didn't have time to be hurt.

Now, I'm paying for it. And the hurt is coming back ten fold. There's no pride in that, even though I prided myself on being the guy who worked no matter what.

Take care of the body when you're younger and you get to enjoy it later.
 
My feet are my biggest issue now. After decades on concrete, they are slam F'ed up.
 
whitepunkonnitro said:
Well, here's the flip side. I'm 54, been doing this since I was 16.
******* with cars is an iron man thing. You want to master the machine, you gotta be a better machine.
You will break **** ( name it, and I have either broken it working on a car or crashing motorcycles). You will get burned and gouged.
Learn to laugh it off and keep moving forward.
Three weeks ago I was cutting some rockers for a customer.
Cutting wheel exploded and the grinder wrenced out of my hand. It dug in just above my wrist, ran up my forearm, cut a deep gouge into my bicep, jumped up at my face where it cut a chunk out of my lip and split one of my nostrils...lost probably a pint and a half of blood.
That was at 2pm. By 6, I was bandaged up and back on the job.
Yknow what? If you can't work like that, go get yourself a desk job.
This **** is not for the weak
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Seems like a mill would have been a better tool than a grinder?
 
ramenth said:
I've been wanting to put this thread up for a while now, just haven't been able to find the wording that doesn't make me sound like a know-it-all or old fuddy duddy, but figured that it might help those who are just starting out in the field.

It pertains to work related chronic injuries from a man who's spun a wrench pretty much all of his adult life and didn't take the necessary precautions, who's now paying for it.

I'll qualify this with:

1.) I've been professional paid to do everything to a car except drive them and sell them. I've owned my own shop twice, the first a restoration shop, the second a general repair shop. I started off detailing cars at a local Chevy garage and less than ten years later I was pulling frames at a Ford garage. From there I switched to the mechanical side, starting off with simple maintanence and repairs at Midas to wind up back at Ford as one of the go-to guys for the most complicated repairs.

2.) Before anyone thinks this is a "later years" thing, I'm 45 years old.

Over the years I abused my body to the point that the chronic injuries may lead to disability, but hopefully not.

I spent years on my knees, inside doors and crawling around inside cars without knee pads. I now have a bad right now that won't weight bear and is affecting my right hip.

I have repetitive motion in my left elbow (favored hand) that needs Tommy John surgery. That came from years of vibratory air tools usage without impact gloves and not switching back and forth from hand to hand. The vibratory air tools and constantly have my hands covered in solvents and chemicals means I can't feel hot or cold with my fingers anymore. Water has to be hot enough to scald me before I know it's too hot for the rest of my body.

Now, both shoulders are showing signs of tendonopathy, to where it hurts some days to the point that I want to scream in pain as the tendons knot.

My point being, doing stretching exercises and wearing the proper PPE, such as knee pads and impact gloves would make my life a lot more bearable now, but like a lot of idiots, in my youth, I thought those things weren't "macho" enough. PPE was for panzies who couldn't take the pain. Now, I know what the pain is like.

I'm not posting this to ***** or whine. It's my own fault that's lead to this, no one else's. I'm just hoping to pass on a bit of wisdom, learned the hard way, to help others not have to deal with these things as they get older.
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i really wish i had used a mallet instead of my hand to install how many countless thousands of wheel covers. and wore ear plugs.
 
We've all damaged one or more parts of us or our senses that we have over the years. This happens despite all the warnings whether for livelihood or recreation. When were young we tend to feel invincible and your a sissy if you can't handle a little dirt, stress, or pain here and there. It all adds up over time.
Everyone knows every time we crawl under a dirty car for just a few seconds without glasses something going to drop in your eye. Yet to this day I'll still do it. It's my own repetitive stupidity that I never seem to get past.
 
Repetitive motion injuries...not just for wrench turners. USPS is just about a guarantee for them. Every thing I did as a Mail handler was repetitive. No doubt, in some instances safety equipment MAY lessen the damage from some things...but when you put a particular set of joints thru the same motions thousands of time a day probably not. I have discovered....the hard way...that repetitive motion damage is not just the actual injury itself....but often times arthritis tags along.
I have been collecting disability since August of 08. Was 42 years old at the time....initially was because of my mental health....was deemed a hazard to self and others. Prior to this everything I did involved bending, pulling, lifting and squeezing. Have 0 lumbar discs left. Because of this my back is riddled with arthritis. From the constant pulling/squeezing/lifting my dominant shoulder is also riddled with arthritis...and the bicep tendon is disconnected. Have enough damage in my shoulder that it chunks near constantly....retrieving items from any shelf overhead is becoming very difficult. Have already had one surgery on my shoulder... need another one.
I know a lot of folks love turning wrenches for a living...but if you want anyour type of pain free living as you advance in years you may want to think about a different career. Living on Opiods sucks...between the dopiness, lack of drive....and having a concrete plug up your arse (opiods are well known to cause constipation) being dependant on them really sucks...
 
I don't think we need to discourage the "young-ins" from working in the trades. The money can be great for a person that works smart. Try to avoid being the jobsite hero by lifting everything by yourself! I used to be the guy that tried to be the fastest Carpenter/Framer on the job, lifting heavy stuff myself. I have had my share of back strains but at 51, my knees are fine. Elbows, neck, feet...just fine despite 30 years in construction. The body needs exercise so the motion and walking helps keep us from breaking down.
I would suggest the practice of ear plugs, safety glasses and a back brace. Gloves? I see guys wearing gloves while framing or siding and I cringe. I can understand wearing gloves working on sheet metal, rough lumber, roof tiles or anything to do with chemicals or extreme heat. Otherwise??? :realcrazy:
A desk job? HA...
Back to the original topic. The life of a blue collar worker can have benefits beyond their specific job. When a tax accountant has a plumbing leak, he pays for the repairs through the ***. A Carpenter often knows a Plumber that will do trade work OR just give him suggestions to do it themselves. I have made non carpentry home repairs here that are just as good as any professional for a fraction of the cost. By watching the other tradesmen over the years, I've picked up several other skills to do things here without help.
Being a part-time mechanic/enthusiast, I have helped out family and friends and saved them a bunch of money.
A blue collar life is a decent way to live.
 
Kern Dog said:
A blue collar life is a decent way to live.
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I never said it wasn't. Just need to work smartly. But for some of us...myself included....genetics has a lot to do with the potential for repetitive motion injuries/arthritis is simply unavoidable.
My post was meant as a "it can happen to you" type of thing. Being dependant on Oxytocin/Oxycodone, Lactolose, Gabapentin, and various other NSAIDS just so one can get out of bed is a very real possibility...simple as that...what I rambled about earlier....
 
Kern Dog said:
I don't think we need to discourage the "young-ins" from working in the trades. The money can be great for a person that works smart. Try to avoid being the jobsite hero by lifting everything by yourself! I used to be the guy that tried to be the fastest Carpenter/Framer on the job, lifting heavy stuff myself. I have had my share of back strains but at 51, my knees are fine. Elbows, neck, feet...just fine despite 30 years in construction. The body needs exercise so the motion and walking helps keep us from breaking down.
I would suggest the practice of ear plugs, safety glasses and a back brace. Gloves? I see guys wearing gloves while framing or siding and I cringe. I can understand wearing gloves working on sheet metal, rough lumber, roof tiles or anything to do with chemicals or extreme heat. Otherwise??? :realcrazy:
A desk job? HA...
Back to the original topic. The life of a blue collar worker can have benefits beyond their specific job. When a tax accountant has a plumbing leak, he pays for the repairs through the ***. A Carpenter often knows a Plumber that will do trade work OR just give him suggestions to do it themselves. I have made non carpentry home repairs here that are just as good as any professional for a fraction of the cost. By watching the other tradesmen over the years, I've picked up several other skills to do things here without help.
Being a part-time mechanic/enthusiast, I have helped out family and friends and saved them a bunch of money.
A blue collar life is a decent way to live.
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Don't pass judgement on folks with desk jobs. I happen to have work a desk job for a living, but having been raised by a carpenter, and not having a ton of money growing up, I've learned how to fix things when they break. I'm the one my neighbors and friends come to when they need plumbing, electrical, welding, etc done; even the ones with blue collar jobs. I like to think of it as leading two lives. I get paid to use one skillset, but use a completely different skillset when I'm home.
 
fratzog lover said:
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cuck #wuss #wimp #vegan
by Bubba Beelzebub January 02, 2017
"Cuck" a weak, feckless, spineless, and decidedly pathetic specimen of manliness. It is a dirative of the term "Cuckold", which in turn comes from the now extinct Cuckoo Bird (known for laying its eggs in another bird's nest; kind of like how a cuckolded man lets another man s***w his woman).

Word Origin: In mid 2016 the term came to prominence when supporters of Donald Trump came to refer to Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush as a "Cuckservative" (cuck+conservative), implying that he was a weak, ********-lacking, creampuff of man, and a poor representative of what Trump-supporters considered proper GOP presidential timber. Jeb responded by effectively proving them right. The term Cuck has since taken a life if its own as an insult towards anyone who comes across as femmy, weak, or lacking in enough testosterone to get their balls to drop.
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Arnold would say --'girly man "
 
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