I just turned 70 , back in May ,Carl , had a serious heart attack when I was 65 , spent almost a year in rehab , one year in retirement , and nearly went nuts , looking for something to do .Went out to see the former boss , about a small matter , he asked me to come back , even if only to supervise , no manual labor , or heavy lifting . I got an even bigger surprise , the following week , the tech instructor , from the boss's son's school , came in to the shop , got me signed on , as an associate instructor , for the son , plus another young lad , who wants to become a diesel engine technician . They also covered me with shop health insurance , even though they knew about the heart attack ,and explained that they also wanted me to stay on , health permitting . My better half is also a real partner in life , she watches me like a hawk , supervises my diet , weight , etc .When I look back , at the way I used to live , Carl , I sometimes wonder why I lived this long - I always got the clutch jobs at the local Ford truck dealership , and usually cleaned out the area to be worked on , under the truck , with a high pressure air line , and there would be a cloud of clutch dust , about the size of a small Winnebago , around the truck . Any more , the tree huggers would be running for cover , and calling the hazmat team , to shut the shop down , and cordon off the area , until the dust was contained , then they'd call the Ministry of the environment , the Ministry of Labor , and , also the Ministry of Natural Resources , up here , to make sure the shop didn't contaminate the local water supply .I know , Carl , from the way you described your experiences , we've kind of come down a similar road . My best lady , I swear , is the reason I'm still here .She also has a friend ,she worked with , up until her retirement ,who just turned 87 years old , still gets up at 5:00 AM every day , goes out and does his farm chores , has breakfast by 6:30 AM , goes into town , a little town south of here ,picks up his mail route delivery stuff , and so on - .I asked this man , what his secret was , to a long life , he said , "Get up early , I get more work done before noon hour , than the rest of the day , eat good , sleep good , no bad habits , smoking , drinking , etc . , and have a good woman to come home to at the end of the day ." I think this man is on to something . He also said , " Enjoy what you do , for a living , at it won't seem like work at all ." Do you think , Carl , we could learn, from a guy like that ?

Roger Rutledge
Technician/Shop Foreman
Green Park Services
Brantford, Ontario, Canada