Always wanted my own truck, never wanted marriage and kids, so broadly I got what I wanted.
I work a boring job as the hours suit my life. All about priorities I live in an Area where good wages can be earned on days but if it wasn’t I’d have to go away.
Suits me but would drive others mad
I’m going 4on4off in three weeks, I think I better drag some old hobbies up or get an air fix kit 
We’re all different, don’t do finance cos i believe the only thing one should (i as a working class employed bod) ever borrow money for is the roof over one’s head, flash cars expensive holidays designer whatever don’t interest either of us.
My earlier years were spent working me socks off to provide for home and family, but i’d fallen into the trap many others do and almost become part of the machine, we paid the house off at age 53 but i was still in that constant work mode and to be quite honest i’d near enough burned meself out, i couldn’t see it but my good lady had and said to me one day ‘‘i do not want to be the richest widow in the town’’, that was a wake up call and luckily the company welched on a long term agreement over something relatively trivial 3 weeks later and i put me notice in that day.
Best thing i ever did, minced around as a limper for near enough 18 months then landed where i am now and never been better off in real terms, both money for hours worked and hours/days worked, home every night and the shift pattern gives me plenty of days and weeks off, treated with respect, lucky.
I often think what would have happened if i’d been in relationship with someone previous, probably like so many other blokes i knew in that industry pushing too hard too old for too long and now pushing up daisies before their time.
Would i do things differently, well yes of course, we all would, i’d have found my good lady 25 years earlier than i did and found happiness soonest, but work wise yes i’ve been happy on the lorries, still am if truth be known, and yes i’d have worked me socks off to provide cos thats how we wus brought up and to do any different would have disappointed my dear old dad, who even though he’s been dead nearly 30 years i still have to keep up his work ethic because even if they’re dead and gone they are still with you in spirit, i would however have knocked on the door and begged meself in where i am now some 20 years earlier.
What i have learned is that the day you pay that house off and become totally debt free is the most liberating day of your life, they don’t have you by the ■■■■■■■■ any more, it doesn’t mean you become any different at work, i’m still 100% reliable and don’t pull sickies, but if the job disappoints or you find you no longer enjoy it then there is nothing at all keeping you from walking, finding another job before you do that is no longer that important.
Each to their own though, we all have different ideas wants needs and desires.
Well mine is pretty good not excessive hours with occasional nights out and weekends.
Now I know a bloke who buys everything on the tick,needs to work 70-80 hours every week plus 5 nights out,he never has time for anything,he races home for what is left of his weekend on a Saturday afternoon then is off again first thing Monday,
All his weekend is stress trying to get his kit washed and shopping etc done.
When you say anything to him he says it’s “just how the job is”,
He is constantly stressed under pressure and constantly trying to justify to himself it’s “normal” well it’s not,yes we need to graft for the brass but we need chill out time with our family’s too…
Good post Juddian, I do like to read your long posts as I tend to agree with a lot of their content,not all but usually most. This is one of those again I agree with. I find it difficult to try to explain to some of my friends (including my wife) why I actually drive HGV for a living. I can earn an average drivers months wage in a couple of days doing my previous job, I earned a very high income in my past which enabled me to purchase and live in the home I live in now. I have a nice car etc etc, what I actually have now from driving what I never had before is job satisfaction and peace of mind. I am happy with my lot and although I still enjoy a nice life style that I earned from previous employment, I can keep it topped up with driving as I have little in the way of outstanding finance. Lucky you I hear you say? No it is from long hard hours worked and commitment to which anyone of us can achieve, you need to be happy in life with anything you have, whether that is high earnings or not so high earnings, a factual saying is money does not buy you happiness, that is so very true, although you only get to know this when you have had money.
switchlogic:
Anyone looking at my life would see I devote the vast majority of my life to work and I do so through choice.
May I enquire as to why ?
Juddian:
We’re all different, don’t do finance cos i believe the only thing one should (i as a working class employed bod) ever borrow money for is the roof over one’s head, flash cars expensive holidays designer whatever don’t interest either of us.My earlier years were spent working me socks off to provide for home and family, but i’d fallen into the trap many others do and almost become part of the machine, we paid the house off at age 53 but i was still in that constant work mode and to be quite honest i’d near enough burned meself out, i couldn’t see it but my good lady had and said to me one day ‘‘i do not want to be the richest widow in the town’’, that was a wake up call and luckily the company welched on a long term agreement over something relatively trivial 3 weeks later and i put me notice in that day.
Best thing i ever did, minced around as a limper for near enough 18 months then landed where i am now and never been better off in real terms, both money for hours worked and hours/days worked, home every night and the shift pattern gives me plenty of days and weeks off, treated with respect, lucky.
I often think what would have happened if i’d been in relationship with someone previous, probably like so many other blokes i knew in that industry pushing too hard too old for too long and now pushing up daisies before their time.
Would i do things differently, well yes of course, we all would, i’d have found my good lady 25 years earlier than i did and found happiness soonest, but work wise yes i’ve been happy on the lorries, still am if truth be known, and yes i’d have worked me socks off to provide cos thats how we wus brought up and to do any different would have disappointed my dear old dad, who even though he’s been dead nearly 30 years i still have to keep up his work ethic because even if they’re dead and gone they are still with you in spirit, i would however have knocked on the door and begged meself in where i am now some 20 years earlier.
What i have learned is that the day you pay that house off and become totally debt free is the most liberating day of your life, they don’t have you by the ■■■■■■■■ any more, it doesn’t mean you become any different at work, i’m still 100% reliable and don’t pull sickies, but if the job disappoints or you find you no longer enjoy it then there is nothing at all keeping you from walking, finding another job before you do that is no longer that important.
Each to their own though, we all have different ideas wants needs and desires.
In a nutshell.
Yep, once you’re debt free and have built up a pot of “■■ u” money your job suddenly seems to become a lot more enjoyable because you realise that the balance of power has shifted because you no longer have to worry about paying the bills. It is now you who has the power and if you don’t want to do something ridiculous you’re told to do you can say no and they have a choice of accepting you’re not doing it or insisting you do, seeing you still not do it and walk out the door.
Terry T:
switchlogic:
Anyone looking at my life would see I devote the vast majority of my life to work and I do so through choice.May I enquire as to why ?
Because I enjoy it
As an old timer…currently 36 years old,I would advise everyone to make sure they have adequate life & critical illness insurance to cover for the unexpected.
Given the situation we have found ourselves in without a good level of cover our family home would of been had to of been sold as i have not been working for the last 6 months and my wife for the last 12 months,this is because my wife is suffering from an illness.
Before this all happened we were sailing along nicely both working full time,moved into a newly built 3 bed semi and all looked rosy…as previously documented on here our lives took a very unexpected turn that has caused us no end of stress & heartache,the ONLY thing that has at least taken care of the one thing that never goes away,household bills &a money worries,is the insurance we had in place for critical & terminal illness.
It’s 101% worth the small monthly cost and anyone with a mortgage,bills and dependants should definitely have cover in place,you may think you’ll never need it…neither did my wife and we certainly didn’t think we’d be utilising the cover before my wife’s reached her mid 30s.
switchlogic:
muckles:
switchlogic:
People just need to accept that everyone lives their lives in different ways. Anyone looking at my life would see I devote the vast majority of my life to work and I do so through choice. Others see work as a necessary evil and work as little as possible which I also understand. There is no right answer, we all live in ways that suit us.While I agree there are choices, such as having new cars and house full of latest gadgets all on finance or cheap car and basic stuff and more freedom on the hours you need to work, but for many drivers with families and mortgages there is little choice but to do the hours to earn the money just to pay the bills.
Having a family is also a choice
^ A good statement that.
For me, I came into a lot of inheritance money in the span of a few short years. For me, my main account is in 5 digits and steadily going north. Money isn’t an issue for me now. I’m driving a car that costs the same or maybe even more than my bosses car! Not my TM but my Boss boss, the big cheese!
I started driving trucks because I tired of working full time hours for part time money. I have a uni degree yet I decided to do something well below what I’m technically qualified for but that doesn’t bother me a jot. While the money where I’m at now is better than my previous place it still pales in comparison to what I could be earning yet I don’t care. I like what I do, I’m left alone to get on with it. I’m treated like an adult, an adult that is anti-social so trucking suits me. I can all over this country, with my music playing, sitting on my arse and someone is paying for the pleasure.
I know that I’ve been handed a massive silver platter thanks to this inheritance, I bought many things with it but I also gave a lot back to my mum.
global:
Making the most of life is surely what it’s all about, but considering the lifestyle of (many) drivers, there’s not a lot of time left for life itself. After reading another thread relating to a narrow boat, the OP appears to work just enough to live
I’m guessing this is me, yes I do live on a narrowboat and my life pattern is to work until I have saved up a few thousand pounds and then to go off cruising somewhere until the money has run out, then rinse and repeat. A week’s work normally keeps me going for a month.
Life hasn’t always been like this, I’ve had mortgages, raised children, had to work like a dog for 70+ hours a week, but now my children are grown, I separated from my ex many years ago and all I can say is that my life suits me at the moment. Maybe things will change in the future, if so I will adapt to the new circumstances but for now I’m happy doing what I do. As much as anything, I’m 58 in a few weeks time and I get the idea that time is running out, so I have shifted the work/life balance fairly substantially in the last few years.
Freight Dog:
switchlogic:
muckles:
switchlogic:
People just need to accept that everyone lives their lives in different ways. Anyone looking at my life would see I devote the vast majority of my life to work and I do so through choice. Others see work as a necessary evil and work as little as possible which I also understand. There is no right answer, we all live in ways that suit us.While I agree there are choices, such as having new cars and house full of latest gadgets all on finance or cheap car and basic stuff and more freedom on the hours you need to work, but for many drivers with families and mortgages there is little choice but to do the hours to earn the money just to pay the bills.
Having a family is also a choice
^ A good statement that.
People are often envious of my lifestyle or horrified by it. The most common thing from those who are envious is ‘you’re lucky, you’ve no commitments, kids, mortgage etc…’, they fail to see that that was a choice of mine not luck and that them having a family is also choice and if it makes them happy they should be envious of no one
Work garage bed ,repeat except on the sabeth out for breakfast garage bed .
switchlogic:
Freight Dog:
switchlogic:
switchlogic:
People just need to accept that everyone lives their lives in different ways. Anyone looking at my life would see I devote the vast majority of my life to work and I do so through choice. Others see work as a necessary evil and work as little as possible which I also understand. There is no right answer, we all live in ways that suit us.While I agree there are choices, such as having new cars and house full of latest gadgets all on finance or cheap car and basic stuff and more freedom on the hours you need to work, but for many drivers with families and mortgages there is little choice but to do the hours to earn the money just to pay the bills.
Having a family is also a choice
People are often envious of my lifestyle or horrified by it. The most common thing from those who are envious is ‘you’re lucky, you’ve no commitments, kids, mortgage etc…’, they fail to see that that was a choice of mine not luck and that them having a family is also choice and if it makes them happy they should be envious of no one
I think sometimes having a family was called the girlfriend told them she was on the pill.
switchlogic:
People are often envious of my lifestyle or horrified by it. The most common thing from those who are envious is ‘you’re lucky, you’ve no commitments, kids, mortgage etc…’, they fail to see that that was a choice of mine not luck and that them having a family is also choice and if it makes them happy they should be envious of no one
Luck plays a very little part in shaping most peoples destinies. Hard work, commitment, enthusiasm & passion plays the bigger part. You can achieve your goals without the element of luck but without the latter elements in the equation you have slim to none. I have said in one of my previous posts, choice is a great thing. We all choose a path to walk, no one is different in this respect.
Work to live, not live to work. I do as little work as possible, I am lucky in the fact that I get a Guarantee that is more than most drivers in the USA earn so I can just take it steady. My days of running like an idiot ended when I left Swifts in 1987, since then I have taken it easy. I do just about 50 hours or less per week, this past week has been a very rare exception because the company I collected my load from delayed loading for 13 hours and made me work the very first Saturday morning in years although as a reward I got $388.00 for the 5.5 hours I worked which worked out at $70.50 an hour LOL.