Hey everyone

Hi, Mike!

Where in the world have you been?  And what's going on?

If you get the chance, please e-mail me.

Gip

Mike! Where in heck did you disappear to? I've been having to tout Badgers all by my lonesome 'round here, what with all the Iwata guys having a field day with you gone.

How's that son of yours?

Bill
 

Great having you back Mike! Your presence is missed around here for sure!

Oh, and did I mention how much I just LOVE my Badgers!

ruddratt wrote:

Oh, and did I mention how much I just LOVE my Badgers!

Man, I go away for a little vacation and all the old coots start crawling out of the crevices!  MikeV, Salty Dog, Styrene, and even me.  Just like the old days ;)  No telling who will show up next.

 Good to see all of you are still around and doing well.

Good to see some old friends on here.

I haven't been doing any building for a while and should be as I have been unemployed since Thanksgiving. Wow! This is a scary year for us Operating Engineers as it is real slow and a lot of guys are off. I worked one day this year and that was last week. Amazing for summer.

My unemployment had run out and so has my Union medical coverage but the Lord has sustained  us thus far.  

saltydog wrote:

hey mikey!  i've been on a long hiatus myself.  good to "see" you too musiccity!LOL  iwata still rules friends.  later.

Iwata? Isn't that some import car or something?

Bgrigg wrote:

Mike! Where in heck did you disappear to? I've been having to tout Badgers all by my lonesome 'round here, what with all the Iwata guys having a field day with you gone. How's that son of yours? Bill

Thanks for holding down the fort Bill.

Don't worry about those Iwata users they are brain washed.

My son is doing pretty good and can't wait to come home.

He said it was 117 degrees in the shade there the other day and they patrol the streets in the sun with all that heavy gear on. Wow! I would bake like a TV dinner in that gear.

Mike,

Sorry to hear your out of work. We can't find enough guys up here in Canada to build and you're down there unemployed. Doesn't seem right.

Glad to hear your son is safe. Hope he gets to come home soon. It was 104F here today and I'm sitting here sweating in shorts. I can't imagine wearing 60 lbs. of gear.

Bill 

Bgrigg wrote:

Mike, Sorry to hear your out of work. We can't find enough guys up here in Canada to build and you're down there unemployed. Doesn't seem right. Glad to hear your son is safe. Hope he gets to come home soon. It was 104F here today and I'm sitting here sweating in shorts. I can't imagine wearing 60 lbs. of gear. Bill

That's why they have young men in the Marines Bill, you and I wouldn't make it.

He said after a patrol it feels like jumping into a swimming pool with your clothes on. Wow!

One day they had to do a 6 hour patrol, he said they were exhausted. I bet!  

MusicCity wrote:

Man, I go away for a little vacation and all the old coots start crawling out of the crevices!  MikeV, Salty Dog, Styrene, and even me.  Just like the old days ;)  No telling who will show up next.  Good to see all of you are still around and doing well.

Yes, the good old days are missed that is for sure.

Here is the newest picture I have of Andrew in the Anbar province of Iraq.

Cool mask huh? Knock knock!

wow mike, didn't know your son was in irag!!  the last i heard he had just joined and if i remember correctly, you weren't a happy camper.  may God be with him and bring he and his unit back safely.

as far as unemployment, i feel your pain friend.  if you remember, in december of 04' i accepted a job with a volumn builder about an hour and a half from my home town.  we moved there and everything was well for about 18 months.  after hurricane katrina, we had a surge of building and we could hardly keep up.  about 8 months after katrina, BOOM, the homebuilding market dried up to nothing in my area!!  right after they gave me the axe, i found out i had another child on the way!  so here we are unemployed and pregnant!!  i managed to scratch out a living until our apartment lease was up and we moved back to my hometown in january of this year and i picked up building houses again.  we're doing well now and the Lord has blessed abundantly.  i know He's gonna do the same for you friend. 

import car?  yeah, i'd say iwata is the mercedes of airbrushes.  brain washed?  feels great to be  cleansed friend.  later.