well done to you, but I pity the son, poor bugger fancy having his old man move back in, make sure you nag him plenty about the dishes and the state of the floor and the garden and throw in plenty of "BACK IN MY DAY"

thats what I would do anyway!!

Then I gotta catch up with you guys 'n Gals next

Way to go John.   Make sure South Coast NSW is on the list of places to go and call in for a cuppa.

Ma

Nice to hear its all gone reasonably smooth and now let the fun times begin.

I'm not sure about this "selective memory" MA, I know I was born about the right time possibly a decade too late but pretty well right, I have never gone without work, always had money in my pocket, I've been able to travel a lot although fuel was cheaper a decade before my time

always had tucker on the table, those that went through the depression (and my parents were amongst them) went without plenty, always had two bob in my pocket earned by me through either a paper round or working at our local service station which would guarantee a feed of lollies for a swag of kids at the local shop when "I WAS A BOY"

everybody seemed "frendlier", life was a slower pace, a resume was laughed at, the way that I got employment was to go have a drink at the pub (horrid pastime but one must endure) find out who the local contractor was working on that big project, buy him a beer and ask if he was after a dozer operator or heavy equipment operator, normally the answer was "can you start at sparra fart tommorra" or "nah mate but charlie over at naracoorte is" we were not afraid to travel for employment not like the squibbs of today who wont get out of bed for a job

wages were good, days were long but we had plenty of rain, I could sing along with the songs on the radio, i knew them all, I could understand what the hell they were saying, we had Johnny cash, willy nelson, waylon jennings, roger daultry, patsy cline, roger whittiker, charlie pride, the big "O", ABBA, slim dusty, hell who is there now, murders were an "overseas" thing and didnt happen here

youngsters could afford a house new or secondhand, cars were better and we could work on them ourselves, cops would come over and have a beer with you, and just as likely to kick you in the freckle or a clip round the lug hole if you strayed off the straight and narrow rather than give you a fine, if he didnt then he would tell the old man and he bloody well would

we had "CRACKER NIGHT" whatever wowser took that away from us needs a penny bunger up his jacksy, drive ins were the go, pull up and whack the speaker in and "cuddle" for a couple of hours or at least until the chiko rolls were hot in the "canteen" then back to a bit of tongue wrestling

all in all looking into the mirrors of my life I wouldnt change a thing, you gotta go through some mud to apreciate the bitumen, it was great then but all is good now

ah well meloncholy soapbox back now!!

once again I have nicked a post, sorry Jon!! my bottom jaw is on a pair of springs, once it starts it just keeps on reciprocating, enjoy the vehicle when you get it, and make sure you give the lad heaps, something to remember you by

Well Jon now the only problem you will have is finding the appropriate "occupation" to put on your tax return....

Lazo wrote:

---

G'Day Jon,

Congratulations on starting the next phase of your life!

Be nice to the kids though - after all they're the ones that will choose the retirement village!

Cheers
Lazo

---

Nursing Home .....Lazo ......... Nursing Home !!

 

Love the change at the end of your messages Jon.  Welcome to being a Nomad.....the best life there is.

Dave,  ahhhhhh.........the good old days.........remember them well.  One you didn't mention.....we had a "beef" with someone you had a dust up knocked each other down, got up shook hands and were the best of friends.  No knives, guns or weapons of mass destruction.

Do you reckon we can wind back the clock??  sure would be nice

Good on you Jon. You'll have a ball. Put me on your list to visit on the south coast of NSW - what am I saying....I'm in WA......oh well, "in my day" I had a a better memory...cheers, Sue

Hey Jon,
Live your dreams mate, we are a long time gone so get on with it. We have not had a backward look since we "retired" 8yrs ago. Very happy for you, give the kids a good serve before you leave!!!
Percy

I'm off too....Ok.its just for weekend.......a 20min drive to the Kuitpo forest..camping..keeping fingers Xed ,the weather will be good.....I might have to put the Paj in 4x4..to get out...LOL

good luck Jon....be safe

Dave

wind back the clock, absolutely love to and yes you are right the kids have more "stuff" than we ever did but what we got we worked a damn site harder for it and apreciated it more, kids now have everything that opens and shuts and have respect for nothing, my son has already outstripped me in the housing stakes and is well in front on the bank account, but I feel I have a better "quality" of life

as for all you buggers nicking off I have made up a "roster" so as to give ourselves a week off, we are nicking off "up north" for a while, gonna have a look at some wildflowers and reintroduce ourselves to a few gum trees, just got to get the dragon to agree to it and take the apropriate measures, dont know how far yet but we will do brachina gorge, wilpena pound and its gorges and probably end up at blinman or maybe a bit further up the birdsville track, if I had a bit more time we could have squizz at lake eyre, see how we go for time

thats the beauty of living here we are only a hop skip and a jump away from pure ecstacy (visual kind not tablet form)

take care Jess. plenty of pictures, watch those idiot puddle jumpers on the tracks

When are you going DaveO??

looks like late august maybe early september ducky, we are due for two weeks respite for our son around then, I was going to take a mob up to uluru and the alice but things change

breakdown, house up for sale that kind of thing, we will keep a week respite in reserve for when we sell the house (if we sell the house, no offers yet) and just nick off for a week this time, dont know how far we will get, dont care either but the farther the better, desert country's calling me again, I seek peace and quiet

I would love to see lake eyre in flood again, just magical, I would love to be able to do what Jon is about to do, the things you are about to see mate, spectacular

Jon, take it in your stride bullpebbles, you'd be going through that many depends the chemist would be giving you a bulk discount, I know I would be, I'd be wound up tighter than a clock spring, about the same feeling as a teenager on his first date on prom night

jon7360 wrote:

---

Its a good time for me and I want to enjoy it all ..

Jon

---

Now, that's what I call a positive attitude.

Happy travels and may your god go with you.

Might meet you 'out there' sometime.