Been a busy weekend at Chateau IbLive.
First.... Thank you for the happy birthdays. As for birthday celebrations.... I may have grilled the birthday steak. My bride did the rest.... a dinner and a brunch.... and knocked it out of the park. Had some really good food this weekend.
Second.... Friday I punched the time card for the last time. Been at this since 1972 and it was time to call it a day.
Oct 1972 I got hired at the local Farm Service. Spent two years there. I was on the building crew and have helped build steel buildings and grain bins. Worked in the shop servicing the equipment. Delivered feed and fertilizer to farmers. Repaired and sold tractor and truck tires.
1974 took a job at the local JI Case store.... which became CaseIh.... which even later became Case New Holland. Initially I drove the big truck delivering and picking up tractors from farmers. When not driving the truck I did mechanic work. 1980 I moved into the parts department where I've been since. Different owners. Different industries. Different towns, but always parts. Along the way, I got pretty good at it. Guess if you're gonna do something for 40 years, you'd better figure it out or you should be doing something different. Last year this time I'd pretty much decided the end of 2020 was going to be it. However, as happens..... things change. This spring there were some things that went down that moved that time table up..... not Covid related. But in Sept. when the second person in two months tested positive at my store (which turned out to be a false pos) we held a family meeting via internet. My youngest summed it up with "its time to walk away dad." Next day I turned in my notice of Oct 3 as my retirement date.
It's been a ride. Started the job at the Case dealership the same summer/fall I started dating the future Mrs. IbLive. She's still sitting on the sofa across from me as I type this. We raised two awesome sons who are both married to awesome ladies. Have four grandkids... the youngest age 2 and the oldest Freshman in HS. There's been some trials along the way. Some heartache. But it's been a good life. And now it's time for Dad to go fishing.
First.... Thank you for the happy birthdays. As for birthday celebrations.... I may have grilled the birthday steak. My bride did the rest.... a dinner and a brunch.... and knocked it out of the park. Had some really good food this weekend.
Second.... Friday I punched the time card for the last time. Been at this since 1972 and it was time to call it a day.
Oct 1972 I got hired at the local Farm Service. Spent two years there. I was on the building crew and have helped build steel buildings and grain bins. Worked in the shop servicing the equipment. Delivered feed and fertilizer to farmers. Repaired and sold tractor and truck tires.
1974 took a job at the local JI Case store.... which became CaseIh.... which even later became Case New Holland. Initially I drove the big truck delivering and picking up tractors from farmers. When not driving the truck I did mechanic work. 1980 I moved into the parts department where I've been since. Different owners. Different industries. Different towns, but always parts. Along the way, I got pretty good at it. Guess if you're gonna do something for 40 years, you'd better figure it out or you should be doing something different. Last year this time I'd pretty much decided the end of 2020 was going to be it. However, as happens..... things change. This spring there were some things that went down that moved that time table up..... not Covid related. But in Sept. when the second person in two months tested positive at my store (which turned out to be a false pos) we held a family meeting via internet. My youngest summed it up with "its time to walk away dad." Next day I turned in my notice of Oct 3 as my retirement date.
It's been a ride. Started the job at the Case dealership the same summer/fall I started dating the future Mrs. IbLive. She's still sitting on the sofa across from me as I type this. We raised two awesome sons who are both married to awesome ladies. Have four grandkids... the youngest age 2 and the oldest Freshman in HS. There's been some trials along the way. Some heartache. But it's been a good life. And now it's time for Dad to go fishing.
Last edited:
