End of an Era
Before we get started, the new issue of SDF is now available. Details are up on the previous post, or you can order it at www.torcpress.com/comicshop.html.
I'm not entirely sure how old I was. I was either 10 or 11 (probably 11). Anyway, I remember I was lying on the couch, watching TV, when all of the sudden Dad showed up at the door. This was a bit unusual, as I don't really ever remember Dad being at the house before 4. Sure, it was summer, but it wasn't like Dad ever got a summer vacation. Summer vacation was for kids, not grown ups.
"Throw on some clothes you don't mind getting dirty son, you're going to work," Dad said.
"Huh?" I said.
On that day I became an employee of Morris Wood Products Inc. Every summer and some holidays I would work at the Mill while all the other kids were having fun. It was me, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Ma, and some hired hands at first. Then Grandma and Ma stopped working there a year later, but Bro joined up (I never wanted to work at the mill, but Bro was actually excited to start work there) which made things a little more bearable. We also had to work on the farm in the summer, driving tractors and stuff. That sucked. Eventually Dad fired all the hired hands cause they were lazy bums (that's right, at the age of 13 I was a better worker than a pack of adults), and the sawmill operation became pure family. When I got my license I would come in and work at the Mill for an hour after school let out. When I quit college, I went to work full time at the Mill (I also almost went insane in less than a year. It's funny, I could handle full time work for three months at a time, but the first time I had to work more than that was more than I could handle). I've been working full time there ever since.
I've been cut. I've bled. Had my hands, fingers, and feet crushed. Twisted my ankle twice (I think it was the same one). Froze in the winters. Nearly sweat to death in the summer. My allergies would go berzerk at random and nearly cripple me. Over the last couple of years I've had serious asthma attacks in winter. I've worked so hard I thought my arms would fall off.
But hey, it's not been all bad. I always got paid on time. We had an hour long lunch break, and we either ate at Ma and Pa's place, or at Grandma's. I got to work with Bro, as well as my Dad and my Grandpa.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, it all ended. Y'see, for a sawmill to operate, we need logs. We were buying logs off of this one group, but then they stopped bringing us logs, but they kept saying they were gonna bring us logs, but they didn't cause they're liars. So we started getting logs off of another crew. But then they stopped bringing us logs. We couldn't find any other loggers, so we tried going to the woods and getting our own logs. Unfortunately, the excessive precipitation has prevented us from going to the woods. So, we're out of logs, and we've got no new logs coming in. Translation: Out of Business.
So, for the first time in my life (for all intents and purposes) I'm unemployed. What now? Not sure. More on that in my next post.
I'm not entirely sure how old I was. I was either 10 or 11 (probably 11). Anyway, I remember I was lying on the couch, watching TV, when all of the sudden Dad showed up at the door. This was a bit unusual, as I don't really ever remember Dad being at the house before 4. Sure, it was summer, but it wasn't like Dad ever got a summer vacation. Summer vacation was for kids, not grown ups.
"Throw on some clothes you don't mind getting dirty son, you're going to work," Dad said.
"Huh?" I said.
On that day I became an employee of Morris Wood Products Inc. Every summer and some holidays I would work at the Mill while all the other kids were having fun. It was me, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Ma, and some hired hands at first. Then Grandma and Ma stopped working there a year later, but Bro joined up (I never wanted to work at the mill, but Bro was actually excited to start work there) which made things a little more bearable. We also had to work on the farm in the summer, driving tractors and stuff. That sucked. Eventually Dad fired all the hired hands cause they were lazy bums (that's right, at the age of 13 I was a better worker than a pack of adults), and the sawmill operation became pure family. When I got my license I would come in and work at the Mill for an hour after school let out. When I quit college, I went to work full time at the Mill (I also almost went insane in less than a year. It's funny, I could handle full time work for three months at a time, but the first time I had to work more than that was more than I could handle). I've been working full time there ever since.
I've been cut. I've bled. Had my hands, fingers, and feet crushed. Twisted my ankle twice (I think it was the same one). Froze in the winters. Nearly sweat to death in the summer. My allergies would go berzerk at random and nearly cripple me. Over the last couple of years I've had serious asthma attacks in winter. I've worked so hard I thought my arms would fall off.
But hey, it's not been all bad. I always got paid on time. We had an hour long lunch break, and we either ate at Ma and Pa's place, or at Grandma's. I got to work with Bro, as well as my Dad and my Grandpa.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, it all ended. Y'see, for a sawmill to operate, we need logs. We were buying logs off of this one group, but then they stopped bringing us logs, but they kept saying they were gonna bring us logs, but they didn't cause they're liars. So we started getting logs off of another crew. But then they stopped bringing us logs. We couldn't find any other loggers, so we tried going to the woods and getting our own logs. Unfortunately, the excessive precipitation has prevented us from going to the woods. So, we're out of logs, and we've got no new logs coming in. Translation: Out of Business.
So, for the first time in my life (for all intents and purposes) I'm unemployed. What now? Not sure. More on that in my next post.
1 Comments:
Sorry to hear about the mill. I know Ryan enjoyed working there. I'm sure everyone will miss it.
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