Maintenance (story)

[missed mallards]

Been a while since I've logged into the site. Looks good. If you have a lot of time on your hands, read on. I haven't wrote anything in a good long while. I haven't proofed it, and the wife isn't here to tell me all my errors so ya'll get the uncut pleasure of making since of the gibberish. I wrote this to myself, and figured someone might get some good out of it.

“Maintainability”

I was fresh out of college and had the whole world at my fingertips. I was going to go places, see things, change things, and make more money than Bill Gates ever dreamed. Yeah, I had some dreams for sure. A year later reality sank in and the old hoe I hated as a child that blistered my hands in the garden, had somehow found its way back into my hands. This time I wasn’t swinging it to please my dad, or take vengeance out on the weeds that so plagued that garden. No, I was swinging it to pay my bills. That in itself was in no way my plans. Nowhere in the “Life Goals and Plans” did I ever envision myself doing hard labor to get by. The job was considered “Cotton Research” but I never did research much into it but a way out of it. But, I learned a lot from that damn hoe, and that job in general.

As much as I hated aspects of that time in my life, I picked up on somethings I wouldn’t have otherwise. During that time I got to travel and see new areas. That was a nice perk as I hadn’t done much traveling until then. It was during one of our trips I got a life lesson. One of which I hadn’t thought much about until now. It was in late November and it was just cold. I have no other words than it was just bone chilling cold. We were in the boot hill region of Missouri trying to finish up the last cotton trial. We had some odd many acres to pick, and I was in charge of running the module packer. Now in most cases that was ok. I had a tractor supplied that had radio, heater, and in most cases an air ride seat. Not that I drove it very far, but the creature comforts were well appreciated. On this particular trip, I had a 1960’s something john deere 4020.

If you’ve ever been around agriculture, there is quite the history of the 4020. In many eyes, it is still the best thing that ever moved an implement into a field. To me, it was just an old tractor. I’m no tractor buff so the whole no cab, no heat, and no radio thing kind of lost its appeal. The funny thing about that old tractor, two pumps on the steering wheel to prime it, and one bump of the starter and it was running. No matter what, that old piece of equipment shinned when it came to doing its job. Now granted, it did lack the comforts of the modern day tractor. But, it cranked and ran. In short, it did its job and did everything I asked of it the entire time I used it.

On the last day of our visit, the old farmer came by to shoot the bull. He had no longer stepped out of the warmth of his cabbed truck when he asked “How’s old besty running?” Laughing, I just said like the day she was bought and killed the engine. As I began to climb off the old tractor the farmer made his way toward me. A few short conversation pieces were shared between him and I, and he went on to inspect the old tractor. After a few short minutes of looking everything over, he walked up to me and began a conversation. The focus; the 4020. I guess it was around the end of our conversation when he looked at me and just said, “Son, you’ll learn maintenance plays an invaluable role in life.” Hell, I thought he was talking about the tractor.

A lot of years have gone by since that afternoon. In all aspects, I’ve achieved every goal I had set by the time I turned 30, except one. The one will haunt me until I achieve it, but the focus of obtaining it has eluded me as of now. Today, I thought back on that afternoon for several reasons. Last night, my wife and I had the worst fight since we were married. I’m not sure what individual thing started it, but somewhere along the way chaos broke out. Today I had a moment to think about life, and in general what I was going to do going forward. It hit me like a ton of bricks as I sat and thought. A lot of what happened last night, and the past recent months has been due to maintenance. Or the lack there of.

I realized, unlike the old 4020, I hadn’t stayed on top of maintaining my life. The old 4020 was there when it was needed, ran when it was started, and did its job as it was asked. Simply enough, it was due to the farmer taking his time and ensuring that it did so by keeping it up to snuff. Life doesn’t run on the sun rising and falling alone. Everything in life requires you to maintain it for when you need it. But, there’s more to maintain than the material things lying around.

I hadn’t thought much about the maintenance aspect until today. I knew my life as of a year ago wasn’t the same and I knew something had gone a midst. As I started to think back, and I mean back, I began to see something. I began to think about other things too. As I sat there pondering about the $#!+ that’s going on in my life lately, I realized I had brought much/most of it onto myself.
Somethings of interest:
1) You have one body and one soul. What kind of shape are they in?
2) What kind of shape is your home in? Note: not house.
I stopped right there. I didn’t even make it to my bank account that makes my BP rise to dangerous levels. Right there, those two things were all it took.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have a list of things I’ll add at the bottom I think are great to maintain. But right now, those will wait. I’m not going to tell you to run out and buy a bible and start reading it. Just sit there and ask yourself if your soul is in the right place. Your body? Look down, you got some extra pounds you NEED to shed? Can you run a mile? Can you participate in a life event health wise?
Your home: whats the health like. Is it a home? Is there happiness? Is all well?
I’ll tell you why I stopped there, as I have got to get to work on both. Hard to swallow but it is what it is.

A few things I would/will make importance to my daughter/wife/anyone to add to those two.

Maintain your contacts. Could be teachers, friends, class mates, and work colleges, hell someone who helped you… Make a point to keep in touch. A few seconds a day just to touch base. I don’t care for gossip, but being in the ‘loop’ keeps you in ears length of open doors.

Maintain material items: whatever they may be. Don’t neglect them. It takes money to purchase them, it takes work to make money, and things in life that work don’t need to be left to the side just because. Take the hoe in the opening paragraph. If you ever have to use one, a dull one will break your back! A few minutes with a file makes for a day of a lot less sweet and frustration.

If you break it, fix it: Simple enough. Don’t put off fixing something that is broken. You’ll soon realize it’s hard to use something that can’t be used do to neglect of maintenance.
Maintain a Maintenance fund: This is something setback for the “breaks” in life.

Maintain your knowledge. Sounds simple enough, but facebook and Instagram don’t teach you much. Yeah, investors can pick up on things, but words, and learning trades is progress. Side story: An old couple was lying in the bed as they thought they knew everything and there was nothing else to know/live for. A 6 year old kid came over. The kid needed a coal from the couple’s fire place to start a fire, but he had nothing but the clothes he wore. Looking on, the couple obliged the kid with a coal, but with nothing to carry it, they waited in wonder. The kid filled his hands full of ashes, set the coal on top of the bed of ashes, and left. The old couple realized they needed to get up as there was more to learn still. Moral: There’s always ways to learn.

Maintain Funds: This is something that hits hard. When you are living, maintain a life that your funds allow. Meaning, don’t spend every red sent you make. Spend some of the black, and save some of the black. This is something I hope to instill in my daughter, and any other child that comes about. Your life is primarily spent doing two things, working and not working. In order to enjoy the after, you have to put in the work. Research fields, understand them. Research the incomes and understand what level of income/life adventures you want. If it’s going to take a MD’s income to live the life you want, you better maintain a good GPA and go into such a field. If you want a MD’s income with a basket weaving degree, well good luck!

Maintainability. You get out what you put in. Being we are a hunting community: A dog that breaks, a gun that jams, and a leaky pair of waders makes for a long hunt! A little maintenance goes a long way.

In short, get your body/soul and home in line. Make a daily effort to maintain those. Then, go further from your front door. I understand you could spend every waking minute maintaining ‘things’. I’m not saying don’t live life, do so by maintaining what you have.

[mossyisland]

Great writing as usual Tom! 4020 was and is the best John Deere ever made. Lots of meat we can all take away from that story!

[DanP]

Tom,
You and I had the same realization at about the same time in life. So from a fella couple years ahead, the realization was the easy part, now you gotta live it. BUT, if you do live it, some things in life will get better, not easier, but better.
Outstanding writing as always and if you need anything holler!
Dan

[novacaine]

Great and TIMELY story...........for me anyways.
Great job.

[SB]

Enjoyed it. Thanks

[skywalker]

Good read! The 7 'F' of priorities:
1. FAITH
2. Family
3. Fitness
4. Fluency (education, careers, social)
5. Friends
6. Fun
7. Finances (too many decisions based on finances get us in trouble, this is last)

[eSJay]

Good stuff Tom!