With my 62nd birthday just a couple of weeks away, I've come to the conclusion that now is probably the right time to retire, or at least semi-retire. While of course things have changed considerably over the past 40 years, the change that my industry has gone through has been especially dramatic, and not in a good way.
I used to thoroughly enjoy designing new homes, or more correctly, working alongside the architects (they "drew", I "tweaked"), then turning those 2-dimensional blueprints into someone's "dream home". I loved figuring out how to put 'em together, visualizing the 3-D geometry needed to get all the parts to fit together right. And there's really nothing like the sense of satisfaction you get driving down a street where you built years ago and saying to yourself, "I built that one, and that one, and that one, too", waving at the people working in their yards, recognizing some, but knowing others had passed along your creation to other families for them to enjoy.
But back then you had a minimal amount of paperwork, customers were more trusting, a handshake meant something, your competitors were by-and-large honorable people, and the bankers had yet to go over to The Dark Side. Because I dealt with them fairly and paid well and on time, the best craftsmen actually wanted to work for me. Going to work every day was a very pleasant experience.
But then some shady types invaded our ranks causing people to look at us all as borderline crooks, which I resented greatly. Standardized contracts went from 1 page in 1972 to nearly 30 pages today. Workman's Comp, liability insurance, audits, waivers, EPA, OSHA, storm water/erosion control....the BS just never ends! Today actually building the home is the easy part. It's everything else that has become the albatross around my neck.
Since the economic meltdown of 2008 my industry has gone over a cliff and will probably never fully recover. Regardless of who wins the November elections, our political system is corrupt and dysfunctional. The money interest's have hijacked our country, and because they own the rule makers, they have an unlimited supply of "Get out of jail free" cards. They have things rigged and can get away with darn near anything. It's play by their rules, or don't play at all. The risks I would have to take if I were to soldier on are simply not worth the modest rewards I might realize.
My brother / business partner wants to keep pushing on, and of course I'll help him get through the technical parts of construction on a consulting basis, hence the "semi-retired" status. But for me, I'm tired of beating my head against the wall. This isn't exactly the way I wanted to see my career curtain come down, but I can accept it and be happy. I'm sure I'll work or volunteer somewhere as I'm afraid I'd be a lousy rocker and probably an even worse whittler. ;)
Cheers!
S
