I have to say, I love hanging out with the old timers.
I know that many young people have an attitude about older folks – they say “ok, boomer” and dismiss everything they have to say.
Not me. I like listening to them, there is so much we can learn from the older generations, when we are humble enough to pay attention to them. Most of what I learn from old Gus at work is how the world used to be, so it’s more interesting than helpful. But boy is it interesting! Gus should write a book about his old days as a traveling HVAC repairman. That’s right, Gus didn’t have a shop or a phone number, he had a van and drove around the rural countryside offering to work on peoples heating systems for them. Those were the days where outside of the big city there were very few HVAC companies, so a large percentage of people had no access to repair services. Gus would go to farms and inquire if they had need of any heating services, anything from repairs to providing an entirely new system. In the back of his van Gus had piles and bins full of HVAC parts and components, and also a few small heaters and cooling units. Back then there wasn’t a lot of call for air conditioning work, but he still kept a portable air conditioner in the van just in case someone wanted to splurge on a luxury item. He worked for years and never had his actual HVAC certification, he was entirely self taught.