Extinction

[Zoober]

Hey Zoober.. it's good to hear from you!!

we got a small 3 bedroom house on a half acre on the edge of town.
that's as close to "country" as I care to get.
there is also a really good hospital 4 miles away.

my search criteria was
no water wells, no septic tanks, no propane tanks, good internet
I guess I've spent too much time in the city. 

I guess we've been in the country too long. My criteria is 10 acres minimum, a stocked pond, and a 40x60' out building.

[CADCAM396]

Congradulations on retirement. you will be missed and it is very suspect you have helped me on the road of machining.

I am on the fence at this point what retirement looks like for me but have to share some visions as i have gone down that path of thought.

bought 20 acres of trees some 20 years ago. thought that could be a plan but fire consumed cabin we built and it seamed to be always be work prior to and after the fire.

so built my dream 5th wheel toy hauler, we used it up there after cabin burnt down. cause i was not willing to build where fire could take out everything their. thought we might migrate with that in and out of weather and fire danger in retirement but not enough cush for the wify.

property was sold 5 or so years ago, way too much work and not enough family intrest in working it.

so hear i am still machining away in city of tacoma not sure when that spark of life is going to move me in some direction.

thanks again for helping on your journey and hope the best for you.

[Dylan Gondyke]

Wow, congratulations on the retirement! It's going to be strange not seeing your thoughts on-the-regular in the forums.

Bummed we never got to sit down and chat in-person. My social interactions never recovered from COVID....

[gcode]

Wow, congratulations on the retirement! It's going to be strange not seeing your thoughts on-the-regular in the forums.

Bummed we never got to sit down and chat in-person. My social interactions never recovered from COVID....

I'm not totally gone.. I'll be doing some contracting for my employer once I get moved and settled into
our new house.

[gcode]

My social interactions never recovered from COVID....

my brain never recovered from covid   

[Here's Johnny!]

my brain never recovered from working with Hardmill!   

Fixed for accuracy!!!!   

[kccadcam]

Congrats, I'm one year behind you.
We are a dying breed.
Watching what's coming I think it's best anyways.


Machinist is a noble trade ,
If you draw a print it can be made.
Be it big or be it small ,
We'll make anything at all.
We cut all from aluminum to zinc ,
Any material you can think .
Machinists make the world go around ,
If we can't make it, it can't be found.
Machining is a form of art ,
We take a solid block and make a part.
We work in extreme precision ,
how we measure is an important decision .
Micrometers , indicators , C.M.M. ,
There's so much more I won't list them.
From milling to turning to grinding,
To polishing, lapping, and spring winding
If I list them all it would be blinding .
Some may think that we are lazy ,
Others think that we are crazy.
We may be loud and we may be proud,
We usually stand out in a crowd .
I say this now and I mean this,
If Michelangelo were alive he'd be a machinist .
When you get into your car,
And go to work or to the bar,
Whether in the air or on the ground,
Wherever you look our work can be found.
The machinist trade is here to stay,
Without us this way of life would go away.
We're all around I'm sure you've seen us,,,,

 So next time you, do thank a machinist.

[champshire]

Congrats on retirement. Well deserved. Thanks for all the knowledge you have passed on to myself and others. It has been priceless.

[TSmcam]

Gcode... I first interacted on the E with gcode, along with a lot of the other good cats there. Some are now here, some are gone.

As always, I've had a ton of respect for Tom, and all the others. I made my way over to the USA a few times, and one day at a CGTech VUE, I sat next to Tom. Got to meet the legend in person. I even got to visit his impressive workplace. Ended up at a Mexican restaurant with Tom and his wife (who is great!). Subsequently caught up with a bunch of the SoCal contigent at CNCAppsGuy's house for a bbq, and got to try Toms wifes potato salad. I enjoyed it so much we got the recipe

Since all that, and even though the Mastercam hasp has been hung up, I have always kept in touch with Gcode with a catchup email every so often. I value all my associations, all over the world, and Gcodes is right up there. He listened when I went through the MC crap, and he helped me with technical stuff. He is definitely one of the good guys.

Tom, congratulations on your pending retirement, and your shift. You both deserve it, and I look forward to remaining in touch.

Might have to visit Arkansas now.... LOL

[neurosis]

I think that G has helped me out a few times over the years, but when I first started using MC and joined EMC, most of my questions about the software were based on criticisms of the software. As everyone who's been on EMC for any amount of time knows, starting a "help me" thread with criticisms of the software doesn't usually get you very far. 

My help mostly came behind the scenes and I think that you, @TSmcam, were the one that helped me the most. Especially in that first year.

The funny thing about this little anecdote, is that a lot of the people I did get help from, are people who I've seen thank G for his help over the years. So even if the help wasn't direct, it somehow could be traced back to G.   

Or, some of it from James, JP, Zoob (reading old threads), even Noob.

To think that it's been 20ish years for me on EMC, some of you since the beginning (you guys can thank @TSmcam for telling me about that place ) is pretty crazy.  I can't thank everyone enough. Not just for the help, but for the entertainment and the conversation over the years.

[TSmcam]

and I think that you, @TSmcam, were the one that helped me the most. Especially in that first year.

(you guys can thank @TSmcam for telling me about that place )

Wow, thanks for the honorable mention. Honestly, I really enjoy this environment, and have always (and still do) been happy to help out. As you rightly point out, I've gained knowledge from the Jedi master G, along with CNCAppsGuy, Ron and a host of others. I was merely passing it down the line We all have a common link in terms of being broken assed programmers, typically getting grumpier and more intolerant as we age LOL

When G actually retires, we should have a Teams and Beer virtual retirement party for/with him. We'd bring the internet to its knees LOL

[neurosis]

Wow, thanks for the honorable mention.

I don't know if you remember, but I knew you long before I started using MC. I was a Cimatron guy back in those days and I remember flipping you shit about Mastercam. My shop forced me in to moving over from Cimatron starting in 2005ish and made it an ultimatum in 2008.

You've always been there if I had a question or needed help with something, and I appreciate that. That didn't stop with MC. It bled over in to TS as well.

[TSmcam]

I don't know if you remember, but I knew you long before I started using MC. I was a Cimatron guy back in those days and I remember flipping you shit about Mastercam. My shop forced me in to moving over from Cimatron starting in 2005ish and made it an ultimatum in 2008.

You've always been there if I had a question or needed help with something, and I appreciate that. That didn't stop with MC. It bled over in to TS as well.

I do indeed remember, especially because I had heard a lot about Cimatron, and was genuinely interested in it.

I definitely remember the shitflipping, but to be honest, it went both ways (and lets be honest, life is one big shitflip LOL).

The big thing about all of us here, is that we will help each other out. Doesn't matter where in the world we are. Kind of cool really. Especially given the different time zones, there is always someone somewhere drinking, I mean, er, working and ready to help LOL

[neurosis]

I definitely remember the shitflipping, but to be honest, it went both ways (and lets be honest, life is one big shitflip LOL).

Yes, it did.  That definitely wasn't a one way street. 

[gcode]

I was cleaning out my filing cabinet last weekend and found an old 1996 invoice from Machining Timesavers of Anaheim California.
It was for $6K (including a $3K discount) for a seat of TekSoft 2.5DMill and Lathe.
Gary Sladic came by and handed me a box with a half dozen 3.5" floppies.
My partner looked an me and said "You're a fucking moron if you paid 6 grand for that"

In 1998 Tek Soft off-shored their coding to India and the 1998 release was garbage.
I bought a seat of Mastercam late in 1998.