Today, just to be a nice guy I helped a friend with a concrete pour, cause one of his guy's quit on him and left him in a fix. After 3 hours of pushing around those heavy wheelbarrow's full of concrete has me feeling real pain... I am for one so very thankful that I have been given the best trade in the world to work at for the last 27 years. It only takes a few hours doing what the other guy's have to do each day to set me strait.

I feel your pain I so not play with mud!!! After 25yrs as an electrician I want to work with my brain not my back. Rod

I know what you mean, Helped a friend stock sheet rock and then hang it. What pain I felt in the morning. Never again. Glad I'm a sparky

You folks don't have pumps up there?

Not many old guys placing concrete. That's definitely a young mans game.

We have pump plenty, but George said it was going to be an easy pour and we could do it with wheelbarrows. For them it was easy. For me it's been three bayer asprin and right now I am filling up the whirlpool tub with hot water as we speak.

Once I tried the pump I never "wheeled" concrete again. The county tax man says I have put in about 2500 square feet of concrete over the years and they dont know about all of it.
Only my pump guy knows for sure. ;-)

Macmikeman,
I FEEL your pain. During the depression of 75, I had to spend several months pouring and finishing concrete (I figured if we could get the buildings put UP, SOMEONE would have to wire 'em).

Even as a pup, it was some kinda tough to use a different set of muscles. I've done all kindsa things during tough times, but hope concrete and drywall never come back, cuz I figger now they'd likely break the old geez.

livetoride: 25 years as an electrician working with your brain?????? Who installed your ductbanks, transformers, overhead conductors, etc ???? I recall some pretty danged tough work related completely to my end of this trade. Including having to use some nasty jackhammers to get through, over and around things.

Anyway, as an aficianado of Bayer myself (there ougtha be a club don't ya think?) I also make judicious use of Goody's headache powders, aspirin in powder form, taste awful but work nearly instantly.

Starting a ductbank Monday, It's gonna hurt me just to watch.

I take it not to many of you guys worked in minnesota in the winter at 60 below or 1400 ft underground , or hundreds of feet up on a head frame in the winter! Theres also some Bad with the good , 41 yrs as a Electrican might just be enought I;m thinkin.

With nothing to show for my career except two cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, two cases of trigger finger, and arthritis on every knuckle of my hands, I tend to wonder if I could've made some better choices...

If you're going to work building trades, no
question electric is the way to go.I do only resi.; mininum of heavy lifting, good combo of mental/physical work,mostly inside, some w/ heat or cooling, and if you're careful,
safer than roofing,framing,siding; plumbing,
wet and/or smelly; elec. the perfect solo gig.My first choice was men's magazine mogul,but Hef beat me to it.

I work with a guy at the FD who did auto body work as a side gig - he's good at it too. Then his buddy with a big construction outfit got him gig as a union concrete laborer for the Millenuium Park construction gig in Chicago. Great money, but yeesh!

He'd come in for shift after working 2 long days back to back and look like death warmed over- and not by much.

He's getting his shoulders worked on now, so he's on medical leave. 40 was a little old to shovel concrete for a living IMHO...