Odd Jobs

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kenny thomas

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As some of you know since i retired 3 years ago i take on a few Odd Jobs.
I drive a fuel truck and deliver diesel to coal mines in KY a few days a month.
Deliver new Kiefer horse trailers over most of the US.
Work for a Real Estate and Auction company assisting with auctions.
Drove fuel truck to help with 4 hurricane recoveries in 3 years. 20 days this year.
And at this moment im driving a snow plow truck 12 hours tonight. Odd because it isnt snowing.
Edit, at 3am i had to start spreading salt on the bridges.
Also keep 50 to 100 head of cattle.
As you can see i get bored easily.
What are some odd jobs you do?
 
Last edited:
As some of you know since i retired 3 years ago i take on a few Odd Jobs.
I drive a fuel truck and deliver diesel to coal mines in KY a few days a month.
Deliver new Kiefer horse trailers over most of the US.
Work for a Real Estate and Auction company assisting with auctions.
Drove fuel truck to help with 4 hurricane recoveries in 3 years. 20 days this year.
And at this moment im driving a snow plow truck 12 hours tonight. Odd because it isnt snowing.
Also keep 50 to 100 head of cattle.
As you can see i get bored easily.
What are some odd jobs you do?
I've build decks and storage buildings for people just because I like to do it. Free lance art for Walmart, which got me into the general offices in Bentonville where I heard some interesting conversations. Worked with the Chamber of Commerce and the Boy Scouts. My first real job was on a golf course, raking sand traps and mowing greens. I gentled horses in high school for extra money, and raised chickens to sell eggs and hackle for tying flies. Working in Colorado and Nebraska building substations. Managed an auto parts store in Sturgis. Remodeled houses and dabbled in real estate.
 
U need a hobby Kenny.
Between trading cows and day job, I got a couple bikes and still have that beetle I'll get to fixing up one day. People want me to work on their junk all the time. I ain't got time for that.
I try to stay away from odd jobs! Tho I've had some odd cows... 😆


O! I used to put up quite a bit of hay with a friend of mine. That got too time consuming when I started buying more cows tho. Now I just write him a check and tell him where to stack it.
 
I don't have any paying jobs these days, but my first paying job was interesting. I was a school bus driver when I was 16 years old. Back in the old days, my state used students to drive the school buses. To save money. Paid $35 per month. 16, 17, 18 year old children driving the school bus full of students and supposed to maintain discipline and order. Some of the riders would be older than the driver. What could go wrong? You got a few hours of "training" driving a bus around the ball field and then drove it a little on the pavement. That made you fully qualified and certified to haul children.

My school was the smallest in the state. Decision was made to close the high school portion and send those grades to a bigger school 16 miles away. Collect all the kids, drop off the younger ones at the old school, put all the high school students on two busses and drive 16 miles to the new high school. Busses were speed governed to 35 mph max (for safety). So took over 30 minutes for the trip with a bus full of high school kids with no adult supervision. What could go wrong? Got a raise to minimum wage of $1.60/hour after someone decided that they had to at least pay minimum wage.
They eventually decided that plan for not good for safety of students and property, mental or physical health, longevity of the school bus, or liability for the school.
 
Along with the cows I have an AirBnB rental house on the beach. I'm the maintaince guy, grounds keeper, house cleaner, and laundry guy. 5 night minimum so at worst it's twice in a week during the busy summer.

I also have a shop and do mechanicing for hire. Work on just about everything from tractors, balers, excavators, dozers, backhoes gas welders, dump trucks, skid steers, end loaders, semi tractors, hydraulic cylinders, etc but no passenger vehicles except my own. I try not to take too much work that I begin to hate it, and also try to get equipment here so I can work on it in the heated shop. But for certain customers/friends I go and do mobile work/welding.

I also weld and fabricate stuff for myself and others mostly in the winter to keep myself warm in the shop. I've built sweep tubs, alley ways, freestanding panels, hand rails, bale spears, fork frames, bale squeezes, small trailers, you name it.

Casually looking for a single phase lathe and mill so I can tinker around and do some more in depth repair work that I currently farm out. Also looking into investing in a line boring setup to start doing a little of that. We shall see where the wind takes me.
 
I need to teach myself how to weld this winter.

My uncle and I do some carpentry/plumbing work. We also have some older equipment we work 3 or 4 months out of the year. I'm spoiled though, we only work when we want to.

If someone is willing to pay me, I'll work on whatever they've got.

I am starting to get into trading/selling stuff. Wanting to turn two hallways in the shed into a shop. Be able to have an indoor work space. Right now it's on gravel/mud.
 
Once I passed 70 years old my mobility declined (arthritis in the hips and lower back). I am still good to go, just not for extended periods of time. The livestock's demands keep me moving and I still cut about two or three cords of firewood each year.
I have always had an interest in old tools and primitive antiques and the internet has made trading in them easy. Bought some leather working tools and got quite handy in making sheafs for axes, knifes, glasses and even cell phones.
My wife still works so it is a little isolated here on the farm all day. I have volunteered a little more at church to keep in contact with friends.
Three young grandkids make a lot of demands on any time I have left.
 
I've been watching auctions to find the right piece of equipment to buy and fix up in the shop with the kids and then flip. But the price difference between "needs work" equipment and quality used isn't far enough apart to make it worth it at today's parts prices. Someday the right deal will come alone.
 
All my odd jobs are done right here on the ranch. I'm an electrician currently.

But are you paid for those jobs? Lol

I wear many hats on the farm, plumber, electrician, carpenter, grounds keeper, etc but none of them are really jobs because they don't pay, more like volunteer/slave labor. Ha
 
I've always had cattle, early on worked in tobacco. Had a paint store/glass business for a few years. That was a loosing venture as couldn't compete with the big stores on paint and sundry items.
When it closed, I tried for a little while to continue glass work from home which included glass cutting ( glass, mirror, plexiglass,) Most of my work in that was replacing glass in windows and doors, and replacing window screens, Occasionally, there'd be a heavier glass table top or glass cover for a table or desk. Sometimes mirrors.
It got to be though that most of my jobs were replacing glass in worn out windows from rental properties. Ended up working more on trying to get the old windows in shape to hold a glass than the actual glass work and that wasn't part of my job description as it took so long to do and didn't make any money as the people only wanted to pay the few dollars per window fee that they had paid years before. My health was declining too as Ménière's disease was coming on me pretty bad and I'd get dizzy the way I had to lean over and focus on what I was doing. I soon give up that work.
Now it's farm, and Airbnb. My wife does most of the Airbnb work, but I help her sweep and do minor repairs and such, unclogging drains, painting, tile repair. We've had to instances in the last six months of people knocking holes in the bathroom wall.
There's always something to do, whether it's some kind of house repair, yard work,
Cattle work, fence patching, cleaning up downed trees, etc.
 
As some of you know since i retired 3 years ago i take on a few Odd Jobs.
I drive a fuel truck and deliver diesel to coal mines in KY a few days a month.
Deliver new Kiefer horse trailers over most of the US.
Work for a Real Estate and Auction company assisting with auctions.
Drove fuel truck to help with 4 hurricane recoveries in 3 years. 20 days this year.
And at this moment im driving a snow plow truck 12 hours tonight. Odd because it isnt snowing.
Edit, at 3am i had to start spreading salt on the bridges.
Also keep 50 to 100 head of cattle.
As you can see i get bored easily.
What are some odd jobs you do?
Looks like you work full time to me
 
But are you paid for those jobs? Lol

I wear many hats on the farm, plumber, electrician, carpenter, grounds keeper, etc but none of them are really jobs because they don't pay, more like volunteer/slave labor. Ha
Well, if I don't do it I need to hire it done. So saving a couple thousand dollars is much like being paid.
There is zero time to take on odd jobs off the ranch. Can't keep up with the odd jobs on the ranch.
 
Just thought of something else.
Wife just texted to ask if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her.
I let her know that I was in the middle of an important odd job…… "me and the dogs are doing a fathead minnow census at the ponds. If you think counting cows is tough, you need to come check this!"

She hasn't replied.
 
But are you paid for those jobs? Lol

I wear many hats on the farm, plumber, electrician, carpenter, grounds keeper, etc but none of them are really jobs because they don't pay, more like volunteer/slave labor. Ha
But if you didn't do them yourself you would have to pay someone to do them.

Ken
 
in around 20 yrs i've fully gutted / redone around 40 houses, completely redone 6 large farms... worked non stop my entire adult life. plan now is to slow down and to enjoy.

the only odd jobs i do are for myself. just laid carpet yesterday, going to run ductwork and install a furnace today. tomorrow is pouring a new lid for a septic tank.
 
Early life in Kansas was on a dairy farm. Just before base went away we sold out and dad bought a service station. We changed over to horses and showed all over the nation. Brother and I made spending money breaking local horses and training show horses. Along the way I spent time at the Oklahoma horse shoeing school and that trade stayed with me for 40 years part time. Followed the money to the oil field in 77 till it went kaput in 86. Decided I wanted an indoor job so got my degree and have been in engineering since 90. Retiring this year and have several folks around wanting me to haul cattle, hay and other things. We have had the farm 8 years now and so much work to do. I've dabbled with welding since a kit but mostly just looks like mud dobbers were there so for fun starting a welding class at the local college. As I see on here, retired does not mean quitting 🤔😀
 

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