Reply #31: Hey, my dad was a telephone man too!

[Dappleganger]

Bell Atlantic (C&P, now Verizon) for 35 years. He began working for them after he got out of the Navy. He was an installer and did some supervising stints but hated the latter, remained an installer. They tried to get him to retire for YEARS but he refused, finally they had a massive buyout and he jumped ship. He was union all the way but they are still chipping away at his benefits.

We were very poor at the beginning (rented an apt. until we girls were in middle school) but when overtime really kicked in so did our lifestyle. We had a boat, decent house w/one acre in the city, two cars and a truck (to pull the boat), a small trailer in NC to enjoy on weekends, private school (my mom worked part-time at the school, later becoming a nurse). We didn't buy a bunch of clothes, I was expected to get my own because I had several jobs (and that was ok w/me). We had no tv until I was a senior in high school. We did grow many of our veggies and can them, too.

By my family's standards we are definitely less well-off, however! My parents had a lot more savings than we do because we had to use it during dh's layoff.