Flop or top?

[Mick!]

I understand how, as manual outdoors workers, it's good to tell ourselves how great it is and that we couldn't survive an office life because we're non conforming sons (and daughters) of nature.

But you could if you had to and what's more it has its compensations, I'll list a few.

Being in the presence of well dressed nice smelling women.
Having in depth conversations with adults rather than sweaty sweary shouting matches over the racket of some demonic machine.
Dressing nice and going out straight after work with work colleagues and not seeing people turn their nose up at the heady mix of diesel and sweat (I know it's honest, noble toil etc)
Meeting lots of different people and having a larger network of friends.
Having the energy to participate in sport in your spare time.

Have I mentioned the nice smelling women?

 

[Burnham]

More than fair enough, Mick. My last 6-8 years with the USFS doing road management/maintenance/hazard tree removals was a good thing to transition to, as my body was just flat wearing out on the reforestation and stand mensuration tasks way off road and down and up slope on the steep and brushy stuff.

 

[squisher]

I will say I love being outdoors. All the time pretty much. But rain changes that for me. I hate rain. Luckily I live in a semi-arid area. Suits me fine.

 

[stig]

I'll just take on some of your points, Mick.

I prefer a Fiona type ( Having absolutely no idea how she smells) over one of your office types, any day.

I have trained karate since before I started working the woods and the urban trees and still do so twice a week.

Last week I sat and talked with an old costumer over tea and sandwiches ( Vegetarin, we've been involved for 24 years, she knows I don't do dead animals) for 3 hours after completing the prunig work.
She is a nice lady, 76 years of age, with a regal bearing ( That is my way of saying that I find her very beautiful)and we really enjoy each other's company.
We managed to cover a variety of topics ranging from artificial breasts, the way young muslims here talk to and about women ( I told her that she set herself up for that, being alone with a man, with no chaperone present) and of course the new president of the USA and his non presidential ways.

When I left, she told me that I was a true delight to converse with, as I was so well versed in a lot of different topics.

Probably would have made an even better impression, if I had been " dressed nice"

So, basically, I'm calling "Bullshit" on your post.

You are what you are, what you do for a living has nothing to do with that.

My post about the present generation of forwarder/harvester drivers being out of shape has less to do with their chosen profession, than it has to do with my absolute disregard of men who don't keep in fighting shape.

 

[Mick!]

I guess you're illustrating my point, a kind of reverse snobbery about being a manual worker.

I'm sure you're a thrilling and stimulating conversationalist, I am as well for elderly widows who like a harmless flirt and chat after I've done the job.

 

[stig]

You get me wrong, Mick.

My point is not about being a manual worker, but about being a man.

Not many of us around any more and I take some pride in being one.

Got nothing to do with my job, more with my attitude to life.

If I had ended up in an office job, I would still have kept myself in fighting shape.

My taste in women has nothing to do with reverse snobbery, I simply like the same kind of women as I like men, those in good shape.
The one I have and love smells mostly of horse.

I like that

 

[Mick!]

When it comes to ascribing oneself qualities such as manliness I feel it's for other people to judge, it smacks of insecurity or perhaps alcohol to bang on about it.

 

[stig]

Kind of a low blow, I guess we'll end the discussion here.
We are not talking along the same lines, obviously.
I didn't realize that I was "banging on about it", I thought I was responding to a rather stupid post of yours.

 

[Levi]

that's a funny exchange fellas! I wouldn't mind trying a non labor job sometime.

Stig, it is a bit funny if you think about it. Saying how you're a real man but most are not. And how you're so well versed in many topics.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I enjoy talking with elderly people, seldom if ever viewed it as some sort of flirtation on their part when speaking with a woman. I suppose that is possible though. Older people often seem so isolated these days. Recently I had an interesting chat with a rather old guy when I was sitting in a hospital reception area. He couldn't walk very well, didn't seem all that well upstairs any longer either, and his wife was showing the stress on her face in leading him around. They sat down next to me but she had to leave to go do something. She asked him if he'd be ok, more like telling him he had to be. You know how people can get stern bossy when having to take care of somebody else. I interjected and said I'd keep an eye on him. With slightly raised eyebrows she seemed grateful. Anyway, i started talking with the man and he told me that when of working age he had travelled the country repairing pachinko machines in parlors, did that for many years. An interesting tale for thirty minutes or so of the earlier culture days.

It's good to see beyond the age showing and disability with older folks, a life existing of another sort beneath all that. I got the impression that the guy hadn't spoken much to anyone of late. He said that he not being able to get around, besides going to the doctor, he mostly is at home watching tv. I couldn't envision much stimulating conversation going either way between him and his wife. His wife returned and after giving me a gracious goodbye, they slowly shuffled off. I liked the guy, though it didn't seem like he would be around too much longer, he still had something to say.

 

[Levi]

Right on, Jay. I like to have a chin wag with just about anybody, maybe my favorite thing to do, assuming it's cordial.

I'm curious, are you mostly speaking Japanese in your day to day?

 

[woodworkingboy]

Yes, Levi, pretty much only the local lingo. I really never had much in the way of English speaking friends for many years, not many English speakers around and just nobody that I was connected to. My wife forgot the little she knew. A guy originally from Seattle moved here awhile back. We hang out some. Good to speak English, and he's not one of these people from abroad that you can sometimes run into that seem intent on metamorphosing into a local species.

 

[Levi]

I couldn't imagine what that'd be like, it's impressive. I'm sure that you're skilled in the language but still, it must be hard.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Thinking in another language would blow my mind!

 

[Levi]

I bet!

One of those things that I always wanted to do, but never needed to. So, it hasn't happened, yet.

 

[woodworkingboy]

It's no big deal really, aside from being able to meet the requirement to verbally communicate. One thing that is cool is that there are certain words or expressions that are better at describing something than English can do, convey a sentiment in a more concise descriptive way. Vagueness, for example, has a lot of application. There are some words for things that really aren't contained in the western world, a mood or atmosphere kind of thing. The samurai era was a violent time of wars and bloodshed, but the warrior culture achieved an immensely deep kind of refinement as well to help balance things out for themselves. It can take forever to really get a handle on that when coming from a somewhat different world. With the different layers of things, it's like a strange cloud going by that you can somewhat look into.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Next step...

Learn Kanji!

 

[woodworkingboy]

It takes a supple mind.

 

[Burnham]

Let's me out then .

 

[Mick!]

Learning Japanese as an adult is impressive in my book.

 

[stig]

Thinking in another language would blow my mind!

When I sit down to write something here, I think in English.

When I go to visit in Schweiz or have family come up, I think in German.

It is no big deal, really. Use a language long enough, and you start thinking in it.

However, Japanese, from what little I know of it, is in a completely different linguistic family alltogether.

Most European languages have some traits in common, except Finnish and Hungarian.

Japanese certainly has nothing in common with any European language, so I expect it would be WAY harder to learn.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Probably harder to learn if a person had to rely on books and study. For the most part I learned it in a work environment. Aside from the survival thing, words and phrases if you hear them enough eventually stick. Some of the harder things to learn are adaptations from English words that are tweaked in a slight way because of how their mouths work. It can be hard for your ear to clearly decipher the differences, and if your pronunciation is even a little bit off when trying to replicate, nobody knows what the hell you are saying. Their ears aren't very flexible for some reason.

 

[Buddy]

I speak a small town central Idaho offshoot of the english language. It's hard for some people to decipher sometimes but it makes perfect sense in my mind.

 

[stig]

Since we are on about speaking/thinking in other languages, here are 10,000 japanese singing in German

The Beethoven lovers amongst you should get a kick out of it, too.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xBlQZyTF_LY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[MasterBlaster]

Very cool.

I would hate to be the restroom attendant at that function!