John T,
....Yep, Mike bought a van from me a few yrs ago, but I heard he got out of biz. My pwashing retirement lasted about two months, I was going to go to grad school and get my MBA but I found out it was going to take longer than expected, tough to get in (have to take undergrad classes first), and since I didn't have any direction I necessarily wanted to go in, I thought I'd hold off on that decision. So I continued, but decided to make my focus just log home work.
And that is where I am today, I moved to another state a few yrs ago and things have gone very well. Sometimes the thing you are born to do is right in front of your nose, and you just have to accept it. I have some good guys helping me, they are highly experienced and love the work, and that makes it great. Right now, we've been working about 20 days straight, but by Thursday we'll take off for about 10 days, and they like that schedule. I am at a really cool point where my guys are much better at this work than I am, and that is pride-inducing. Seems I am now the one that screws stuff up whenever I try to do something

Most importantly, it is fun again, and we are starting another operation in another state in May, which is something I've wanted to do for awhile. It may not succeed, but it will be fun trying. Thanks for that update on you, I may be doing a job next year in NY (Pawling?) and if I do I'll be coming down to see the new nasty rig.
jon