JoeWras
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2012
- Messages
- 11,715
My dad started plumbing in 1947. Ended in 1995. He never complained. He had the following surgeries:(One plumber commented "Those old-time plumbers must have been really strong".) That house was built in late 1959 (it had an inspection tag dated "Sept. 1959" on the gas meter) so anything was possible.
- 2 knee replacements
- 2 hip replacements
- 3 hernias
- 2 lower back, the second one involved hardware and 5 fusions
The man was a beast. I think your plumber was talking about the old concrete laundry tubs which were actually crazy awesome nice. They were really good!
Dad only mildly complained about the following:
- Radiators (100lbs+)
- Cast iron tubs (200lbs+)
- Cast iron drain pipe (80lbs)
He had a good retirement. Thank goodness the plumber's union had good health insurance. I have to wonder if all that lead he boiled contributed to his dementia in later years.
Sorry for the off topic. Back to topic. He thought nothing of slinging around those 100lb rodding machines. He had special gloves he used which had embedded steel studs.
Our Greatest Generation was great. We are all wimps.