Has eddie ever longed to leave the pier and do something different?

In Chapter One, we meet Eddie on his 83rd birthday, as he works at Ruby Pier, the amusement park where he is the head maintenance manager. He spends his days tightening bolts, spreading grease, and fixing the machinery on different rides like “Freddy’s Free Fall.” Eddie once dreamed of doing other things with his life, but he has now accepted his fate as “Eddie the Maintenance Man.”

"Many times he had wished to leav this place, find different work, build another kind of life. But the war came. His plans never worked out."