New Year Resoulation

[redboot612]

Its now 01/01/10, When I get off work this afternoon, I will be offically retired.  My resoulation is to slow down and enjoy life and do some things I haven't done in a long time.  I'm going to read a book, go fishing, and listen to a Warren Zevon record.

Red

[Datil]

 Enjoy your retirement, Mine begin 25 years yesterday. I have enjoyed most of it.

 Best to you Marv.

[slim rem 7]

be prepared for change brother.. for a while i went through a second childhood ,,roaming the woods an such.. life has brought that to a screeching halt.. so be ready for the unforeseen.. slim
ps thats my tale though.. mabe yours will be better..but life is just life isn t it..

[Questor]

All my buddies who are retired are now so busy they don't know how they ever had time for work. The first year was invariably about getting things done around the house that they had been putting off for ages.

[DEACONLLB]

I will second what Questor said I retired 14 years ago and now am so busy I have hardley any time left dont know when i had time to report on a regular job. You can only do so much Hunting and fishing or what ever your hobby is, any way try and enjoy it

Deaconllb

[Graybeard]

For me retirement day was September 28, 1995. I walked out, took off my watch and hung it on the turn signal handle of my then '92 Bronco. It hung there not looked at again until I sold it to Matt when I bought my new 2004 Toyota Tundra. I have no clue what happened to it since then.

Time of day, day of week or even month have little meaning when you are retired. Just do what ya want when ya want and let the cares of the world pass you by.

What amazed me is all the folks I worked with who retired around the time I did or a bit later who almost immediately after leaving jobs paying them $20 to $30 an hour went to work at places like Wal-mart and the like at minimum wage. Dang if ya felt the need to keep working why quit a good job and take a piss poor one?

Money has been tight since I left as I took an immediate $27,000 pay cut but we've gotten by and I sure haven't gone back to work tho at times helping Matt keep his fledgling businesses going took way too much of both my time and money.

Have fun and enjoy your retirement.

[magooch]

Being successfully retired takes work.  You can't just sit back and relax unless you want a relatively short retirement.  I can't say that I get more done in retirement, but I am very adept now at keeping busy.  The irritating thing is that there's always something that you have to put off, so you can keep on recreating.

[Swampman]

I'm going to try to put together a small train layout this year.

[bilmac]

I was going to catch up on all the hunting and fishing I never got done too, but I guess I'm as much a workaholic as my dad was.

At first I took a few jobs in construction, but I soon found it to be a real trial working for idiots. Then I discovered house renovation. I buy the real junkers, the ones everybody says are ready for the bulldozer. I do all the work myself, go slow, and when they are good enough I live in them while I finish them off. My first I bought for $8000 and sold for $80,000.

My advice, find some sort of work you like, work for yourself if you can, but don't stop working, you'll die young, and feeling like you are worthless is not good.   

[Clodhopper]

About 6 months after I retired I got a call from one of my old customers.  He wanted to know if I would consider some consultant work doing some of the stuff that I did while working.  I really didn't want to but let him talk me into it (I did enjoy the work that I made a career out of).  For about 2 years I worked my butt off, travelling around the world, etc. and getting involved more than I was when working.  Then all of a sudden one day it clicked to me that I hadn't been fishing for over a year and I had forgotten to put in for deer tag drawings for that year.  My wife, who is still working, wanted to know when we were going to take a vacation.  I sat down right then and called all my customers and gave them the new rules.

This year, I worked exactly one week (for pay).  I fished more, hunted 3 different states and my wife and I drove across country visiting friends and relatives with no schedule.  I also completed a cross country road trip on my motorcycle (6 weeks) and had a ball.  I am still working on one project for no pay, other than expenses incurred, because I think that it is important.

I like retirement!

Life is good.  Do what you like.  Like what you do.  (I got a coffee cup that has that on it)

PS, I agree with Greybeard about the need to work, there is no way that I could go to work somewhere for someone that couldn't even qualify to empty the trash in my former profession!

[Cabin4]

I can't wait to retire although I'm not wanting to wish time go to fast either. I'm 47 and will absolutely be done at 55 baring any major events. I'm looking forward to it and planning/thinking about what I want to do with the time. I don't think I will fully retire but I ain't working at no wally mart. Likely I will get back into the outfitting business in some way as part time partner/owner as I was years back. Hunting/fishing is my lifelong passion and I just can't see giving up the opportunity to try and get back into it. It was a sideline business for me years ago and I enjoyed being able to do something with it.

[slim rem 7]

 i never say never..but i don t want to be a greeter at walmart either..those hard floors would get me im afraid..i hope my current situation can continue.. i d go home the day after my wife does ,,if i had my way..
 it took a heck of a long time for me to learn not to race the sun.. now if im doing something an it gets dark or i get tired ,,whatever..it ll be there tommorrow if i am.. slim

[Clodhopper]

I saw this somewhere the other day, may have been here, but it's worth quoting.

"My wife asked me what I was doing and I said nothing.  She said that was the same thing I did yesterday and I said that I didn't finish yesterday".

I used it on my wife and she just raised her eyebrows and said that I surely didn't come up with that on my own.

[Black Eagle]

My new years resolution is to spend a LOT more time with my wife, kids, grandson, and my horses. I will build a couple rifles, fish, run some whitewater, climb some mountains, read a lot of books, and travel to some remote places. I'm 63 but for the last 10 years I've only worked four to six months a year. My job [lawyer] allows me to that and it is still a lot of fun as long as I don't work more than a few months a year. 

[beerbelly]

I retired in 1991, for a good many years it was great. I did a lot of sailing in the keys and Bahamas. I hunted a lot and fished as much as I cared to. But as the health gets worse every year, I do less and less. Not that I want to, the want to is still strong ,but the ability is going fast.
     I still hunt some. But I have to use a four wheeler to get me there. Sailing is out of the question, simply don't have what it takes any more. Sailing is a lot of work. Boat is going to hell, I guess I will get rid of it next spring. I can no longer keep it up. But it has been a great few years! Maybe some of it will last a little while longer. So enjoy it while you can!
                                              Beerbelly

[Clodhopper]

What was it the man said?  "Aint none of us gettin outa here alive"!