For those retired....what do you enjoy most?

[the old grind]

...So how did you stay motivated until your retirement date?

IIRC it was just reminding myself that retirement may mean taking a 50% pay cut, and watching the hour chart for OT opportunities to pass the time till that last day came.

7 1/2 years later I miss the routine & sometimes dream of being back on the shop floor tackling hot jobs. I still wear my 'uniform' work shirts, still make chips & sparks, & still like to dodge the trappings & fanfare of a connected & media-obsessed society. I'll never catch up with 'Jones' over there.

At the retirement coffee & cake with a few others I promised to tidy up my bachelor clutter (allergic to paper & the gun mags pile up), and get the old bikes running again (stripped bolt here, valve job need there ...). My recent push to kick cigs is only now giving me the nervous energy to tackle some of those tasks. Tractors & dependent friends keep me busy as I get ready to sign up for medicare next year.

I begged my brother just yesterday that if/when the day comes that I could no longer recognize him he would push my wheelchair off the dock and swear it was an accident & that he arrived too late. He wouldn't commit, but he knew what I meant, complimented my motor bike & as usual declined to ride it as we said our 'see ya Wednesdays'.

I gotta say that among the best investments of the free time I have is lurking here, getting to know who you guys are & what you're doing in the fields & workshops, & once in a while offering something to think about based on my decades of BTDT. Yeah life is good, & still IMO too short to watch television. I hope retirement treats you guys as well as it does me.

 

[jaotguy]

things I hated from most to least
1 ... the actual work environment in the front office ( organized confusion )
2 ... the 1 1/2 hr commute to work and 1 1/2 hr back in winter
3 ... being on the road for 4 hours or more during each day ( did I mention I hate traffic?)
4 ... the cell phone going off when taking that 5 mins for lunch ( where are you ?)
5 ... being told there's a 2 hr "rush job" after 5:30 PM ... "go do it" ... after putting in a 10 hr day already ...
6 ... being told "you have to work this weekend" (again)
7 ... being told they need the paperwork first thing tomorrow morning ( add another 2 hrs of work at home that night )

during the last 6 months before retiring :
4 got taken care of by turning the phone off during lunch ... but was replaced by the call after lunch....
5 got ... sorry I've got over 100 hrs of overtime this month already. send someone else ...
6 got ... sorry I've got over 100 hrs of overtime ......
7 sorry I'm out till late tonight ... see me at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning and we'll talk.

1 , 2 ,3 finally got taken care of when they pulled an outrageous order with the usual , "do it or else".. I said "or else what" ( and the usual threat of -you're fired)

I said ... OK, cut me my final cheque , I'll wait and I'm not leaving without it . then left with cheque in hand....

the best thing ? ( surprised look on some faces ! )


retired now .... :thumbsup:
NOT having to rush for anything .....
get up in the morning when I want to , (rain , shine, snow , cold ) and it's still a GREAT DAY :cool2:....
stress is gone ( or 100th of what it was )...
the traffic is almost a thing of the past
no ( dog leash ) cell phone ringing
my day starts and finishes when "I" feel like it.
almost as much money, working short days for myself ...and half as hard.
there's time for family , friends , those special occasions , and the things that matter to ME.:laughing:

BTW, my fishing has improved

 

[like2wheel]

You listen to Rush. Wow, I would have never thought, congrats. HS

I thought the same, until I realized it was probably the other Rush he was talking about.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I retired at 62 and will be entitled to Medicare come December. That will take a bit of load off for medical expenses.
What I enjoy most about retirement is the freedom to sleep as late as I like, or get up before sunrise and set on my back porch with a cup of coffee, listen to the roosters crow, bullfrogs grunt and watch the sunrise without anxiety about getting to work on time. I also like the work schedule: very few things are on the "have to be done right now" stack and I can do a little today and the rest tomorrow or the next day. I was never a vacation kind of guy and in 45 years or work, wife and I only took one real vacation where we went somewhere other than to relatives house for visit.
Now at retirement, I still don't have a hankering to go off to the wild blue yonder to vacation. I think maybe this stems from having worked in so many different places and countries that many times my work was just a long vacation.

Sitting at the computer just now, I am contemplating cutting down a huge dead oak tree today, but if I decide not to, it can be done any other day. I cut the smaller of 2 that died (lightning strike maybe) yesterday. I also have a dead 60 feet tall sweet gum at the edge of my pond dike that water logged itself that needs to be gotten out by the roots. It sent a root thru the dike and water has been running out by the trunk for a couple of years that all efforts to stop have not succeeded. Well maybe in a week or two, no hurry after watching it bleed water for 2 years.
That is the extent of scheduled maintenance project as of this morning, but funny thing is, new projects always seem to pop up to occupy my time so I never get bored.

Don't ever retire without something to keep yourself at least somewhat busy. Those who retire to be couch potatoes, usually die within a couple of years.

 

[jaotguy]

agreed ... keep "active" and do anything (walking , hiking, dancing, drives to see old whats his name , fishing, gardening , paint that room , wash the car /truck , play cards , take a course ... ) and you'll live longer and with a better quality of life .

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I just retired 3 moths ago at 58 years old. The biggest problem I have now is trying to remember what day of the week it is because they all feel like Saturdays now!

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

I just retired 3 moths ago at 58 years old. The biggest problem I have now is trying to remember what day of the week it is because they all feel like Saturdays now!

Now that is a real problem to look forward too! I will be 58 when I retire in 2015. We plan to travel and go to some of the places we have been to in the past. This will be the last winter we have to deal with snow, we will spend the winter in a place that it does not snow when we retire, say FLA or AZ. Can not wait to travel in months other than June- July ( wife works in a school system), and take advantage of lower rates and no crowds. We plane to spend a month in early fall in Prince Edward Island Canada. We have to visit Hawaii and Alaska to say we have been to all 50 states. Yes a lot to look forward to, just need to get through another 345 days of work!

 

[JDgreen227]

I just retired 3 moths ago at 58 years old. The biggest problem I have now is trying to remember what day of the week it is because they all feel like Saturdays now!

For me, the saddest thing about retiring was getting used to how fast the days zip by...when you are working, Monday through Friday drag along forever while Saturday and Sunday go past in a flash. Now, when you retire, you end up with six Saturdays and one Sunday a week....for those not yet retired:

TAKE HEED !!!!!

 

[downsizingnow48]

Best things about retirement? Being able to take each day as it comes. Getting back in touch with scattered family. Whittling down the list of "I want to read ..." and "I want to try ..." backlogged over 30 years. Stress-o-meter stays near zero. Not everyone finds the off switch. My wife didn't like it. She is back at work, happier than ever.

 

[jaotguy]

Not everyone finds the off switch. My wife didn't like it. She is back at work, happier than ever.

probably because she can tell them "so long" and not worry about it ... kind of a nice feeling when things are going to **** in a hand basket ...