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

[ultrarunner]

^^^ Exactly...

When I signed on there was no pager or cell... if they needed me after hours they would call my home... if it was an emergency... the CEO would call my neighbor and ask if he could see my truck looking out the window... it worked very well because he would say I was on the tractor or outback splitting wood...

Cells don't do much if you don't have coverage in your area... plus many are just bad when people call you from the road and it one continuous breakup.

A Sunday afternoon with the family was just that... plus, we had depth of coverage... there seldom was just one person that could solve a problem... conversely, the CEO had a cell... started out like a brick in size. In the 20 years I worked for the same CEO... I NEVER EVER did reach her on the few occasions I called... it was leave a message and maybe a few hours or the next day hear back.

With Cells and especially a company issued cell... it is expected you will answer anytime day or night without hesitation... part of the problem is companies have fewer bodies and those they do have are expected to only be a call away...

Several of my retired friends sold and moved to the foothills are farther away and for many it was the wife that was driving this... typically it was something like he is retired and they never trained anyone so they call several times a week while he talks them through it and he is not on the clock.

One was the superintendent of a industrial gas company and no one had his knowledge base and when he would mention to the boss about possible candidates... the boss would say that is why we have you... Company didn't last 3 years after Bill left and it was very profitable until customers started to leave because of delivery problems due to equipment issues...

 

[grnspot110]

I worked as a paid small town firefighter for 29 years, retired 7-1/2 years ago. Carried a pager nearly all that time, with NO extra pay. Cell phones weren't even in this area until the last few years before retirement! ~~ Lowell

 

[the old grind]

I now wonder how I got everything done around here before I retired.

(to music) ".. This is our song".
We'll always be expected to be 'on call' by someone and that will be 24/7/365 once we retire. :confused3:

Example:
I email a guy Fri to call me over the weekend. No response & no call then. I get email on Mon that he's off work Wed to unload his new lathe at a friend's shop. "Vent & rant ..." "Will call you on Wed." This AM after first nite in 6 or so that I get more than 4 hrs sleep my screen says "missed call'... came Tues nite while I was making chips w/phone in another room so hot steel doesn't melt into my Otter Box. Don't often check it after midnite, so ...

Plan for today then: either sit by iCrutch all day or expect phone to ring while I'm doing 50 hr 'break-in' oil change (10w-30 to 15w-40) and changing hydro & HST filters. Am I free from someone else's needs? Would hope so.

So, if you need something "SAP"(!), I might be tied up tossing the phone into washer with a load of jeans, so email me & I'll oil up my keyboard later finding out I wasn't there for you (to music) ".. when you needed me most".
:laughing: .. :laughing: .. :laughing:

 

[JDgreen227]

I carried a pager for a long time at work but secretly detested the gadget...it seemed to summon me for reasons someone else deemed "urgent" when to me the needs were minor. Owned several of the original Blackberry models later on but as I paid for them and the service I asked those who contacted me to limit contacts to really important issues...those who didn't got their messages ignored until they learned. Today...have a smartphone but since I have told everyone I know not to contact me unless it's urgent, there are days I get nothing...no emails, no texts, and all my Facebook updates are NOT going to my mobile. Since my hands are usually dirty or greasy or I am working on a project, I DETEST people who message me for chit chat or palavar. Sometimes I think life was better before everyone was available 24/7/365.....and I know a LOT of others who agree with me.

 

[jaotguy]

yes , one place I left, called for months after ... their young fresh people that replaced "a dime a dozen programmer" couldn't figure out how my systems ran ... told them all the programs were there in the computer, just run the right ones and they would be fine.

they asked "which ones" ... I said , why ask me , I don't work there and you don't pay me anymore...why should I do your work for you for free...

the calls continued for 3 weeks till I told them I would come in and "teach them how it works for 2 weeks , but my fee would be $40,000" ...
silence at the other end of the line ... then "$40,000? why so much ? " .... "because I know how and you don't, as a contractor , I can charge what I want for my services, you don't get to dictate that." they said they'd think about it and get back to me .... they went bankrupt 3 months later ...



cells...
I would have no problems with carrying a Cell, 24/7 / 365 IF I had agreed to it and /or was being paid to do it ... ( or volunteered to do it )
but when they just toss you a phone and ADD it to your responsibilities without any dialogue ... and assume automatically that you are tethered to their every whim and command at any time of the day or night ....

every after hours call was "logged" and I charged for the "conversations" for my time ... all the shops balked at it and said it was "expected", I told them that if I was called after hours I "expected" to get paid for it or it could wait till morning and they could have their phone back ... work was work and talking work with work was work, and I get paid to work....

( yes I know it's being stubborn , but I learned early that there is no such thing as LOYALTY to or from a company) ... you might be the "best person they ever had" but you can be let go or replaced tomorrow without so much as a thank you. Your knowledge/ expertise means nothing unless they need or want it ... $$$$ is their bottom line and it should be yours too when dealing with them ... ( unless you own the company )

sorry about the rant ... they should teach stuff to the kids coming up into the work force ... how to negotiate when looking for a job ... "job skill negotiations 101" or "don't give up your life for free" ...

retirement has a way of reminding you of the sh*t you put up with ( and your mistakes as well as your achievements ) ... being able to do what YOU want on your terms and timetable is the real benefit ... that weight on the shoulders is gone , the sky is bluer , the sun warmer , the wind lighter, the air fresher and the days are longer and more enjoyable ... you're happy to see friends and family anytime , you can drop what you're doing now and do something else if you feel like it ...

people worry about the bills , but after you retire, a lot of them disappear or get smaller ... gas bills , car repairs /parts , insurance gets cheaper, phone bills, food bills, and often the number of prescriptions get reduced ...... and you find you don't need as much as you thought....

 

[ultrarunner]

When my sister in law retired... my brother put his foot down and said her old company shouldn't be calling...

She was let go in the downsizing after 9/11.

Anyway she agreed to come back for two weeks at double her pay to train someone... she actually liked the young lady she was training and it went well... must have done a good job because this stopped the calls and she still bumps into the lady she trained.

Bosses sometime loose the concept that in most business there is no business without the people that make it work.

Unless you are in sales, or the only qualified person or similar... most cell calls are not urgent... at least it appears to me.

Cell phone is touchy subject for me in that I don't own one because coverage is spotty at best where I live unless I'm in bed... then it works perfect! I also find the overall quality very poor as folks are driving through the tunnels and behind the hills and using a cell while driving will get you a ticket... even though I see people doing it everyday.

You guys are selling me on retirement... maybe after this project is over would be a good time...

Whenever there is Hospital Construction it really is 24/7 and I expect that... like others have said... loyalty doesn't really exist much anymore... when the project is finished after so many months and lots of extra hours on salary... management should say another job well done... take some time off... instead it is home much can they cut you back no taking into account all the extra time put in...

 

[ultrarunner]

Just spoke to one of the best Medical Gas guys I know... a real company man that knew what he was doing and took care of the customer...

After 19 years he resigned because his territory kept expanding and hiring was frozen... when he signed on it was one week travel a month... when he quit, he was living in airports and the last month slept in his own bed a total of 4 nights...

It't the good ones that burn out.... he has no regrets other than waiting so long in the hopes the situation would get better... it was his wife that made him realize it was time to leave.

 

[Marine2083]

I enjoy most the time I have to spend with family, after 33 years of factory work 8-12 hours a day along with most Saturdays and some Sundays coupled with farming with a neighbor for 32 years I am catching up with some beautiful people!

 

[jaotguy]

a real company man that knew what he was doing and took care of the customer...

It't the good ones that burn out.... he has no regrets other than waiting so long in the hopes the situation would get better... i

at one place, I told them they were headed for disaster with their latest " great ideas " .. even wrote them a letter outlining the pitfalls and how things would turn out and how long it would take .... all they did was pat me on the head and said I worried too much and that things would get better soon ... ( but they didn't say for me or them )

it was time to move on , again .... ( and I was getting burned out by the long hours it took to complete things with the new system ) ... the sh&t hit the fan just as I predicted ( and on schedule and in order ) ... they lost most of their big customers and are still in headless chicken mode today ... ( just as they deserve to be )

 

[ultrarunner]

Where I work we have been without a Director or Administrator going on 4 months... makes it impossible to get decisions made.

The CEO is a Doctor that has little idea on mechanics of the day to day running a Hospital...

I asked to address the board and it was welcomed... an hour before the meeting I was told it would have to be rescheduled... that was 3 months ago.

Never seen morale so low and good people leaving... mostly opting to retire. If it was not for some very bright new hires fresh college Nursing grads... we would be in dire straights.

Healthcare has been turned upside down and the shake out continues...