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The joys of being retired

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brianmanahan said:
hmm being married sounds like it makes this retirement thing harder
jZGgghi.png
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Only if you choose poorly 🙂
 
Steltek said:
A piece of advice. I spent 30 years working for the Social Security Administration and dealt with uncountable numbers of new retirees. Probably authorized a billion dollars or more in total lifetime benefits of retirement claims during that period.

Seriously, you aren't alone feeling like that.

I cannot tell you the number of folks that I dealt with over the years that retired, then just had to go back to work because they literally, mentally and physically, couldn't handle retirement. They were used to getting up, drinking their coffee, and heading to a daily work environment where they were respected, had colleagues that they liked, and were doing things they loved and still wanted to do. After they retired, even if financially secure, all many of them had to do was ....nothing, because that was what they had outside of their jobs.

So, if you are happy doing what you do, don't sweat it as retirement isn't a requirement. In the meantime, as a hedge, begin planning what you would like to do after retirement to avoid that situation. If you are married, obviously your significant other will be very involved in that process......

I promise from my own personal experience if it comes time to retire, you will truly know it.
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That's great to know.

Yeah, I've seen my in-laws retire in the last few years and have watched them....regress lol. FIL is still very active around the house with working out and projects, but is still falling into the 'sit on the couch and watch the 24hr news cycle' pattern of retired behavior. That absolutely terrifies me lol.
 
Greenman said:
Mine isn't that patient. I can get away with going slow, but I better be moving forward. The dog run I'm building is killing me. Ground was hard as rock when drilling fence posts, it's been in the high 90's since I started, and my back yard is in direct sun for better than half the day.
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Got a pressure washer? Try putting a turbo nozzle on it and just wash out the fence post holes. Wish I'd thought about that removal method when I about killed myself two summers ago removing the concrete from an old fence on my property.

 
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Greenman said:
Mine isn't that patient. I can get away with going slow, but I better be moving forward. The dog run I'm building is killing me. Ground was hard as rock when drilling fence posts, it's been in the high 90's since I started, and my back yard is in direct sun for better than half the day.
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I have a couple of EZ UPs. I sometimes set one up for shade in my project area.
 
Steltek said:
Got a pressure washer? Try putting a turbo nozzle on it and just wash out the fence post holes. Wish I'd thought about that removal method when I about killed myself two summers ago removing the concrete from an old fence on my property.

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Rent a powered post hole digger from the local farm and barn. Grab a bag of licorice while you're there and enjoy life.
 
A better idea would be a 2 man post hole auger.
edit: nOOky beat me to it
 
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jmagg said:
A better idea would be a 2 man post hole auger.
edit: nOOky beat me to it
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I rented a tow behind one man with an 8" auger. Some of the holes wouldn't go deeper than 10". The ground here is clay and rocks, hard as a bankers heart. I got it done though. The shallow posts I spanned from the post on either side with 16' rails. The fence is only 36" tall to make a dog run (the "big" dog is fifteen pounds). My wife wanted it cute so I made it look like a little corral.
I'm going to end up building a pergola with a two person chair swing, maybe a small pond with a waterfall. Might be a fire pit in the plan as well.
The heat index (whatever that is) over the last few days has been 105 to 110.
 
olds said:
I have a couple of EZ UPs. I sometimes set one up for shade in my project area.
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Most of my stuff has thankfully been indoors. Cabinetry, floating shelves, wainscot, things like that. There is already talk of painting parts of the interior.
 
Steltek said:
A piece of advice. I spent 30 years working for the Social Security Administration and dealt with uncountable numbers of new retirees. Probably authorized a billion dollars or more in total lifetime benefits of retirement claims during that period.

Seriously, you aren't alone feeling like that.

I cannot tell you the number of folks that I dealt with over the years that retired, then just had to go back to work because they literally, mentally and physically, couldn't handle retirement. They were used to getting up, drinking their coffee, and heading to a daily work environment where they were respected, had colleagues that they liked, and were doing things they loved and still wanted to do. After they retired, even if financially secure, all many of them had to do was ....nothing, because that was what they had outside of their jobs.

So, if you are happy doing what you do, don't sweat it as retirement isn't a requirement. In the meantime, as a hedge, begin planning what you would like to do after retirement to avoid that situation. If you are married, obviously your significant other will be very involved in that process......

I promise from my own personal experience if it comes time to retire, you will truly know it.
Click to expand...
When I "got retired" by my doctors, it was tough. I LIKED what I did...and was damned good at it...then all of a sudden...nothing...and because I was on a type of workman's comp, I was "prohibited" from finding any other kind of job to pass the time...unless I wanted to lose my medical coverage and weekly comp check.
I've been properly retired for about 6-7 years now and was talking/thinking about picking up a "nothing job" just to pass the time and keep me busy with something that my body could handle...then my wife had a stroke in December...so much for that shit.
 
BoomerD said:
..then my wife had a stroke in December...so much for that shit.
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Damn man, you guys hang in there. That's the biggest downside of growing old with your girl, at some point we are going to start falling apart. Hurts my heart just thinking about that stuff, emotional pain is the worst.

I was going to talk about the joys of retirement, but that took the wind right out of the sails.
 
You folks need to stimulate your curiosity. For example, got any archaeology digs w/in 50 miles of you? Take a basic course in how to help with a modern dig and then pimp yourself out. It sounds boring - but that's only until you make your first find. Settlement around here go back to at least the 1600s. In the mid-Atlantic and coastal Southern states, they probably go back even further.

And there's really not a lot to know. Gently move the dirt then sift the dirt. You probably don't have to learn very much.

There are also plenty of organizations that are dying for volunteers. Join LVA for example - Literacy Volunteers of Am. Teach someone to read - you'll change their life. Or help immigrants with their normally hideous accents. These two options however can require a great deal of patience, but you can learn that too.

Have a local food coop? They ALWAYS need help.

Do cold calling for a local political organization or fill out post cards.

You're only limited by your imagination.

Oh, and cut out the caffeine or at least scale it back. If you're sleepy all of the time, get a respiratory specialist and have a sleep study. If the problem is neurologic, you might even get some crank.
 
Speaking of caffeine, it turns out the main metabolite is called paraxanthine. It's much more subtle in its effects so it should make you jittery - unless like moi, it's fidget or die. However it does seem to still be under patent so it's kinda pricey.
 
I had an early morning flight yesterday and one tomorrow. The thought of waking up at 5:00 and taking a shower sounds horrendous so I took my shower in the evening both days before the flight. This was never a problem when I was working.
 
Stopsignhank said:
I had an early morning flight yesterday and one tomorrow. The thought of waking up at 5:00 and taking a shower sounds horrendous so I took my shower in the evening both days before the flight. This was never a problem when I was working.
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I am not retired and I won't take 5AM flights if I can avoid it, especially for work. I hate the idea of basically not sleeping because of the time needed to get to the airport/through security/waiting at the gate, and the poor reliability of early morning rides to the airport.

If my only two choices for work are super early morning flight or flying in the night before, 10/10 times I'll take the latter. Need a good night sleep to be ready to work.
 
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