Today I Retire

[Charles Lent]

Congratulations Steve. The first thing that you should do is either throw out your alarm clock or give it away. Don't worry about what you will be doing, your wife has already made a list of them that will take you years to complete. I've retired four times now, and it looks like I'm going to stay retired this time. Good offers kept getting me to go back for "special projects that paid too good to refuse", but I've managed to stay home and play for almost 5 years this time.

When I first retired I had all kinds of plans to rebuild this, fix that, etc. and every day I got up and went out and worked all day doing it at the feverish pace that I used to because I was always racing to get it all done before the end of the weekend. Then, after a few weeks of doing this it hit me, "wait a minute, I've got the rest of my life to finish all this". "It doesn't have to be done by Monday anymore". Now I have many different projects going, but I take my time doing each of them as right as I can, and enjoy the journey rather than trying rush to get to the destination. I also swiitch back and forth from one project to another whenever the mood hits me, to keep from being bored from doing any one of them too long. They get done when they get done. Her list never seems to get any shorter anyway.

Charley

Charley

[skysharks]

Welcome to the world on retirement and good ole woodworking.
Been retired myself for a bit now and love it.
Relax and enjoy

[NC Scroller]

Congrats Steve, I'll give you a grand to trade palces. I have just over 4 yeasrs to go and I want it so bad I can taste it.

As for the gift, one cna never have enough glue, screws, nails and other hardware. Of course don't forget the clamps.

[Terry]

Congrats to you Steve! I can't tell you how to spend the gift card but you won't have any trouble at Lowe's. I am enjoying my retirement also and I can't imagine any 40 hr+ week ewver! But you have to watch LOYL as mine had a honey due list longer than the years I worked. GEE I had to put in a 40 square foot flower bed today and still didn't get it done. But there is one part of the day she can't have and that is my coffee club every morning from 5am to 7am. That's my chat session with all the other senior citizens at the quick-stop. But anyway enjoy that time as it goes by fast. I loose time and enjoy every minute of it. Good Luck!
Terry

[macdaddy]

Thanks for all the posts. I enjoyed reading all of them. The gift card is no longer a problem. The wife said she would go with me and help me spend it on "things we need for the house." I am sure this is the start of the honey do list you all been telling me about. Working at home has to be better then going to work. Thanks again and I look forward to starting my new life.

[Splinter]

Steve,

Congratulations on retirement. I did it 8/31/02 and have loved every minute of it. No more need for the alarm clock....you can change your plans on a moments notice and not have to call the office for the day off...you get to do what you want each day (except the days your LOML has other plans for you) and the list goes on. ENJOY!!

[Tar Heel]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

The gift card is no longer a problem. The wife said she would go with me and help me spend it on "things we need for the house."

I wouldn't give in and agree to that. You earned it so go spend it on yourself. On the other hand, if you enjoy eating you might want to listen to her.