Steve, I’ve read three or four of Neal Stephenson’s tomes. Not impressed. Too much work for too little return.
Jeff Meyerson
What Bill said. Keep up your swimming and try not to sit around eating junk food all day. And yes, it is a good time to travel (even though the idea of getting on a plane now is not fun).
When Jackie retired in 2004 we may have overdone it a bit, but eased into it. We drove to D.C. for a long weekend. A couple of weeks later we drove to Boston and did the same. In August we flew to Buffalo for a visit to Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda (!).
In September we flew to Phoenix for my father’s 80th birthday celebration. In October it was Vegas for the AARP Convention featuring Dave Barry. After Thanksgiving we drove back to D.C. for another few days, then capped the year off with Christmas in New Orleans.
And then in 2005 we really started. First was a month in Florida (and a visit to Orlando), then to Las Vegas, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon and back to Vegas. Then it was Boston again at the end of July and D.C. in August, Chicago for Bouchercon at Labor Day, Vegas again (twice in one year!) in October, and lastly London in November.
But we were twelve years younger then. I doubt I could keep up that pace these days.
Jeff, Diane is already planning trips to both coasts of our country. Patrick is settling in at GOOGLE and Katie can’t wait until we visit her in Boston. I’m in no hurry. Traveling in the Winter is always a Risky Business.
From own experience I’d say you really have to try to get out of the house as often as possible – though the lure of all those unread books might make this difficult sometimes …
But I don’t think you’ll have a big problem there because your wife will surely also want to visit your children and maybe visit friends and places that you haven’t seen for some time.
And don’t “put all those ideas on the long bench” as we say in German! Because as time goes by we all don’t get any younger – so what was was easy at the age of 65 may get difficult at 70 and impossible at 75.
The biggest problem that I’ve seen with other retirees was that they fell into a hole – didn’t know what to do with all the new found time – but I’m sure you won’t have that problem!
I just remember two couples where the husband retired before the wife which is still working for her pension. One of them got into the hobby of cooking (which I don’t remember him doing before) so he often surprises his wife with new stuff which is really nice for her – and he also does the dishes …
The other guy however doesn’t know how to spend his time and tries to ” help” his wife in her household work – which made her complain that he wants her to change the way she’s been doing it for thirty ore more years, so she’s not happy at all.
Wolf, I did a lot of traveling when I was in my 20s and 30s. I was working for a consulting company that sent me everywhere. I’ve visited 48 of the 50 United States (Mississippi and Hawaii are the two I missed). Loved Alaska! I’ve been to Europe. I have no interest in Africa, South America (Zika Virus!), or Antarctica. Asia is too far away for a geezer like me. My sister is trying to talk me into traveling with her and her husband to Iceland. We’ll see.
Wolf, the clerk at the liquor store where I buy my red wine (Doctor’s orders: drink one glass of red wine per day to protect my heart) told me that he’s noticed retired people come into his store more frequently. And buy more booze.
I will preface this advice by saying my grandmother sat for 91 years. I never saw her walk farther than across the room. But, try not to sit too much. My doctor says if you have to read or watch TV you can do it standing up or walking through audiobooks and such. The fewer hours on the butt the better.
George: The first thing to do is ENJOY. Your retirement is different from mine, because I hated my job and most of the people there.
I agree about keeping busy, but don’t see that as a problem for you and Diane. You’ll have time to travel, and of course read those big books. You can maybe do some volunteer work. I used to deliver meals on wheels with my mom. This year, I’m hoping to be able to do walks for my local shelter. (I’d thought about volunteering at my local food bank, but the thought of lots of bending and lifting made my back hurt – not as flexible or young as I used to be)
This was the first year I didn’t have a little old lady or 2 to drive about. I reconnected with a college friend, and her mother in law lives about 10 minutes from me, so once a month I’ll go visit her and do some shopping for her if she needs it. (my friend lives in the far reaches of east county and was near tears after I offered to do this).
I remember I thought I would watch leno or letterman every night, but rarely did it. I also got up earlier. I used to struggle to get up by 7:15 to get to work by 8am. Now I frequently get up by six. I also had plans to go thru my VHS tapes and note where each movie was. that never got done, and vhs is a thing of the past. Thankfully, I have a dvr.
Again, congrats, and enjoy. First of all, complete your welcome to retirement honey do list.
Maggie, thank you for your thoughts on Retirement. I intend to stay with my routines. I don’t stay up late, but I don’t get up really, really early either. I’ll continue to go to the pool every day and aqua-jog for an hour. Diane and I try to eat out about once a week. And see a movie about once a week, too. I don’t think any Big Changes will occur
Neither John nor I see retirement as a realistic possibility for many years (that’s what marrying and having your kids late in life will do–ha ha!), but I’ll use the example of my parents and in-laws and give the following advice: Stay busy and involved in something that will get you out of the house regularly. Traveling and reading big books will be wonderful, but have something (a weekly club meeting, a daily gym visit, a civic or charitable endeavor, etc. I really don’t think humans do too well in a completely unscheduled/unobligated environment. But most of all, enjoy your well-deserved retirement!
Deb, I’m sure I’ll find all kinds of activities to keep me busy. The Librarians at the North Tonawanda Public Library are trying to recruit me. They only have female Librarians and would like to hire me since I know the Library and their computer system so well. We’ll see. I think you and John may see Retirement sooner than you think. Once your twins finish College, it will feel like you got a Big Raise!
Hire someone to clean the house – I doubt anyone at the end of their life says things like “I wish I’d dusted and vacuumed more.” What most people remember are people and experiences. Upon retirement, my parents traveled more (they went to all 50 states and Europe), went to more museums, more concerts, more plays, even some factory tours! The brain thrives on novelty, including new experiences and learning new things – helps keep us young. 🙂
Maggie, we had a great house cleaner when Diane and I were both working. If we find another winner, we would hire them in a minute!
Jeff Meyerson
Totally agree with Jeff, but will add a few ideas.
First of all, reconnect with Diane in a new way since you are full time house husband now. Don’t know if you guys still go walking, but when the weather agrees, get back to it. Jeff and I have a regular routine when we are home. Relax by reading, computer stuff or playing video games in the morning, lunch (main meal) out followed by Starbucks (where we read articles, e-mails and read. and shopping. We do all of the above and watch TV at night. We must be doing something right because neighbors in the elevator or strangers in Starbucks have commented numerous times that we look like we are having fun and hope to find that kind of happiness.
We do love to travel, but it doesn’t sound like you will overdo it. We are trying to turn Bouchercons to new places into longer vacations a la Jeff and Ann and we love our routine of New Orleans, Las Vegas , D.C. and occasionally London. After 30 years of European travel we now go only when we have a free flight and enough Marriott points (maybe every 5 years). One suggestion, why not come down to the City once a year for Theater, food and your Brooklyn friends.
The key to all of it is that all that pressure we lived with our working lives is totally gone. You will wake up relaxed every morning.
Just a little amendment. Forgot to mention escaping down to Florida for 2 months. You could swim in a pool or the ocean every day! Also, we know that you love going to movies. We really only go in Florida but we do love the Theater and Concerts. As Bill says, we go to see our favorites with all the other Q-tips.
Rick, I really liked my job. Bill Crider and I would agree we had the best gig in the world as college professors. But all Good Things must come to an end. The College made it easy for me to accept Retirement by offering me a nice Incentive to leave now. You know I’ll be reading up a storm in the months ahead!
George, I can’t improve on any of those recommendations. This is my final day before retirement too. Made one last visit to the office yesterday to finish up some loose ends and turn in my ID badge. Let the good times roll!
Fred, congratulations on your Retirement! When I went in last week to turn in some paperwork, I found my Chairman sitting at my desk. “John, what are you doing sitting in my chair?” I asked. “This is my Office now,” my Chairman said. I had the largest office and obviously, my Chairman coveted its grandeur and corner window.
Best wishes on your new journey into retirement! After spending years of your life dedicated to enriching the lives of your students, you certainly deserve some leisure time.
I was just thinking the other day about how I learned about curved grading in your class. You had given me a curved grade of 100%, which I assumed was an error because I got some of the questions wrong; thus, I tried to get you to lower my grade 🙂
George,
Congrats on your retirement. I retired from my job in 2015 after 43 years. I’m enjoying the hell out of it! Although I think I think my wife is taking longer to make the adjustment than I did! LOL!
Anyway, I will now give you the same salutation I have given all my former co-workers over the years as they retired.
Live long, and collect many pension checks!
Watch out for other people planning your days for you!
Bob, Diane is very good at planning other people’s days for them. I’ll have up my Hiding game.
Perhaps, a long, wonderful vacation, George. I wish you all the very best on your new innings.
Prashant, Diane is already planning a trip to visit our son, Patrick, in California. Patrick was just hired by GOOGLE.
Take up some new interests. Join a new group or two. You will need to get out of the house.
Patti, thanks for the tips. Diane is already planning trips to visit Patrick in GOOGLE-land and Katie in Boston.
Have fun, don’t get sick, enjoy your routines, and read long books.
Bill, I love your advice especially to read long books. I have a couple stacks of Big Fat Books just waiting to be read!
Time to start on those Neal Stephenson doorstops.
Steve, I’ve read three or four of Neal Stephenson’s tomes. Not impressed. Too much work for too little return.
What Bill said. Keep up your swimming and try not to sit around eating junk food all day. And yes, it is a good time to travel (even though the idea of getting on a plane now is not fun).
When Jackie retired in 2004 we may have overdone it a bit, but eased into it. We drove to D.C. for a long weekend. A couple of weeks later we drove to Boston and did the same. In August we flew to Buffalo for a visit to Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda (!).
In September we flew to Phoenix for my father’s 80th birthday celebration. In October it was Vegas for the AARP Convention featuring Dave Barry. After Thanksgiving we drove back to D.C. for another few days, then capped the year off with Christmas in New Orleans.
And then in 2005 we really started. First was a month in Florida (and a visit to Orlando), then to Las Vegas, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon and back to Vegas. Then it was Boston again at the end of July and D.C. in August, Chicago for Bouchercon at Labor Day, Vegas again (twice in one year!) in October, and lastly London in November.
But we were twelve years younger then. I doubt I could keep up that pace these days.
Jeff, Diane is already planning trips to both coasts of our country. Patrick is settling in at GOOGLE and Katie can’t wait until we visit her in Boston. I’m in no hurry. Traveling in the Winter is always a Risky Business.
From own experience I’d say you really have to try to get out of the house as often as possible – though the lure of all those unread books might make this difficult sometimes …
But I don’t think you’ll have a big problem there because your wife will surely also want to visit your children and maybe visit friends and places that you haven’t seen for some time.
And don’t “put all those ideas on the long bench” as we say in German! Because as time goes by we all don’t get any younger – so what was was easy at the age of 65 may get difficult at 70 and impossible at 75.
The biggest problem that I’ve seen with other retirees was that they fell into a hole – didn’t know what to do with all the new found time – but I’m sure you won’t have that problem!
I just remember two couples where the husband retired before the wife which is still working for her pension. One of them got into the hobby of cooking (which I don’t remember him doing before) so he often surprises his wife with new stuff which is really nice for her – and he also does the dishes …
The other guy however doesn’t know how to spend his time and tries to ” help” his wife in her household work – which made her complain that he wants her to change the way she’s been doing it for thirty ore more years, so she’s not happy at all.
Hadn’t seen Jeff’s comment when tI wrote the above – but he totally underlines my ideas! Do all that stuff before it’s too late!
Wolf, I did a lot of traveling when I was in my 20s and 30s. I was working for a consulting company that sent me everywhere. I’ve visited 48 of the 50 United States (Mississippi and Hawaii are the two I missed). Loved Alaska! I’ve been to Europe. I have no interest in Africa, South America (Zika Virus!), or Antarctica. Asia is too far away for a geezer like me. My sister is trying to talk me into traveling with her and her husband to Iceland. We’ll see.
Wolf, the clerk at the liquor store where I buy my red wine (Doctor’s orders: drink one glass of red wine per day to protect my heart) told me that he’s noticed retired people come into his store more frequently. And buy more booze.
Keep active. Keep healthy. Keep happy. Keep Diane.
Jerry, you are so right about keeping Diane. I don’t know what I would do without her!
I will preface this advice by saying my grandmother sat for 91 years. I never saw her walk farther than across the room. But, try not to sit too much. My doctor says if you have to read or watch TV you can do it standing up or walking through audiobooks and such. The fewer hours on the butt the better.
Patti, Diane makes sure I don’t sit around much. She’s hinting I “need” a Fit-bit like hers…but I’m resisting.
George: The first thing to do is ENJOY. Your retirement is different from mine, because I hated my job and most of the people there.
I agree about keeping busy, but don’t see that as a problem for you and Diane. You’ll have time to travel, and of course read those big books. You can maybe do some volunteer work. I used to deliver meals on wheels with my mom. This year, I’m hoping to be able to do walks for my local shelter. (I’d thought about volunteering at my local food bank, but the thought of lots of bending and lifting made my back hurt – not as flexible or young as I used to be)
This was the first year I didn’t have a little old lady or 2 to drive about. I reconnected with a college friend, and her mother in law lives about 10 minutes from me, so once a month I’ll go visit her and do some shopping for her if she needs it. (my friend lives in the far reaches of east county and was near tears after I offered to do this).
I remember I thought I would watch leno or letterman every night, but rarely did it. I also got up earlier. I used to struggle to get up by 7:15 to get to work by 8am. Now I frequently get up by six. I also had plans to go thru my VHS tapes and note where each movie was. that never got done, and vhs is a thing of the past. Thankfully, I have a dvr.
Again, congrats, and enjoy. First of all, complete your welcome to retirement honey do list.
Maggie, thank you for your thoughts on Retirement. I intend to stay with my routines. I don’t stay up late, but I don’t get up really, really early either. I’ll continue to go to the pool every day and aqua-jog for an hour. Diane and I try to eat out about once a week. And see a movie about once a week, too. I don’t think any Big Changes will occur
Neither John nor I see retirement as a realistic possibility for many years (that’s what marrying and having your kids late in life will do–ha ha!), but I’ll use the example of my parents and in-laws and give the following advice: Stay busy and involved in something that will get you out of the house regularly. Traveling and reading big books will be wonderful, but have something (a weekly club meeting, a daily gym visit, a civic or charitable endeavor, etc. I really don’t think humans do too well in a completely unscheduled/unobligated environment. But most of all, enjoy your well-deserved retirement!
Deb, I’m sure I’ll find all kinds of activities to keep me busy. The Librarians at the North Tonawanda Public Library are trying to recruit me. They only have female Librarians and would like to hire me since I know the Library and their computer system so well. We’ll see. I think you and John may see Retirement sooner than you think. Once your twins finish College, it will feel like you got a Big Raise!
Hire someone to clean the house – I doubt anyone at the end of their life says things like “I wish I’d dusted and vacuumed more.” What most people remember are people and experiences. Upon retirement, my parents traveled more (they went to all 50 states and Europe), went to more museums, more concerts, more plays, even some factory tours! The brain thrives on novelty, including new experiences and learning new things – helps keep us young. 🙂
I totally agree with hiring someone to clean the house!!
Maggie, we had a great house cleaner when Diane and I were both working. If we find another winner, we would hire them in a minute!
Totally agree with Jeff, but will add a few ideas.
First of all, reconnect with Diane in a new way since you are full time house husband now. Don’t know if you guys still go walking, but when the weather agrees, get back to it. Jeff and I have a regular routine when we are home. Relax by reading, computer stuff or playing video games in the morning, lunch (main meal) out followed by Starbucks (where we read articles, e-mails and read. and shopping. We do all of the above and watch TV at night. We must be doing something right because neighbors in the elevator or strangers in Starbucks have commented numerous times that we look like we are having fun and hope to find that kind of happiness.
We do love to travel, but it doesn’t sound like you will overdo it. We are trying to turn Bouchercons to new places into longer vacations a la Jeff and Ann and we love our routine of New Orleans, Las Vegas , D.C. and occasionally London. After 30 years of European travel we now go only when we have a free flight and enough Marriott points (maybe every 5 years). One suggestion, why not come down to the City once a year for Theater, food and your Brooklyn friends.
The key to all of it is that all that pressure we lived with our working lives is totally gone. You will wake up relaxed every morning.
Enjoy,
Jackie
Jackie, thanks for the sound advice!
I love jackie’s idea of a nyc visit for theater. maybe Hamilton will be available?? Wish I lived close enough to make it more do-able
Just enjoy shuffling down to the Senior Center for macrame clases & jazzerecise.
Dan, the State University of New York at Buffalo offers free classes to anyone over 65. I might just look into taking some of those free classes.
Hey George,
Just a little amendment. Forgot to mention escaping down to Florida for 2 months. You could swim in a pool or the ocean every day! Also, we know that you love going to movies. We really only go in Florida but we do love the Theater and Concerts. As Bill says, we go to see our favorites with all the other Q-tips.
Jackie
Jackie, I’m not going to places where the Zika Virus lurks.
Congratulations, George. You’ve earned your retirement, enjoy it. I have no advice for you, the best thing is to follow your own!
Rick, I really liked my job. Bill Crider and I would agree we had the best gig in the world as college professors. But all Good Things must come to an end. The College made it easy for me to accept Retirement by offering me a nice Incentive to leave now. You know I’ll be reading up a storm in the months ahead!
George, I can’t improve on any of those recommendations. This is my final day before retirement too. Made one last visit to the office yesterday to finish up some loose ends and turn in my ID badge. Let the good times roll!
Fred, congratulations on your Retirement! When I went in last week to turn in some paperwork, I found my Chairman sitting at my desk. “John, what are you doing sitting in my chair?” I asked. “This is my Office now,” my Chairman said. I had the largest office and obviously, my Chairman coveted its grandeur and corner window.
Best wishes on your new journey into retirement! After spending years of your life dedicated to enriching the lives of your students, you certainly deserve some leisure time.
I was just thinking the other day about how I learned about curved grading in your class. You had given me a curved grade of 100%, which I assumed was an error because I got some of the questions wrong; thus, I tried to get you to lower my grade 🙂
Lauren, the World grades on a Curve. You, however, will always be in the 100% range!
George,
Congrats on your retirement. I retired from my job in 2015 after 43 years. I’m enjoying the hell out of it! Although I think I think my wife is taking longer to make the adjustment than I did! LOL!
Anyway, I will now give you the same salutation I have given all my former co-workers over the years as they retired.
Live long, and collect many pension checks!
Sully, my first NYSTR pension check gets direct deposited on January 31. Can’t wait! And continue enjoying your retirement!