Congrats on the retirement gentlemen
Retired in 2014 at age 62, the wife in 2006 at 55.
Enjoy it, but make time for yourself.
TomO
Congratulations! My own retirement is effective 1/4/21 - Monday. Between dismantling the old railroad, a move with major renovations to the new house, constructing a new layout when the basement is finished, with the new house within 30 minutes of a half dozen great trout streams, and now I got a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for my guitar under the tree for Christmas. No idea where I will find the time for all of this. In hindsight, the whole work thing is overrated ...
B Rutherford Congratulations to both of you! I have to admit to being a bit jealous. Best case I have another 15 years I still find time to enjoy the hobby but no nearly as much as I would like!
Congratulations to both of you!
I have to admit to being a bit jealous. Best case I have another 15 years
I still find time to enjoy the hobby but no nearly as much as I would like!
& move to cape coral fla in 2012, my son still lives in raymond NH
i miss it until nov 1st or the first snow storm lol
me im still working for another 5 years but no huge responsiblites here, so i dont mind
My retiring doesn't rock the financial boat to any serious degree. In fact, I wasn't thinking seriously about retiring until my biggest customer mentioned that in spring they plan to replace their high maint floor (a smart move) with a much lower maint floor, probably reducing or eliminating my services. I kinda joked I might just retire then.
That got me wondering. So my wife and I ran the numbers. With SS, some retirement from a union job I had in grocery for years, and eliminating my business expenses and insurances, We're about even. So why wait! Also, this work is hard on the injuries of my youth, so retiring eliminates a great deal of physical discomfort. And lowers my risk of exposure to C-19 dramatically, for however much longer that will go on.
So in just within the month of December, we wrapped it up. I even found a successor to take care of my customers, so they don't have to search unless they choose to. And the fun part is that i get to "skip" the hardest time of the year, winter conditions make every aspect of the job harder. I'll quit hating snow!!!
First, congratulations on your retirement. I retired 8 1/2 years ago. My HO layout, such as it was, was pretty much complete at that time. That first summer I looked into G scale and got myself an education and a plan. I started off small with a loop around the patio and a starter set. I then acquired track and sketched out a route through the garden. Each spring I would start another phase of the garden railway. Plenty of exercise plus it kept my creative juices flowing. What job? Never missed it especially the ever interfering "management" staff.
SeeYou190Now that I am retired, every hour is simply to be piddled away on the simplest forms of happiness I can get.
I agree with Kevin, (although I'm not sure that I would use the term 'piddled away'). With a few rare exceptions for appointments, my time is my own time now. If I want to spend an hour playing Solitaire then I will. No regrets. If I choose to not work on the layout full time, I don't feel the least bit guilty. I do not feel the need to occupy every waking hour with some great accomplishment.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
selector The key to living is to do it the way we want, as we want, and when we want. The key to great living is to deal with everything else. And boy, will there be everything else if you do it right.
The key to living is to do it the way we want, as we want, and when we want. The key to great living is to deal with everything else. And boy, will there be everything else if you do it right.
My Dad retired from the Post office (middle management) the year I graduated High school and went out and bought the first brand new car he ever owned and bought more brand new cars throughout his retirement.
One thing he said once was, "I don't know why people plan their retirement with the idea of having to cut back on spending, you need more money in retirement because you will have the time to spend it enjoying your retirement". They travelled a lot, plus spent a month in Hawaii every year to warm their old bones, bought a larger house to enjoy as he would be spending more time at home and he fixed it up just because he liked doing that kind of thing, and yes, bought new cars when he needed one.
He knew what he wanted in retirement and planned for it.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
SeeYou190 Lastspikemike The key to an enjoyable retirement is to treat every hour as the most valuable you have ever had available. The opposite. Now that I am retired, every hour is simply to be piddled away on the simplest forms of happiness I can get. All my valuable hours are behind me... on to the time that can be spent on trivial nonsense with no regrets. The most valuable hours of my life were when I had three little girls at home that all needed their dad, and I only had very few hours that could be spent with them. I made the most of every second in those hours. My hours now are just hours, and just for me. -Kevin
Lastspikemike The key to an enjoyable retirement is to treat every hour as the most valuable you have ever had available.
The opposite. Now that I am retired, every hour is simply to be piddled away on the simplest forms of happiness I can get.
All my valuable hours are behind me... on to the time that can be spent on trivial nonsense with no regrets.
The most valuable hours of my life were when I had three little girls at home that all needed their dad, and I only had very few hours that could be spent with them. I made the most of every second in those hours.
My hours now are just hours, and just for me.
-Kevin
LastspikemikeOf course, opinions can't be the subject of correction.
LastspikemikeThe key to an enjoyable retirement is to treat every hour as the most valuable you have ever had available.
Living the dream.
- Bill Rutherford Lancaster, NH
Central Vermont Railroad
Congratulations!
I retired at 52, my daughter was seven, my son was nine. Being there before and after school was the best. I loved my job and never had a day I didn't want to go to work, it was the best. A health issue made me pack it in, or rather I was told to retire. No regrets, I had a good run and have lots of stories and fond memories.
My son is 22 now and the other day he said come on Dad, I still can't go to hockey without you. I don't know how I ever had time to work and I still don't spend much time on my butt in front of the idiot box.
Congratulations to both of you. You'll merely swap out some intense interests, pursuits, and demands on your time for others. The day is still 24 hours long; you'll just use all those hours differently, although with more autonomy.
I was always a night owl, and it has gotten worse in retirement. There's always a good book, a good history video or philosophical vlog, or someone's how-to on just about anything that comes a person's way that could be called a problem. They keep me up until 0200 most nights.
Congratulations Dan and Peter! I'm sure that you will enjoy being retired!
I retired from full time work in 2012. I was happy to get out! The job was horrible. I worked part time for another couple of years until my back couldn't take it anymore. Now am free to do as I choose (with Dianne of course) and I love it.
I am a night owl too! My juices don't start to flow until about 10:00 pm.
Congratulations on your retirement, Dan.
I stopped working in September of 2004, but didn't actually retire until December 31st of that year, as I had 15 weeks of saved vacation time.I enjoyed most of my working time in a steel mill (except for the dayshifts), but the last couple of years, in a different department, weren't all that pleasant, and I was glad to leave a couple years shy of the 40 year-service mark.
I remain a shift worker, preferring afternoons and especially nights, with dayshift only when absolutely necessary.
Many of the older farts with whom I worked are gone, possibly because their only life was work, with never a hobby even considered.Model railroading is one of the things keeping me sane (well, as much as can be expected, I guess) in these current times. Keep busy, keep living.
Wayne
NorthBritAfter doing this, that and the other for everyone else you find a hobby that 'gets you out of the way'.
So far this has not happened to me yet.
I am sure it will. All of my wife's family lives here in this town... dozens of them.
They are the best people, and I could never tell them no.
caldreamer am enjoying my retirement and model railroading. I have even gotten my wife somewhat interested in trains. WHAT A MIRACLE. Enjoy your retirement.
I am starting to see signs of this from my wife too... MIRACLE!
CNR378A timely post. Today is day one of my retirement. No more getting up at 1AM to go to work.
Congratulations Peter!
MisterBeasleyWhen I retired 6 years ago, about all I did to celebrate was turn off the alarm clock and never turn it on again. I thought of smashing it with a sledge hammer, but why do that to a perfectly good clock that had served me well for thirty years?
I do not even have a clock in the bedroom. I get up when I feel like it, and do not want to know what time it is while I am in bed.
I had to use the alarm clock when contractors were coming to the house, but those days are over.
dknelson You'll eagerly await the arrival of the daily mail even though most of it goes directly into recycling.
Why is this?
The mail was always in the box when I came home from work, and I never gave it any thought.
Now, if it is not here by 2:00 I want to know what is going on!
Thank you for the replies. And Congrats to you, Peter!
I might add a few details: I was down to about 3 hours a night for 4 nights a week in the last few years. Not much, you might say. But we are foster parents to the most precious developementally disabled girl, who has been my main occupation for years. It as been said if you can find a way to find a way to make a living doing something you love, you never have to go to work. SO TRUE!!!
The night work was our main source of income for years, but that leaned off with the resession in around 08-09. I still kept the core accounts. But it was time, I was burned out. I did a good job to the end. So my days don't change, other than not having to save energy for work on work nights.
I'm about 90% done building a 21x40 shop with a concrete floor for my mechanical and welding interests (plenty of projects lined up for that!), so I'll be enjoying that after being cramped in a 17 x 21.
The cozy layout room is 10x20, I wouldn't want it bigger. I'm a slow builder, this layout will suffice nicely. That's night activity, and winter weather.
And I've already got a busy day planed, so I got to get at it!
Southgate 2SO! I ask this forum, What EVER is a retired night owl going to do with those quiet late waking hours to fill the void? Hint: it won't be TV. And the layout room is a separate structure, so whatever noise I make won't be an issue.
I retired in February 2020, talk about great timing! That was the best bounce I ever had. I was offered an excellent package from my employer of 31 years, and I checked out at age 52.
I am also a night owl. I was in school, so it makes sense I would be one in retirement. I have been working on my house since I left employment, so I really don't have the "nothing to do" experience yet.
My wife and I stay up until 4:00 - 6:00 AM every night, and sleep until noon. I don't have an alarm clock.
I eat when I am hungry, go to sleep when I am tired, and wake up when I am rested.
This is the life!
mobilman44I was amazed at how many would say, "I just don't know how I got anything done when I was working, I'm just so busy now". Well, I would laugh at that and thought it was a joke. But it wasn't long after I retired that I found myself saying the same thing - and it still applies.
So so true. I don't know where I found the time to work so many hours, raise children, take care of my wife, or maintain anything. I also had leisure activities like concerts, conventions, and train shows that are gone now.
How did I do it?
Retired since 2013 and now it seems unimaginable that I got up every weekday at 5:30 am. Thinking about work and dreaming about work became very rare early on.
Random observations. You'll have less "free time" than you thought you'd have. You'll likely sleep later. Suddenly going to hardware stores and coffee shops will seem interesting. You'll eagerly await the arrival of the daily mail even though most of it goes directly into recycling. You'll get to know neighbors and even also-retired former co-workers better. You might be asked to join various retiree lunch and breakfest groups (as soon as social distancing is over) - do so.
When I (rearely) drive down the same roads as I drove every day to work, I am often shocked at the changes. Houses have been torn down and built, stores have come and gone, trees taken down due to emerald ash borer.
I expected I'd be able to devote what had been my 8 hour work day to model railroading. it has not worked out that way.
Dave Nelson
When I retired 6 years ago, about all I did to celebrate was turn off the alarm clock and never turn it on again. I thought of smashing it with a sledge hammer, but why do that to a perfectly good clock that had served me well for thirty years?
When I retired and people ask me what it was like, I tell them it's like stepping off a cliff and landing in a cloud.
Congratulations.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Congratulations to you, too, Peter!
York1 John
A timely post.
Today is day one of my retirement. No more getting up at 1AM to go to work.
Peter
I have been retired for a great deal of my life, first time when I was 29, then got married and had kids and retired again at 52. I am 68 now. I find that sometimes you are very busy but other times there is bordom. See I was able to work 7 days a week and up to 20 hours a day and can still do 8 hr on a construction job (helped install a kitchen on someone elses honey do list). Point being is if you are used to long hours, there are a lot of hours in a day that need to be filled. Before the shut down I could fill alot of them but not now. Lucky for you this seems to be ending so by the time you get your layout in reasomble shape, hopefully this will be over and you can do the things you like besides model railroading.
Congratulations, Dan!
PruittI think you'll find retiring is the best decision you've ever made. It sure was for me! I enjoy life now more than I ever have. I hope it's the same for you.
I will echo that!
I think you'll find retiring is the best decision you've ever made. It sure was for me! I enjoy life now more than I ever have. I hope it's the same for you.
Happy model railroading, and be sure to share your adventures with the rest of us.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Congratulations! I retired in 2018 from being a manufacturers' sales rep in the toy biz. I'm so glad I have a hobby, THIS hobby. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it. Yes, I have my wife and we do travel (until this C19 hit us). All I can say to others is to find a hobby or something to keep you busy in your retirement years.
I'm sure you will keep busy with your model railroad and other things you thought may not have the time to do, but now you can!
Neal
Congrats and welcome to retirement. I think you'll find that without having to go to work, there STILL won't be enough hours in the day. And, yes, you'll get "volunteered" into helping other people get the things on other people's "honey-do" list. Good thing your layout is in a separate building. When your significant other calls you, just flip on the table saw.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
You go Dan! I've been retired since 2012, being a cement finisher, it couldn't come soon enough!
Now you and gmpullman (Ed) can get together! , along with a few others in here, who's bedtime is when the rest of us are getting up.
It's really special when the whole world celebrates your retirement!
Mike.
EDIT: Lucky you! There is a young lady in the Users Online box that is here to help you celebrate! Ms. AmyTGibbs. She probably won't stay long.
My You Tube