Questions about Ch 7 from Work Less, Live More book

[freebird5825]

if you haven't read it, put doing that on your A list. i devoured it in 4 days flat. and plan to read it again, slowly so it absorbs. i got in the bad habit of speed reading to get through mountains of contracts. i need to unlearn that and enjoy a book slowly.
i digress..of particular interest to me was chapter 7, Challenges of Semi-Retirement. The list included Guilt, Boredom, Panic, Bruised Ego, and Financial Worries.
i'm still a kid at this FIRE thing.
can I ask the longer retired folks here to tell me if (and when) these things happened to you?
I'll go first...
I have no guilt about no longer working. Not one ounce.
Boredom has hit, cured it with volunteering.
Bruised Ego - what's an ego?
Financial Worries - didn't hit until my property and income taxes are gonna both hit me in April. but it's covered.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 if you haven't read it, put doing that on your A list. i devoured it in 4 days flat. and plan to read it again, slowly so it absorbs. i got in the bad habit of speed reading to get through mountains of contracts. i need to unlearn that and enjoy a book slowly. i digress..of particular interest to me was chapter 7, Challenges of Semi-Retirement. The list included Guilt, Boredom, Panic, Bruised Ego, and Financial Worries. i'm still a kid at this FIRE thing. can I ask the longer retired folks here to tell me if (and when) these things happened to you? I'll go first... I have no guilt about no longer working. Not one ounce. Boredom has hit, cured it with volunteering. Bruised Ego - what's an ego? Financial Worries - didn't hit until my property and income taxes are gonna both hit me in April. but it's covered.

Guilt?
-No

Boredom?
-Sorta kinda; but started doing more. (gardening, getting organized, sorting stuff, making plans for downsizing...)

Bruised Ego?
-Kicked and stomped flat years ago

Financial Worries?
-Occasionally, but am living on the pension; I consider everything else to be my emergency fund (TSP IRAs CDs Bonds MMA)

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 if you haven't read it, put doing that on your A list. i devoured it in 4 days flat. and plan to read it again, slowly so it absorbs.

You may want to stock extra copies in case your "friends" don't return your loaners. Not that I'm bitter, but it's amusing to see someone rediscover the book at my house and have to be reminded that they already borrowed my copy last year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 I have no guilt about no longer working. Not one ounce.

I was paroled for good behavior and I have the discharge papers to prove it.

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Originally Posted by freebird5825 Boredom has hit, cured it with volunteering.

Six years and no boredom yet. In fact I've read more time-management books during retirement than I ever did during my working days. Considering the results so far, I fear that the effort may still have been wasted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Bruised Ego - what's an ego?

I kinda enjoy the way that I'm now invisible on military bases.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Financial Worries - didn't hit until my property and income taxes are gonna both hit me in April. but it's covered.

This was a bit of a problem at first (I retired June 2002) but has been cured by the last five years' investment returns...

[youbet]

Guilt......... None. Of course I didn't RE until 58 and I worked like a Georgia mule plowing bottom land in the summer heat until then. Literally everyone I knew was relieved to see me retire while I could still walk out under my own power. (I was twitching and limping a little!) If I'm supposed to feel guilty for pulling up a little short, everyone should feel guilty.......

Boredom........ A bit. I have lots to do and I'm always busy doing something. Still, sometimes things drag a little strictly due to my own lack of ambition to plan and to get up and go. You know......there's a kayak hanging in the garage, a pickup truck in the driveway and a river down south with no ice, so why am I sitting here typing on a keyboard? That kind of boredom.

Bruised ego......... For a while I actually missed the pressure and adrenilin rush of being the guy who either got most of the credit or took most of the heat for operations at work...... Sick, huh? That's pretty much passed and I now consider myself a recovered type A.

Financial worries.......... Seem to be in pretty good shape despite some things going against me this first couple of years. Concerns of losing employer subsidized health care, pension (the old company is struggling big time these days), stagflation, Dow below 8,000, etc., still pop into my mind from time to time but not to the extent of being a preoccupation.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan Guilt? -No Boredom? -Sorta kinda; but started doing more. (gardening, getting organized, sorting stuff, making plans for downsizing...) Bruised Ego? -Kicked and stomped flat years ago Financial Worries? -Occasionally, but am living on the pension; I consider everything else to be my emergency fund (TSP IRAs CDs Bonds MMA)

ah, gardening, food for the soul and great exercise. beats the gym anyday. i didn't do much last year cuz of lingering RSI problems, but this year i have my seed catalogues at the ready. i'm in Hardiness Zone 4b so i have to wait a week after Memorial Day to plant tomatoes and go with short season types.
ever see this map? USNA - USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map: North-East US

[Moemg]

I just saw this thread and I'm going thru a little guilt right now. My last job was at a surgery center and now two of my former workers and friends are going thru hard times with cancer . Do I help them out by going back to work so they can keep their jobs or do I stay retired ? It's a hard decision that I'll have to make in the near future .

[freebird5825]

Nords, re "I kinda enjoy the way that I'm now invisible on military bases."

an interesting comment that hit home. one of my volunteer jobs (NYANG unit social function planning and helping to set up a family resource group center) puts me in indirect contact with former colleagues who utilize the another part of the bldg where i go.

at first, i enjoyed the contact and the "you look great" and "what are you up to?". but as time has passed, i find i want to avoid that contact. it's almost a reminder of what i escaped.

does this feeling go away?

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I just saw this thread and I'm going thru a little guilt right now. My last job was at a surgery center and now two of my former workers and friends are going thru hard times with cancer . Do I help them out by going back to work so they can keep their jobs or do I stay retired ? It's a hard decision that I'll have to make in the near future .

is unpaid volunteering for a few hours an option? you keep your freedom and you still can help out, doing minor stuff to offset their load.

[travelover]

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Originally Posted by freebird5825 ........... at first, i enjoyed the contact and the "you look great" and "what are you up to?". but as time has passed, i find i want to avoid that contact. it's almost a reminder of what i escaped. does this feeling go away?

I avoid contact with former workers. I think it is kind of a survivor guilt thing. I got the hell out of there and they are still trapped, stressed and worried about their jobs.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I avoid contact with former workers. I think it is kind of a survivor guilt thing. I got the hell out of there and they are still trapped, stressed and worried about their jobs.

i have a feeling that will eventually be what i do (avoid). it's indirect contact, they are using the fitness center and i am in totally separate rooms. but i have committed time to the guard unit and wouldn't feel right reneging on that. so as the penguins said in Madagascar, "Just smile and wave". LOL

[W2R]

One of my co-workers who retired keeps e-mailing me. I answer her as briefly and seldom as possible within the bounds of common courtesy. I never regarded her as a friend outside the office, and only saw her at work when she was here, and it seems really dysfunctional that she should be trying to strike up a friendship right now.

She has been hanging around our workplace a lot, too. I think she just needs to CUT the ties and look towards the future and a great new life in retirement. It's totally creepy that she hasn't done that yet, after 8 months or so. She was a control freak's control freak when she worked here, so I guess it's been hard for her to let go.

[ziggy29]

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Originally Posted by Want2retire One of my co-workers who retired keeps e-mailing me. I answer her as briefly and seldom as possible within the bounds of common courtesy. I never regarded her as a friend outside the office, and only saw her at work when she was here, and it seems really dysfunctional that she should be trying to strike up a friendship right now. She has been hanging around our workplace a lot, too. I think she just needs to CUT the ties and look towards the future and a great new life in retirement. It's totally creepy that she hasn't done that yet, after 8 months or so. She was a control freak's control freak when she worked here, so I guess it's been hard for her to let go.

True. I can see people who are still working wanting to keep in touch, especially if they wanted to use the other person as a reference. But someone who's retired doesn't need the references any more! I guess this is one of those things where people might want to think about what other hobbies they have, and what other non-office circle of friends they have, before pulling the retirement trigger.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire One of my co-workers who retired keeps e-mailing me. I answer her as briefly and seldom as possible within the bounds of common courtesy. I never regarded her as a friend outside the office, and only saw her at work when she was here, and it seems really dysfunctional that she should be trying to strike up a friendship right now. She has been hanging around our workplace a lot, too. I think she just needs to CUT the ties and look towards the future and a great new life in retirement. It's totally creepy that she hasn't done that yet, after 8 months or so. She was a control freak's control freak when she worked here, so I guess it's been hard for her to let go.

we had folks who retired on Friday and showed up on Monday with a different color badge (industry). i wonder if they worked all weekend in between.

very creepy!!!!

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 we had folks who retired on Friday and showed up on Monday with a different color badge (industry). i wonder if they worked all weekend in between. very creepy!!!!

Saw a lot of that with military: uniform Friday, contractor badge Monday.

[freebird5825]

re Saw a lot of that with military: uniform Friday, contractor badge Monday....

No problem there. from direct experience, the military folks worked harder and didn't, shall we say, skim off the top of the system. in my book, they deserved any job break they got as a result of their service.

it was the non-military I saw using their "buddy" contacts and occupying cake jobs. it just went against my grain. i'll admit to being a crusader. probably why so many bullets were coming at me. i got really good at dodging them.

but it's all in the rearview mirror. well almost. can you tell i still have some sticky residue clinging to me? LOL

I should make an April Fool's Day resolution to never ever look back. That will be my one year FIRE anniversary. until then, please bear with me as i offload the sludge.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 but it's all in the rearview mirror. well almost. can you tell i still have some sticky residue clinging to me? LOL I should make an April Fool's Day resolution to never ever look back. That will be my one year FIRE anniversary. until then, please bear with me as i offload the sludge.

[freebird5825]

LMAO...the pile is still so fresh the steam is still rising.

oh, thank you I needed that. you made my day.

my face hurts from laughing.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 an interesting comment that hit home. one of my volunteer jobs (NYANG unit social function planning and helping to set up a family resource group center) puts me in indirect contact with former colleagues who utilize the another part of the bldg where i go. at first, i enjoyed the contact and the "you look great" and "what are you up to?". but as time has passed, i find i want to avoid that contact. it's almost a reminder of what i escaped. does this feeling go away?

Well, the people that I was friendly with when I was active-duty are still friendly. My fellow prisoners shipmates are glad to hear what life is like on the outside. I enjoy seeing them around but we don't really seek each other out.

The ambitious ones have moved on to Pentagon tours in search of greater glory and I don't have to see them anymore. One of my younger protégés has clawed his way up to command, but he probably took it badly when I started laughing upon seeing his command pin. He's justifiably afraid that I'll tell his wardroom all the sea stories about "Hey, when your CO was an ensign he..."

In about five years you'll look around that building and realize that, except for a few of the ANG, you've been there longer than anyone. At that point you'll find yourself telling a security watch "Listen, sonny, when I was your age" stories. When you enjoy hanging around the old workspaces for a while, then you'll know it's time to go home.

Eight years into retirement, one of my shipmates says that the only thing he misses about active duty is being in a roomful of smart people. (He does not suffer fools gladly, let along managers or Democrats.) He joined his local chapter of the U.S. Sub Vets and he's feeling a lot better. I suppose I could do the same someday but they all seem so old!!

[freebird5825]

re In about five years you'll look around that building and realize that, except for a few of the ANG, you've been there longer than anyone. At that point you'll find yourself telling a security watch "Listen, sonny, when I was your age" stories. When you enjoy hanging around the old workspaces for a while, then you'll know it's time to go home.

oops, my mistake in explaining. i didn't work at the ANG unit. the state NYANG folks are totally new to me and vice versa. i worked as a civil servant for the fed. OMG, the last place you'd find me is right in the old mess, i mean mix. the keys slipped.

my volunteer work is totally independent of my career. the buildings just happen to be on the same former base. i knew that going into the volunteer stuff. i just figured i could "smile and wave" and grin my grinniest grin.