Withdrawal symptoms??

[PX4sc40sw]

Good answer! That feeling of "I'm supposed to be somewhere" or in your case "I forgot to show up for class" is something we may never get rid of. Years of strict mental discipline, ruled by the numbers and the timers...argh.
My clothes were actually pretty typical, casual when I was in the lab , "power suits" for visitors .
But yes, they did match.
"Bleated" was just fat fingers on my keyboard. However, I have to sound an acronym alert!!! UNC stands for University of ??
I'm actually a SUNY grad, BS Physics. Engineering and computers came later, as needed.
There's a lot of techno-geeks here on the forum. But we leave the equation solving for the still harnessed. I have zero plans to do any more techno stuff except for my own amusement.

It was the Tar Heels, as harley mentions. So it was the sheep bleathing connection.

I knew engineers in the 70's who would wear plaid pants with a striped shirt and a pocket protector. Ah, the memories. You have to have known a few.

I was the equation dispenser during my career and cannot shake that. Equations are cool.

 

[Nords]

OK, fessing up. It had some trying aspects, but I worked with people that actually impressed me daily with their knowledge. Most coworkers were very unpretentious and the environment was pretty congenial. No real deliverables other than "white" papers. Plus the large complex of buildings where I worked housed many different businesses. Conversations at lunch might range from Thomas Jefferson's affair with Mrs. Cosway, to speculation on the feasibility of a quantum bomb.
I miss that.

Shucks, you've come to the right place...

 

[jambo101]

Since retirement, I from time to time feel a sensation that I would classify as "caged animal" or "wanting to jump out of my skin". I read a few threads on the forum somewhat related but not addressing specifically those feelings.

Does that seem like a normal retiree complaint?

Sounds like cabin fever or just plain boredom.

 

[deserat]

I'm sure if you searched you might find a discussion about numbers of fairies dancing on the head of a pin here.....or not. The feasibility of a quantum bomb might be a new subject to add to the strings available - or 'string theory' (although I think I saw something about that years ago here). Or just plain silliness or meanness - that's here, too. Best advice given, IMHO, is how to spend your time during retirement, how to save money and how to invest your money. All others are for pure entertainment (although some of the answers to the three best subjects can be quite entertaining as well).

Depending on when people are on the board, you can get almost immediate feedback as well - I've had private notes replied to within 30 seconds - and I'm 6-9 hours time difference ahead of continental US.

To your direct question - hell, I feel that way at times and I still quasi-work. I call it being edgy - usually happens when I don't know what to do next - forcing myself to go for a walk/DO something usually makes it go away - perhaps it's a function of an overactive mind. I did some very strenuous hiking once (Via Ferrate in Dolomiti, Italy) - basically you wear a harness around your hips with caribiners and click and unclick the caribiners on a cable that is mounted into the wall of the mountain (if you watch the old Stallone movie "Cliffhanger' where they are hiking on ledges, you'll get where we were) and found it to be some of the most mentally relaxing things I ever did-why? My mind is at times so over-active, that the absolute focus needed while doing this hiking (you must really only think about where to put your next foot and clipping and unclipping the caribiners while walking along the ledge or climbing the metal ladder and looking down every now and then realizing one misstep and you will not be around anymore - your mind relaxes as it isn't multi-multi-processing). Add to that the physical exhaustion after the day and I slept like a baby every night. This might not work for some people, but it sure did for me - and I didn't find out until I was in my mid-thirties that this was something good for me.

Welcome to the board! Interesting group of people and I find definitely some of the more intelligent to interact with - very different perspectives, but all mostly committed to retiring early and doing what they want to with their time.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

I'm sure if you searched you might find a discussion about numbers of fairies dancing on the head of a pin here.....or not. The feasibility of a quantum bomb might be a new subject to add to the strings available - or 'string theory' (although I think I saw something about that years ago here). Or just plain silliness or meanness - that's here, too. Best advice given, IMHO, is how to spend your time during retirement, how to save money and how to invest your money. All others are for pure entertainment (although some of the answers to the three best subjects can be quite entertaining as well).

Depending on when people are on the board, you can get almost immediate feedback as well - I've had private notes replied to within 30 seconds - and I'm 6-9 hours time difference ahead of continental US.

To your direct question - hell, I feel that way at times and I still quasi-work. I call it being edgy - usually happens when I don't know what to do next - forcing myself to go for a walk/DO something usually makes it go away - perhaps it's a function of an overactive mind. I did some very strenuous hiking once (Via Ferrate in Dolomiti, Italy) - basically you wear a harness around your hips with caribiners and click and unclick the caribiners on a cable that is mounted into the wall of the mountain (if you watch the old Stallone movie "Cliffhanger' where they are hiking on ledges, you'll get where we were) and found it to be some of the most mentally relaxing things I ever did-why? My mind is at times so over-active, that the absolute focus needed while doing this hiking (you must really only think about where to put your next foot and clipping and unclipping the caribiners while walking along the ledge or climbing the metal ladder and looking down every now and then realizing one misstep and you will not be around anymore - your mind relaxes as it isn't multi-multi-processing). Add to that the physical exhaustion after the day and I slept like a baby every night. This might not work for some people, but it sure did for me - and I didn't find out until I was in my mid-thirties that this was something good for me.

Welcome to the board! Interesting group of people and I find definitely some of the more intelligent to interact with - very different perspectives, but all mostly committed to retiring early and doing what they want to with their time.

Thanks for the welcome, I do believe part of it is an over-active mind. The hike you did sounds fascinating in many ways. Interesting concept of a "relaxed" mind in the midst of intense concentration.

 

[CuppaJoe]

.... Conversations at lunch might range from Thomas Jefferson's affair with Mrs. Cosway, to speculation on the feasibility of a quantum bomb.

I miss that.

I worked with an awesome guy who is a Jefferson scholar and is tops in his unrelated field. Fun arguments about Jefferson.

I've been free only 5 months and I tell myself if I want those kinds of discussions again I'll attend library events. It's the best place I know where the old (and young) smart guys and gals hang out and they are friendly. They serve wine and coffee before, during and after lectures, book signings, movies with film scholars, book discussions--there's one going on Proust and others on local authors.

 

[W2R]

Conversations at lunch might range from Thomas Jefferson's affair with Mrs. Cosway, to speculation on the feasibility of a quantum bomb.

Wow! Sounds like an unusually stimulating work environment.

My co-workers are Ph.D scientists and engineers. Our conversations at lunch are mostly about the weather, about our oppressive workload, about our efforts at the gym, about our favorite restaurants, about football, about cars, and about other co-workers and management.

We do discuss topics in science and engineering, but not at lunch. I must admit that I like talking about something else for a change, at lunch or on breaks.

 

[dex]

Conversations at lunch might range from Thomas Jefferson's affair with Mrs. Cosway, to speculation on the feasibility of a quantum bomb.

I like that kind of discussion also. But, it isn't enough to keep me working.
Listen to University of Berkley podcasts.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

CuppaJoe, great suggestion.

I think few people realize just how different our nation might have been had Thomas Jefferson not won the 1800 election. Pivotal point in our history and the outcome hinged on a voting error.

EDIT:
W2r, Dex, the lunch room held maybe 300 people and 7-8 companies shared the same complex of 16-20 story buildings. So the lunch crowd was everything from nerds to chefs to bank execs to tarocchi practioners. I remember quite well a conversation about Cassanova gaining his prowess from tarocchi. Never worked for me.

 

[jug]

Psychologicall retired about 10 years ago. My body followed about 2 1/2 years ago. I just turned 56

Have no guilt. Look at people still working as unfortunate. The upside is that I'm able to concentrate on subjects that I sort of skimmed over during working life. I take more time doing things and watching the world unfold.

Down side is that I have too much time on my hands. I have weird sleeping hours, don't know if I'm still on NY time, or that I live in Vegas where I know I can get what I want when I want it.

Debating whether to go on a part time job, but the thought of being on a schedule bugs me. Perhaps I'll take up a hobby, see how many w-2/1099's I can collect in a year. In any case, nothing wrong with just "being"

jug
Ooooooommmmmmmmmmmm

 

[CuppaJoe]

....Look at people still working as unfortunate. The upside is that I'm able to concentrate on subjects that I sort of skimmed over during working life. I take more time doing things and watching the world unfold.

....

Hear! Hear! Sometimes now I go thru a museum exhibit and just look at a couple of things slowly because I know I can go back more often than I would before retirement.

 

[bbbamI]

We found out yesterday that the 26th of this month will be DH last day on the j*b. I've been trying to prepare him for retirement and the changes he may go through. He's a very intelligent, structured man and I'm hoping that he will be able to loosen up a bit. Time will tell....

He does have a few hobbies....his favorite is music....

He's the one with the guitar.

 

[ls99]

We found out yesterday that the 26th of this month will be DH last day on the j*b. I've been trying to prepare him for retirement and the changes he may go through. He's a very intelligent, structured man and I'm hoping that he will be able to loosen up a bit. Time will tell....

He does have a few hobbies....his favorite is music....

He's the one with the guitar.

Read somewhere about a wife's newly fulltime hubby at home.
She was frustrated after a few weeks of him being underfoot. Finally she said: I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch. Now go find something to occupy your time with.

Remembering this when I retired, I dutifully disappear for several hours a day.

 

[bbbamI]

When I retired, I dutifully disappear for several hours a day.

You are one smart man.

On a few occasions he has walked up behind me and said, "What are ya doin' now, huh, huh, huh? You know I'm going to do this when I retire, right?"

The look in my eyes made him see this.....

 

[ls99]

You are one smart man.

On a few occasions he has walked up behind me and said, "What are ya doin' now, huh, huh, huh? You know I'm going to do this when I retire, right?"

The look in my eyes made him see this.....

 

[freebird5825]

You are one smart man.
On a few occasions he has walked up behind me and said, "What are ya doin' now, huh, huh, huh? You know I'm going to do this when I retire, right? The look in my eyes made him see this.....

Get the Honey-Do list going, and quick!
Sounds like a group project if I ever heard one. Look at all the good ideas I got when I asked about a xmas present for dh2b.
Would you start a new thread for the HoneyDo list?

 

[freebird5825]

...I knew engineers in the 70's who would wear plaid pants with a striped shirt and a pocket protector. Ah, the memories. You have to have known a few.
I was the equation dispenser during my career and cannot shake that. Equations are cool.

I actually didn't hit the field until 1980. But there were plenty of pocket protectors still in use. And flood water length pants, and even a few 1960s style heavy black frame glasses floating around.
Equations were cool, but only to memorize for the final. [kidding ya].
I chose the lab rat track vs the heavy duty theoretical path. I designed and ran the experiments and did the programming and data reduction. I never met a lab instrument I couldn't run within 30 minutes of unwrapping it.
I happily left the equations for the higher level thinkers. I also did the majority of the paper writing when I co-authored. I enjoyed the lab aspect but not the politics.
I had this "bad habit" of being creative and speaking what was on my mind, to folks who were fully steeped in a bureaucracy.
I had an idea - EUREKA - are any local science fairs for which you could be a judge or mentor or motivational classroom speaker ? I did this for 5 years as a volunteer, until my w*rkload got to be too much. It was a LOT of fun!

 

[bbbamI]

Would you start a new thread for the HoneyDo list?

Ooooh, hoooooo....you wascal you.....

Well, I'm not gonna bite, but I will nibble a little bit. As far as a Honey Do list goes...I've got my own and when/if he recovers, I'll start a thread on a list of doing things around the house.

 

[ls99]

Before the ladies get out of hand with their "doo list". The 2 important male defense mechanisms should be in place.

- Selective hearing
- Creative incompetence

Some of the long married men will have more, I'm a relative novice in the married world.

 

[freebird5825]

Before the ladies get out of hand with their "doo list". The 2 important male defense mechanisms should be in place.

- Selective hearing
- Creative incompetence

Some of the long married men will have more, I'm a relative novice in the married world.

If we do, we will start a new thread so we don't hijack this one.

 

[Khan]

Read somewhere about a wife's newly fulltime hubby at home.
She was frustrated after a few weeks of him being underfoot. Finally she said: I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch. Now go find something to occupy your time with.

Remembering this when I retired, I dutifully disappear for several hours a day.

My parents did something similar.

 

[haha]

Hear! Hear! Sometimes now I go thru a museum exhibit and just look at a couple of things slowly because I know I can go back more often than I would before retirement.

I do this also. Having a lot of time coupled (in my case) with senior discounts on passes and memberships makes all the difference.

I also think it is easier in a central city. I can do so many things without any committment to travel, to park, to withstand freeway stress.

Though today there were 2 crazies going mad on the bus back from town. and "an incident" at the downtown McDonalds. My take of this stuff is if I don't see a knife or hear gunshots, I am likely OK. Hard to get enough to eat in better places without dropping a lot more cash. I had raw oysters in the Public Market for my hors d'oeuvres, ($6.50) then walked over to the Mick's for a McDouble. ($1.29)

And now I am off to Happy Hour, another marvelous cultural institution that helps us forget that we have perhaps become rather useless on the larger social stage.

Ha

 

[PX4sc40sw]

I had an idea - EUREKA - are any local science fairs for which you could be a judge or mentor or motivational classroom speaker ? I did this for 5 years as a volunteer, until my w*rkload got to be too much. It was a LOT of fun!

Good idea, years ago I did some creative fun science projects for a friend who organized a yearly science day/picnic for grade school age kids. Always fun but never blew up or set fire to anything. Barely.

I'll check the net for science fairs.

 

[CuppaJoe]

It occurs to me that many of the social encounters I have are very brief, not at all unlike those at the w*rk water cooler or lunch. Today there were two conversations while waiting for buses; the first one asked if I was on my way to "the class." No, but I knew all about the class as I seriously considered registering for it and years ago took many classes with the prof. She was able to answer the burning question I had about the subject matter. The other was with two ladies, one my age and one older, "hey, did you see the exhibit, the members' preview"? Of course.... It became obvious that two out of three of us were retired as one said, "that exhibit was worth working all week." I shot a knowing glance toward the older one.

-----

bbbamI, my condolences to you! My former boss set up an office for his dad. He always liked to say, "it's not for my dad, it's for my mom." You will get a lot of support here. Keep us posted.

 

[Nords]

On a few occasions he has walked up behind me and said, "What are ya doin' now, huh, huh, huh? You know I'm going to do this when I retire, right?"

"Well, gosh, honey, right now I'm changing the belt on the vaccum cleaner, but then I'm going to reorganize the kitchen cabinets and improve my dishwasher dense-packing technique. Where would you like to start?"

I'm not willing to discuss how I learned of this marital jiujitsu.

Oh, and this is talk #11 from the "Retirement? You can't HANDLE retirement!!" guys at MyNextPhase.com...
My Next Phase - New Member Tips