riding out the storm - r u battening down the hatches?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

from all i've been reading, watching and listening so far, it looks like the optimistic view is 2 to 5 years (with the so-called bailout) of economic challenging times (like how politically correct i said that?) to a pessimistic 5 to ten years (without the bailout).

having two houses mired in the midst of this muck of which i was counting on selling one & selling or downsizing the other for early retirement and having quit a perfectly lovely (now, in retrospect--of course then i thought it had turned to crap) job just seconds before the crash, i maybe could survive this well enough as is but i'm not secure enough with firecalc (a calculator, no offense, but which i haven't noticed mentioned recently) to simply ride out this economic tsunami (no one has yet told me the term for "not as bad as a depression but worse than a recession") without taking steps to assure my secure future. (hey, that sentence was about as complex as mortgage securitization, go figure.)

as i quit working with only three years of money market funding and i’m down to one (previously thinking i’d simply replenish with tax-free inherited house proceeds--jokes on me), here's what i'm doing:

1. i've already rented out the inherited house; cheap in case i can sell, but at least i've stopped money from leaking there. when contract ends with superduper international bigwig realtor, will place on mls, at low cost, offer 3% to any ol’ buyer's realtor. if it sells, fine, if not, i'll just ride it out.
2. turning my house (ok, you're not going to like my reference here) from a liability into an asset. i'm abandoning this ship (with a lifeline) and renting out two bedrooms plus house privileges (keeping 3rd bedroom locked up for me) to maintain homestead yet cover ownership costs and bring in a little income. i’ll be here monthly to collect rents, work the garden and do repairs as needed. i could also do an addition on the house while rented (as house is so configured) possibly doubling invested money when times improve enough to sell.
3. moving onto my brother's ranch as ranch manager, which involves feeding & watering the horses twice daily (about an hour total) with coverage for time i want off, which won't be much because i'm going to be restricting my expenditures anyway.
4. renting out a room or two in the ranch house for income & company as I’m not greatly enjoying this early retirement being without a partner.
5. possibly ending or limiting e.r. by taking a job, part or full time, maybe a minimally stressed office position or retail if required (lets see how bad things get) but preferably a zoo position like maybe a petting zoo area or a caretaker.
6. possibly go back to school for a year to get teaching certification in case this is going to be a prolonged predecession (there, now we have a word for it). i might get a sub certificate first and see if i actually like the job. if i do, maybe work it for six years so as to be 100% vested and then quit in time for a late early retirement (i'm 51 now) and just consider this to have been a lovely two-year vacation.

so, is everyone else still as comfortable with their early retirement as they were two years ago? if you were planning to retire this year are you now considering delaying that decision? what are your plans?

(mods note: wasn't sure what category to place this, other, life after or money--feel free to relocate if i misplaced.)