At first it was like being on vacation. I retired July 1, 2002 and by the end of August we had moved from a highly congested area north of Washington, DC where we had to plan our daily lives around traffic. So we were in a new area, buying some furniture and stuff for the new house, and basically just decompressed for a couple of years from an environment where staying alive is rule one. Enjoying the novelty of having the ex-employer continue to send me money and all I have to do for it is keep breathing.
Then it started to sink in - what to do next. Or, why do I have to do anything? Or, should I be doing anything? What do I want to do? Never had that much freedom from responsibility before and felt kind of lost with it, this is someone who started working at 13 mowing lawns. Helped a friend build an airplane, got a small boat & outboard to go fishing, today we bought a couple of lightly used bicycles for some day trip touring. As an experiment, I was a car salesman for a month, that was an unusual experience - it was the first time I've ever been fired from a job, but I was laughing as I left the parking lot. So I learned something - I have many talents but sales is not one of them.
So I went and got a job that hasn't started yet, but it has the option of working either full time or part time so there is that flexibility built into it. So, I guess I'm just kind of drifting along and seeing what comes up next. A 180 turnaround for someone who's always had a definite goal in mind. So I guess you could say it took me five years to adjust.
I'm looking at boat kits and thinking of building a wooden boat. I like carpentry but never had time to develop a talent for it and some of them are works of art. So I'll start with a rowboat or kayak and see where that interest goes.
Not really, I know. I have 555 days to go and it is really, really hard to keep up my enthusiasm!
