We need better stories posted here in my humble opinion. Here is an example from another non-retirement site that just happened to talk about adjusting to retirement...
"I think I sold my husband and I short in my earlier post. We were younger than many, 58 & 60. We spent the first year or so of retirement getting in shape, physically. Lost 110 lbs between us and started a regular walking regimen that we have never stopped. Also began eating totally different from the quick, microwave meals we often had when we worked. We now eat lots more produce, fish, chicken, all the healthy stuff. These have been totally positive changes.
I devoted much time in the first couple of years to selling our 40+ years of accumulated flotsum and jetsam on eBay. Not to mention all the clothes that were now to big for me. That was fun and turned lots of unneeded objects that were just cluttering up closets into cash. Retirement before the internet would have been very difficult for me. I would've felt completely isolated and probably have found another job.
We spent much of the second year remodeling our house, dealing with contractors and all the things we didn't have time for when we were working. Our kitchen was the first project we had ever planned together. I did the aesthetics and Bud did the brute work. I have to say, it turned out well, though there were things we'd do differently if we were doing it again. I did a lot of finding small components on the internet, that was fun.
I did work parttime at my old job for a couple of years, until the state budget crisis did away with all those jobs, darn it. I really loved seeing my former co-workers and having just that bit of contact with the public. Especially since I no longer had to work, just wanted to.
All that being said, I still believe that retirement is a whole arena where interpersonal relationships are redefined, big time. And it is more or less a do-it-yourself task, as I could never find anything to read about it. I remember my friends in my twenties saying that you never really know a man until you marry him. While that may be true, I think it is even more true that you don't know him until you spend 24/7 together. Work is a tremendous buffer and an escape hatch from the intensity of difference of opinions and outlook, etc. Some of us miss that very much.
Not my husband, though. He is happy as a clam with our small world as it is today. Hopefully, we'll expand it a bit when we get that class B in a few weeks or months. I am proud to say, we have NEVER watched Jerry Springer. We are news junkies, though."
How about it? More stories is what I want to read.
boont
"I think I sold my husband and I short in my earlier post. We were younger than many, 58 & 60. We spent the first year or so of retirement getting in shape, physically. Lost 110 lbs between us and started a regular walking regimen that we have never stopped. Also began eating totally different from the quick, microwave meals we often had when we worked. We now eat lots more produce, fish, chicken, all the healthy stuff. These have been totally positive changes.
I devoted much time in the first couple of years to selling our 40+ years of accumulated flotsum and jetsam on eBay. Not to mention all the clothes that were now to big for me. That was fun and turned lots of unneeded objects that were just cluttering up closets into cash. Retirement before the internet would have been very difficult for me. I would've felt completely isolated and probably have found another job.
We spent much of the second year remodeling our house, dealing with contractors and all the things we didn't have time for when we were working. Our kitchen was the first project we had ever planned together. I did the aesthetics and Bud did the brute work. I have to say, it turned out well, though there were things we'd do differently if we were doing it again. I did a lot of finding small components on the internet, that was fun.
I did work parttime at my old job for a couple of years, until the state budget crisis did away with all those jobs, darn it. I really loved seeing my former co-workers and having just that bit of contact with the public. Especially since I no longer had to work, just wanted to.
All that being said, I still believe that retirement is a whole arena where interpersonal relationships are redefined, big time. And it is more or less a do-it-yourself task, as I could never find anything to read about it. I remember my friends in my twenties saying that you never really know a man until you marry him. While that may be true, I think it is even more true that you don't know him until you spend 24/7 together. Work is a tremendous buffer and an escape hatch from the intensity of difference of opinions and outlook, etc. Some of us miss that very much.
Not my husband, though. He is happy as a clam with our small world as it is today. Hopefully, we'll expand it a bit when we get that class B in a few weeks or months. I am proud to say, we have NEVER watched Jerry Springer. We are news junkies, though."
How about it? More stories is what I want to read.
boont
