38Chevy454
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have been retired for 22 months now. It's been a great time. Made a lot of life changes in the first year and half: moved cross country 1500 miles from NM to OH to be near family, built new house and detached garage; that were late completing so lived in our motorhome for 6 months until we could move in Feb 2018. Had in-ground pool put in last summer, I did all 730 ft of the fencing, landscaping and much of the lawn. My DW loves plants and I must have dug about 300 holes for various trees, bushes and flowering plants. Of course the new house required all the window treatments to be ordered and I installed those, along with adding extra storage and shelves. I completed the inside of my detached garage including building a mezzanine, running much more electrical, finishing the walls, running copper for air lines around the shop, installing car lifts, and building workbench and shelves. Needless to say I was plenty busy last year. There are always things to do around the house now, but less than last year.
So that brings me to this year. I have more time now, and approx 1 month ago started a job for fun
Actually working voluntarily, mainly for something to get out of the house, meet some other people, give DW a break for her time. In college I worked in an auto parts store, working my way through getting my engineering degree. I decided that I would go back to that, so I now work 2 days/week at a local auto parts store. It's one of the ones that supply the local shops with real parts, more like the older traditional style auto parts vs the chain type. I drive around delivering the parts to the shops. Absolutely no stress, it feels good to get out and around town. BTW, lot of really bad drivers out there The funny thing is almost all of the drivers are also retired guys like me. Most are older than me, but they are working part-time more for something to do than just for the money.
It is hard to reconcile the pay I get vs what I used to make, but I tell myself that I am working for fun, not for the money anyway. I know that one of the great things about early retirement is the ability to choose what you want to spend time on. I am happy to have that choice available.
I did consider to do some real engineering consulting type job, but then I would typically need to work more than 2 days/week and would need to be dressed up more in the office environment. My driver uniform is a t-shirt with the store logo Engineering job would also be less getting out and being with other people if I worked in an office.
This year April-May I also developed and taught a financial education course at our church (free, no cost): "Smart Money - Personal Financial Education for Life" is what I called it. It went well and will likely do another session later this fall once summer is over. Have to give thanks in public here to PB4USKI and OldShooter for their help reviewing my course materials. This was also kind of like work, but unpaid work.
Didn't do too much traveling last year since we were so busy with all of the house projects. This year have several trips planned, will definitely put some miles and days using the motorhome. Last week I drove to NM and back to pick up my sister and move her here to OH. That was a quick 3000 miles in 6 days trip, I was able to get between the storms and had good driving weather. Saw all the high water around OK and AR along I-40. Way different appearance than previous trips when I moved.
Phew, that ended up a lot longer than I was first starting out to write
So that brings me to this year. I have more time now, and approx 1 month ago started a job for fun
Actually working voluntarily, mainly for something to get out of the house, meet some other people, give DW a break for her time. In college I worked in an auto parts store, working my way through getting my engineering degree. I decided that I would go back to that, so I now work 2 days/week at a local auto parts store. It's one of the ones that supply the local shops with real parts, more like the older traditional style auto parts vs the chain type. I drive around delivering the parts to the shops. Absolutely no stress, it feels good to get out and around town. BTW, lot of really bad drivers out there The funny thing is almost all of the drivers are also retired guys like me. Most are older than me, but they are working part-time more for something to do than just for the money.It is hard to reconcile the pay I get vs what I used to make, but I tell myself that I am working for fun, not for the money anyway. I know that one of the great things about early retirement is the ability to choose what you want to spend time on. I am happy to have that choice available.
I did consider to do some real engineering consulting type job, but then I would typically need to work more than 2 days/week and would need to be dressed up more in the office environment. My driver uniform is a t-shirt with the store logo
Engineering job would also be less getting out and being with other people if I worked in an office.This year April-May I also developed and taught a financial education course at our church (free, no cost): "Smart Money - Personal Financial Education for Life" is what I called it. It went well and will likely do another session later this fall once summer is over. Have to give thanks in public here to PB4USKI and OldShooter for their help reviewing my course materials. This was also kind of like work, but unpaid work.
Didn't do too much traveling last year since we were so busy with all of the house projects. This year have several trips planned, will definitely put some miles and days using the motorhome. Last week I drove to NM and back to pick up my sister and move her here to OH. That was a quick 3000 miles in 6 days trip, I was able to get between the storms and had good driving weather. Saw all the high water around OK and AR along I-40. Way different appearance than previous trips when I moved.
Phew, that ended up a lot longer than I was first starting out to write
