Move Over Guys

[mountaintosea]

I'm joining the ranks! I know I cried wolf before but I'm actually signing the paperwork tomorrow during lunch at the Board of Retirement. It's kind of sudden but I think it is right. Friday will be my last day of full employment. I must say all you guys helped shove me along the way. Co-workers are asking me what I'm going to do and I say hell, I don't know. I've been sitting on the fence for a while now. But things happened.. plus a fortune cookie for lunch yesterday told me to go with my gut instincts, that I was doing the right thing.

It feels strange. I've been working since I was 17 plus going to school at the same time during some of those years. Now on December 28th I will receive my first check. Wow. Really strange! I'm getting paid for not working! I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. I've got this irrational fear that someone is going to try to talk me out of it! In fact one of my co-workers told me not to quit but take sick leave using stress as an excuse. I started yelling at her to not try to talk me out of it. I guess everybody has their own reaction. My reaction is that I feel weird!!!!

 

[Khan]

In the coming months many feelings will come and go. Let them. You will survive them and one day you will notice that you feel better then you have for a very long time.

Welcome to the club!

 

[RetireeRobert]

Congratualtions and welcome to the ranks of the gainfully and purposefully unemployed.

How old are you?

 

[mountaintosea]

Thanks! I'm 55. Not exactly what I would call early retiree.
Kahn, I agree, I think it's going to be a matter of getting my bearings (or something like that).

 

[SteveR]

Welcome to the ER club. 55 is still early if you intended to retire later. ER is relative to our expectations on when we expected to retire. Hang in there. The next several weeks and months will be very different for you. Not working for some one else does not mean you will be idle. Far from it! I retired in May and I have not stopped since. I have a To Do list that has only a few things checked off. We are so busy doing stuff we don't have time to even w*rk for ourselves getting through our To Do list. Someday it will slow down but I don't see it happening for a long time.

Don't let them talk you out of it. They are just jealous that they can't go too. Stick to your guns and get out!

Good luck.

 

[Goonie]

Congratulations, and welcome to the other side! Life is GREAT over here, as you'll soon find out!

Not working for some one else does not mean you will be idle. Far from it! I retired in May and I have not stopped since. I have a To Do list that has only a few things checked off. We are so busy doing stuff we don't have time to even w*rk for ourselves getting through our To Do list. Someday it will slow down but I don't see it happening for a long time.

Boy, ain't that the truth! I have no idea how I ever had time for a j*b! As someone else has said in the past, "I get up in the morning with nothing to do, and by the time I go to bed at night, I don't even have half of it finished!"

Life is GOOD!

 

[RetireeRobert]

As someone else has said in the past, "I get up in the morning with nothing to do, and by the time I go to bed at night, I don't even have half of it finished!"

Life is GOOD!

Which leads to the next thing you will soon learn about retirement-----If you don't get it done today, since there's no job to interfere, it can always wait until tomorrow!

 

[Sandy]

Congratulations. I am aiming for 55 as well but wish I could do it today. Enjoy the freedom.

 

[dumpster56]

Dude, Its fantastic! If you need a few extra dollars there is so much odd types of part time work, it really is great. the best is the pension, you live a month they send you a check, another month the same, it goes on and on and onand...

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations ,

It felt weird to me also since I had worked forty years .Don't let the soon to be former co-workers scare you .There is life after ER and it's great .

 

[travelover]

Congratulations. You will soon wonder why you hesitated, if your experience is at all like mine.

After catching up on my home maintenance and decorating backlog, I've started working an occasional Friday with Habitat for Humanity and really loving it. What a privilege to be able to pick and choose my activities and as you say, get paid for it.

 

[Donzo]

Outstanding! Enjoy all the stages - the first few weeks are "giddy" and alot of fun. I remember driving home from the airport after a week away at wo*k and realizing that it was the last time I would be doing that - I started laughing out loud for several minutes - I must of looked crazy!!

 

[cantlogin]

Outstanding! Enjoy all the stages - the first few weeks are "giddy" and alot of fun. I remember driving home from the airport after a week away at wo*k and realizing that it was the last time I would be doing that - I started laughing out loud for several minutes - I must of looked crazy!!

Instead, you were finally SANE!

 

[Goonie]

Which leads to the next thing you will soon learn about retirement-----If you don't get it done today, since there's no job to interfere, it can always wait until tomorrow!

I learned that very quickly several months ago. I've since 'fine tuned' it though. If it doesn't get done today....there's always next year!

I guess 2008 is gonna be a pretty busy year!

 

[Achiever51]

Welcome! I retired last year at 55 as well and the past ten months have been nothing short of amazing! The first few weeks were like a vacation, but with a strange sense that something was different -- but what? Then I had a series of weird dreams, each involving a problem of some sort that I couldn't solve -- but after about three weeks of these, I woke up one morning after having the most peaceful dream (the details of which I couldn't remember) and then everything seemed to fall into place. (I think I needed the first few weeks to release the accumulated stress!)

Now, I feel really happy most days -- life is good.

Today I had lunch with a former co-worker. She is still working much too hard, much too long, traveling much too often. In fact, she told me she was out of town until yesterday -- and due to late plane flights, she didn't get home until 2 am last night after being gone all week. For a brief moment, I had a fleeting sense of stress when she told me about it -- then I remembered, "not my problem!!"

 

[mountaintosea]

I was right! I went to sign the papers at the Board of Retirement during the lunch hour. Unbeknown to me, after I left for lunch they (my supervisor and his secretary) called them asked if I was there. The people at the board of retirement told them that I had already signed the paperwork. My supervisor then asked them if they could be undone! When I returned from lunch, I was approached by my supervisor and he suggested things could be done differently. I groaned and said that I was ready to go. I've been on the fence and management pushed me over the edge.

You see I'm a public defender and the caseload is staggering. Management isn't hiring experienced attorneys fast enough. Also by their tactics more attorneys are quitting every few months!Thirty years working for the county is long enough! Thanks all for your support. It really means a lot!

 

[Gumby]

MountaintoSea:

As a public defender, you have done great things for our justice system over the past thirty years. Many do not appreciate it, but I thank and salute you.

I have recently moved from private practice to the AG's office to finish out my law career. I hope to do at least a tiny amount of good for the public before I retire completely.

Best wishes,

Gumby

 

[mountaintosea]

Gumby,
Thank you for the kind words! Best of luck in your new position. I spent 19 years in the public defenders office. Prior to that I actually spent 11 years looking through a microscope looking for cancer cells in the county hospital. I was a cytotechnoligist. So my total with the county is 30 years. Thirty years as a public defender would have been really tough! Colleagues have suggested to me that I should hang out a shingle etc. Quite frankly I'm not inclined to go anywhere near a courthouse! I'm thinking of becoming inactive in 2008.

 

[RetireeRobert]

I was right! I went to sign the papers at the Board of Retirement during the lunch hour. Unbeknown to me, after I left for lunch they (my supervisor and his secretary) called them asked if I was there. The people at the board of retirement told them that I had already signed the paperwork. My supervisor then asked them if they could be undone! When I returned from lunch, I was approached by my supervisor and he suggested things could be done differently.

Your supervisor sounds like he/she was going over the line---meddling in your personal retirement affairs!

I suppose in one sense, it's a compliment to you---they didn't want to see you go, you were needed.

But for them to call the retirement office and meddle---well that sounds a little "illegal" to me (a non-lawyer).

Anyway, you are going to like ER. Of that I am sure.

 

[mountaintosea]

I agree they were meddling and yes it was a compliment (in a way). Actually the supervisor is a really nice guy, it's the people above him. I think he realized he goofed (legal term) and was trying to rectify the situation. I think he thought that I would keep working no matter what. I rarely call in sick and was rather parsimonious with my vacations. Some of my coworkers asked why I didn't just call in sick the last couple of days. I told them I have the rest of my life. Why would I do that?

Actually I think my supervisor was wondering if the retirement process could still be reversed if they could convince me to change my mind. (or at least I think that is what they meant).

I'm actually starting to get used to the whole idea. I've even started an online journal (blog). I don't think it's of any interest to anyone but me. But it's all new. I don't have cell phones, ipods, blackberries, or any of that new fangled tech stuff.(Actually don't own a TV either) AND I still have dial-up. So already my retirement is evolving and I still have one more day.....