Answer the perennial question

[dougdo]

So how do YOU answer the perennial question which comes when you tell someone you've ER'd? You know the one, the one that comes right after "oh, you're so lucky" (when luck had nothing to do with it). Yep--the "What do you do all day?" "How do you spend your time?" or any of the variations thereof.

Do you have a prepared response? Do you waffle and give a list of the bunch of things you did yesterday?

Full disclosure: looking for interesting stories, answers for potential rip-off and inclusion in my novel... which of course will feature a slacker!

Cheers, Doug.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh - there is no question that we were lucky!!! I freely admit to luck. Not every small startup you join right out of college makes it into the big leagues - most don't.

What do you DO all day? Yes - many people who work don't have time for anything else after they other chores/obligations so it's really hard for them to imagine what they would do with true leisure time.

Just start listing all your activities and hobbies. We travel all the time (actually we live in a motorhome now). We pursue our hobbies very seriously - nature photography, hiking, bird-watching, computers.

Now it really bugs me when someone tries to convince me to go into business and make money from our hobbies. Yes we're GOOD at it, but that doesn't mean we are somehow obligated to make money at it - just because we could. We do it for FUN! That's the point of life IMO.

BTW - the "earn a living" mentality is so culturally ingrained in American society that I rarely try to argue the point and I hide my annoyance.

Audrey

 

[astromeria]

I tell the curious that I do pretty much what I used to be able to do only on weekends, evenings, and vacations....allow my mind to wander where & when it likes (that's a big deal for me!), spend time w/friends & family (esp the hubster--we're so relaxed, we often hold hands watching TV like we did when we were first together), entertain friends and host family events, take walks & go birdwatching, hang out online, cook and do housework and handle finances, read, watch movies, listen to music, and travel. Only thing I've newly added to my life in retirement so far is volunteer work. I don't really have a "calling" yet other than travel and getting out in nature--although I've been accused of spending too much time online!

Oh yeah...I smile a lot more

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i tell them i do nothing and that i'm becoming an expert at it. i'd really excel at doing nothing but it just seems like too much work. this way, they don't know whether to be envious of me or just sorry for me and so they feel better about their own miserable working lives. that's what ya do for your friends when you're a lazygood4nothinbum.

 

[TromboneAl]

Astromeria, you gave me a good idea.

Q: "But, what do you do all day?"

A: "What do you do all day on weekends?"

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm a stay at home dad getting to spend all my time with my son and taking care of the house

What do I do all day? A baby, three dogs, three cats, three cars, a house...I'm afraid i'm unfamiliar with this term "free time".

I fondly remember my work life and my weekends, where I sat behind a desk or in an airplane seat, surfing the internet, posting to discussion groups, getting paid for it, and then relaxing on saturdays and sundays...

I've actually said twice when my wife got home and I had just finished bathing and feeding Gabe..."any chance I could go back to work and you stay home?". She just laughs and pours a glass of wine and goes to watch Dr. Phil.

 

[Outtahere]

So I'm guessing that's a big fat NO from the wife CFB?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, i'm thinking.

I'm just a babysitter, house cleaner and sperm donor as far as she's concerned...

 

[bow-tie]

Yeah, i'm thinking.

I'm just a babysitter, house cleaner and sperm donor as far as she's concerned...

...beats a sharp stick in the eye

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Well, like I said, that sharp stick thing might not be as bad as we've been led to believe.

I was informed last night that while she was a little tired from work, that she expected servicing this evening.

I feel like such a piece of meat.

 

[Outtahere]

Ya'll have to stop making me laugh out loud at work.

 

[brewer12345]

Well, like I said, that sharp stick thing might not be as bad as we've been led to believe.

I was informed last night that while she was a little tired from work, that she expected servicing this evening.

I feel like such a piece of meat.

DW ad I have about the same deal as you guys do, except 1) she is the one who stays home and 2) she's pregnant. I think if I came home and told her what you were told, I'd be looking in the gutter for my head.

 

[bow-tie]

...I feel like such a piece of meat.

I'm guessing it didn't take long to get over it... the feeling, that is.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

She's napping right now. I think when she wakes up i'll just go in there and get it over with. Then I can pull up the carpet and get on my hands and knees and put down the new floor. I just hope the lord sees fit that this doesnt cause her to want me a second time. My virtue just cant stand it.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't really have a "calling" yet other than travel and getting out in nature--

Hey - I've figured out how to make a full time "career" out of just that!

Audrey

 

[MJ]

Yeah, i'm thinking.
I'm just a babysitter, house cleaner and sperm donor as far as she's concerned...

Don't know anyone else on this forum who deserves that type of life. Suffer bud.
Wait, I thought your inhouse sperm donor days were over not unless you are being farmed out like a bull.

 

[LovesLife]

Wait, I thought your inhouse sperm donor days were over not unless you are being farmed out like a bull.

Oh no, please don't bring up that nasty bull sperm thread again.

 

[dougdo]

I'm busy enough as a slacker that it just seems inconceivable to me now where would i fit back a full-time job in the picture even if i wanted one.

Sometimes i do feel like i want a little more structure in my life and wouldn't mind a job. But it's such an all-or-nothing proposition. Suddenly I'd have 2 weeks of travel/vacation a year (instead of my average which is about 20 weeks). My freedom is worth a little lower cash flow that's for sure.

 

[audreyh1]

Sometimes i do feel like i want a little more structure in my life and wouldn't mind a job.

Ya don't need a job to have structure in your life!

Audrey

 

[saluki9]

Then I can pull up the carpet and get on my hands and knees...

That's a new term for me, you learn something new every day

 

[HFWR]

Shag or loop?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Shag baybeeee...

 

[dougdo]

Ya don't need a job to have structure in your life!

So true, but being a slacker my innate laziness kicks in if someone else isn't telling me what to do.

Of course the reality is that if someone IS telling me what to do then it's not long before i'm resenting it either!

Anyway, if I had a job I wouldn't be heading off for a month in Costa Rica at the end of the month--yay! So look forward to more Costa Rica stories soon.

Doug.

 

[dunc0029]

I second TromboneAl's statement.  Some sheep people have no imagination on how to live their lives.  Geez ... if I couldn't think of better things to do all day than sit in a cubicle, I'd want to be shot!

There are SO many things I would love to do more often that I just don't have the time for as a participant in the rat race.  ... even boring/utilitarian things like hand-washing and waxing my truck, baking cookies, reading more, learning a new language, taking a walk, etc. 

 

[justin]

She's napping right now. I think when she wakes up i'll just go in there and get it over with. Then I can pull up the carpet and get on my hands and knees and put down the new floor. I just hope the lord sees fit that this doesnt cause her to want me a second time. My virtue just cant stand it.

CFB,

You sound like a stereotypical woman!! I think the whole "househusband" thing is making your estrogen levels go up. You feelin maternal right now?