Article - 10 things that surprised me about early retirement

[Ready]

Nice article, thanks for sharing.

I can relate to the early morning routine, but lately I've found myself needing to get up early so that I can get to the swimming pool and swim laps before all the spring break travelers crowd the pool. So it seems I've replaced getting up early to go to work with getting up early to go to the pool. Swimming is better than working, but it's still a schedule!

[CaliforniaMan]

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Originally Posted by Dawg52 I hate articles that require you to turn off ad blocker. Won't do it.

I have found this works in every case I have tried so far, I just disable the ad blocker, go to the article, and immediately turn the ad blocker back on, and can read the article, and often other articles on the site without them asking me again to turn off the ad blocker.

[Chuckanut]

I think the author must be have my home, car and places I hang out bugged and is recording my life. I have to agree with most of what he said.

I will add one thing of my own. As a former teacher, I no longer cringe and get that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see the "Back to School Sale" signs go up in late July. Instead I get a feeling of glorious relief and calm as I look forward to travel and adventure in September.

[Chuckanut]

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Originally Posted by marko I know it's just me, but I found his "dressing down" point disappointing though. I think it's a slippery slope between casual dressing and slowly becoming a slob. Yes, after 12 years I still wear a suit for funerals and weddings and yes, I often shlub around in my sweats early in the morning. But generally I dress like I'm headed to the golf club even when I'm only going to Costco. But that's just me.

I agree that the dressing down can be carried to extremes. I have no problem with people avoiding the suit and tie uniform of work, or even having to wear sporty, preppy like clothing at a friendly Saturday BBQ. OTOH, when I go out to a fancy restaurant or the symphony I don't really want or expect to see people who look like they just came from the gym or from a day of grueling yard work in the hot sun.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut ...As a former teacher, I no longer cringe and get that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see the "Back to School Sale" signs go up in late July. Instead I get a feeling of glorious relief and calm as I look forward to travel and adventure in September.

You know, for a long time, I thought being a teacher would have been a great career...mainly for the nice summer break. In retrospect, I am *very* glad I didn't do that because when I was w*rking, I tried to limit my days off to no more than 10 in a row. Otherwise, going back to the salt mines was just SO DAMN PAINFUL. I imagine the 2 months off would make that exponentially worse. But hey, that's OK. Now when you see the signs you know that the kiddos will soon be in school and doing errands will be much more peaceful without all the Moms and Dads dragging the kids around with them.

Oh yeah, so I mentioned earlier than I tend to get up earlier now than when I was w*rking. Well, today was an exception. I stayed up until 4 AM reading a good book and didn't get up until 11 AM...and it was GLORIOUS!

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I look forward to all of the 10 points except being a morning person.

We're morning people only when we have to be but I suspect our day is currently skewed to the evenings and nights because of the hours we work and us trying to fit things in after work. I'm curious if we had more time during the day because of retirement, if we'd be less inclined to stay up later.

[Scuba]

That has definitely been my experience. When I was w*rking, I was usually asleep by 10:30, if not earlier, and up by 5:30 or 5:45. Now I often stay up past midnight and I'm up around 7:30-8:30. Never set an alarm unless there is somewhere I have to be.

[jjquantz]

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Originally Posted by Scuba That has definitely been my experience. When I was w*rking, I was usually asleep by 10:30, if not earlier, and up by 5:30 or 5:45. Now I often stay up past midnight and I'm up around 7:30-8:30. Never set an alarm unless there is somewhere I have to be.

By the standards of my old w*rkplace that still makes you a morning person. Most staff didn't roll in until 10:00 or later and they lived within walking distance of the office. I got SO MUCH done between 8:00 and 10:00.

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YVRRocketSurgery I look forward to all of the 10 points except being a morning person. We're morning people only when we have to be but I suspect our day is currently skewed to the evenings and nights because of the hours we work and us trying to fit things in after work. I'm curious if we had more time during the day because of retirement, if we'd be less inclined to stay up later.

I get up at 7-7:30am now. But when I was working it was up before 5:00am. It was very brutal for my personality because I'm not a morning person.

[marko]

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Originally Posted by Fedup I get up at 7-7:30am now. But when I was working it was up before 5:00am. It was very brutal for my personality because I'm not a morning person.

I'm a morning person. When I worked I got up at 5:30, now I'm up at 4:30! One of those weirdos waiting at the door of Dunkin Donuts at 5 waiting for them to open.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko I'm a morning person. When I worked I got up at 5:30, now I'm up at 4:30! One of those weirdos waiting at the door of Dunkin Donuts at 5 waiting for them to open.

I'd get up that early for a Dunkin Donuts honey glazed...those are really good!

[scrabbler1]

I am a morning person, too. My most productive hours during the day are in the LATE morning, between 10 AM and 11:59 AM! Otherwise, leave me alone so I can eat breakfast at 9 or 9:30 AM.

[broadway]

I seem to waking up around 7:30 am most mornings.
But unlike when I was a teenager and can stay up until 1 am watching the late movie on TV, I am in bed usually by 10:30 pm.

[iloveyoga]

Even after 4 years of no alarm, I still wake up on my own somewhere between 5 and 6. But I lay in bed as long as I want to.

[HFWR]

#8 [emoji41]