ER Date is Set

[SteveR]

My ER date is now set for May 18.

Management is spinning around trying to come up with a way to cover both of the job I have been doing since December which we be vacant when I leave (my regular job and my boss's job I have been doing on an interim basis).

I believe they will offer me a part time position to help fill the gap. My choice might be to do an open consultant contract so my rate could be higher than if I were to just go part time with the company.

A big part of me just wants to say So Long...but the organization is so thin right now that leaving them cold would create a major problem for the site. I know I should not care; and as far as the Company goes I don't. But, the folks that are still here in the wake of my departure will get creamed with work and loss of very valuable knowledge and skills that are very difficult to replace on short notice.

So....

DW is set.

The RV is nearly road-ready. (alignment and finishing the auxilary braking system for the toad).

The $$$ savings valve is set to engage reverse flow.

The cabin will close next week and a nice chunk of change will be available to lower our expenses by over 30% in the next 4-6 weeks.

I plan on announcing my intentions this week.

It will quite a shock to many.

 

[73ss454]

Good luck to you Steve, I know you've been waiting for this for a long time.

 

[OkieTexan]

Well done, Steve!

I felt so much better after the decisions were made! I hope (bet) you do, too!

 

[SteveR]

Well done, Steve!

I felt so much better after the decisions were made! I hope (bet) you do, too!

It is sort of funny in a way. I made the decision to ER at 55 about 15 years ago. Now that it is here it feels very odd to be "standing in the door" waiting to jump. The "official" letter won't go out for a few days and only a tiny number of folks here know it is going to happen. Since no on my staff knows yet they are still treating me like I am going to be here forever. I know once it is public knowledge, there will be some really upset folks around here and many that will see my departure as another "sign" that the company is in trouble (which it is not). I am sure they will start treating me differently than now so it is sort of intersting to note how they are now with how they will be soon.

I guess I am still so involved in the job that it has not hit me yet. Sure I have a date circled on my calendar but it has not taken on any real significance yet...I am sure it will but for now it is just another date in my calendar....a note on the bottom entered right before 7 scheduled meetings for that day.

 

[brewer12345]

Congrats, Staeve. I can tell you are still wrapped up in the job - you are worried about how things will be after you leave and thinking about continuing to work, albeit part time.

Sounds like you are all set, though.

 

[Fireup2020]

Congratulations!!

 

[Hillbilly]

Sounds like you have things going your way...keep it up! Good luck!

 

[Khan]

Will you be changing your avatar?

 

[SteveR]

Will you be changing your avatar?

Yup!

I will be looking for a more appropriate one.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

My ER date is now set for May 18.

Way to go, Steve. I know it's been a long year for you, and you deserve this well-earned goal.

DW and I were driving back from a quick getaway in the RV for the weekend. She said, "That was really fun." I said, "Yeah, it was. Only wish I didn't have to go back to a 7 am meeting tomorrow." It was kind of whiney for me to say it, but my state of mind is slowly but surely moving there.

All the best and keep us posted.

 

[bbbamI]

Congratulations!

It sounds like you take great pride in your work and are considerate to others.

You now have the luxury of working part time if you choose or doing "nothing". That's what ER is all about.

 

[SteveR]

Way to go, Steve. I know it's been a long year for you, and you deserve this well-earned goal.

DW and I were driving back from a quick getaway in the RV for the weekend. She said, "That was really fun." I said, "Yeah, it was. Only wish I didn't have to go back to a 7 am meeting tomorrow." It was kind of whiney for me to say it, but my state of mind is slowly but surely moving there.

All the best and keep us posted.

I agree.

We spent the weekend at a local RV park that is in the mountains. It was in the mid-20's Friday night but Saturday was very nice but still a bit chilly. We went with another couple who have a Class A and we all had a wonderful time. I hated to pack up and come home. But, we have just extended several of our long distance RV trips from 5 days to 14. We will head south and stay in Vegas for a couple of days at a nice RV park one the west side and then go to the west central Calif. coast for a week then move up the coast to Oregon where we will end up staying near the beach at a resort there. It will still be cold up there but who cares? We live in a cold climate so anything above freezing is like Springtime.

The other trip will take us east through CO, NM, TX, LA, AK, and into east TN for a month. On the way back we will head up through KY, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY and back home. Should take us about 6 weeks in total for that one. After that....who knows?

We have tons of places we want to go and not enough time to do it all! I hope ER does not become another job. 8)

 

[DangerMouse]

Congratulations Steve, I'm sure you and your spouse are looking forward to being able to spend more time together.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

"woohoo"~~homer

 

[chinaco]

Congrats... You earned it.

Don't look behind you, there is a stampede of more of us approaching the FIRE date over the next several years.

 

[loosechickens]

"The other trip will take us east through CO, NM, TX, LA, AK, and into east TN for a month. On the way back we will head up through KY, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY and back home. Should take us about 6 weeks in total for that one. After that....who knows?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations on ER.......as a longtime fulltime RVer (almost fifteen years), I have only a few words of advice.....

SLOW DOWN

When RVers start to fulltime, they whiz back and forth across the country like truck drivers......you need to get used to the idea of LIVING in your RV, not just "touristing". If you slow down, you'll be amazed at how much more there is to see, people to meet, and tremendous serendipitous things that happen.

We did a loop a few years ago from AZ up into Idaho, then looping down the coast of WA and OR, to catch a plane in southern CA for a family wedding. The wedding deadline made it so that we had only four months to make that loop, and we bitched the whole time about feeling hurried......

At a rest area in northern CA we started talking to an RVer on vacation and it turned out that he had made almost exactly the same loop we had. Just as we were getting ready to start bleating about how we felt so hurried by only having four months to do it, he said, "And, it was really great because we took our time, and had the whole TWO WEEKS to do it in.

So....all things are relative. Needless to say, our comments were left unsaid.

But seriously........take your time......anything less than two or three months to go across the country will mean that an immense number of experiences will be missed. You're going to be retired now.....no need to hurry.

Hope to see you on the road someday......

LooseChickens (at the moment in New Mexico at a National Wildlife Refuge, but headed out toward Phoenix and the bright lights and big city in a couple of weeks)

 

[loosechickens]

P.S. I went back and read your OP, and missed the line about the "cabin", so it looks like you will not be living fulltime in your RV......but the advice is the same.....take your time and travel slowly.

Our best travel days are less than 100 miles.....that gives you time to start at the crack of nine, stop for yard sales and volunteer fire company pancake breakfasts, a nice lunch stop, nap, and a few stops along the way.......

Lots of neat things out here to do, but most folks whiz by much of the interesting stuff on their way to get to their destination.

wherever you go.....there you are......works for us.

LooseChickens

 

[Spanky]

Steve,

Great - it's hoped that this is it until they can find a replacement. If they offered a contract to make the transition, be sure to ask for big $$.

Take care.

Spanky

 

[Dawg52]

Congrats. I know I felt good when the date was set.

My retirement party was last Friday. You know what I did today? Went to work. I'm definitely taking off Wednesday and Friday. Next week, work maybe 2 days. Time for my replacement to sink or swim.

Good luck with your retirement!

 

[youbet]

Congratulations Steve!

Don't grow too many roots there with part time or contract work if you can help it. Time passes by and it's time for you to move on.

Enjoy!

 

[tryan]

Wow ... Good Luck!

P.S. Set your consulting rate high enough so they REALLY look to fill your vacated position. Else part-time will be a long-time gig.

 

[SteveR]

Congratulations on ER.......as a longtime fulltime RVer (almost fifteen years), I have only a few words of advice.....

SLOW DOWN

Thanks for the advise. I know it will take a while for me to slow down from the pace I have lived most of my working life.

As you noted in a later post, we are not fulltiming...at least not yet. We are just starting out in RVing so we have a lot to learn and a lot to experience before we even think about FT. Snowbird maybe.

Steve,

Great - it's hoped that this is it until they can find a replacement. If they offered a contract to make the transition, be sure to ask for big $$.

Take care.

Spanky

I have not yet submitted my letter as I am waiting for HR to come back with some details on being PT as opposed to being an independent consultant. I am leaning towards the consultant status for many reason...mostly because I can avoid any Corporate BS that way and I would most likely be able to charge more than if THEY determine my hourly rate based on my current salary vs the going rate for a consultant with my experience. That is all still up in the air.

Congratulations!

It sounds like you take great pride in your work and are considerate to others.

You now have the luxury of working part time if you choose or doing "nothing". That's what ER is all about.

The "work pride" and being considerate of what would happen to my fellow workers in my department if I were to have left in December 2006 after my boss and several other key management folks left, was the major reason for sticking around. I did this same thing 3 years ago when my boss at that time left along with another key manager. I stuck it out for the same reasons despite the recent loss of my DW.

I have given them plenty of time to show some movement in getting a replacement. My home situation demands my presence and I need to be there to help DW as much as I can. My DW and my own health demand I get out of the pressure cooker and find a way to decompress and detoxify from being in this business for over three decades.

My thanks to all that have responded. I am looking forward to posting as an ERee and not as a ERwannabee.

 

[USK Coastie]

Steve I'll be 6 weeks behind you, gone on July 1,2007. DW has already informed me that the maximum rate of travel in the RV will be no more than 200 miles per day period!! Also stay off the freeways, be a red road (non freeway) traveler. Much more to see and do along the way. I know that I could not possibly go around the country in less than a couple of years and that would be drivin' fast.

Any way congrats on the mile stone I'm sure its well earned.

 

[Sandy]

Congrats from me as well.

Best of luck, and keep us posted on the change. It is always encouraging when another one makes the plan work.

 

[Dreamer]

Congratulations! It does seem like a long time coming for you. I hope that you either do the consultant gig or none at all. It sounds like you have too many exciting plans that would probably get put off, if you were doing part-time work. I would imagine that you would start off part-time, but they would probably pile more and more work on you.

You sound like you have the financial part figured out, so I vote for you enjoying your life, RV'ing, taking care of your health and spending time with your spouse and friends!