"You're too young to retire!"

[Major Tom]

I can't speak for anyone else, but that might possibly make you sound like someone I would avoid, and I don't know why, exactly.

Hmmm...I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. I guess it does sound a bit strange in an undefinable way.

A more literal description would be that I build the electronic gizmos and my kitty eats, sleeps and plays - mostly sleeps. She's great company though

 

[Major Tom]

I got it - it's the Dr Evil and cat association!

 

[braumeister]

What comebacks does anyone else use that ends this stupid conversation quickly?

How about:

Probably the same things you do when you're not at w*rk.

 

[Major Tom]

Perfect braumeister.
+1

 

[Bestwifeever]

Hmmm...I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. I guess it does sound a bit strange in an undefinable way.

A more literal description would be that I build the electronic gizmos and my kitty eats, sleeps and plays - mostly sleeps. She's great company though

Oh, good to know! I was wondering what part of your cat you used for the antenna.

 

[Marathoner]

but today even at 70 people's default assumption is that I am working

I'm guessing part of it also is you look much younger than 70 since you haven't had w*rk-related stress since ER

 

[Sarah in SC]

You got it-I was envisioning that you were building radios out of parts of your cat! . But mostly I was kidding!

 

[Major Tom]

Oh, good to know! I was wondering what part of your cat you used for the antenna.

Well, when she's struttin' around, that tail does stick up awful high.....you're giving me ideas now

You got it-I was envisioning that you were building radios out of parts of your cat! . But mostly I was kidding!

I hadn't even thought of that interpretation when posting, but it is rather macabre

Oh now I feel bad - she's such a complete sweetheart, I feel bad for even joking about this!

 

[braumeister]

You got it-I was envisioning that you were building radios out of parts of your cat! . But mostly I was kidding!

Why should that be strange?

Cat's-whisker detector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Major Tom]

Why should that be strange?

Cat's-whisker detector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*Looks at his kitty with glee and rubs hands together*

"Here kitty, kitty!"

 

[RetiredGypsy]

"You're too young to retire!"

"I'm too retired to work!"

 

[M Paquette]

*Looks at his kitty with glee and rubs hands together*

"Here kitty, kitty!"

When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet. And when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link New York with Chicago.

 

[Nords]

I'm starting to get tired of that question and dread having to deal with it. What comebacks does anyone else use that ends this stupid conversation quickly? Are there any other threads here that deal with this subject that you know of?

"You know how you have things you want to do every weekday morning when you wake up, but you have to go to work? That's what I do all day. If I keep at it, then by the time Saturday & Sunday roll around I'm caught up and I can take the weekend off."

There's also the classic but hackneyed "In case of what?" or "Frankly I don't understand how I ever found the time to go to work" or "Well, I'm still a spouse/parent/dedicated member of my community-- how 'bout you?"

 

[FIREd]

Since I retired, I have been keeping track of my activities on a calendar. I do it not so much for planning but rather for journalizing purposes.

When someone asks what I do all day, I simply pull my calendar out. People quickly get the idea that I don't need a job to keep busy.

For the month of June, for example, my calendar looked like that:

I'm gonna need a vacation soon!

 

[W2R]

"You know how you have things you want to do every weekday morning when you wake up, but you have to go to work? That's what I do all day. If I keep at it, then by the time Saturday & Sunday roll around I'm caught up and I can take the weekend off."

Exactly. I just say, "You know what you do on Saturdays and Sundays? Well, on a typical day in retirement I do the same sort of stuff I used to do on Saturdays and Sundays, but now I have a little more time to do it."

 

[clifp]

When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet. And when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link New York with Chicago.

Post of the day.

After you get the patent can I work on marketing of this?

 

[Alan]

I tried this a few times but it started to irritate me. After all, every day is different and I don't feel inclined to have to account for my time. Did this for 35 years when working. I rather like the response " only what I want" instead.

I was asked a lot of times at work, "what will you do when you retire?", to which I replied, "anything I want".

Since I've been retired, I never get asked what I do all today because we disappear for weeks or months at a time.

We've been in England this last few months and we meet lots of folks who we chat with. When we tell them we are on holiday and they ask how long we've been here, or when we are going back, it is great to see their reactions (always good), as we are aged 55 and 56, looking far too young to be retired. (Well, DW looks too young to be ER'ed )

 

[kcowan]

We have a bunch of things that are free for seniors. I have been getting the seniors discount on my haircuts since I was 55. Sometimes the bus driver will ask for proof and I just shake his hand and thank him. The ferries are free during the week and we have to supply proof (a Gold Healthcare card). That saves $28 each time.

A few years ago, we were celebrating a friend's 55yo birthday and I treated them to a cruise in their harbour. Turns out they offer the discount at 55 and so he got the earliest discount ever!

 

[arebelspy]

Since I retired, I have been keeping track of my activities on a calendar. I do it not so much for planning but rather for journalizing purposes.

When someone asks what I do all day, I simply pull my calendar out. People quickly get the idea that I don't need a job to keep busy.

For the month of June, for example, my calendar looked like that:

I'm gonna need a vacation soon!

I'm not retired yet, but I do a similar thing using a website called idonethis.com

It emails me every night, and I reply to the email with what I did that day, and it automatically lists it on a calendar. It,s pretty nice having months of searchable history to know when a certain event, etc happened. And I'm the type that wouldn't do it daily, except for the email reminder that keeps me on task.

 

[Purron]

When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet. And when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link New York with Chicago.

Words you don't hear everyday: giant buttered cat array

 

[scrabbler1]

FD, I keep an informal calendar in an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my activities, mainly in the school year when my School Scrabble volunteer work is in full stride. My visits to schools as well as the tourneys I run are not on any regular basis, so I have to keep track of them. The college square dance class I help out with has an occasional day off in the school calendar. And the school calendars themselves vary, as one is a college and one is a private (religious) grade school. My own evening square dancing was pretty regular from week to week but sometimes I had conflicts between that and my school Scrabble stuff.

This spreadsheet I first developed when I was still working so I could juggle more easily my work days and my other activities.

Something I often told those who were impressed at my being an early retiree:

"If youth is wasted on the young, then retirement is wasted on the old!"

 

[Amethyst]

I bet this only happens to men. People aren't surprised when a woman doesn't go to work. When I go shopping on a weekday, I see women wandering around everywhere, taking their good ole time, obviously in no hurry to get someplace, no kids in sight...I often wonder, "How did I get stuck earning my living? What secret of life was imparted to those women, that I never learned?"

(Then again, maybe they all work weekends, and I'm just seeing them on their days off).

Amethyst

I've been retired for 2 years now and currently 55 years old. In the last week I've had at least 2 people ask me "What do you do all day?". ?

 

[haha]

I bet this only happens to men. People aren't surprised when a woman doesn't go to work. When I go shopping on a weekday, I see women wandering around everywhere, taking their good ole time, obviously in no hurry to get someplace, no kids in sight...I often wonder, "How did I get stuck earning my living? What secret of life was imparted to those women, that I never learned?"

No doubt this is correct, though there are hard-charging women who act as if they look down on women taking the other track. I sometimes wonder about the honesty of this stance.

A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a young guy at an oyster bar. He asked what I did, and I told him I was retired. He said his parents were probably about my age, and his Dad was working but his Mother had retired about 5 years ago. He said she goes out to lunch with friends, goes out to dinner with friends, plays cards with friends... while his Dad brings home the money. He was of the opinion that if his Dad retired he would be greeted in the front hallway when he got back from his retirement dinner with the "Honey-Do" list. He also said that if his Dad tried to exert some control over how his Mother spent her time he would quickly come to grief. They have a maid, Momma doesn't even have to clean house or prepare meals.

As you might suspect, this guy was not married and had no urgent plans to become so.

Ha

 

[Amethyst]

What I mean. How do you get to be this kind of Momma, where everybody tiptoes around and worries about what you'll think or do?? I realize it's way too late for me, but I still wonder what their secret is!

He also said that if his Dad tried to exert some control over how his Mother spent her time he would quickly come to grief. They have a maid, Momma doesn't even have to clean house or prepare meals.

Ha

 

[Purron]

No doubt this is correct, though there are hard-charging women who act as if they look down on women taking the other track. I sometimes wonder about the honesty of this stance.

A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a young guy at an oyster bar. He asked what I did, and I told him I was retired. He said his parents were probably about my age, and his Dad was working but his Mother had retired about 5 years ago. He said she goes out to lunch with friends, goes out to dinner with friends, plays cards with friends... while his Dad brings home the money. He was of the opinion that if his Dad retired he would be greeted in the front hallway when he got back from his retirement dinner with the "Honey-Do" list. He also said that if his Dad tried to exert some control over how his Mother spent her time he would quickly come to grief. They have a maid, Momma doesn't even have to clean house or prepare meals.

As you might suspect, this guy was not married and had no urgent plans to become so.

Ha

So his mother retired 5 years ago and now a maid is employed to do traditional "women's work" like cooking and cleaning? How long did she work? Is this an unreasonable expense for this household? The story would come across very different if the man retired, the woman continued to work, and a maid was hired to cook and clean.

I suspect there's another side to this story. I'd have to have a chat with his mom before coming to any conclusions. Based on the facts presented and this guy's attitude toward his mother, I'd have no urgent plans to form a relaltionship with him if I were young and single.