Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[gtmalone]

I grouted some tiles above the tub yesterday. Now I have to wait for a week it to fully cure.

Went to Wal-Mart, there was a line to get in. Usually I get there earlier and there isn't a line with covid door police. The store was low on a lot of products, flashback to last fall when some shelves were empty. I like their Great Value brand basmati rice.

Went for lunch at Wendy's. An idiot in one of those large pickups open their door and whacks my vehicle door. Get out to look for damage and the woman runs back apologizing. She says, I didn't see that you were in the car. Like it's ok to damage someone's property if they don't get caught. Thankfully, no damage.

Was standing at a light waiting to cross at street corner downtown. Someone stops their car while turning and honks, a woman on the passenger side rolls down their window and starts chewing me out for standing on the road and not up on the curb. She was met with a blank stare. Then her husband who was driving felt he needed to repeat what she said. Like it was too much trouble to turn the corner a bit wider. Somehow I don't think that these people ever drive in the city. Now I don't swear but in this case I used some american sign language, I hope that they understood my gesture.

He was showing them what their IQ is. Crazy people out there.

 

[gtmalone]

One of my good work friends retired last Wednesday. Her husband isn't well and she had an intuition that she should be with him more. Although Carey is a healthy person none of us at our age know how long we'll be here. I'm starting to think of The Big R next April/May 2022. Along with taking Carey somewhere very nice and enjoyable for a vacation I am in the process of evaluating the six basses I own. Half of them are almost economy basses but very well built. I might donate 3 and/or sell 2 then buy one last new one.

In the back of my mind I've already begun planning for a retirement. I've been monitoring our expenses more closely and working on clearing our small place of excess stuff we don't use. I'm going to do a little bit every day or so. I don't want to retire (if I actually do next year) and spend my time cleaning. I've realized we've bought a lot of stuff we don't use. Some stuff going to donation and some to sell. It's odd--I'm 69 and probably the oldest person at my job. I feel healthy enough to keep working but my spirit is leading me to leave while I'm in top form on my job. I'm a real tech geek at heart and I'll miss all the new toys I get to use/set up at work. I'm quite spoiled that way. But I have plenty of plans for retirement. I want to record and get back into webdesign. Websites aren't going away anytime soon in the near future. Anyway, all the best plans laid down by mice and men......

Do it! The best part of retirement is not have a schedule except what YOU make. There is also the bonus benefit of taking a day and doing absolutely nothing.

We've been getting rid of stuff over the past few years. Some of it we bought, some stuff family or friends gave to us, some of it repurposed. The downside is we have fewer places to keep our dust collection.

 

[gtmalone]

Back to the IKEA thing about a 1000 posts back:
Loose Parts by Dave Blazek for April 04, 2021 | GoComics.com

And speaking of printer ink:
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 04, 2021 | GoComics.com

 

[beans-on-toast]

One of my good work friends retired last Wednesday. Her husband isn't well and she had an intuition that she should be with him more. Although Carey is a healthy person none of us at our age know how long we'll be here. I'm starting to think of The Big R next April/May 2022. Along with taking Carey somewhere very nice and enjoyable for a vacation I am in the process of evaluating the six basses I own. Half of them are almost economy basses but very well built. I might donate 3 and/or sell 2 then buy one last new one.

In the back of my mind I've already begun planning for a retirement. I've been monitoring our expenses more closely and working on clearing our small place of excess stuff we don't use. I'm going to do a little bit every day or so. I don't want to retire (if I actually do next year) and spend my time cleaning. I've realized we've bought a lot of stuff we don't use. Some stuff going to donation and some to sell. It's odd--I'm 69 and probably the oldest person at my job. I feel healthy enough to keep working but my spirit is leading me to leave while I'm in top form on my job. I'm a real tech geek at heart and I'll miss all the new toys I get to use/set up at work. I'm quite spoiled that way. But I have plenty of plans for retirement. I want to record and get back into webdesign. Websites aren't going away anytime soon in the near future. Anyway, all the best plans laid down by mice and men......

Ask yourself, Do you live to work or work to live?.

You have your forever house. You have a car. If you have enough to retire on and can supplement your income with web design work, why not look forward to the next phase of your life. You can always ask about the possibility of part time work in your present job.

 

[mikeoso]

I know what the Sultans of Swing think of trumpet playing bands.

It aint what they call rock and roll

 

[GonePlaid]

It's not that bad calorie wise, 150 per shot. There's very little coconut oil in it which is fattening. The alcohol accounts for 75% of the calories, the sugars are the remaining 25%. Your'll burn off those 140 calories if you walk for an hour or so round trip to the liquor store. Remember, old people burn calories slower.

Calories in Captain Morrighan Parrot Bay 90 Proof Coconut Rum (45% alc.) | CalorieKing

When I say "watch the calories", by that I mean watch the waistline, which I keep well out in front so I can't miss it.

 

[GonePlaid]

One of my good work friends retired last Wednesday. Her husband isn't well and she had an intuition that she should be with him more. Although Carey is a healthy person none of us at our age know how long we'll be here. I'm starting to think of The Big R next April/May 2022. Along with taking Carey somewhere very nice and enjoyable for a vacation I am in the process of evaluating the six basses I own. Half of them are almost economy basses but very well built. I might donate 3 and/or sell 2 then buy one last new one.

In the back of my mind I've already begun planning for a retirement. I've been monitoring our expenses more closely and working on clearing our small place of excess stuff we don't use. I'm going to do a little bit every day or so. I don't want to retire (if I actually do next year) and spend my time cleaning. I've realized we've bought a lot of stuff we don't use. Some stuff going to donation and some to sell. It's odd--I'm 69 and probably the oldest person at my job. I feel healthy enough to keep working but my spirit is leading me to leave while I'm in top form on my job. I'm a real tech geek at heart and I'll miss all the new toys I get to use/set up at work. I'm quite spoiled that way. But I have plenty of plans for retirement. I want to record and get back into webdesign. Websites aren't going away anytime soon in the near future. Anyway, all the best plans laid down by mice and men......

Well, here's my $.02. Hung up the Commercial Driver's License in 07, took a little while to sell off our house in West Palm Beach. Meanwhile, I could move what I was keeping into my parents' house in the Stuart, FL, area-which I, as the only offspring, inherited-and continued playing in a coupla bands(concert and big band)and an occasional combo gig. Then I joined up with a local 50s-60s rock band, playing most weekends.
Now here comes the conflict. My daughter lives 145 miles away, but, since in my old job I used to drive 360+ miles a night, that's no big deal. Right? Nope. Her days off are Friday and Saturday. Cool, right? And what days/nights does the band work? Hmm. I'm seeing a discrepancy in all of this.[Ya think?] And, of course, these days there isn't a lotta band work. And what little there is falls mostly on Fri. and Sat. Meanwhile, the 1 community concert band I remained a part of hasn't met since March 2020. Same with the big band. Oh, well, plenty of time to sit in front of the computer and mess around on TB.
I have given thought to some sort of volunteer work, but the virus put that on hold for now. I am, however, becoming quite the hermit.

 

[Winslow]

It aint what they call rock and roll

She tricked you, mate. That's what the punks in the corner thought about the Sultans.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Well, here's my $.02. Hung up the Commercial Driver's License in 07, took a little while to sell off our house in West Palm Beach. Meanwhile, I could move what I was keeping into my parents' house in the Stuart, FL, area-which I, as the only offspring, inherited-and continued playing in a coupla bands(concert and big band)and an occasional combo gig. Then I joined up with a local 50s-60s rock band, playing most weekends.
Now here comes the conflict. My daughter lives 145 miles away, but, since in my old job I used to drive 360+ miles a night, that's no big deal. Right? Nope. Her days off are Friday and Saturday. Cool, right? And what days/nights does the band work? Hmm. I'm seeing a discrepancy in all of this.[Ya think?] And, of course, these days there isn't a lotta band work. And what little there is falls mostly on Fri. and Sat. Meanwhile, the 1 community concert band I remained a part of hasn't met since March 2020. Same with the big band. Oh, well, plenty of time to sit in front of the computer and mess around on TB.
I have given thought to some sort of volunteer work, but the virus put that on hold for now. I am, however, becoming quite the hermit.

My body called a big time out before I did.

 

[mikeoso]

My retirement bag is a little unusual, I guess. When I retired from teaching 15 years ago, I already had the parrot rescue running. Abi has her own business that runs here on the property. The place was paid off long before retirement, and we had zero debt. We don't travel, or eat out, or go to entertainments. We have ten acres of timber and wetland, and no near neighbors.

So, we just get up every day and do what we do, because that's what we want to do. If Abi wants a day off, she takes it...no deadlines in her business. We have enough land and gardens etc to indulge in whatever outdoorsy stuff we choose. I keep my music in a room at the back of the second floor, and until covid, had two weekly jams to go to, plus the occasional paid gig.

If I feel like I need to work with my hands, there's a nicely equipped woodshop in the basement, a setup for heavy woodwork like framing in the garage, and a bench for leatherwork in the music room.

Bottom line? We both have a variety of things to do, and neither of us really has much need for other people. (except the jams).

Kinda feel like Tom Bombadill.

 

[GonePlaid]

My body called a big time out before I did.

Yeah, there's that too. Way too many times jumping down from that 4 foot high trailer floor didn't do the knees a lotta good. So far haven't had to go for replacements, but all both of 'em have had procedures. I used to always stand to play-up to 6 hours. Now 1 hour is pretty much the max. As said b4, "Whut a drag it is getting o-o-o-ld".

 

[mikeoso]

She tricked you, mate. That's what the punks in the corner thought about the Sultans.

I'm hip...but I just rolled with it.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I appreciate all the GOF's comments on their retirement experiences. I enjoy being around people and yes, I do enjoy a service roll to people. I'm hoping by this time next year the pandemic will be at a point where I can start performing for the retirement homes and hospitals. I have an experiment in mind for very small performances that I can do anywhere. For instance a pair of battery powered pa speakers with built in mixer and effects. Battery powered guitar and bass amps. When I do my solo act I use both my guitar and bass. I usually just 'strum' rhythm when I do solo acts. I've always had a fantasy to do my solo show under a large shelter where the tour ships land their guests in a local harbor. All battery driven.

This is such a small town that I don't believe I'll be able to continue PC support. The public is pretty self-sufficient due to the isolation. But I've had a good 30 year run playing with new toys LOL. I also want to learn how to do the Zoom music sessions online. I've seen some pretty slick collaborations and that would be a good outlet for my creative juices. I guess what I'm whining about GOF's is my nervousness of the great unknown--The Big R. I am looking forward to spending more time with Carey. We so enjoy our time together.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

It really is. Properties sell as fast as they are listed. A lot of sellers are asking nutty prices.

Bought my last one in Flagstaff for cash 8 years ago. Sold it in December for cash the first weekend it was listed for 50% more than I paid for it. There's no inventory. And the buyers let me lease it back for 2 months! Yup, things are nuts.

 

[SoulReflection]

I have been even more grumpy since Friday. That's when I had to donate my stimulus check to the shop that repaired my truck. Granted, I had an oil change, new battery, belts and tensioner.

I took it in due to a check engine light with no fault showing on the "whiz bang" computerize display. It shows everything else like, oil change due, low gas, low windshield fluid, etc.

Apparently, I had a bad "ignition coil" which (I've learned) eliminates the need for a distributor. I now have to question if these coils are worth it. This one costs $68.85 and $82.10 to install. If one is required for each cylinder, I have 7 more.

In the old days, it would cost less than $20 to replace a distributor cap, condenser and spark plug wires, installed easily by yourself…grump, grump, grump.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm still debating the actual year but next year keeps coming up for me. I have a stigma that once a person retires, they get treated different than those that are "gainfully employed." I've heard the same thing from friends who already retired that they were ready to do something two weeks after retirement. I'm healthy for my age, no health issues and still have plenty of stamina. I dunno, we'll see what happens, how I feel the end of this year. Some days it does seem to take me longer to get motivated to the shower and I'm late more often to work. Luckily with this pandemic I'm the only one that comes in mornings on the wing where I work...

It's nice that you get to choose the date. When Motorola went to crap in the early '00s, I was the first corporate dude let go. Apparently, firing a client (in public; made the German business news) and taking $2.5MM of revenue off my books got me the wrong kind of attention. Didn't matter that the client (OK, the CEO of a major pharma company) was going to blame Motorola for his inability to actually take charge. When you make something painful optional, most management peeps will opt out of the pain. So I fired the first shot. It was the right thing to do, but the a$$wipes in the tower in Chicago could not have cared less. It was 100% about the money; the heck with the corporate brand. I went from earning north of $500/hr to slagging beer and wine for $12/hr. It took me longer than it should have to adjust to the lost income. But once I got out of debt? Holy schmoly, but that's a great feeling. Living the cash life now. I miss the audiences, but I don't miss the stress and the incessant travel.

 

[GwenOnBass]

That one such as I with tendencies to push oneself very hard might suggest the body has its own wisdom.

The Gene Krupa-style jazz drummer cardiac surgeon guy who lived two doors down made a complete study of jazz musicians and their deaths. He had this whole multimedia thing down in the stone age days of multimedia. Slides, and reel-to-reel and all whut. Do you believe their lifestyle was a primary contributor to their deaths? I ask. "Oh, absolutely." That's from the doc.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

It's nice that you get to choose the date. When Motorola went to crap in the early '00s, I was the first corporate dude let go. Apparently, firing a client (in public; made the German business news) and taking $2.5MM of revenue off my books got me the wrong kind of attention. Didn't matter that the client (OK, the CEO of a major pharma company) was going to blame Motorola for his inability to actually take charge. When you make something painful optional, most management peeps will opt out of the pain. So I fired the first shot. It was the right thing to do, but the a$$wipes in the tower in Chicago could not have cared less. It was 100% about the money; the heck with the corporate brand. I went from earning north of $500/hr to slagging beer and wine for $12/hr. It took me longer than it should have to adjust to the lost income. But once I got out of debt? Holy schmoly, but that's a great feeling. Living the cash life now. I miss the audiences, but I don't miss the stress and the incessant travel.

Wife Carey is the best financial planner I've ever been married to! We have a modest savings and only a few car payments left. The last payment was to coincide my retirement February 2022. Now that number looks scary close to me! I'm glad early on I had Carey take over the finances, she's done an excellent job. I may have a modest retirement but we'll be debt free, so I understand you enthusiasm about not owing anyone brother!

 

[GonePlaid]

I have been even more grumpy since Friday. That's when I had to donate my stimulus check to the shop that repaired my truck. Granted, I had an oil change, new battery, belts and tensioner.

I took it in due to a check engine light with no fault showing on the "whiz bang" computerize display. It shows everything else like, oil change due, low gas, low windshield fluid, etc.

Apparently, I had a bad "ignition coil" which (I've learned) eliminates the need for a distributor. I now have to question if these coils are worth it. This one costs $68.85 and $82.10 to install. If one is required for each cylinder, I have 7 more.

In the old days, it would cost less than $20 to replace a distributor cap, condenser and spark plug wires, installed easily by yourself…grump, grump, grump.

And about 20 minutes.

 

[markwrob]

I appreciate all the GOF's comments on their retirement experiences. I enjoy being around people and yes, I do enjoy a service roll to people. I'm hoping by this time next year the pandemic will be at a point where I can start performing for the retirement homes and hospitals. I have an experiment in mind for very small performances that I can do anywhere. For instance a pair of battery powered pa speakers with built in mixer and effects. Battery powered guitar and bass amps. When I do my solo act I use both my guitar and bass. I usually just 'strum' rhythm when I do solo acts. I've always had a fantasy to do my solo show under a large shelter where the tour ships land their guests in a local harbor. All battery driven.

This is such a small town that I don't believe I'll be able to continue PC support. The public is pretty self-sufficient due to the isolation. But I've had a good 30 year run playing with new toys LOL. I also want to learn how to do the Zoom music sessions online. I've seen some pretty slick collaborations and that would be a good outlet for my creative juices. I guess what I'm whining about GOF's is my nervousness of the great unknown--The Big R. I am looking forward to spending more time with Carey. We so enjoy our time together.

Has anyone suggested 'sliding' into retirement by switching to part time, Lefty? Would perhaps give you the best (or is it the worst?) of both worlds. Just another spitball for the wall.
My point being, it doesn't need to be all or nothing all at once.

 

[RodRy]

@Fat Freddy
were I to have a random thought and post it somewhere I might wonder why the person who snores always falls asleep first.
Fortunately there's not place to post these things

Because even when asleep, we're not getting enough rest.