The following arrived in my e-mail box the other day and it made me think how crappy life would be if retirement did not include a model railroad.
This ain’t really me
[8D][:)]
Senior Retirement in Florida
We get up at 5:00 am, have a quick breakfast and join the early morning Walk and Talk Club. There are about 30 of us. Rain or shine we walk around the streets, all talking at once. After a nimble walk avoiding irate drivers out to make us road kill, we go back home, shower and change for the next activity.
My wife goes directly to the pool for her underwater Pilates class, followed by gasping for breath and CPR.
Now I know why I go to Arizona instead of Flordia. We park our motorhome out in the desert where I walk with the cyotes and the saguaro. Then in the afternoon I work on the craftsman building project of the week before putting a good train video or movie in the TV and helping my wife work on her current beading project. Occassionally other people stop by, but they don’t bother us all that much.
Wow! I am 72 1/2 and my wife is 66. We live in our home, run a lot, go on trips, I eat the food she fixes, we hit the resturants a couple of times each week, and I have my HO layout in the basement, and the garden railroad out back. Of course we live in Kansas City which means tornados, snows, hail, rain.
Oh and I still practice my profession part of the time, and we are financially able and do…
I’m approaching “retirement age” almost as fast as my 401K is approaching a “200.5K” and I don’t really have any desire to leave New England. 15 degrees this morning, but we’re not going to get blown off of our foundations by a hurricane, nor shaken off our foundations by an earthquake. And, I have a basement. Little condos are not for me, I’m afraid.
There must be some clubs close to you. The Treasure Coast club is up in Fort Pierce, but that’s a bit of a long drive for a regular thing - but it’s worth the trip to visit them.
Your post really cracked me up![(-D]I lived in the Port Richey/Hudson area for about 10 years and got to see EVERYTHING you just mentioned! Got to make sure you get to Stacey’s or Hometown buffet before the prices change! I remember seeing little old ladies get busted for sneaking chicken into the big plastic bags they’d line their purses with. Long lines at 7:00 am waiting for the banks, malls and bowling alleys to open up. A group of senior men made the 6 o-clock news for getting arrested for playing nickle poker at the beach! Ahhhh…Florida!
I’m going to be 69 the day after tomorrow. What is this ‘retirement’ thing? I’ve heard about it, but don’t understand it at all. Does that mean that you don’t have to work? Does it mean that you HAVE to move to Florida? If that description is what ‘retirement’ is all about, I think I’ll just stay here and keep working, thanks.
Wow, that don’t sound fun. Not making me look forward to retirement (which, for me, is a long, long, long, long, long, long time away, I’m only 14, lol), doesn’t sound like too much of a fun time for your “golden years” or whatever the nickname is. Ah, and my town is such a nice place where retirees come, lol. And I’m not joking, they do come in the boatloads, lol (or should I say carloads?).
Yikes ! Is that retirement??? Why would anyone get up at 5 o’clock??? and do nothing all day, except stand in line at a buffet, gorging yourself to oblivion, for me, there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I couldn’t do while working, woodworking, carving, water color painting, making models, fixing trains, fixing up the house, etc etc etc. I’m still trying to figure out this “buffet” thing, doesn’t anyone know how to cook anymore. If I were you I would start hanging around with a new group who have an interest in living.
Sounds so typical of any retiree that snowbirds in Florida or residing. Warm weather and staying active. Me, I’ll stay here in good ole Nothern Illinois when I retire. Possibly relocate to Wisconsin. Something about the winters. Not leaving the house for days, just perring out the window at the blowing snow, the smell of wood burning fireplaces and wearing a sweater around the house. These winter months allow for ample time to model railroad. This weekend was fun. We ran a few errands, but spent almost all weekend in the house…working on projects and watching moivies. Hoping the good Lord gives us health into retirement to enjoy. I do know one thing…I won’t be getting up before 8am. I enjoy my puttz’n and late shows. Your retirement sounds too busy . Find time to do something fun. Instead of Costcos’, go to a hobby shop. Sounds like you need a hobby. Its all about quality of life. Good luck
For the taxes you pay in “Taxachussetts”, I could replace my home once every 10 years if it was to “blow away”. A Co-worker from Everett MA quit his job, sold his house, moved here, payed cash for 2000 sq feet with 4 acres on the lake. Bought 2 new vehicles, paid off debt, and has a nice little egg in the bank just in case. He’s always smiling for some dang reason. [swg]
No, no, no, no - no, MisterBeasley - it’s not me at all, thank goodness.[:I]
This sorry tale arrived in my e-mail box the other day and it got me to thinking how awful it would be to be retired and to not have model trains and a layout to keep a man sane in his retirement.[8D]
Although this was meant to be humerous, I think, it is still rather sad because of the truth this tale conveys by way of a warning that even when our years of a formal job come to a close, it is still important to keep active as much as it is possible both in mind, body and spirit. I do believe that maintaining an interest in a hobby or past-time such as model railroading fits this bill to the “T”.
If that’s retirement, I’m completely scared. What would retirement be without trains? I would think it would be boring. I wouldn’t look forward toward retirement at all. Luckily I shouldn’t have to worry at my age (23) LOL.
When I “retired” part-time, it gave me time for – model railroading – a hobby that had been on the back burner since my sons were young. We’re in Florida this week, but just for the week (I can work from anywhere, connected to the internet, and my wife has a business meeting here). I’m enjoying visiting the train shops while we’re here. I have to admit, we enjoyed going for a swim in the outdoor pool this afternoon. I closed up our pool at home a couple of months ago.
Retirement is what you make it–as is just about all we do.
Retirement??? Ha! That’s not retirement. Retirement is when you have 6 Saturdays and one Sunday in every week. After 32 years teaching my favorite early morning activity is to roll over in bed as soon as I hear that big yellow thing rumble down the street, look out the window, laugh… And then go back to sleep for a couple more hours.
I would never ever retire to Flowidah. Too darn many old people down there (and I don’t mean their age…)! Not to mention the bugs, tornadoes, hurricanes, and long lines at Mall Wart… Besides that I have relatives down there. Another good reason to live way up here in the North country.
When people ask me how I’m doing in retirement, I grin, wink, and say, “LIFE IS GOOD!!!”
If that is retirement in Flodidia I think the idea I had of retiring to the Yukon to be with the wolves etc. would be a bit more interesting.[:O][(-D][:-^]
Rule #1 for aging well and retiring well…don’t get old.
In case you find you lose your grip and have to default to aging, you will probably find by the time you retire that you have long since been getting up once a night at least, often twice, to empty bladder and ponder how to help (name child or grandchild) deal with (insert problem here). In my case, I still get a good night’s sleep, usually six hours straight, and only because I make sure I drink nothing after 1800 hours. As we age, our pituitary glands produce less anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) during our sleep, resulting in kidneys whose function is not supressed while we sleep as it was when we were 40.
But, I am often awake between 0500 and 0600 hours, and seldom can get back to sleep. Minds are too soon to alert activity, and that is because retirement is so darned interesting and fun!!! [:D]
I have no way to predict how I’ll be with the hobby by the time wife and I decide we should buy a condo in town, closer to amenities, and perhaps giving up the car. I think there could be a solution, including fold-down arms on wall supports screwed to studs in the walls, and store shelves in a closet that will provide about 15-20 feet of switching layout at the very least. But maybe I’ll have moved on to kite flying or fly tying by then.
There are phases to retirement, my young friend. You will probably find out too soon. My daughter’s boyfriend, starting middle linebacker for the Bedford High School Buccaneers (#34), has likely called his last defensive signals, at the tender age of 17. They went out on a high note, with the best season the Bucs have ever had. There will be a beer reefer on my layout in their honor, I promise.
Sports are a young man’s game. So why, oh why, will I suit up tomorrow, like I have almost every Tuesday night since Nixon was in the White House, putting on 35 or 40 pounds of armor, to stand in front of a 6x4 foot goal, on a permanently frozen turf, with the sole aim of getting in front of every piece of hard, black rubber that’s flung my way? Because at the age of 61, well, retirement is something for the future. It’s never for today.
Sawyer is a good name. It’s a football name. It evokes images of the craftsmen and artisans who formed this country, the guys who kept going, who never stopped, who drove and drove until the whistle, and then gave one last shove beyond the eyes of the referee.
It’s no country for old men. We’re not old men. Not one of us.
Well my 2 cents , Just retired this year at 60 , sleep till 9am every day, get up, work around the house for the boss, then trains all evening for me. Being a younger retiree I don’t have any serious problems to keep me from enjoying life yet. Can sleep all night without getting up, go out and snowblow or shovel the snow with the best of them young’ens. Will live right here till I check out to the great station in the sky.
Re the original post— [(-D][(-D][(-D][:D] (Why don’t they have a smiley for ROFLMAO?)
And now you know why I live in a mixed-age (almost all younger, including lots of kids) neighborhood of stand-alone houses in the Dessicated Desert. I don’t follow the lemmings, I don’t have any desire to keep up with the Joneses (Let them keep up with me, if they’re capable) and I don’t give a hoot in Hades about what my neighbors think about my (entirely lawful) activities - which include none of the above.
I’m fully retired (71+) and my wife is almost retired from being a homemaker (just one kid underfoot - me.) Our income is adequate for our simple needs, we don’t owe a dime to anybody (except for a low-rate mortgage on a house bought before the Big Bubble, recently burst) and we do what we want to do when we want to do it.
As for the model railroad - I had expected to use my half of the double garage. Then the lovely lady who shares my life ceded title to the other half - so I have all the space I need to build my dream layout - and the rest of my life to do it. Nirvana!