Changes....Re-Tire-Ment Seems To Bring Them On!
I retired officially at the end of August 2006. I still work for my hospital employer as a contractor and enjoy so doing.However, even with the continued efforts at the hospital and at home, I find i have changed considerably in that year plus.
1. My dress: I gave away 15 dress shirts to a friend who still works. I still have about 10 or more, most of which I rarely, if ever, wear. I now find shorts and a polo or tee shirt to be my dress. I have several pairs of denim shorts, and also a number of more dressy shorts. I have lots of tee shirts, and a good number of polo shirts. I don't even wear socks much....except those short "tennis" socks which I also sometimes wear to bed to keep my old feet warm.
2. TIME! This one is difficult for many who have not retired to understand. I find myself on both a different schedule, and with a much different attitude. I stay up later, and rise later. Duchess and I, working at a hospital, went in at 6:15am.....thus were through at 2:45pm. I now stay up til midnight, and rise usually sometime between 7 and 8. (In our motorhome, when traveling, this fluctuates a lot......some times we are in bed at ten.....up by 6:30 or 7:00.)
3. Days of the week. With our involvement in Elks Lodge activities, and with Duchess' water aerobics and water volleyball, we have a schedule....not to mention doctor appointments, etc. However, when we travel in the RV the days seem to blend and we soon lose track and have to seriously think to remember what day it is. that can be a negative when you are seeking an activity which might only be weekdays...or perhaps on the weekend.
4. Pressure! This is M-U-C-H reduced. At least as far as expectations of others upon us. There are few job deadlines and requirements....except my contract work which has deadlines, but easy and flexible ones at the worst. Mostly we are free to choose and do as we please.
Thus, change is sure to come in retirement.
One plan I am developing is a new "retirement-work-ethic!" I find myself wishing to be a bit more organized about where I am going and what I am doing for the rest of my life. I am, as of today, deep into learning to write html for web design. I have been considering this for some time, and know some of the basics...but now I am bound and bent on doing the deed. Making my own web designs, and perhaps producing for others. I am also cleaning out 15 years of accumulated junk in my "computer room" and remodeling it to a three-station room. Station 1 is this older self-built PC which i use for lots of things, but mostly online things. Station 2 is my Vaio laptop which I take on the road with a huge external HD and use of my roaming communication, as well as my contract work with the hospital. Station 3 is my PC for web work. It is just coming online in the next week or so.
I love the phrase (paraphrased here)....."Come, grow old along with me, for the best is yet to come!" Duchess and I subscribe to the thought always!
Duke
posted by Duke of DeLand @ 11/29/2007 07:18:00 PM
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