Spending your retirement posting to forums? (vacations, federal, vacation, family)
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I've occasionally reflected on the notion that I'm spending more time than I "should?" on this forum. However, having moved to a new area a while back, I've found that my access to intelligent discussions, with interesting people, about things I'm interested in ... are more limited than in the past.
Therefore, I enjoy the fact that I can choose the topic, discussion and even the people - at any time I wish. If I were spending the same amount of time actually conversing with folks in my immediate proximity, it would not be considered a 'waste of time' ... even though far fewer topics would be addressed. ... "Should" is perhaps more of a "what other people think", than a legitimate boundary for one's retirement activities.
Very good point. I agree - if some thread is going sideways or getting boring or obnoxious, just bail out and go find another one! You certainly cannot do that when having a serious discussion with friends at the dinner table.
OK, so my last day of office work was last week and I find myself spending more time on this and other forums. I am not so sure that is a good thing - too much sitting around. My wife keeps asking me what all this typing is these days.
I look at the post count for some of the other posters around here and many seem astronomically high which to me seems like something to avoid. I am not sure spending my retirement years at the keyboard pontificating is a good retirement.
What do other think? Healthy or not?
Time at the keyboard reading, news, chatting, shopping, playing games, etc is all well and good as long one also has a real social/physical life. I play golf 3 times a weeks so I get socialization and some exercise.
I sat down at the puter this morning at 8:30a. Read mail, checked the news, checked some stock closings, and now chatting some. I expect to drop of line in the next 20 minutes or so. Not a replacement for real life but a useful tool.
OK, so my last day of office work was last week and I find myself spending more time on this and other forums. I am not so sure that is a good thing - too much sitting around. My wife keeps asking me what all this typing is these days.
I look at the post count for some of the other posters around here and many seem astronomically high which to me seems like something to avoid. I am not sure spending my retirement years at the keyboard pontificating is a good retirement.
What do other think? Healthy or not?
Healthy in that it helps you maintain the socializing that you had at work. Unhealthy if you sit there all day. A bit of aloneness is also healthy. Meditation is good for the soul. And, as everyone says, exercise is paramount in maintaining your good health.
Pushing 70 degrees not a cloud in the sky surrounded by the woods and Carolina Blue sky's. Sipping a cup of tea and waiting for soup to heat up. Oh yes and posting on C/D. Sorry but this is part of what retirement in my book was meant for.
Pushing 70 degrees not a cloud in the sky surrounded by the woods and Carolina Blue sky's. Sipping a cup of tea and waiting for soup to heat up. Oh yes and posting on C/D. Sorry but this is part of what retirement in my book was meant for.
Save for it and take it as early as possible. Fun time of life.
Personally, I've learned a lot and love to hear stories from others. Sometimes, when you are in a group of people, it doesn't get that deep.
This forum has helped me in so many ways. I don't have good role models for retirement and so many of you have showed me that life doesn't end when you leave on the last day of work. (Thank you).
The forums have also showed me that no matter how different we are that we are also very much alike.
That goes for all colors, ages and so forth.
I've never been one to fit inside the box so self employment has been the route for me, even though I have worked for corporations in my lifetime.
There's a wealth of information on this forum - not just in the retirement forum but throughout CD.
You've helped me with so many life events - when I started on here, I still had a teenager and one still in college. I have dealt with elder care issues, the passing of a parent, the economic downturn, other issues that turned into major ones (I'll tell more when my book is coming out on that one) and so much more.
Sometimes, we have good friends that we can go to but even they have a limit. After a while, you know they don't want to hear it but CD has been great for my venting!
Healthy in that it helps you maintain the socializing that you had at work. Unhealthy if you sit there all day. A bit of aloneness is also healthy. Meditation is good for the soul. And, as everyone says, exercise is paramount in maintaining your good health.
Moderation in all things. That's the key.
Excellent points. Not only unhealthy if we sit here all day, but also unhealthy if we allow our self-esteem to become too closely linked to the responses or the following that we get here. I remember one poster, clearly intelligent, who had appointed him/herself (I'm trying to give as few identifying details as possible) as the Retirement Forum's social director. But when a pretty good number of people didn't want to get in line and march behind that particular drummer, there was immense anger and frustration which led to a public pronouncement that the poster was taking his or her marbles and going home. And by golly, that's exactly what happened. The person is still posting frequently on City-Data, but not in the Retirement Forum ever, despite having been a fixture here with multiple posts daily. We can get too invested if we're not careful.
I like it here and find it a bit addictive. I'm glad I have outside interests and activities which automatically prevent me from "sitting there all day" - if I didn't have them I would need to create them! I frequently also read and post in a handful of other City-Data forums, mostly Economics (or one of the sub-forums there), History, and a few others. It's fascinating to get people's slants on things which differ from our own. I enjoy discussing and debating, which I believe keeps our minds active and sharp, or at least contributes to that end.
There are always trade-offs in almost everything we do in life. The price of admission on any public internet forum is putting up with wading through a certain amount of bland, boring, predictable, and outrageously hostile and ill-reasoned stuff to get to the good stuff. In my view, there is plenty of the good stuff to make participation here well worth while. I'm glad I discovered this place four years ago.
I mean that last sentence as a tribute and a salute to my fellow posters, especially in the Retirement Forum.
Forums are the great equalizer. You chat up people you wouldn't know/normally talk to in real life. No one is better than anyone else and you really have no idea who they really are, nor do you care.
If you post in forums other than the Retirement forum, there's a good chance you spend some time talking to 18 - 25 year olds about a variety of subjects like History or Food and Drink, for example. How many 18 - 25 year olds are in your real life social life?
Nobody is disabled on C-D. You wouldn't know it if they were. Joe Athlete can be discussing politics, for example, with John Quadrapelgic. How many deaf people are in your real life social circle? Yet here, you may, for example, be having a conversation with them on economics or gardening.
A millionaire could be chatting with a waitress, plumber, a welfare recipient or a janitor about Cycling or Current Events. Do you think the millionaire hangs out with them or they with him in real life? No one's station in life matters here.
Some Hollywood producer could marvel about the latest indie in the Movie forum and some 20 year old that still lives at home with mom and dad could tell him the film reeked and why. Would the 20 year old do that in real life? Would the 20 year old even have the opportunity to do it in real life? Would the Hollywood producer know he's arguing with a 20 year old?
For all they know, some white power guy could be talking to some black power guy about their dogs in the Pet forum.
Some guy from Israel could be chatting with some guy from Iran about Videography or Weather, for example.
Like I said, Forums are the great equalizer. You chat up people you wouldn't know/normally talk to in real life so spending time on them is not a bad thing.
Forums are the great equalizer. You chat up people you wouldn't know/normally talk to in real life. No one is better than anyone else and you really have no idea who they really are, nor do you care.
If you post in forums other than the Retirement forum, there's a good chance you spend some time talking to 18 - 25 year olds about a variety of subjects like History or Food and Drink, for example. How many 18 - 25 year olds are in your real life social life?
Nobody is disabled on C-D. You wouldn't know it if they were. Joe Athlete can be discussing politics, for example, with John Quadrapelgic. How many deaf people are in your real life social circle? Yet here, you may, for example, be having a conversation with them on economics or gardening.
A millionaire could be chatting with a waitress, plumber, a welfare recipient or a janitor about Cycling or Current Events. Do you think the millionaire hangs out with them or they with him in real life? No one's station in life matters here.
Some Hollywood producer could marvel about the latest indie in the Movie forum and some 20 year old that still lives at home with mom and dad could tell him the film reeked and why. Would the 20 year old do that in real life? Would the 20 year old even have the opportunity to do it in real life? Would the Hollywood producer know he's arguing with a 20 year old?
For all they know, some white power guy could be talking to some black power guy about their dogs in the Pet forum.
Some guy from Israel could be chatting with some guy from Iran about Videography or Weather, for example.
Like I said, Forums are the great equalizer. You chat up people you wouldn't know/normally talk to in real life so spending time on them is not a bad thing.
What a great point about the varied backgrounds of our fellow posters; that's one reason I enjoy my participation here. I learn more from people different than me than I learn from people similar to me.
However, we do often end up knowing quite a bit about our fellow posters. This comes from two basic sources, our profiles and our comments in our posts. Many people, of course, do not enter any information in their profiles and others have restricted access to their profiles to "friends" only. That is fine. And we can share as much or as little as we care to about ourselves in our posts.
I know the following about a number of fellow posters just from their comments about themselves over time: their profession (or former profession), their marital status, their approximate financial condition, their hobbies and interests, the city or general area where they live, and probably a few other things in some cases. A few people have even revealed their real names, which I have chosen not to do.
But you are right that many times, we know almost nothing about fellow posters. The more bizarre a person's posts are, the more it piques my curiosity to know a little about them, but it's fine if that curiosity goes unfulfilled.
That's for sure, and the time sure gets away from you when you're pontificating that the keyboard!!! Ask me how I know, LOL.
I'll put on music so the furries are happy and don't distract me, then load up my writing and this board. Some of the replies I make are just chat, but there are those as carefully worded as the story I'm working on. If I need concentration, I pause the music. I go back to writing the story when an idea comes. And then I notice the sun's going down????? No wonder the furries aren't buying the music anymore.
furries...creatures with fur who share your home and just don't get why you aren't paying any attention to them.
But I know I'll likely not try to go and take a class or two at the college a half hour or more away without a car, and what I'm seeking isn't a degree but people who like to really think. And that is what you find on message boards. And since I started in the eighties, its more or less a main feature of the day.
But with boards, we can find all those interesting people who might live near but might not. I notice that when post counts go higher, most are well expressed because even if you don't care if its well written, just the practice makes you learn.
Last edited by nightbird47; 03-16-2014 at 02:55 PM..
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