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Retired 9 years ago from full time teaching. Still doing part-time work that pays well. I had kept busy with some volunteer work but that stopped with COVID. Wife retired with a chronic illness which is a challenge as traveling with her usually involves at least one dramatic event. If anything, we spend more time in doctor's offices that I would like. I do go to Planet Fitness 3 times a week and do elliptical the other days so as to not outgrow my pre -retirement clothes. LOL ( I think I look pretty good for my age, LOL). As of now, I am not on any prescription meds. Thank God.
I do miss the interaction with my colleagues but still am active at church and professional organizations . I also find it helpful to have a big house so as to have time alone.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
Well, that is part of the problem of being a Vampirelle, a midnight worker. You never see anyone else. ...
As it is, my shift changed to days (which has its own problems after doing a quarter of a century on nights) about 2 years ago.
...
And maybe it will come to that but as others might observe, "that's not a healthy way to live life"......so I am asking.
OMG, you have to work day shift!!
That is often impossible for a tried and true night shift person. Certainly was the demise of my ability to tolerate employment. Fortunately I was able to transition to a position that coordinated international operations (during USA night shift).
My night shift premium and many decades of better things to do during daylight than work a J-o-b. helped me transition to FT NON- employment pre age 50.
I understand your dilemma, there are very few who understand or could advise a night shift worker. Career long independence.... And capable of get-ur-done in spite of cry-baby day shifters and weasel bosses.
Good luck... Talk to BDL or find a truckdriver who has time to talk.
I like a routine. So Monday is for things at home, often lunch with DD as it is her day off and bookclub once a month. Tuesday is for meeting friends, a school run in afternoon for two grandkids and a preferred night to eat out with friends. Wednesday shopping and school run for other grandkids. Usually eat out with DH. Thursday is a language class, Friday walking group, Saturday is discussion group with lunch and then supermarket. Sunday is usually stay at home day and that is when I decide I prefer to be out and busy!!
I like a routine. So Monday is for things at home, often lunch with DD as it is her day off and bookclub once a month. Tuesday is for meeting friends, a school run in afternoon for two grandkids and a preferred night to eat out with friends. Wednesday shopping and school run for other grandkids. Usually eat out with DH. Thursday is a language class, Friday walking group, Saturday is discussion group with lunch and then supermarket. Sunday is usually stay at home day and that is when I decide I prefer to be out and busy!!
This is a really thoughtful approach to retirement - it sounds like you have a full and meaningful life!
It's also a good example of how people are different and need different approaches to such a big life change.
While I like all of the above activities, I would go nuts with the schedule. I understand that some scheduling is necessary - classes and weekly group meetings. But other than those, I want to be free to wake up in the morning, stretch and think hmm, what do I feel like doing today? And then I generally make it up as I go along. I felt so scheduled during my working life that I am overjoyed to be out from under it.
This week I have a walk and lunch scheduled with a friend on Friday and a couple of scheduled Zoom chats with friends and family. But other things that I'll fit into the week are daily yoga, walking the dog several times a day, picking up groceries (express lane because of COVID), exploring some hiking trails we haven't tried yet, experimenting with new recipes, reading several books I'm working on, and lots of goofing off. And staying up late and sleeping in if I want to.
As I often tell my soon-to-be-retired friends -- it's like getting your childhood back again but without any grownups telling you what to do or when to do it
I do have one friend, non retired, a woman I check in with twice a day (since I am out here on the frontier) and the good thing about her is.......she is highly non political! Just a little, yes, but for the most part, no......unlike some of my other retired friends.
Which, I suppose, may be a problem for me with others since I don't want to talk politics. Long story short, there is too much fury, too many BP points tied up in to it, too much excitement without solving anything.
However, that said, you do touch on a question I constantly ask of "What do the retired people do?". It's rather like the Ben Sargeant cartoon of Inaruguration '77. Jimmy and Gerald are in the parade when Jimmy asks what does the President do? Gerald outlines the official duties when Jimmy says, "No, I mean, after you get up in the morning, what do you do?".
The grand plans such as being gored by a water buffalo in Kenya, dying in a plane crash approaching Hong Kong, that a crazed, jealous woman shoots and one drowns in a swimming pool.....or the living side of that, is not what I am talking about but more like, A and B.
A: You get up in the morning, what do you do?
B: How do you find the motivation to get up in the morning in the first place?
Should one have a detailed plan of what they are going to do each week, what the daily day will be like, before they retire?
Whatever I d@mn well please.
Everyone will be different. Some will get up and walk the dog before going to the gym. Others will have a relaxed cup of coffee and read the news. Some will work in the yard before the day gets too hot. Others will be going to the doctor, and then the pharmacy and then the grocery store, and then the gas station, and home before going out to lunch with a friend. Someone else will get up and feed, and turn out the horses, then water the vegetable garden. Others will make plans for their 50th class reunion, or go work their volunteer gig. Some will stay home and watch TV. Some will meet their friends for a round of golf. Still others might be getting up early and catching a ride to the airport for a trip to visit family, or catch a cruise ship to faraway places. There are as many possibilities as you can imagine. At one time or another I've done all of these since retirement, except the part with horses. Horses don't like me.
Some people like plans, schedules and goals, others like to free-style it. The joy of retirement is YOU GET TO CHOOSE, no one else.
Well, that is part of the problem of being a Vampirelle, a midnight worker. You never see anyone else. It was my fear that I would get to my retirement party and no one would know me, despite having been there for decades, because I worked an entirely different shift.
As it is, my shift changed to days (which has its own problems after doing a quarter of a century on nights) about 2 years ago.
Another big catch is that I am an eternal bachelorette. Never married, no SO for over 25 years. So for all those who might have retired before, they usually did so having, at least, been married, having families.
As far as daydreams, sure. I am the forever dreamer. If I don't like the way I am feeling, I shift my personalty to something that I will enjoy, seeing it the way of a cowgirl, being a Red Riding Hood forest witch, something like that. Why, just yesterday, I was wondering what it would be like to not having goine into town in weeks, if not months, because I didn't need to, that I was that well stocked.
And maybe it will come to that but as others might observe, "that's not a healthy way to live life"......so I am asking.
Have you ever looked in LARP (live action role playing)? This is a real thing that people get into. It's like being in a play with others, but it's unscripted, and everyone wears costumes and has a role. It can be from different historical periods, or different (real or imaginary) societies. It sounds like you could get into it. One group who does something similar is the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). They do a similar thing, even having entire weekend retreats where they meet up and live as close to the actual life of the time period as they can. It might be fun to investigate.
DH has been retired 7+ years now - he got his real estate license and does volunteer with a church camp that kept him very busy in 2019. He is definitely a doer - planner. He says that I need to have a plan for retirement. I have some plans but not many. I wish I could retire right now - but I have 5 years to go - since the last 2 1/2 have flown by - I imagine that the next 5 will also.
March of 2021 is an odd sort of anniversary for me.
In March of 2001, I completed a 20-year career in the US Navy and I retired.
I served for 20 years [I got out mid-way through and went to college, then 4-years later I re-enlisted and went back into uniform to complete the requirements for pension].
I retired just as I was turning 42. Now I am 61, soon to be 62. My Social Security will not happen until I am 66 years and 7 months. [so roughly 5 more years].
This Spring I will have been on pension for 20 years.
I retired 6 months ago. I will say without a doubt I love it. My day is my own, I can do what I want. If I want to be real productive I can be, if I want to sit in a chair and watch TV I can do that. I think there are people that need to work to feel productive. And there are people that need the structure of a job. But the big thing I believe is what kind of job you retired from. If you were a big wig, then you went to work and everyone was trying to please you and would do what you said without a word. So if you had a big job, lots of bucks, perks, travel, etc. - well, there are people that would really miss that. I, however, was not one of those people. As they say, $hit rolls downhill, and I worked in the valley. Oh, I miss the interaction with co-workers sometimes, but that is all. If I had one regret is that I did not do it sooner and before the pandemic. But money is not an issue and I have no plans to ever work again. My 2 cents.
My co-worker friends are the only thing I miss about my job. After working with many of the same people for over 20 years, we were more family than co-workers. I was sad that I wouldn't see them after we moved, but many of us stay in contact through FB.
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helped me transition to FT NON- employment pre age 50. 
