I'm amazed this thread is still going on. Plenty of interesting posts here, so I'll comment on just a few from the (currently) last page:
yes, retirement will probably have many advantages, and then time management becomes a priority, honey do's have to be acknowledged...
This actually true. There's always something that needs to be done around the house, and because my wife has a few physical limitations (nothing serious, thankfully), I have to do most of them.
The time management thing is real, though. I'm constantly having to chase around town working out (at the YMCA), shopping, running errands or taking one or another of us to doctor's appointments. In fact, even as I type this, I've got one eye on the clock so I can get to my doctor's office on time.
Ideally, I'd like to divide my time among my hobbies of music, trains and shooting. But although I certainly have vastly more leisure hours to devote to all of them than I did when I was working, I do have to plan my personal activities around domestic responsibilities, too.
...a real permission to purchase new trains will be in order, (no way to really hide money that's direct deposit)
When I read that sort of thing, I'm never sure whether it's said in jest or not. In any case, neither my wife nor I need "permission" to indulge in our hobby activities. We trust each other not to spend more than the budget allows. In my own case, I sock away a little cash at the end of every week for the "Train Fund," so when something comes up at a train show or online sale, I can spend without impacting the household finances at all.
(As an aside, hello, Leapin' Larry! I bought a Lionel S1 NYC electric from you a couple of years back, and it's still among my favorite locomotives!)
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I remember my Dad when he retired stating that he had more personal time when he was working than he did when he retired. I guess my Mom kept him busy.
Certainly not true for me. I'm finishing hobby projects now that I put off for years, due to lack of time while I was working.
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Trying to find a good doctor in Central Virginia is tuff around these parts. We are thinking of moving back to Pennsylvania.
I've lived in rural PA for most of my life, and love it. I don't think you'd ever regret such a move.
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...whether we end of moving when I retire is the big unknown.
I've been retired since 2010, and it's still an unknown for us. There's too much creeping "development" going on around our area for our liking.
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My days went from getting up at 5:00 AM to getting up at 8:30 AM. I used to hit the sack at 10:30 or so. Now it's midnight.
Same here! I was even getting up at 3:30 AM for a while. No more of that.
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Time is a huge problem still. Seems between settling in, food shopping, doctors and errands it eats up the day. I spend quite a bit of time at the gun range as I have found an affinity for firearms here in the West.
I found one in the East, too! You're right about the miscellaneous errands eating up the day; see my remarks to Leapin' Larry above.
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Almost cashed it in from an Agent Orange Widow Maker Heart Attack 3 years back.
I hear you, friend. Agent Orange had nothing to do with my own case, nor did I have an actual heart attack. But a plugged "widow maker" artery nearly brought me to one, in 2012. It took emergency heart surgery to get me around it. It was no fun.
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Screw this BS, I am not working for this corporation any longer enduring their BS. Company changed over the years...
Ah feel yore pain. I was so sick and tired of butting heads with the administration of the university where I taught that the day I retired was like ascending to a higher plane. I've never missed it for an instant.
