Been a BIG week

Been a big week for me, yesterday was my last day of work, 4/2/24 is my official retirement day (34 years exactly) but today and Monday are company holidays (a benefit of working at a privately owned company with strong Christian values) and I am taking vacation my last day. Had two phenomenal send off celebrations and so much positive recognition it was almost embarrassing, very emotional and flattering. Fortunately my family was able to attend these events which made them even more special. Been a very rewarding career working in industrial engineering (electrical controls and power distribution). Worked in tobacco manufacturing and handling, aluminum can manufacturing, pulp and paper, chemical plants, food production (ever walked the line in a chips ahoy plant… omg), installed several rides at amusement parks including a giga-coaster and Ferris wheel, programmed machine that makes the material for bullet proof vests, installed a VFD system on a wind tunnel used to record the Reynolds numbers on models of new aircraft including the space shuttle… yeah I've been around a bit but that's what kept me challenged and learning my whole career. Looking forward to time to travel some, catching up on hunting and fishing, shooting and visiting with friends (can't wait for Contenders fall outing and finally getting to meet some of our members). And then I picked up my new truck today.
Yeah it's been a big, BIG week…

Good for you and congratulations... will see you at Contenders.... it is a hoot.

Congratulations
I highly recommend retirement

Congratulations, I retired from manufacturing in 2020 and moved to the mountains.

It's a good life but takes a bit patience in the winding down part, at first. Then you'll wonder how you ever had time to work!

Best of fortune with your new adventures.

Good for you man!!! Many happy years ahead and enjoy each day to the fullest!

Congratulations on your retirement!

And of course we'll be looking for you this fall! And as Bob Barker would have said; "Come on down!"

Congratulations. One of the better days in my life.

You do know that for the first month you're supposed to get up at 9 & eat Captain Crunch while watching cartoons in your underwear.

Enjoy & congrats.

Congrats!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!

Enjoy retirement and throw away your alarm clock. I make no appointments before 10am.

Good for you.
I just ended a 45 minute phone call with one of my employees from my previous employment. Seems my replacement is having some problems filling the gap I left. I was expecting this but feeling a bit smug about the confirmation.

Congrats glad you can join the club it's the best

Thank for everyone's kind words and advice, especially the Capt Crunch and cartoons… been way too long since I've done that. It will be challenging to get used to having the option to sleep in, growing up on a farm and having to milk cows by hand and take care of the rest of the animals before school meant getting up around five every day, that never really changed when I started work (you know, a paying gig) but I'm going to try my best to change that habit. Yes, six Saturdays and a Sunday every week is sounding mighty good

I think it toke me 6 months before I was really comfortable

bedfordboy said:

Thank for everyone's kind words and advice, especially the Capt Crunch and cartoons… been way too long since I've done that. It will be challenging to get used to having the option to sleep in, growing up on a farm and having to milk cows by hand and take care of the rest of the animals before school meant getting up around five every day, that never really changed when I started work (you know, a paying gig) but I'm going to try my best to change that habit. Yes, six Saturdays and a Sunday every week is sounding mighty good

Click to expand...

Aside from a brief part time gig doing taxes for a friend's wife that managed a Jackson Hewitt and an enjoyable stint running the gun counter at a hardware store in Virginia, I pulled the plug on "work" work in 2018 and moved to Tennessee at the very end of 2020. Although I believe we planned well, covid and the feckless Biden administration destroying the economy and the American way of life played hell on our finances, as well as the housing boom that peaked right about the time we found a place in the hills. I still get up very early but now I don't get crap done before about eight or so.

One thing amazed me the other day, is that I realized we have lived here since December of '20, or over three years, and yet we still feel as though we are unpacking and setting up the nest. In the "olden days", in the span of three years, we'd pack our stuff, move somewhere, unpack, set up house, go do Navy stuff, wife would find a job, etc, etc, and then by the end of those three years, be planning and packing stuff again to go somewhere ELSE! Now, I have NO idea how we managed...

As an aside, I like your profile pic, my pop ended up in L Co, 116/29th. They had a lot of openings for "new hires" after June...

Enjoy your life's new chapter and make the most of it!

eta: One thing, I spend a LOT more time with my faithful collie boy, HE really digs having the old man around all day...

Congratulations!

Congrats! You will soon wonder how you were ever able to spend 8+ hours/day at work and still manage to get everything else done!

I'm a little jealous of the big send-off with family and all, since I retired mid-pandemic in 2021 and most of my goodbyes came over Zoom or in emails.

Retirement can be a great part of a full life, and I wish you the best for your upcoming many years (hopefully) in this status. For me, after working full time for 48 years I finally fully retired at age 70. I had a great job, working with great people, and getting very well paid, but I worried about waiting too long to retire. At the time I said to myself that if I made it 10 years in retirement I would stop beating myself up for waiting so long to stop work. I'm almost at 11 years and have no regrets now for waiting until I felt the time was right for me.

I found that after the first flurry of retirement activity (bought a nice travel trailer and my wife and I made several extended trips to national parks and old Army friends all across the country), things settled down. For awhile I still was up by 6 AM and trying to keep busy, and out of my wife's hair. After some time I came to realize that the answer to a good retirement was just enjoying the passage of time, without any pressures. Many days now I am up around 7, or even 8, sit for a few hours with several mugs of coffee and the internet (including this forum), then take my two dogs for a walk of an hour or so. By then its time to shower, eat lunch and decide what to do for the afternoon. Some days I accomplish nothing more than running out for a few errands, or spending an hour at the range, or ideally (if the weather is good) going out for a ride on one of my two motorcycles.

I recently have lost two of my oldest friends, both to cancer and both around my age (I'm 80). I've come to appreciate just being well enough to get through the days without real problems. Hopefully for you, retirement will be whatever you hope it will be, but don't ever forget that none of us get to live forever. Things that you really want to do should be done sooner rather than later, because there may not be a later.