On February 5, 2006, I wrote the following:

Senior Discount

Today, at Pizza Hut, without even asking, we were given a senior citizen discount.

Now, even though, I subscribe to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), I’m a long ways from being sixty, which is the earliest that most places given senior discounts. I’m only 54… (and two days). I’m still a year away from being able to early retire… if I want to… and if we’re financially able to.

It didn’t bother me, but it sure seemed to bother my wife. Even though we both knew that it was because of my greying hair that the teen waitress thought we were seniors. If I look old for my age, my wife looks young for hers. Even though we knew the discount was probably for my perceived age, she was the one put out about it.

But did she correct the error? Nope. It was enough to cover the tax on the meal.

Besides, with the leading edge of the boomers just now reaching 60, by the time we reach 60, the senior discounts will probably be few and far between.

Gotta take it when we can.

It happened again one afternoon last week — Thursday, I think, about 2:00 (that’s 1400 for some of my readers) — when we stopped for a treat at Dairy Queen. It didn’t seem to bother Karen at all this time. She seemed a little bit amused.

I always seem to do better when I spend time working out at a fitness center near here. Unfortunately, working out takes time and then I have less time to do some of the other things that interest me, so I usually end up letting the workouts slip.

About 6 weeks ago I strained my back doing some work around the house. I was in quite a bit of pain for a couple of weeks. It was bad enough that I went to the clinic — and I’m one of those who has to be hurting pretty bad before I’ll see a doctor. Fortunately it wasn’t anything serious and I resolved to start working out — once my back was well enough.

However, I didn’t wait until it was totally back to normal. I decided to try a moderate work out followed by 20 minutes in the whirlpool in the morning before work. That really made a difference! I did that several times over the next couple of weeks and I think it really helped to speed my recovery.

I’m now back into a regular regimen of aerobic exercise. For the last three weeks, I’ve been to the fitness center every single work day. I spend at least an hour on a stair-climber, elliptical cross-trainer or on the indoor track — and when I exercise, I put a lot into it. I’m to the point now that my clothes are totally drenched with perspiration by the time that I am done.

The main thing driving me right now is that I want to be in as good a shape as I can be in so for retirement. I want to have an active life style and want to be able to “hit the ground running.”

Today, working on top of my roof, I found myself doing something that I hadn’t done in a long time — I was sitting with my legs crossed in front of me — not something this 54 year old somewhat overweight fellow does very often. In fact, I can’t remember the last time that I was able to do it comfortably.

I’m looking forward to being able to do more things that I haven’t done in a while!

Note: This post was moved from a blog that I retired, post date remains the same.

On Saturday, we were taking a walk along a nearby lake and the subject of my retirement came up, as it often does since it is drawing closer and we are making plans.

K told me that the topic of retirement had come up at one of her quilting meetings.

One of the ladies had told her, “When he retires, you’ll get your boyfriend back.”

Another older lady commented, “We’ve been married for over six years. When we were dating all he could talk about was all the traveling we’d do. He really wanted to spend some time traveling about Europe. Now that he’s retired, though, I can’t even get him to get up out of that damned chair, much less take a trip.

Note: This post was moved from a blog that I retired, post date remains the same.

This time next year I hope to without a job, intentionally. In February, I’ll be 55 and old enough for early retirement.

In my group of 12 employees, there are 5 who are 55 or older — and I am the youngest. All of the others are either 55 or close enough to it to be able to file the retirement paperwork. Three could go at any minute. However, despite being the youngest, I may be the first of the five to actually do it.

It’s a big step, for all of us. We’ve all worked since the early 70s for just two employers — the US Navy and our current company. After working so long, taking the step of leaving and going into retirement, even if you’ve saved enough to do it, is a significant change — and it can be scary.

“I can’t afford to yet.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if I’m not working.”
“I’ll retire when I find another job. I can’t not work.”
“We have too many bills.”
“It just isn’t going to work out the way that I thought it would.”

Martha Brockenbrough, in How to Tell If You Like Your Job … And How to Start Over If You Don’t, says, “If you don’t love what you do and look forward to doing it, that means you are condemning yourself to a life of discontent. It’s not that every moment at work has to be the best moment ever. As with anything, even the ideal job has its challenges and frustrations. But if you’re just putting in time, waiting for retirement or some other milestone to really live your life, you’re in trouble. ”

I used to really love what I do. However, mergers and standardization and many of the other things that make good business sense for the stockholders have taken away most of the fun. It got so bad last year that, had I not been so close to retirement, I would have quit. While things are not so bad this year, the underlying conditions still exist, so the right thing to do, for me, is to retire as soon as I can.

Rita Schwab, in Career Choices - Taking Time To Dream, says “Being scared of change is okay. Allowing that fear to close your mind to other possibilities is not.”

Retiring is a big step — the ultimate career change — but given that the fun is gone, I can’t afford to stay much past the day I’m 55. I may not be able to fully retire, but I can afford to take at least a year off before finding something else. Finding something to do is not a problem. I’ve got more than enough to keep me busy. I have a lot of things I want to do and, when those are done, other things will find me.

Three years from now, I may not be retired, but it won’t be for the lack of giving it a chance.

Note: This post was moved from a blog that I retired, post date remains the same.