Retirement soon

[Whitefang]

14 hours ago, sparquelito said:

REALLY tired of driving in heavy traffic hither and yon. 
😔

That won't get better when you realize that those who've been retired much longer than you are out there behind the wheels of cars  making driving more hazardous than rush hour has ever been!  😱  maneuvering around  those fossils can be more frustrating than trying to put smoke in your pocket.

Whitefang

[ksdaddy]

Next to the last day. My boss is away for training, a couple others are out on training or maternity leave. Just me and an engineering technician in the office..... and Friday is a deadline to sign up for one of our cost share programs. So of course the phone is constantly going, people are coming in to sign up, I did my exit interview this morning, I'm getting calls from the state office asking for help in fixing screwed up contracts.... no "phoning it in" the last week.

[sparquelito]

6 hours ago, Whitefang said:

That won't get better when you realize that those who've been retired much longer than you are out there behind the wheels of cars  making driving more hazardous than rush hour has ever been!  😱  maneuvering around  those fossils can be more frustrating than trying to put smoke in your pocket.

Whitefang

I didn't make myself clear. 

Once retired, I will only drive places that I need to go at the times when the traffic is the lightest. 

I will not agree to medical appointments that will have me out and about in the worst of the rush hour traffic. 

I will not travel to the grocery store or hardware store unless it is at a time when I know the traffic is the lightest. 
I will plan my timing and my routes to avoid the worst traffic times. 

All those poorly-trained, impatient assholes out there can drive here and there, and deal with the elderly fossils, in heavy traffic, at their own risk. 
I won't be one of them, sir. 
😉
 

[DanvillRob]

20 hours ago, ksdaddy said:

Next to the last day. My boss is away for training, a couple others are out on training or maternity leave. Just me and an engineering technician in the office..... and Friday is a deadline to sign up for one of our cost share programs. So of course the phone is constantly going, people are coming in to sign up, I did my exit interview this morning, I'm getting calls from the state office asking for help in fixing screwed up contracts.... no "phoning it in" the last week.

This is it!!!

[Whitefang]

16 hours ago, sparquelito said:

I didn't make myself clear. 

Once retired, I will only drive places that I need to go at the times when the traffic is the lightest. 

I will not agree to medical appointments that will have me out and about in the worst of the rush hour traffic. 

I will not travel to the grocery store or hardware store unless it is at a time when I know the traffic is the lightest. 
I will plan my timing and my routes to avoid the worst traffic times. 

All those poorly-trained, impatient assholes out there can drive here and there, and deal with the elderly fossils, in heavy traffic, at their own risk. 
I won't be one of them, sir. 
😉
 

I laugh because you're in for a surprise.  Those old fossils too, do their best at avoiding driving at what's normally considered "rush hour".  Just like YOU!  😜  So that might mean the best time for you to avoid either the "rush hour" or them is to make sure those places you "need to go" are open 24 hours and get out there between midnight and dawn.  But I doubt you'll find ANY doctor willing to make 2:00 am appointments just for YOU.     But take heart.  Many "Urgent Care" facilities are open 24 hrs.  And actually, it isn't HEAVY traffic in which you'll find old fossils doing their best to remember which is the gas pedal,  it's often moderate to light traffic they're in due to them trying also to avoid heavy traffic.   And really, hearing my daughter cuss up a storm in reaction to the lot of "idiot" drivers on her way home from work leads me to believe(and as she pointed out) that Millennial drivers are as bad and far worse than most old farts.

Whitefang

[Whitefang]

20 hours ago, ksdaddy said:

Next to the last day. My boss is away for training, a couple others are out on training or maternity leave. Just me and an engineering technician in the office..... and Friday is a deadline to sign up for one of our cost share programs. So of course the phone is constantly going, people are coming in to sign up, I did my exit interview this morning, I'm getting calls from the state office asking for help in fixing screwed up contracts.... no "phoning it in" the last week.

At most auto plants, the last day before retirement is known as the "walk-around" day, and the retiree gets to wander around the plant wearing a suit to indicate the occasion.  But not me...

I went out on sick leave in Fall of '96, and stayed on sick leave until after it was found there were no jobs available for me to return to work with the restrictions my doctor insisted on, so it was suggested I sign my retirement papers.   My official retirement date was given as Jan. 1, 2000.  But if not for that my retirement date would have been 11/17/2001.   And I got gypped out of my "walk around" day.  

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

Just now, Whitefang said:

At most auto plants, the last day before retirement is known as the "walk-around" day, and the retiree gets to wander around the plant wearing a suit to indicate the occasion.  But not me...

I went out on sick leave in Fall of '96, and stayed on sick leave until after it was found there were no jobs available for me to return to work with the restrictions my doctor insisted on, so it was suggested I sign my retirement papers.   My official retirement date was given as Jan. 1, 2000.  But if not for that my retirement date would have been 11/17/2001.   And I got gypped out of my "walk around" day.  

Whitefang

Ya know....on my last day I did a regular's days work..... I had cleaned out my office over the few weeks prior..... my replacement was weeks away from starting work.... the service manager had already been fully trained.   I had lunch with the President and Retired President....then just walked out at the end of the day!   Just over 2 years ago.....been back one for a plant tour, (the retired executives still get together maybe twice a year for lunch).   I'm still on the payroll... until 2025.

[Whitefang]

Office, eh?  Well, I didn't have an office.

I did work.  

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

28 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

Office, eh?  Well, I didn't have an office.

I did work.  

Whitefang

Oh... I worked in the same industry (Heavy Duty Vehicles) for 53 years....started on the production line.... ended up as Executive Director....I did MUCH more work as an ED than when I was on the line.

[ksdaddy]

I was going to come in tomorrow and clean my office out, but I opted to do it today. I had a display over my work station of an old violin, mandolin, guitar, banjo and tremoloa (zither) plus an old Italian accordion on one of the shelves. All came down and the holes spackled. We moved into this building in 2006 (new at the time) and I got transferred in 2014, and came back in 2017. Amazing how much crap we accumulate. I've been culling for weeks, seems like.

Business as usual though, phones ringing, customers coming in. I have 42 minutes to go and I fully expect someone to walk in that wants to talk about applying for a grant for a high tunnel or something. Someone who moved up here from the city and wants to grow organic asparagus on a POS farm that some real estate guy said had 86 acres tillable.... tillable, yep. Hasn't been farmed since the 60s and it was hayground then.  Now it's poplars. 

I'm burned out. I will miss this place. But not right away.

I will be coming back under ACES (Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services) at some point, one day a week or so, whatever doesn't screw up my Social Security. So it's not like a death or divorce. I'll be around.  And they will pretty much let me pick the tasks I want to do, depending on what's on fire. I will play that by ear. 

[fortyearspickn]

When I retired,  as a Director in Finance, the CFO asked if I’d be interested in coming back to Work On special projects. I told him I would at the standard rate consultants were paid.  Crickets.  
imho, if you work part time, you aren’t getting the full benefit of RETIREMENT! 

Edited August 27, 2022 by fortyearspickn

[Murph]

16 hours ago, ksdaddy said:

I will be coming back under ACES (Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services) at some point, one day a week or so, whatever doesn't screw up my Social Security. So it's not like a death or divorce. I'll be around.  And they will pretty much let me pick the tasks I want to do, depending on what's on fire. I will play that by ear. 

Not me.

When I retired last Feb., that was IT.

I retired.

Murph has left the building.

[Murph]

11 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

 if you work part time, you aren’t getting the full benefit of RETIREMENT! 

 

Bingo  !

[Whitefang]

22 hours ago, DanvillRob said:

Oh... I worked in the same industry (Heavy Duty Vehicles) for 53 years....started on the production line.... ended up as Executive Director....I did MUCH more work as an ED than when I was on the line.

  Must've been quite the strain tying that Windsor knot every morning.  😖  😉

Whitefang

[mihcmac]

Not into Windsor knots, I preferred my Navajo made Bolo Tie  Levis and Snake Skin Boots.

With Island life my feet haven't felt the inside of shoes for a very long time.

Edited August 27, 2022 by mihcmac

[SteveFord]

You can do the p/t gig AFTER you get a red headed mistress for that all important cardiovascular workout you need.

Just don't overdo  it, a couple of times a day should be fine.

['Scales]

23 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

imho, if you work part time, you aren’t getting the full benefit of RETIREMENT! 

I'm very new to it (only 2nd month in) but I suspect this is very true - a clean and complete break is a good break I'd reckon. I had to contact my old work re a piece of equipment I was purchasing from them and even though they were super nice I felt like I was intruding somehow.

[ksdaddy]

10 hours ago, SteveFord said:

You can do the p/t gig AFTER you get a red headed mistress for that all important cardiovascular workout you need.

Just don't overdo  it, a couple of times a day should be fine.

You know the definition of “mistress”?

Thats something that goes between a mister and a mattress.

[DanvillRob]

22 hours ago, Whitefang said:

  Must've been quite the strain tying that Windsor knot every morning.  😖  😉

Whitefang

I worked in a tie since I was 15.  (Back then bands dressed up).   I worked in management since 1971..... every day in a tie.   About 2 years before I retired, my boss (the President) decided that ties were no longer required except for Sales when dealing with customers...and I told him I was too old to change, so I just kept wearing my normal 'uniform' to work, (blue shirt on Monday.... white shirts the rest of the week).

[Whitefang]

Yeah, well I only wore ties for a job when I was a stockboy for K-Mart in high school and on wedding assignments as a photographer.

But mind you,  at K-Mart it was a clip-on.    And then I couldn't figure why a tie was necessary for me to put stock on a store shelf since I really didn't deal with the customers.   And K-Mart went too far with that crap.  I once got reamed by some visiting execs from Kresge for removing my tie while on my lunch break! And my immediate manager gave me grief about it too.  But he seemed OK with it up until the Kresge big-shots griped about it.  Easy to understand my lack of empathy towards middle and upper management drones.

Whitefang

[codename]

I need to decide if I want to retire by Nov 1 as planed within the next few days . Need to give 2 months notice .  Not sure what to do . 34+ years is  enough at a dirty old steel plant for me but the pay will sure be hard to give up. We had record proffit sharing payout this year ($50,000) , over half my regular pay.

[DanvillRob]

1 hour ago, Whitefang said:

Yeah, well I only wore ties for a job when I was a stockboy for K-Mart in high school and on wedding assignments as a photographer.

But mind you,  at K-Mart it was a clip-on.    And then I couldn't figure why a tie was necessary for me to put stock on a store shelf since I really didn't deal with the customers.   And K-Mart went too far with that crap.  I once got reamed by some visiting execs from Kresge for removing my tie while on my lunch break! And my immediate manager gave me grief about it too.  But he seemed OK with it up until the Kresge big-shots griped about it.  Easy to understand my lack of empathy towards middle and upper management drones.

Whitefang

I think my work experience was far different from yours!

[DanvillRob]

On 8/28/2022 at 3:37 AM, ksdaddy said:

You know the definition of “mistress”?

Thats something that goes between a mister and a mattress.

I don't 'miss the stress' of a mistress!

[kidblast]

22 hours ago, codename said:

I need to decide if I want to retire by Nov 1 as planed within the next few days . Need to give 2 months notice .  Not sure what to do . 34+ years is  enough at a dirty old steel plant for me but the pay will sure be hard to give up. We had record proffit sharing payout this year ($50,000) , over half my regular pay.

I'm looking at my last 13 months of this rat race.  (I work in IT)  I'm not as close as you are.

Good luck in deciding this  It's a big change for old dogs like us that sometimes don't like learning new tricks.

[Whitefang]

23 hours ago, codename said:

I need to decide if I want to retire by Nov 1 as planed within the next few days . Need to give 2 months notice .  Not sure what to do . 34+ years is  enough at a dirty old steel plant for me but the pay will sure be hard to give up. We had record proffit sharing payout this year ($50,000) , over half my regular pay.

Steel plant?  (or mill?)

I thought you were a carpenter, seeing as your Nov.1 retirement date was "planed".    😉

Whitefang