Retirement Status on "Official" Day 1


While I've been talking about retirement over the last month, it did not officially start until today - January 2nd, 2018. 

The first question asked by anyone when you tell them you're retiring is:  "What are you going to do with your time?"  - usually followed by dire warnings related to Sudden Retiree Dirt Nap Syndrome, Sudden Underfoot Dependency Syndrome (SUDS) and other such too-much-free-time related maladies.

This is a more than fair question for workaholics that know nothing other than their hard-driving careers and believe me something I've thought a lot about.

Going in, I've had  four major pillars of act brain-stimulating activities planned for retired live.

1)  Time with my wife and family, including travel.   Grandkids (no pressure boys).
2)  Health and exercise (a major priority).
3)  Music and my home studio.
4)  A return to tournament chess (after 11+ years of not playing), and support of chess i our state.

I'll add a fifth pillar, which does not mean lowest priority:  My continued involvement as a member of the Board of Directors of Connectwise.    This is not really a retirement-oriented activity, but is also not a day to day position.

These are certain.y not the only activities I intent to partake in, just the "founding lineup" if you will.

I've had the last few weeks to tee these up and get into position. .  So here's the status so far.

1)  Family, time with Anne, travel - A+

Launching in December is obviously a great time on the family front, and we kicked off with some travel.   Anne and I are learning this new lifestyle dance, and so far so good.   We started off with nice travel to Mexico and plan a first quarter trip as well.   had some GREAT time with youngest son Gary and his fiancee Haley.   The fiancee part happened somewhat recently as well - some progress toward grandkids.    Greg is working in Europe so we miss him a lot, the only dark cloud on this front.

2) Health and Exercise - B+

I'm pretty happy on this front.   Have been swimming 3-4 times per week for the last 3 weeks.     This involves walking to the gym (20 minutes there, 20 minutes back).   Overall, a solid 1.25 hours of exercise per day.  I'd already reported getting my blood sugar under control - and I lan to keep it there.   Need to augment the exercise, and it's almost impossible not to backslide on the carbs during the holidays.

3)   Music and the Studio - A+

Have been having a great time here with friends and at least one singing group I'm recording.   Have discovered an awesome program called RockSmith Remastered that is a great learning and performance tool.   My level of interest and enthusiasm is very high on this front.

4)   Chess - C+

I've had a very interesting time with this one.    I've played in two tournaments so far, and my skill level is not what it was to put it mildly.    There have been a lot of changes in competitive chess over the years.   I can best summarize these changes by stating that tournament chess has been everrun by twelve year old girls named Sophie, who are preternaturally good for their age and height.   I've struggled to maintain an even record against them.   The good folks here in Washinton that run the chess play indicate that well over 80% of the players are very young (under 13) so one must simply deal with this startling change.   To be sure, it is nothing but positive to see these young people - and especially the young females - having interest in prowess in the game of kings.     It is simply a little difficulty for a Fischer-era middle aged individual to have his arse kicked by the Sophies.

And, the skill deterioration is no fun either.  Working on it.


IT's also been a busy few weeks for the board.

Ok, you are rightly thinking:   "Sure, it's easy to stay busy for your first few weeks".     You're right.   But at this point, I feel good about being able to keep the energy on these pillars and to expand them.   But I'll blog honest on it.

The State of the Retirement is Strong.

Happy 2018 to you!