Well, here is the next milestone reached. Took the day off sans compensation and don't really care. It is not like working for free. We have needed to finish a few things before I start my on call week at 00:01 on 18 December. This means of course that it does not end until 24:00 on 24 December. No time for last minute anything so we will do *almost* last minute things.
As I sit here with our 9 month old bull dog puppy shoving herself tightly against my side as if she thinks she is cold, I have a moment to think on our 20 years here at this home. Many pets have been raised and buried here, a few wandered up and were adopted. For the ones now, I wonder how they will react to our move. How for that matter will my wife react to our move? How will I? In any case, we have built a comfortable home and life here, it will be a new adventure to move on and begin again. A third beginning for my wife and I. Fifth beginning if you add the two kids in the equation. Comfort comes with familiarity, how quickly will we get comfortable in the new environment?
So, from another perspective a milestone is a new beginning to itself, like waking each morning is a tiny but important beginning. As the last planned year here is whittled slowly away, the next big beginning weighs heavily on my soul. Questions abound, decisions loom, some answers don't come as quick as I'd like. I have been and will continue to lead strongly as always, following my logical decisions to the next milestone.
Well, coffee is ready, bull dog needs a walk, wife is up, time to face one of the last semi leisure days-off I will have here.
Cheers and Merry Christmas to all.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
I've seen the Elephant
Every now and then something just stands out like a loud shriek waking us from sleep. This phrase "I've seen the Elephant" and the complimentary story is one of those things for me. One day soon, I will use this phrase when I serve my obligatory two weeks notice. I can imagine the puzzled looks it will draw.
From my FB newsfeed this morning, this came up: http://tinyurl.com/nok7tve
After a 26 year career with the compny and watching things change from Customer oriented to Sales oriented, feeling my age *and* being compared to the Gen X/Y younglings who manage me now... Well, it fits! Without realizing it I have been walking head on into my own meeting with "the Elephant".
Now, I really do have something to smile about... Meeting the Elephant is a good thing.
From my FB newsfeed this morning, this came up: http://tinyurl.com/nok7tve
After a 26 year career with the compny and watching things change from Customer oriented to Sales oriented, feeling my age *and* being compared to the Gen X/Y younglings who manage me now... Well, it fits! Without realizing it I have been walking head on into my own meeting with "the Elephant".
Now, I really do have something to smile about... Meeting the Elephant is a good thing.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thanksgiving
This day as many families get together for the traditional American Thanksgiving day feast, I ask you all to take a moment to think of our military who are far from home, our fallen heroes who gave all for us to stay free, the less fortunate who work hard to bring home food just to eat. We have a great privilege to live in the United States, don't take a minute of it for granted.
I am so very thankful for my family, friends, freedom and my faith. I will eat today as a result of the labor of my own hands, my family's loving help and from God's generous bounty.
As this blog was started to chronicle the transition from my life long career to my new career as retired and working for my family's best interest, I should also give thanks for my father's drive and determination to provide for us as kids, his instruction and kindness paid off for me in multiples. While far from wealthy, we are comfortable, we know how to feed ourselves and keep sheltered. I pray only that my children and grandchildren will take my lessons and keep our family tradition alive...
I am so very thankful for my family, friends, freedom and my faith. I will eat today as a result of the labor of my own hands, my family's loving help and from God's generous bounty.
As this blog was started to chronicle the transition from my life long career to my new career as retired and working for my family's best interest, I should also give thanks for my father's drive and determination to provide for us as kids, his instruction and kindness paid off for me in multiples. While far from wealthy, we are comfortable, we know how to feed ourselves and keep sheltered. I pray only that my children and grandchildren will take my lessons and keep our family tradition alive...
Sunday, October 27, 2013
250 Days and counting down
Things are slowly coming together, this milestone is one more step in the right direction. We come closer to realizing our dream with each passing moment. I have forced myself to stop looking at real estate for sale online and I will wait until we are about to go physically walk the area to start looking again. I would like nothing more than to go out there *today* and put my feet on the west Texas soil...
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Under three hundred days
Well, time ticked past another relative milestone in my life. Less than three hundred days until I can retire. My question has been and remains: Will I actually be able to retire? Despite planning and saving, the investments we made have not always been kind to us. We have only really lost theoretical money as our property value is still higher than it was when we bought it. Unfortunately the tough market of the past few years has dropped the value to half or less of it's ultimate high in the early 2000s.
I think now that I will bring my resume current and job shop at the same time we real estate shop and prepare for the inevitable reality that I may need to continue in the employed ranks for a few more years. So now I am searching for something to supplement our income. Three things that come to mind are photography, consulting and a different career path. I took graphic arts in high school and did quite well with photography in my youth when my eyes were still sharp. I built up quite a camera kit and still have all of that old film gear. I am thinking I probably will say goodbye to it and sell it or trade it for a modern DSLR. I am giving serious consideration to Canon's 5D Mk iii. As for consulting, well I work in telecom and have made a living with this for 32 years so far. This is the least favored option as I am weary of it now. A third possibility would be to jump career disciplines altogether and do something completely new. This is probably not a good option for a mid 50's worker in the current job market. Any advice on cameras or fun career choices for a fifty five year old to start in are welcome.
I had feared that time would creep by in this last year before retirement but so far that fear has not been realized. The company I work for pushes their employees so hard that there is no time to stop and think. My typical summertime routine is leave at daylight and get home just after dark. Long, long days indeed. Telecom is like that though, feast or famine. The things I want to write about I just can't say yet, I have to wait on the time after my decision to really say much I feel needs to be said.
As I write this our failed leaders in Washington DC are walking a precipitous road toward another quagmire in the middle east. Why must we continue to meddle in world affairs? Oil? Perhaps. Colonization? Again, Perhaps. Industrial war machine? Thinning the populace through war? Yet again, perhaps. What has our country devolved to? Instead of bringing the country together we are divided and torn asunder. Constitutional rights? So much for that. We are kissing goodbye our first, second and fourth amendment rights in a slow, concerted manner. What are we to do? Write or email your elected representatives, that's what. Don't have time? Bravo Sierra!! Make time. We have much more effect than we believe. Take time and do it.
As the zero hour to retirement closes in, I expect to have more to say regarding my pending retirement and relocation. I hope to look back on these ruminations and find that all was just small worries. Maybe someday in the future I will wonder why I did not retire sooner.
Cheers, zero hour is less than three hundred days away.
Retirement clock (Revised)
I think now that I will bring my resume current and job shop at the same time we real estate shop and prepare for the inevitable reality that I may need to continue in the employed ranks for a few more years. So now I am searching for something to supplement our income. Three things that come to mind are photography, consulting and a different career path. I took graphic arts in high school and did quite well with photography in my youth when my eyes were still sharp. I built up quite a camera kit and still have all of that old film gear. I am thinking I probably will say goodbye to it and sell it or trade it for a modern DSLR. I am giving serious consideration to Canon's 5D Mk iii. As for consulting, well I work in telecom and have made a living with this for 32 years so far. This is the least favored option as I am weary of it now. A third possibility would be to jump career disciplines altogether and do something completely new. This is probably not a good option for a mid 50's worker in the current job market. Any advice on cameras or fun career choices for a fifty five year old to start in are welcome.
I had feared that time would creep by in this last year before retirement but so far that fear has not been realized. The company I work for pushes their employees so hard that there is no time to stop and think. My typical summertime routine is leave at daylight and get home just after dark. Long, long days indeed. Telecom is like that though, feast or famine. The things I want to write about I just can't say yet, I have to wait on the time after my decision to really say much I feel needs to be said.
As I write this our failed leaders in Washington DC are walking a precipitous road toward another quagmire in the middle east. Why must we continue to meddle in world affairs? Oil? Perhaps. Colonization? Again, Perhaps. Industrial war machine? Thinning the populace through war? Yet again, perhaps. What has our country devolved to? Instead of bringing the country together we are divided and torn asunder. Constitutional rights? So much for that. We are kissing goodbye our first, second and fourth amendment rights in a slow, concerted manner. What are we to do? Write or email your elected representatives, that's what. Don't have time? Bravo Sierra!! Make time. We have much more effect than we believe. Take time and do it.
As the zero hour to retirement closes in, I expect to have more to say regarding my pending retirement and relocation. I hope to look back on these ruminations and find that all was just small worries. Maybe someday in the future I will wonder why I did not retire sooner.
Cheers, zero hour is less than three hundred days away.
Retirement clock (Revised)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Cleaning up the past
Well, the last thing we do when we finish something is clean up. In the case of my wife and I we have over twenty five years and two children's worth of stuff to decide what to do with. My idea of a small manageable cabin with both attached and separate guest quarters may not be my bride's shared vision of our future. She told me recently that she wanted to keep the formal dining furniture and some of our other antiques. Perhaps the simple cabin may not be the best answer after all.
Stuff happens, stuff collects, stuff must go! This is the conundrum facing us now, what to keep, what to pass along to the kids, what to sell and what to toss. My idea was a small two story less than 1200 square foot cabin consisting of mostly kitchen. Two rooms for sleeping in the main cabin, one an attached externally and internally accessible guest's sleeping quarters and an additional, separate tiny detached bedroom/ bathroom for guests. I also planned to have one large common room for sitting and dining (informal dining). Bedrooms on second floor, kitchen and sitting rooms on first floor. Something I had not wanted to do was haul all the furniture to the mountains.
Composting toilets. Yes, composting toilets, where we will be living, water is captured and stored, bought and stored in bulk or drilled for if you can afford drilling fees and the risk of it being safe to drink or good quality. As water is a premium in the desert our favored option is to catch and store. Add in filtration, and purification and you have good potable water. You don't want to flush your waste away with good potable water so you install composting toilets. Therefore the bathroom becomes a huge investment on it's own as composting toilets are not cheaply acquired. We will need two, one for the main cabin, one for the guest cabin.
Sleeping quarters, one medium sized master bedroom, one medium sized guest bedroom. King size bed and small walk in closet with shelves and clothes hanging rods in each bedroom. Bed side tables and chairs in each room as the only furniture. Small stand alone cabin (think tiny houses) for guests, 12 X 16 or close to that in size, small 1/2 bathroom. No need for kitchen, shower or advanced storage, while we'd like to have visitors, we don't want roomers.
The kitchen I have in mind would be large enough to use for cooking, canning and storage. Large as in generous counter space, six inches wider than normal. Large center island for prepping, large five burner commercial gas stove for cooking. Add in ventilation, in kitchen storage of pots, pans, dry goods and canned goods, cooling/ freezing and you end up with a huge kitchen. Since I don't know exactly where we will end up I cannot plan on having a basement too. Without knowing the answer to this riddle, the thought that we may end up with an even larger cabin becomes the thought that we may end up with a house. Yikes!! I hope scaling down and not scaling up is where we are headed.
In any case, the future is much closer than what it was and cleaning up the past is more of a priority now than ever. As I look at the nearing move, I feel intimidated by the task of deciding what to do with all the accumulated stuff from the past... As always however, I like a challenge and this is one I have prepared to meet for a very long time. Bring it on!
Stuff happens, stuff collects, stuff must go! This is the conundrum facing us now, what to keep, what to pass along to the kids, what to sell and what to toss. My idea was a small two story less than 1200 square foot cabin consisting of mostly kitchen. Two rooms for sleeping in the main cabin, one an attached externally and internally accessible guest's sleeping quarters and an additional, separate tiny detached bedroom/ bathroom for guests. I also planned to have one large common room for sitting and dining (informal dining). Bedrooms on second floor, kitchen and sitting rooms on first floor. Something I had not wanted to do was haul all the furniture to the mountains.
Composting toilets. Yes, composting toilets, where we will be living, water is captured and stored, bought and stored in bulk or drilled for if you can afford drilling fees and the risk of it being safe to drink or good quality. As water is a premium in the desert our favored option is to catch and store. Add in filtration, and purification and you have good potable water. You don't want to flush your waste away with good potable water so you install composting toilets. Therefore the bathroom becomes a huge investment on it's own as composting toilets are not cheaply acquired. We will need two, one for the main cabin, one for the guest cabin.
Sleeping quarters, one medium sized master bedroom, one medium sized guest bedroom. King size bed and small walk in closet with shelves and clothes hanging rods in each bedroom. Bed side tables and chairs in each room as the only furniture. Small stand alone cabin (think tiny houses) for guests, 12 X 16 or close to that in size, small 1/2 bathroom. No need for kitchen, shower or advanced storage, while we'd like to have visitors, we don't want roomers.
The kitchen I have in mind would be large enough to use for cooking, canning and storage. Large as in generous counter space, six inches wider than normal. Large center island for prepping, large five burner commercial gas stove for cooking. Add in ventilation, in kitchen storage of pots, pans, dry goods and canned goods, cooling/ freezing and you end up with a huge kitchen. Since I don't know exactly where we will end up I cannot plan on having a basement too. Without knowing the answer to this riddle, the thought that we may end up with an even larger cabin becomes the thought that we may end up with a house. Yikes!! I hope scaling down and not scaling up is where we are headed.
In any case, the future is much closer than what it was and cleaning up the past is more of a priority now than ever. As I look at the nearing move, I feel intimidated by the task of deciding what to do with all the accumulated stuff from the past... As always however, I like a challenge and this is one I have prepared to meet for a very long time. Bring it on!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Today is a blur... I hoped to be able to look for land in Texas this week and next. Too much going on in SC to accomplish that. Cancer sucks...
Sometimes I don't understand things, sometimes I don't understand anything at all... I can say with certainty that the harder I try, the farther away the dream becomes. I have tried hard to avoid repeating past mistakes, yet it seems new mistakes are always waiting for me to make them.
I have a plan, a great plan. Perhaps it's not such a good plan as my family does not think it's as good a plan as what I think it is. Maybe in a year, if plans work out this post will be meaningless. Perhaps in a year my skin cancer will have consumed me. I'd rather spend all my remaining days in Texas. If that means 30 days or 30 thousand days I'd rather be in Texas... What time is it? Time to be on the move. Time is of the essence! The lawyers have it right. Time! Yes, it is finite. It is not a commodity to waste. Time is quite limited. Time is short, regardless of how young you think you are, time is short. In the grand scheme of things our lives are but a flash, a flicker in the big picture. I'd like to finish learning German, I'd like to finish learning Spanish. Heck, I'd like to revisit some of my high school math. Will I have time? Only God knows for sure. Time has become a quantity I cannot waste.
Thanks for reading, thanks for understanding (or not). My ramblings may only help me to heal, if they help someone else, then glory be to God for the benefit to others...
Sometimes I don't understand things, sometimes I don't understand anything at all... I can say with certainty that the harder I try, the farther away the dream becomes. I have tried hard to avoid repeating past mistakes, yet it seems new mistakes are always waiting for me to make them.
I have a plan, a great plan. Perhaps it's not such a good plan as my family does not think it's as good a plan as what I think it is. Maybe in a year, if plans work out this post will be meaningless. Perhaps in a year my skin cancer will have consumed me. I'd rather spend all my remaining days in Texas. If that means 30 days or 30 thousand days I'd rather be in Texas... What time is it? Time to be on the move. Time is of the essence! The lawyers have it right. Time! Yes, it is finite. It is not a commodity to waste. Time is quite limited. Time is short, regardless of how young you think you are, time is short. In the grand scheme of things our lives are but a flash, a flicker in the big picture. I'd like to finish learning German, I'd like to finish learning Spanish. Heck, I'd like to revisit some of my high school math. Will I have time? Only God knows for sure. Time has become a quantity I cannot waste.
Thanks for reading, thanks for understanding (or not). My ramblings may only help me to heal, if they help someone else, then glory be to God for the benefit to others...
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Under 365 days
Well, the one year mark to being able to make the big change and move on with life came and went with little fanfare. I even worked on my 54th birthday (from 07:45 until midnight) with no love spared for me except from my family. Not too big a deal since I don't really think of birthdays as anything special.
I had hoped to travel west to my favorite spot in the US to look around this July, however an unexpected obligation arose and quelled that plan. I will be out of PTO (vacation time) the end of July and will have to wait until January until the PTO clock resets again. Then I have 32 days of PTO to decide how to use. My entire work group has available close to 620 days of PTO in a calendar year, we can take off two people at a time and with just over 200 work days to potentially take with PTO, the math does not work. Someone loses out. As in several people lose out to the tune of 220 days. Not me as I always request my PTO a year or more in advance as I am able to plan well ahead. I don't worry much about the holidays as most of my group are young folks with small children or single people far from home. I think it best I don't take many holidays and let them fight over them among themselves. I can take PTO any time of the year and since there are no disrupted school days or summer breaks to work around, planning for us is much easier. This is one bonus of having adult children (grand children are a bonus too).
We hope to head to west Texas (the area, not the town) or if you prefer, the "upper Rio Grand" area in early 2014. We need to get a better feel for the area and see just how remote we can stand to live. My wife and I both grew up in very rural areas of Florida and we actively garden, hunt and camp so we look at our retirement out there as just an extension of our current lifestyle. I never like to rush my life away though at this point retirement is becoming much more attractive. I do look forward to having only my own self to blame if my time is wasted...
I have in moments of quiet reflection been thinking of the things I will both miss and things I will gladly leave behind. In category one I will miss: Spanish Moss-draped Live Oak trees, Pileated Woodpeckers calls and their drumming, endless running water.
In category two, I will *not* miss: Humidity, myriad flying insects, lots of people everywhere away from our little enclave.
Things I look forward to: Clear skies, low humidity, very few people, mountains, desert life...
I had hoped to travel west to my favorite spot in the US to look around this July, however an unexpected obligation arose and quelled that plan. I will be out of PTO (vacation time) the end of July and will have to wait until January until the PTO clock resets again. Then I have 32 days of PTO to decide how to use. My entire work group has available close to 620 days of PTO in a calendar year, we can take off two people at a time and with just over 200 work days to potentially take with PTO, the math does not work. Someone loses out. As in several people lose out to the tune of 220 days. Not me as I always request my PTO a year or more in advance as I am able to plan well ahead. I don't worry much about the holidays as most of my group are young folks with small children or single people far from home. I think it best I don't take many holidays and let them fight over them among themselves. I can take PTO any time of the year and since there are no disrupted school days or summer breaks to work around, planning for us is much easier. This is one bonus of having adult children (grand children are a bonus too).
We hope to head to west Texas (the area, not the town) or if you prefer, the "upper Rio Grand" area in early 2014. We need to get a better feel for the area and see just how remote we can stand to live. My wife and I both grew up in very rural areas of Florida and we actively garden, hunt and camp so we look at our retirement out there as just an extension of our current lifestyle. I never like to rush my life away though at this point retirement is becoming much more attractive. I do look forward to having only my own self to blame if my time is wasted...
I have in moments of quiet reflection been thinking of the things I will both miss and things I will gladly leave behind. In category one I will miss: Spanish Moss-draped Live Oak trees, Pileated Woodpeckers calls and their drumming, endless running water.
In category two, I will *not* miss: Humidity, myriad flying insects, lots of people everywhere away from our little enclave.
Things I look forward to: Clear skies, low humidity, very few people, mountains, desert life...
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Under Four Hundred Days
I have been thinking of starting a blog for a while. I just don't typically have much content I feel worthy of sharing. My beautiful Bride and I are beginning a new phase in life and despite some small challenges facing us we are trying to get prepared for the next step.
We will be taking steps for what lies ahead. My retirement looms ever closer despite my employer pushing it further away. The intent is to pare off unneeded "things" and reduce to a simpler lifestyle. The next year ahead should be quite interesting. Reaching for a dream is the culmination of years of working for a comfortable retirement. As radio personality and financial guy Dave Ramsey so eloquently puts it "you need to live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow". I found Dave's radio program years after I had figured it out on my own. Burying oneself under a mountain of debt is a certain formula to never achieve any reasonable dream. We have become so used to living minimally, when we retire we should do very well in that transition.
The countdown clock: Retirement Clock
We will be taking steps for what lies ahead. My retirement looms ever closer despite my employer pushing it further away. The intent is to pare off unneeded "things" and reduce to a simpler lifestyle. The next year ahead should be quite interesting. Reaching for a dream is the culmination of years of working for a comfortable retirement. As radio personality and financial guy Dave Ramsey so eloquently puts it "you need to live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow". I found Dave's radio program years after I had figured it out on my own. Burying oneself under a mountain of debt is a certain formula to never achieve any reasonable dream. We have become so used to living minimally, when we retire we should do very well in that transition.
The countdown clock: Retirement Clock
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)