I spin right round
My dad continues to heal well from his surgery, graduating from a walker to a cane the day after the procedure.
I’m also still dealing with paperwork resulting from my retirement, so I’m trying to navigate bureaucratic layers to get my medical coverage re-activated. I see how people keep their jobs by making the process so convoluted it’s opaque to anyone but the experts implementing the systems.
Mr Incredible is on to the game
Chore Boot Camp is still in full swing. The driveway work began today, and will continue through the next few days. I’ve also mowed, trimmed, raked, and dragged lots of foliage out for pickup.
I still haven’t completed the re-bricking of the side yard after the departure of the flagstones though.
Parking soon to be opened
Day 1 with just rocks and dirt
Day 2 with said rocks and dirt removed and molds/rebar in place
Day 3 with concrete drying
I’ve also discovered Disc Golf, which I’ve heard about in passing previously. It’s always been kind of whispered - like when someone is sick and the volume gets turned way down in the middle of the sentence:
Me: Where’s Charlie?
Charlie’s friend: He’s out today, he’s got <whispered>diarrhea<whispered> really bad.
I have to admit I’m a natural.
You could easily swap me out for this guy that’s famous on the interwebs.
What has it been like so far?
This first week of retirement has been settling in. Maybe even pre-settling in. I’ve had vacations, and taken time off before, so this hasn’t been drastically different from that.
But, I’ve been indulging myself with several of my hobbies and activities:
Archery
Nevermind that one at the bottom, I was calibrating still…
Paracord
Why yes, I made it myself. I give them away pretty fast, so I get low and have to start making them periodically.
Feeding kitty
A friend is traveling, and I’m feeding and playing with the feline. We just met, but she’s very affectionate.
Creating Dughar with AI prompts
I also have been playing with AI art for months, and started back with it this week. I’ve created only crap, as it takes some time to get something worth sharing if you actually have a specific image in mind. The above is a picture of a creature I made for a Dungeons & Dragons game I play in. You can see the evolution from some creepy images to something I thought I could work with then refine.
Also, I helped a buddy with some home-improvement stuff, and eagerly anticipated my new puppy.
Feels good.
How to retire before the age of 60
04/20/2023
I hear this a lot, and frankly the answer is “I didn’t plan it out exactly as it happened.” I’d love to pontificate, but I honestly have facility with basic math but no understanding of Economics other than the basic law of Supply and Demand.
Oh, and the scene in Ferris Bueller where the Laffer curve is referred to as part of Voodoo economics.
To summarize,
I grew up not-rich, worked my ass off and didn’t spend much money for a long time
During that time, I acquired some shares in a tiny startup I was with for several years
I was married for 26 years to a woman with her own career that shared my reluctance for frivolous spending
The two kids we raised didn’t get everything they wanted. They had more than what they needed, but not everything they wanted
My wife had an MBA and invested our money well
When we divorced, she kept the house and I got the stocks that I had literally forgotten about in the back of a closet
It turned out the tiny startup I had worked at merged with another company, and a while after I left they were acquired by a little-known software company called Adobe. Yup, that Adobe. That nest egg along with the accumulated decades of savings provides me the opportunity I’ve chosen.
Good luck trying to plan and duplicate all that.