Thread Drift

[Crankin]

Put the flannel sheets on the bed 2 weeks ago. Of course, then we had quite a few warmer nights, so I had to put on the ceiling fan.
We've had crazy weather, too. Up and down. Next Saturday is a predicted high of 38, the coldest yet. I have an all day conference, so no outdoor activity for me anyway.

[ny biker]

I dream of downsizing in my job, if only I could afford it. But then again I already did it years ago when I changed careers and have turned down several promotions at my current job. Around here promotions mean spending all day in meetings, which would make me miserable and therefore bad at the job. This is one of the reasons I am stuck financially.

One of my relatives cashed in her stock options and left her high-level management job before she turned 50. She wanted to spend more time at home with her kids. After a couple of years she found a part-time job doing accounting, which was what she did years ago when she first got out of school, and she's perfectly content with it.

It hasn't been cold enough here for flannel sheets yet. But I have jersey sheets (like t-shirt material) which are sort of in-between flannel and regular sheets, and I expect to be putting them on the bed this weekend. Last spring I put lots of winter stuff into the storage unit -- clothes, boots, coats -- so it would be out of the way when I had the new floors installed. But the flooring I chose was backordered and then discontinued and I haven't been able to find anything I like since then. Yesterday I got it all out of storage again. At least I made it to November without needing any of it.

I was quite overwhelmed by the storage unit. I started putting stuff there a couple of years ago when I was getting ready for various contractors to do work in the living room and bedroom, because I wanted to minimize the amount of stuff they had to move around in order to work. So there are boxes of books and framed photos and all my wall art in the storage unit. But there's also plenty of stuff I really don't need. Every time I go there I either need something from the bottom of the pile or I'm adding something heavy that has to go under the lighter boxes, so I end up having to take lots of stuff out and rearrange it all. Yesterday I decided that my next trip there will be a purging trip. Some things that it made sense to keep a year or two ago no longer need to be kept. Some things with marginal sentimental value no longer have any value. And I have to get realistic about things that I keep because "I might use them someday." I think one reason I'm reaching this readiness to purge is that the next project, after the floors are done, will be to re-do my three closets in order to make them more efficient. I've already started to look at closet designs and it's making me really think about how much stuff I have and how little storage space there is for it.

[Crankin]

Moving to a place half the size, did it for us. We keep hardly anything, compared to a lot of people, but there was some stuff we just didn't need. We had our 2 bedroom closets redone and had to think about solutions for our basement storage, especially for out of season clothes. We ended up with 3 rolling clothing racks. I also have 4 under the bed rolling storage things for linens in my bedroom and 2 in the guest room.
The only thing i miss is being able to pull out and look at my photo albums. They are in tubs in the basement.

[Dogmama]

I dream of downsizing in my job, if only I could afford it. But then again I already did it years ago when I changed careers and have turned down several promotions at my current job. Around here promotions mean spending all day in meetings, which would make me miserable and therefore bad at the job. This is one of the reasons I am stuck financially.

One of my relatives cashed in her stock options and left her high-level management job before she turned 50. She wanted to spend more time at home with her kids. After a couple of years she found a part-time job doing accounting, which was what she did years ago when she first got out of school, and she's perfectly content with it.
.

I retired after 30+ years at a job that was just OK - but the benefits were really good. So, I am getting a pension that takes care of my needs and a few of my wants. I started a dog training business and did it for three years before I burned out. It was the people who wanted the 30 minute Cesar Milan fix for multi-year serious problems (usually aggression.) Now, I'm practicing being really retired and it's harder than I thought. Seems like the first thing people ask is, "what do you do?" So, I say that I'm practicing being retired (as soon as I get all of the closets cleaned out...etc.) and we'll see. I have friends who are perfectly content reading books, visiting museums, shopping and being really retired. I'm hoping I can get there someday.

[ny biker]

I retired after 30+ years at a job that was just OK - but the benefits were really good. So, I am getting a pension that takes care of my needs and a few of my wants. I started a dog training business and did it for three years before I burned out. It was the people who wanted the 30 minute Cesar Milan fix for multi-year serious problems (usually aggression.) Now, I'm practicing being really retired and it's harder than I thought. Seems like the first thing people ask is, "what do you do?" So, I say that I'm practicing being retired (as soon as I get all of the closets cleaned out...etc.) and we'll see. I have friends who are perfectly content reading books, visiting museums, shopping and being really retired. I'm hoping I can get there someday.

I know plenty of people who love being retired because it allows them to ride their bikes almost every day. And they have other activities, like bird watching and kayaking. And some are so heavily involved with bike club activities (like running the annual century) that they are busier than I am. A few people that I know retired from government/military careers and then got jobs at bike shops.

I don't think my parents had any trouble when they retired, but they also always seem busy. There's always something to do around the house, plus they read a lot, meet friends for lunch, go to grandchildren's sporting events, travel... plus some volunteer activities. And my father continued to work a few hours here and there doing handyman stuff for two people for a long time after he retired from his full-time job.

Realistically, since I have no pension and have not seen the miracle of compound interest that I was told about when I started putting money into a 401k all those years ago, I am aiming to step down to something part-time instead of retiring completely. I've spoken to two women who work at a clothing store where I shop often. Both started to work there after they retired. One needed money to pay off her mother's medical bills and decided to continue working there after the bills were gone, and the other just wanted some extra spending money. I could see myself doing something like that, in a small store that doesn't get crazy busy. Or maybe I'll end up at an LBS. If I could afford to retired completely, I'm pretty sure I'd look for a volunteer activity for part of the time.

[snapdragen]

I retired, only to take on a new job as caregiver to my mom. It's been OK, although I don't have as much freedom as I'd like. The last month has been scary, she developed a very bad UTI, it affected her kidneys. She was in the hospital for three days, now she's in a rehab facility to get stronger. A friend pointed out to me, I haven't really retired, I just took a new job.