Retirement

[pittendrigh]

:=)) I'm retired too. My only regret is not retiring 40 years ago!

Retired software guy. And house building contractor. Boat builder. Fishing guide. Rough neck. Tree feller. Gandy Dancer. Carpenter. Hardwood floor finisher. Roofer. Framer. Photographer.

I wake up each morning with nothing to do but still can't catch up. It is possible to get ego strokes by rising the highest levels of your hobby competitions. For me that's mostly boat building. But at least a little of everything else. And I still write code.

So. I recommend hobbies. Big time. In Utah the retired rocket engineers build rockets, which puts a good new twist on one upsmanship.

[Hilola]

Originally Posted by bdornbush

Habitat for Humanity is building houses in my county, Sonoma, right now, so they are active in California, but maybe there is a reason that these projects are not suitable for Care-a-vanners.

That’s good to hear, Bill. It’s certainly a need in Sonoma County. My nephew just won a City Council seat in the town of Sonoma and affordable housing was the main platform he ran on. Also, have a son in Windsor.

[Hilola]

Originally Posted by pittendrigh

I wake up each morning with nothing to do but still can't catch up .

Reminds me of a sign my late grandmother had hanging in her kitchen years ago; “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!”

[Brewman]

I'm now two years into retirement and when a close young friend asked my advice regarding retirement, my answer was "do it as soon as you can". After 40 years self employed as a custom contractor just north of NYC, I never took on the identity of myself as a "contractor" so I did not have to learn to become someone else.
What I was missing, was the planning and building of detailed structures but I found a really fun replacement,,,planning, cutting and sewing together fabric materials---a lot lighter than wood for these "old"hands. lol
Ken
p.s. About 95% finished retro ing a classC and will hit the road by August to find "another identity"

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by Brewman

I'm now two years into retirement and when a close young friend asked my advice regarding retirement, my answer was "do it as soon as you can".

Yep. That's what I say, too. I have friends who consulted financial planners who say they can't afford it- but when they crunch the numbers themselves instead of assuming the same expenses, they can. And better live to enjoy it. I have more to do now than ever but it is all things I want to do.

[dfandrews]

John, you played 'my song'.
As for profession: 2½ decades as an energy engineer, almost 2 decades as a fire protection engineer.

True calling: Live steamer (1-1/2" scale: Ventura County Live Steamers, which is sadly, now, without a home)


So, in retirement, I guess you could call me a "Foamer Engineer".

[richardr]

Originally Posted by Hilola

Looking at the website, it's interesting to note that there are NO homes scheduled to be built, at least in the next year, in one of the most expensive housing markets in the US, my home state of California:

RV Care-A-Vanners Program | Habitat for Humanity

The sites listed are only those affiliates that are in the Care-a-Vanners program and have access to facilities for RVs. The majority of Habitat affiliates use only local volunteers.

Last year we spent 4 weeks in Lake County, (between San Francisco and Sacramento) helping with rebuilding houses that had been destroyed by wild fires a couple years earlier. The affiliate had a lot of difficulty finding a place for us to camp and are unable to support Care-a-Vanners any more.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

True calling: Live steamer (1-1/2" scale: Ventura County Live Steamers, which is sadly, now, without a home)


So, in retirement, I guess you could call me a "Foamer Engineer".

a good friend of mine did 1:8 scale live steam for 20+ years... first he built a 4-4-0 American, which he ran the heck out of, then he spent 11 years building an awesome 2-10-2 that could probably pull 50 people around the track at GGLS. sadly, his arthritis got the better of him, and he had to retire from amateur machining AND locomotiving, he's since sold everything.

me, drivign his 4-4-0


this was first steam for the 2-10-2 on his test stand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q5Xpesj8iM

[dfandrews]

Lookin' good there, John. Now tell me truly: Doesn't steam get into the bloodstream, forever, once you've operated live-steam?


Here's a friend of mine's Consolidation, that I pulled 31 passengers up a 1½% grade with. We had to sprinkle lines of sand on the first 10 feet of rail for traction.

[emers382]

Talking to an engineer yesterday (not locomotive) he's not fully registered in Canada but was saying that apparently nobody here can call themselves an engineer unless they have "the stamp" e.g. sanitary engineer is a no-no. Only train engineers can still use the name "engineer" but I said well of course their name comes from driving an engine, not the verb to "engineer" something.

Being a former railroader it's nice to see all the railway references in this thread

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by emers382

Talking to an engineer yesterday (not locomotive) he's not fully registered in Canada but was saying that apparently nobody here can call themselves an engineer unless they have "the stamp" e.g. sanitary engineer is a no-no. Only train engineers can still use the name "engineer" but I said well of course their name comes from driving an engine, not the verb to "engineer" something.

Similarly in California and most states: you have to be licensed by the state to use the term "engineer". Railroad engineers and firefighter-engineers, per their job title, may.



Trivia: Fire engineers are the operators of the apparatus, the trucks and engines, as drivers, pump operators, aerial ladder ops., etc. The original name came from the fact that the horse-drawn pumpers of old were driven by steam engines with vertical boilers, on the wagon, and operated by the 'engineers'. At my job (civilian fire prevention engineer) at a fire dept., I sometimes bugged the engineers in the dept. by reminding them that I was the only one in the dept. who had actually operated a steam engine.

Originally Posted by emers382

Being a former railroader it's nice to see all the railway references in this thread

I suspect that there is a pretty high number of rail enthusiasts among the Escape Forum members.

[Farther]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Similarly in California and most states: you have to be licensed by the state to use the term "engineer". Railroad engineers and firefighter-engineers, per their job title, may.

I could be wrong but I think the term is "professional engineer" aka PE that is protected use in most of the USA.

[cpaharley2008]

When I grew up, PE meant, physical education or "Gym"....

[Farther]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

When I grew up, PE meant, physical education or "Gym"....

Ya, me too.

[h2owmn]

john, you look like you're about to get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure.....

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Farther

I could be wrong but I think the term is "professional engineer" aka PE that is protected use in most of the USA.

That is correct. Professional Engineer (PE) is the title. In California, if you are practicing engineering, advertising yourself as an engineer, have 'engineer' on your business card or bus. name, etc., and not under the direct supervision of a licensed PE, then CA Business & Professions Code requires licensure.

[John in Santa Cruz]

OTOH, my job title for 30+ years was a (Senior, Staff, etc) Software Engineer.

in California...

[huskersteffy]

Another Engineer (Mechanical and Software). When I started working at a major University 19 years ago I started putting the "alphabet soup" of all my credentials in my email signature block..... BSME, MSCS, CEM, P.E., etc. etc. After a short while I realized it was all just silliness and now just use P.E. for "Professional Engineer".

In order to get a P.E. (at least in Nebraska) you have to pass one 8 hour exam on engineering fundamentals, then work under another P.E. for at least four years, then pass another exam on more practical and professional aspects of Engineering. Went through all that many moons ago and there is less in my brain at present than what I've learned and forgotten over the years

Planning to retire within the next 12 months and have really enjoyed this thread. Thanks everyone.

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

Retirement is over rated all one does is go from a boss whom you can convince your way is the best way to one that there is no hope of winning an argument and has more work for you to do than one ever did before you retired

I have a totally different sort of 'boss.' My wife doesn't ask me to do anything except take out the trash, if I haven't already noticed it's full and done it on my own.

[LarryB.]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Won't be that long from now that pretty much everybody will be retired; their jobs taken over by AI ( artificial intelligence ) and robots

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Will always need the engineers. Unless you are implying that the robots will start designing and building other robots. Now that starts to get scary!

At 62 years 4 months, I had a treadmill job administering I.T. contracts. So, when a “package” was offered, I decided that my time was up and since I had enough savings to retire on, I took the package and entered into the "retirement world".

After a couple of months of “lounging around”, thinking that I had enough left in me to work, I updated my resume and sent it out to a couple of “head hunters”. The resluting interviews were interesting; however after three or four, I started to ask myself if I really wanted/needed "another career".

Then an old friend at my original company called. He had too many projects than he could handle and would I be interested in coming back as a contractor to work on I.T. applications? A no-brainer of an offer!! So, I transitioned from “retired” to “un-retired”. I enjoyed the applictions work immensely (working hard and having fun).

9+ years later, as the applications work was heading for a curve in the road, I transitioned from “un-retired” to “re-retired”.

I traded in my commuter car for a light duty pickup and then added a travel trailer (Casita Spirit Deluxe). Now, 2 years later, although I haven’t fully acclimated myself to traveling to the national parks, I have REALLY enjoyed going to RV rallies & gatherings.

It’s a new/different world “out there” and I’m glad that I’m on that track!!

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

And I ain't letting a robot paddle my canoe either.