Hi everyone; my name is Jim T and I have been a member of AMAC for about a year now. i have been retired for going on 4 years now. Over the years I have talked to many people who were contemplating retirement but they were reluctant because they didn't know what to do with themselves after leaving their job. I found many that feel their job is their life, and without it they would feel they had no purpose and would enter into a world of boredom. I find this to be very sad; so I was wondering what you do to pass the time you have since retirement?
My method of staying busy, after completing the honey do's, like mowing the lawn, taking care of the flower and vegetable gardens, doing laundry twice a week, (to help my wife who is still working part-time), empty and reload the dishwasher during the week (real tuff one there :)), and sometimes even cooking dinner, and vacuuming, I still have time on my hands.
I have found that a good hobby can eat up a lot of spare time, and at the same time render a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction. One of my many hobbies is scroll sawing. I have a small wood shop in my basement, (and my wife even tolerates it). I like doing fretwork scroll sawing mostly, like wood pictures of nature scenes, pictures of my grand daughters and others, and other decorative items for the house and holidays, toys for kids, etc. I find that this affords me an opportunity to express my artistic side. To offset the cost of wood, blades, finishing supplies and the like, I have an on-line store at Etsy.com (janddwoodcrafts.etsy.com ) and I sell some of these there.
The nice thing about a hobby is that you can do it when you want to, for as long as you want to and quit when you want to. How can you beat that?
So what is your hobby, or favorite other means of passing your time?
Frist DO_NOT complete the honey do list, you're just Gotta make it hard on the rest of us. Besides you'll always have something to do that way. I too! Found the first couple months of retirement different. Played a little golf, when fishing, but in the ended! I ended up at McDonald's for coffee every day. Couple weeks of listening to other retirees talk about their ailments their medications and who passed away, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I hit a couple pawnshops and found a good used metal detector, a little time on the Internet, and I was off treasure hunting. Sorry no great stories about any fines. I am out in the fresh air, walking, bending, just moving around. It's not too bad, I have even meet a few other treasure hunters. But you are right, we do financial planning, pay off the bills, setup for Health Care all of the things that need to be done, to start retirement. All the big ticket items. We even plan a few trips, go see the grandchildren, and maybe take the wife on a really nice vacation. But the little things that we missed planning for are so important. Hobbies, friends and quiet social life becomes so important. My new motto is; live like an adult, think like a kid, and enjoy retirement.
Jim, you're right after you retire, you have to find something to do, or a person becomes a couch potato. I did wood work at first, but soon my friends all had the wood things I knew how to make, (and some i did not).
I wanted something that the wife and I could do together. Something that didn't cost a lot, but would provide us a get away, and entertainment. We started visiting ghost towns and cemeteries here in the great state of Nevada. What a great time we have. WE escape the normal run of the mill drudgery's and see the way "things used to be". (Geez, maybe dad was right, back in their day, things were really tough.)
All the ghost towns have some story with them, and many of the old building are still standing. One of the ghost towns we went to had two cemeteries. one Catholic, and one Protestant. Some grave markers have names, some just have a first name.
You might want check your home states and see if you have any ghost towns or cemeteries near by. It will be time well invested with you, and your spouse.
Great idea Tom. I lived a couple of years in New Mexico in the early 70's and they had plenty of ghost towns out there. I toured some and found the experience to be very exciting and meloncholy as well. Just trying to imagine what the people were like that lived there and what went on from day to day, etc. Great idea you have there. Enjoy.
Thanks Jim, The wife and I really enjoy seeing these places. Its hard to imagine that most of the people in these towns litterally lived hand to mouth. Just goes to show that a person can survive without all the modern conveniences.
The cemeteries fascinate me, as some tombstones are just wood, and fading, yet others are stone, and well carved. A lot of times locals will have great stories about the towns and cemeteries.
