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Thread ID: 77370	2007-03-07 06:54:00	Retirement	Bryan (147)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
530951	2007-03-07 06:54:00	Nearly there and I am wondering what I will do with my free time! Money is not a problem, if I'm careful, but I may need to drop SKY TV. I'm reasonably OK with computers and I have had a business background all my working life. I would like to do something on computers but have no idea of programming but I can write reports and use Excel. What I would like to know is, does anyone have any suggestions that I can fill in time with and possibly make a little on the side? To retire is something most of us will end up doing and without planning and thinking about well before, suddenly it's there and you are left wondering. Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.	Bryan (147)
530952	2007-03-07 07:24:00	Same situation Bryan, 63 would like around 20 hours max. I have done a lot of basic accounts for years, just got 3 positions for around 18 hours per week total. this means I do basic accounts on quickbooks etc. I can do a lot from home backups. restore etc. One job is 25k away, I see them once a week but I can claim mileage from IRD within reason: Keep looking and TALKING to everyone you see, it is there but takes time.	Arnie (6624)
530953	2007-03-07 07:45:00	Bryan, Retired here at the end of 2005 after 42 years as a mathematics teacher. However, I live so close to the local high school that they keep calling on me to do day relief teaching. All last year, I averaged 3 days per week. This year looks as if it is going to be the same. Big advantages: no lesson preparation, no marking, walk out at the end of the day facing no evening work. But, my reason for replying is to suggest a couple of ideas. 1. Write a book. My folks did a trip around the South Island in a Model A Ford in 1931. My Dad wrote up the account to send it home to his parents in England. I inherited the typewritten script and the photo albums. I retyped it (150 odd pages) and rephotographed the old sepia photos and inserted them into the text. I printed it for my family in A5 size. Bit of family history. 2. Learn something. I decided three years ago to learn something about Linux as an alternative to Windows. It has been a learning curve but hey I have the time. Now use Xandros as my sole operating system and kicked out Windows in 2005. I now have it so set up that I can do everything I want - including Firefox, and Thunderbird, Open Office, Gimp, Google Earth etc. See no reason to go back. I did start off dual booting between XP and Xandros but, as time went on, I used XP less and less and finally wiped it off the drive. There's something for you to ponder over. Good luck, Jim	Hhel (8073)
530954	2007-03-07 08:14:00	How about doing your Family Tree? I have done Mine. My Wife's , Male & Female side. Two Friends. A Niece/s. Can be very time consuming. PJ	Poppa John (284)
530955	2007-03-07 08:22:00	Nearly there and I am wondering what I will do with my free time! Money is not a problem, if I'm careful, but I may need to drop SKY TV. I'm reasonably OK with computers and I have had a business background all my working life. I would like to do something on computers but have no idea of programming but I can write reports and use Excel. What I would like to know is, does anyone have any suggestions that I can fill in time with and possibly make a little on the side? To retire is something most of us will end up doing and without planning and thinking about well before, suddenly it's there and you are left wondering. Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. Why don't you start your own small business.	rogerp (6864)
530956	2007-03-07 09:36:00	Watch out for this retirement business, it has a few hazards. Those jobs that can be done next day off are right out of luck, you have to be retired 24/7 to qualify as fully retired, so there is no spare time. I took an evening job and find that works well as I have mornings and afternoons free to try and tackle some of those "little jobs". Try to avid working Wednesday as it ruins two good weekends. A part time job that is as far distant from your old line of work is rather a nice change, hardly seems like work.	R2x1 (4628)
530957	2007-03-07 15:28:00	You'll find that weekends, in a classical way, don't have the same impact upon you as they did when you went to work 6-to-5, daily . The relief of having two days off is lost to the fact that you have 7 days off and not much to answer for except the things you want to . I find that I am actually busier that I was before retirement, and wonder where I had all the time to do the things I still do AND work too before retirement . My days are busy, as there's really no such thing as a retired mechanic . . . friends feel that since you now have nothing to do, they can call you for all their personal mechanical troubles and that you will run right over to assist . These same friends now think that since you are retired, you won't be charging anything for your help . So . . here's the first rule to set into motion: Decide BEFORE you retire, who your real friends are . These will be the ones who don't call you at midnight with a question about a strange noise their wife heard in the brakes the last time she drove the car . . . and . . "could you come over in the morning and just take a look at it?" The worst was a friend who asked me to help with a cracked manifold on his 1963 Buick . . . would I help him replace it on Saturday? I really liked helping this friend in the past as we had been neighbors as youngsters and I looked forward to it even though it was a good 65 miles to get to his house . Upon arriving in Costa Mesa with a fully-packed rear of my Blazer with tools, jacks, a compressor and welding equipment bright and early that next Saturday AM, he greeted me as he and his wife and 4 kids were going out the door . . . . " . . . just remember that there's cold pizza, beer and Pepsi in the fridge . . . help yourself . . . we're gonna go to the beach and you'll probably have it done 'way before we get back, so just toss the keys in the front door . . it'll lock itself . . . See ya later, buddy!" I waited until they were around the corner, went into the house, took a six-pack of beer and another of Pepsi, and the pizza and on the way out of the house, tossing the keys on the floor, let the door slam itself shut . He has never called me again . I drove to Huntington Beach, visited another retired old high school buddy and he took me for a small fishing day out of Newport Beach on his boat . We ate pizza, drank a few beers and had Pepsi on the way back into the harbor . BTW: we caught a few barracudas, and a few Kelp Bass . They were delicious . It's good being retired .	SurferJoe46 (51)
530958	2007-03-07 18:39:00	What I would like to know is, does anyone have any suggestions that I can fill in time with and possibly make a little on the side? You're kidding. People moan all their lives about a lack of time. Do all those things you wanted to do when you were busy slaving at work. My father makes and repairs clocks and other bits of furniture. My mother does supermarket demonstrating (apparently she has turned out to be SuperSales woman). My husband who technically isn't retired, makes beer, gardens and generally mopes about looking like he's doing something. I'd just play more games, read more, garden, go fishing, hang out with friends and bum around.	pctek (84)
530959	2007-03-07 19:45:00	Well I retired 18 years ago. For the first couple of years I moped around the place doing nothing. Tried looking for part time work etc. Nothing of interest offering. Then I bought an Atari game machine and played Sonic for about a year. Then I bought a computer. Was amazed at the things I could do, and at how fast my 486 went. Even bought Win 95 and installed it and it worked very well with 8 megs of ram. Well I thought it did. Since then I have been upgrading and renewing my computers and I'm still amazed at what they can do. Now I live in front of my comp. No time to get bored. Sometimes I even drop off to sleep sitting there. I've even learned how to grizzle about Microsoft with the best of them. At present I'm grizzling about Vista. I love XP and vow not to change, but I probably will. In another year I reckon we will all be saying how good Vista is. I remember how I grizzled when DOS and Win 3.1 was superceded. But now just flow with the tide. So I'm happy in my old age.A grizzly old bastard and proud of it.	JJJJJ (528)
530960	2007-03-07 20:34:00	My husband and I are retired. We always wanted to see more of NZ so sold the house, bought a self contained MotorHome with heaps of locker storage to live in, stored a few special items with one son and took off. OK, that was November, still loving it and there are many grey haired nomads around to make friends with. The countryside is beautiful, the school term time beaches are often empty and fishing brings in a couple of meals a week. Walking the dog several times a day keeps us reasonably fit too. You have to be very good friends with your partner as the living accomodation is 7 meters x 2.5. Always remembering to say please and thank you helps heaps... :) When we get to old and doddry for this life style I suppose we will have to settle down.	Sue (33)
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