This past week I spent time interviewing and then training my replacement for the IT Manager position at the non-profit agency I’ve been working at. The new person’s going to be good and the agency was indeed lucky to have found him. So beginning this past Friday he’s handling the calls with me being available through the end of the year as a resource and back-up — only if he needs me. When I first took this position there was no one to play this support role for me and I said at that time I’d never put someone else in that position when I decided to leave.
So by the end of the year, if not sooner, I’ll be retired and only a few months from being 60. This is my second attempt at retirement. On the first go around my head wasn’t in the right place to make peace with retirement.
For some it can be hard to separate who they are from what they do, especially if they’ve been doing one thing for a long time. I’m one of those people who worked for only a few companies in my working life, each for a long period of time.
Having a hobby or something to be passionate about, such as photography, can help provide continuity to life after retirement.
I believe retirement is like any other major career change. It can be just as difficult and as stressful as changing jobs/careers at any other time in one’s life. It shouldn’t be that way…but it can be. I’ve witnessed many struggle with retirement.
However, these last two years of working IT part-time has me and my mindset in the position of looking forward to it.
You might have noticed Meandering Passage has gone to a white/grey color scheme. I was having issues with the blog theme so I reset all the settings for the current theme back to default, thinking perhaps some of my customizations were the cause for these minor issues — and they probably were. This white/grey theme skin you see here happens to be the default.
I initially planned after the reset to carefully reapply the previous dark color scheme but I find I like this simpler white/grey one. It’s a little easier to read, works well with photographs and has some blog performance advantages over the previous skin.
Always the odd man out it seems…others have gone darker with their blog schemes and I returned to a white theme. :-)
Yes, there are still fall colors among the trees as these photos from Saturday attest (first images with my own D600.) However, these will probably be the final fall color photo’s I post this year.
We only had a few breezy days and almost no rain from Hurricane Sandy as it passed off shore leaving most of our leaves intact. The North Carolina Outer Banks didn’t fare so well but were still lucky compared to the level of destruction faced by New Jersey and New York.
Earl, when I first clicked over this morning to your blog I immediately thought… “Earl must be playing with his theme again…” :-) You are much braver than I am in updates. I just dread having to apply all my customizations over and over again just when the theme designer makes updates to the baseline version. I am about 2 versions behind from updating my current one.
I liked the darker one – I am biased of course – but I can get used to this.
I find it quite amazing that Sandy didn’t touch you folks down there very much. Seems Michigan had more impact than the Carolinas.
Lastly, congratulations on setting up the retirement. That is terrific you are able to do it at such a young age. Something I hope to do if at all possible when the time comes.
LOL…and you would have been right on about the theme, Mark! I don’t know I’d call it brave–perhaps not as bright.
I had intended to go back to the darker scheme…but I’m going to stay with this for a while. But keep checking back, you know how quickly things can and do change around here! ;-)
To the east of us they caught some significant damage from Sandy and to the west of us there was early snow from the backlash of Sandy and that cold front. We were in between…just a little wind and a little rain.
On the retirement…complete credit and my loving gratitude, goes to my wife Bonnie. Her job has made it all possible and we’d like for her to stop working soon as well…but there’s advantages to her working as long as they want her to. But who knows, next year I may be saying…”Welcome to Walmart!” :-)
Congratulations Earl on your “second effort” at retirement. I have often found that my second try at just about anything improves the outcome!
I have found that retirement is like most things in life, it simply what you decide to make of it. When I first retired friends told me to just keep busy but for me it’s more than being busy. Instead, I have found that it’s more important to be involved in activities that have a greater purpose or value than simply filling my time with activities.
Steve, thanks.
First time was practice this second time is for real I hope. But like I told Mark above…we never know what life brings do we. If’s also as you said…”it’s simply what you decide to make of it.”
Good luck with the retirement… I don’t know that it’s keeping busy as much as it is doing things that matter to you. Seems like you have a pretty good handle on that. Let’s just hope that Walmart thing doesn’t become necessary… :)
For what it’s worth, I definitely prefer a theme with a lighter background with black or charcoal type, and that’s what I’ve used all along. It’s much easier on these old eyes, and though it might be my imagination, they seem to load faster.
Hi pj, Thanks! That Walmart thing would be a last resort. ;-) Thanks for the input on the color scheme. In some cases the darker themes use graphic elements which do cause them to load slower but that’s dependent on the theme and not just for the dark themes.
I hate to think your first “retirement” was a failed attempt but now you have a better frame of mind for it. I highly recommend it. And the theme is very nice, too.
Ken, that first retirement was somewhat a forced retirement in I was for all matter of fact “laid-off” even though I chose to take the package for myself instead of having to layoff one of my subordinates. This circumstance didn’t leave me mentally in the right place…so I struggled.
It’s a different story now.
Thanks for the theme feedback.
Well that’s interesting. I went darker on my site and you went lighter. Is that like the difference between seeing the glass as half-full or half-empty?
By the way, when I first enter your site – or click on “Home” – I get a large gray horizontal line about 1/4 of the way down the page. Clearly, it ain’t supposed to be there. Is anyone else seeing it? Or am I unique………
As luck would have it, my new “premium” theme from WordPress has a bug in it. The gallery doesn’t work right. You can’t click on an image and see the large version or turn on the slideshow. Other people are having the same problem. And I had to pay for the damn thing……….
I doubt I’m telling you something you don’t know, but retirement is a tricky proposition. If you can’t keep engaged in something, you’ll go nuts. In the wintertime around here, I come close sometimes. Don’t know if I could do the Walmart thing. The only thing worse might be watching daytime TV……..
Paul, Dark to light, light to dark…I think it’s just about wanting a change.
I’ve not see that large gray horizontal line however I was making a few minor adjustment to the theme this morning so you could have caught it mid-change. When you get the opportunity revisit my home page and let me know if it’s still there. If it is, let me know what version browser you’re using…I did test this site for IE 9.0 and it seem okay.
I paid for this theme as well and have had to make a few changes due to either things not working as expected or wanting them differently. Hopefully the developer will quickly fix your issues if it’s a bug. I guess as a programmer I have a little empathy for software developers.
Retirement is tricky…that’s why I’m heading into this second try with my eyes wide open. It wasn’t just me about to go nuts on the first try…I was about to drive my wife nuts as well and that’s when she told me I needed to work a while longer. Actually, she found me the part-time job! :-)
It’s still there, Earl. In fact, I first noticed it yesterday afternoon. And yes, I’m currently using IE 9.0. Maybe the problem is at my end……..
You’re right about the “wife effect”. She rarely says anything, but sometimes if I say I’m going out for a few hours to take pictures she can’t seem to get me out the door fast enough.
Thanks for checking again, Paul. I just looked at the site in Windows7/IE9 and didn’t see any gray horizontal lines. It may be my setup in Windows is somehow different. Perhaps someone else is seeing it too?
Congrats on finding a suitable replacement and getting your second shot at retirement. Timing is everything with the “unplanned” versions. I was fortunate (I keep telling myself) to have gotten a new job in a reasonable period of time when I was laid off 3 years ago. Of course today, when it would actually be considered good timing, it will never happen. But that’s OK.
I’m looking at your site at work using IE8 (we’re very up to date here – we just heard that we’ll be migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 by the end of…2013). IE8 often wreaks havoc with blog templates, but yours looks good from here with no unexpected graphics.
Tom, thanks. It happen a little quicker then I imaged but I’m glad for their sake and mine that it did. I’m looking forward to the future.
Thanks for the feedback on the site. I’ve not been able to create the horizontal line that Paul M. mentioned above and I’ve viewed it in IE 7, IE8 & IE 9. I know there are some problems with IE 6 but almost no one supports that version of IE any longer. That line must be something on Paul’s local PC.
Congratz on retirement for sure! It seems I’m years away from retirement yet, but I know it’ll be here before I know it. I think it speaks volume on your behalf to to leave the company that way. Very few people would take that opportunity to make sure things are done the right way.
I think the theme color / layout looks great, Im a bit biased to the lighter themes.
NR, it doesn’t seem that long ago when I thought retirement and 60 was ages away…but here I am in what now seems like no time.
Glad the new theme works for you. Thanks!
Congratulations on the retirement and hope you enjoy the coming years. It feels like you will do just fine as there are many hobbies and interest in your life and you will find even more as time progresses. My dad has been very busy for the past 20 years with his retirement and because of that is very healthy.
I like the theme. My first WordPress theme was basic white. I liked it but I also like the dray or darker themes. The thing about our themes is how we can change them whenever we like.
I like the white and greys, but then I’m probably biased, since I just picked similar colours for my blog!
Congrats on the upcoming retirement – practice makes perfect, so I’m sure it will stick better this time round :)
Your right…I think we’ve got about the same color scheme. I’m planning on making the retirement thing stick this time. Thanks!
Retirement is one of those things few people I know plan for. Recently our work offered early voluntary retirement to anyone who would have it and many jumped at the chance. I asked them what they were planning to do and many said something along the lines of “put my feet up”, “do nothing”. I think that’s going to get old real quick (pun intended). Even hobbies get old when that’s all you do day-in, day-out. A few friends have these ideas that they will be travelling the world, dining out every other night, going to shows etc. I know they couldn’t afford to do any of that while they were working full time so it makes me wonder how they expect to do any of these things on retirement. Admittedly they may have planned their financial futures much better than I have. I hope so, for their sake.
Years ago someone asked me to give a reason why it was worthwhile to have kids, stating that I had to come up with something original. She didn’t want to hear the usual stuff people said to her. I thought about it for awhile and then said: They provide the best reason to get up every morning. And I think that’s the trick to life, whether it’s pre or post-retirement. If we have a reason to get up every morning then life continues to have meaning and we have a reason to cherish it and be grateful for it.
I’m one of those people who is not looking forward to retirement. A few years ago my place of work announced that they wanted to encourage people to work on beyond the retirement age and would allow people to work until they were 75 if the job allowed it and the person still had something to offer. That was something I was happy to hear. I’m not saying that I will work until then but I like having the option. I like going to work. I prefer Mondays to Fridays. That may well change in the future and in another 8 years I may decide I’ve had enough. My only hope is that I’ll still have a good reason to get myself out of bed in the mornings.
In any case, from what you’ve said Earl I do believe you’ve planed this through. You’re first attempt at it would have helped you with that I am sure. Enjoy yourself and have fun.
Cedric, I’ve not planned for retirement as well as I wish I had…especially financially, so there will not be continuous travel and eating out here either. However, I don’t view retirement as the end of things. I’d like to think of it as a new beginning but I’m still in the process of figuring out the beginning of what.
Even with a job I enjoyed I don’t believe I’d want to work until I’m 75…but maybe I’ve just not had the right job.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on each of us needing a reason to get up, something to give meaning to our lives. In that regard I suspect I’ll still search out ways to volunteer or be involved in projects in some worthwhile manner or perhaps even do a little part time work here and there. As part of this “new beginning” I’ll get to decide to some degree what that’s going to look like and for sure there’ll be changes and adjustments as I go. But then that’s exciting too.
I appreciate all the well wishes I’ve received here. Thanks!