Like I said just retired from the Electrical trade after almost 40 years. I do have a things to keep me busy. I was just wondering how some of the rest of the retired guy's are handling the free time.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Like I said just retired from the Electrical trade after almost 40 years. I do have a things to keep me busy. I was just wondering how some of the rest of the retired guy's are handling the free time.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Starting many new business, buying cars, bikes, real estate. Busier than when not retired.
I have a few 501st Legion Star Wars friends that retired within the last 2 years. Seems like they have less free time to troop with us lately. ;)
Gonna be 58 in a couple months, not even on my radar yet. But I'd likely do more Star Wars stuff, volunteer way more at the Humane Society. Maybe my yard would be prettier.
Not in order,
I almost enjoy yard work. Not a fetish but cutting the lawn is not a pain. Started vegetable gardening.
Reading books, have not read more than 2 fiction books since high school. Now a book a week easy.
Got a free boat sail and sewing machine thanks to FB and learned how to make shopping bags. May sound silly but it was a challenge and the results are handy.
Built a couple ebikes.
Got certified as a driving instructor. Street not track. Taking teens out to help them learn to drive has changed my opinion of the younger generation.
Cleaned out the house and garage so when we move there will be less crap to deal with. Garage cleanout is a constant thing!
I'm part-time teaching Auto Mechanics at a local high school. My GRM Challenge experience got me instant credit with my students. 🤘🏻
I'm riding my mountain bike a lot more.
And I enjoy digging up dandelions.
I don't have any personal advice, but it certainly seems like my father-in-law is busier now that he's retired than when he had a full-time job!
At any rate, congrats on retiring.
Congratulations!! Like others said, I'm also busier now than ever. I didn't even know that what I'm doing has a name...coastfire or something like that.
Anyhow, I spend about 30-35 weeks per year traveling the country as a performance driving instructor. My wife joins me, so it's a blast. I'm still a consultant in the auto insurance claims world. I have annual passes to Disney World, go there whenever I can. Hang out at the beach. Eventually (??) I'm looking at starting a small business or three. In no particular order I'm also considering becoming a substitute bus driver, volunteering at a dog shelter, setting my wife and myself up to do more HPDE days, working for other very well known racing/motorsports events, becoming a teen driving instructor and working at Disney.
Other than that, retirement is boring 
porschenut said:
Got certified as a driving instructor. Street not track. Taking teens out to help them learn to drive has changed my opinion of the younger generation.
could you provide more info? i am very interested
I volunteer with a local off road motorcycle club, maintain their trail system, and look after their property. I'm playing catch up on home projects because I spent the month of April organizing and setting up an event for the club.
I have no spare time.
Resting between travel.
If my dad's retirement is any indication: Pickleball.
Isn't this the time of life that you pack up the baby oil and Viagra and move to The Villages?
I also became very busy when I retired.......I'm a whole lot of years past that now so I've cut back considerably on the variety of things I'm doing, in favor of concentrating on building my hot rod Mini. I still spend a lot of time helping other guys with their car projects to the detriment of my own, but that's ok.
I also seem to spend a lot of time online reading - there is so much good stuff to learn about online!
Habitat for Humanity.
I met some good people working at my chapter. Learned a few things. Free donuts and coffee. Lastly, you get to be like Jimmy Carter.
In reply to brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) :
You should probably buy a rusty old Fiat or Vanagon and make that your hobby
oh wait...
brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) said:Like I said just retired from the Electrical trade after almost 40 years. I do have a things to keep me busy. I was just wondering how some of the rest of the retired guy's are handling the free time.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
I volunteer with many old guys-they're all talented as hell. Usually what I see them doing is either A) Applying the skills (both soft and hard) that they learned directly to a non-profit, or B) Mentoring others.
Go figure out what pisses you off in the world and then find a group that is trying to solve it.
In reply to nsxmr2elises2000 :
Every state is different. In PA it is a nightmare. You have to be sponsored by an existing school. Then go thru all sorts of background checks, a physical and maybe some vaccinations. Then read a bunch of stuff, which has only limited information regarding the job. Then take a test given only in Harrisburg. Now you are ready to go out with a student. The actual on the job training varies by school. I got none but did one or two observation rides and we talked a lot about what should and should not be done. I developed a curriculum and stages of learning to help me and give the parents the impression I knew what I was doing.
The job ended up being very rewarding, kids really listen when they need to. Unfortunately the owner of the school closed it during COVID and I was out of work. I did interview with several schools and got offers though. But the schools philosophy did not match mine. So end of career.
So check with your state, I recommend this as a great way to help the younger generation.
Nice ideas I hadn't thought of. I've always had a work-life balance theory. Watched my stepdad start a construction business when younger. That was a brutal learning experience for me. He never had time for me or my brother's after school activities. The weekends weren't much different. Not saying it was all bad just that the business took all his time the first 10 years. By the time he had time I was out of the house.
I've had plenty of apprentices over the years. The last 10 years have been pretty sad with respect to the lack of teaching or mentorship in our trade. Not that I'd try as much as I could. Looking at volunteering at one of my local middle school STEM classes. Found those ages the most receptive to advice and learning.
Will also look at some of the other ones listed here as well. Might even have a bit more time to harass
Trent with his builds.
brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) said:Looking at volunteering at one of my local middle school STEM classes. Found those ages the most receptive to advice and learning.
That reminds me of something i heard a comedian say: "I used to have a real problem getting boners all the time in middle school. Eventually I had to quit teaching there."
In reply to CrustyRedXpress :
After being to my first city council meeting. I might try being a counsel member.
Having only been a city for 20 yrs it's amazing with the amount of money in this city that we are broke?
Very bad money management and decisions being made.
Just one hurdle being the wife. Pretty sure she isn't to gung ho for me to get into that ring.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Dude there is some truth to that statement. I've had to let some apprentices go after telling them to stop talking to the students.
This was on a job remodeling a middle school. Reported them to the apprenticeship to keep them off anymore school jobs. Wasn't a very nice experience at all.
Good luck with old aging. Not even 70 and up to 13 pills a day. High blood pressure, cholesterol, insomnia, heart attack, indigestion, and now diabetes. Marijuana gummies don't even work.
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