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I used to be " a nice guy".
Then, I got into business.
It became "dog eat dog".
So, I got out.
Now, I'm retired, a "volunteer"
and it's just the opposite.

Aye.

PS: Grandma used to say,
"Volunteers aren't paid
because they're worthless.
They're not paid because
they're priceless".
 
I like the direction this thread has gone :thup




Oh and Foggy... I agree on business. We started ours in 2002 and I feel like its a constant moral battle when competing. People say that's a part of business, and the consumer wins in the end, but when I take business from competitors I know I'm taking someone else's job and moving it to an employee under my roof. constant moral dilemma for me.
 
DuckDogTitus":1yupyiqd said:
I like the direction this thread has gone

Oh and Foggy... I agree on business...... like its a constant moral battle ..... constant moral dilemma for me.
Click to expand...

When you're the boss, the heat is always on.

Aye.
 
We've been retired 27 years. We simplified life by selling house, car and most stuff -- what we gained was time together, and with family and friends. Living in a small RV, a sailboat, and our CD gave us freedom of choice. We backpacked 6 months from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. We have traveled to all the continents, sometimes for 6 months at a time (often enjoying Youth Hostels fixing our meals and sharing with kids from all over the world).

We have been fortunate with good health (and luckily a good hospital nearby when we had emergencies). We continue to have time for family and friends and to travel (off to Switzerland this month, and we'll be fixing our own meals and not stay in any hotels). If you can do it, live simply without too many things, we would suggest -- then you have freedom to choose. You may choose 'things,' and that's fine -- it's your choice. But, we like to remind ourselves about 'opportunity cost.' An economic concept that says that with each choice, you perhaps negate another choice. Spend a buck on an ice cream cone, and then you can't spend it on a candy bar. It's your choice.
 
Well said El and Bill. I retired some 7 years ago at age 55. Then I decided to "give back" and took a job close to home helping families. Going on 3 years later I am looking forward to retiring again. Unfortunately you get used to the "extra money" and have to rethink about what it is that is really important and how to afford it without stressing or selling yourself out. Weekends are when retired folks avoid the crowds. Employed people are stuck fighting the crowded boat ramps on the weekends. Someday I'll learn to live more "simply" again.
 
While we are contemplating our own navels, I'll share a thought my wife and I discussed by a fire over early morning coffee last winter. To our amazement, we found the below passage a short time afterwards which reminds us of our chat.

With the rapidly changing world buzzing along, on the surface, it seems we cannot possibly keep up. Yet, at the same time, it also seems the really important things do not change that much. Hence, life is a paradox. The thought motivates us to continually learn, change and grow.

"Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life.
Worse still, we take this step with the false presupposition that our
truths and ideas will serve us as hitherto. But we cannot live the
afternoon of life according to the program of life's morning. For
what was great in the morning will be little in the afternoon. And
what in the morning was true, will in the evening have become a lie."

--- Carl Jung, "The Stages of Life"

Aye.
 
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