After 35 years in tech I have accumulated enough wealth to retire tomorrow, not change my lifestyle, and outlive my money. The problem is I would be massively bored. Hell, I get bored on long weekends.
Now I am still a "Window Manager" and don't work too hard, so its not like I am out tilling soil under a hot sun or going down into a coal mine for 14 hours. I basically work from home a couple of hours a day, travel a couple of times of month, and the hardest part of my job is dealing with corporate political bullshit. So I could coast on this path until I die at my desk or be forced into retirement when Mrs. Director forces me to join her on a year-long cruise. Either way it means I am basically working to fill my hours, so it seems that I need to round myself out a bit and take up some hobbies.
So to fill those hours, "grow personally", and spend effort developing hobbies, I decided in 2024 to spend more time on these activities:
- Blogging - If you are reading this you know I am picking this up again after letting it go for most of a decade. No one is reading this thing, but I don't really care as I am doing it for me, not you, Dear Reader.
- Piano - I love classical music, especially piano concertos, but curiously wasn't moved to play what I enjoyed listening to until recently. I was forced to take piano lessons as a kid and hated it, and my mother finally relented when I started junior high band at 11 and took up the trombone. 45 years later I saw a YouTube video about piano and decided that was my new hobby, and went the electronic route.
The technology of today's electronic pianos is amazing. I got an entry level Yamaha, and the feel is hard to tell from a real piano, and with headphones on it sounds pretty darn good. Its small size (no piano movers!), low cost, good quality, and the ability to practice with headphones without bothering anyone makes piano much more easy to practice and play than half a century ago. And the number of YouTube lessons and tips are amazing! I could already read music okay, and thanks to Mom's forced lessons actually knew piano basics, fingering and most of the scales. Having half a dozen YouTube teachers got me up and running again quickly to what I consider late beginner in just a couple of months, can get through Moonlight Sonata on month three with no problem.
This is a hobby a really enjoy and practice 1-2 hours every day. - Golf - Was already doing it, doing it more. The problem is I am feeling my age catch up to me and am realizing that a physical hobby will just get harder and harder the later you go in retirement, making my piano hobby that much more important (but note piano has its own physical demands)
- Novels - I used to be a huge reader, but sort of lost interest in the last decade or so. I do think the internet and social media have lead to less interest in long-form reading, and I am no exception. The second problem is the vast majority of newly published material is massively woke. I want to read to escape, not be lectured to, or beat over the head with the author's political views (talking to you Steven King). But there are thousands of books published before the last decade, so a lot of this hobby is trying to find older books and authors I like.
- Video Gaming - Yes, I am a mid-50s guy who is into gaming, but note I was one of the kids that got one of the first home video game systems, the Sears Pong system for Christmas in 1975. As years went by I had Atari, multiple Nintendos, handhelds, Xbox, Playstation. I am actually ashamed to admit how many hours I spent on the Fallout series (Fallout 3, 4 and New Vegas). But I am hot and cold on this hobby as the game has to really appeal to me for me to get into it. To help me get more into gaming (as well as a tinkering with hardware), I just bought a Steam Deck. The plan is to use it for both retro gaming as well as new games. After the first week I can see that just tinkering with the hardware and getting emulators working for retro-gaming will take hours of time.
I will see what else I can find to fill the hours in retirement. I am not including travel, which is a given for most retirees, and which I have done more than my fair share in the last 35 years on business trips.
1 comment:
I was fortunate enough to retire early, just before I turned 59. I had originally planned on leaving at 60.
My preference is to call it taking on a new career that offers 52 weeks of annual vacation.
Unlike your job, mine was increasingly stressful and the Manglement insufferable.
The job was 12 hour shiftwork with lots of forced OT, and that did not help.
I have kept in touch with some former co-workers and learned it's just as stressful and Manglement have become even more insufferable.
Still, I am grateful as it gave me the means to retire early, something which many cannot do.
We had plans to relocate interrupted by my Wife's diagnosis with Cancer in that same year, and again two years after.
Retirement allowed us the luxury of being able to deal with both and not have the added stress of trying to arrange treatments around a work schedule.
When not actively caring for my Wife, I try to keep my mind busy by creating odd crafts, baking Bread and making Jams & Jellies, most of which are given away to friends and neighbours.
I don't feel like Blogging (although I have in the past), Golf is not something I care to do and making Music stopped after High School.
I don't regret taking early retirement, I wish more could.
There are so many things to do in life, waiting to do them isn't always the best choice because we may not have a later.
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