Boredom Of Retirement

Sorry about the format. Obviously I failed samsung1's tutorial.

Art, I feel your pain. I will be 69 in Jan and have been retired for the last 19 months. I stated delivering newspapers when I was 10 and have never been unemployed. 42 years with my last employer. Boredom is a real challenge. I cannot go back to work in my previous occupation. There are only about 2,000 people in the U.S. doing it. Besides the activities that you mention, I also spend a lot more time with my grand daughters. I am baby sitting both of them this coming Saturday.

Now here is an outlet that I might pursue. Going back to school. I speak a fair amount of tourist Spanish. I have always wanted to become fluent but the hours that I worked prevented me from going to classes.I now have the time. I am still researching my options. If I decide to go through with it, then there would be many opportunities for part time work that require a person to be bi-lingual. Even charity work. I don't need any money. I didn't read the tutorial either. lol...

art.. no advice from me other than you're obviously a smart guy and i'm sure you will be able to figure things out for yourself.

It sounds like you need to get a new focus in your life to replace being a business owner. I am in my early 50's and work out of my home as a day trader and tend to have a lot of free time.

When I worked in the corporate world I to was a workaholic. Now I channel those tendencies into my daily routine to plan my days so that I can enjoy everything I want to do for the day. It helps that I have a young pre teen daughter and live in a great environment.

Everyday I wake up with the goal to accomplish something. This has helped to mitigate no longer being able to accomplish in the corporate world. Boredom is all in the mind.

You gotta get your hands dirty

When you're digging a ditch

And boredom is God's

Revenge on the rich

--"Sugar Daddy" Tom Jones

Farmerart - I'm not exactly sure what that is supposed to mean, but it seemd appropriate to your situation somehow.

Get some better hobbies or find somewhere that you'd be interested in volunteering at in your community.

I'll never quite understand the workaholic mindset. Millions of people die before they ever get to retire. You should consider yourself lucky. Enjoy life...it can be taken away at any moment.

"I cannot go back to work in my previous occupation"

...because you were basically let go for being a drunk. They'd never have you back in a million years scat...ugh...

You love working with your hands. Retired guys in my church with LARGE bank accounts spend lots of voluteer time doing intersting stuff. Get involved with habitat for humanity.

I'll echo the going back to school and volunteering ideas. Bot let you occupy your mind, and if done right, your body. Find something you can get emotionally attached to, but not such that you'll have a hard time leaving if a better fit comes along.

I've already decided that I'm not going to stop working if I don't have to. I may not be doing the same thing I am now, and it might not pay much, but the idea of "retirement" as some kind of extended vacation or a chance to sit on a porch someplace and wait to die is pretty unappealing to me. I need to produce something. Mind you, my breaks might be longer, but I'm going to work.

Don't forget to set aside some time for clubbing. :)

Art, get a place just barely in Idaho and then run for Congress!!!

CTQ: You go to hell (or Washington D.C.)!