A day in the life of a retiree

This was my day last Thursday:

6:00am to 8:00am - Brushed teeth, dressed, made the bed, did a load of laundry, ate breakfast, loaded dishwasher, read two newspapers, solved the Jumbles, checked email, and read a few blog posts.

8:00am to 9:30 - Drove to a local park and hiked 3.5 miles of hilly trails. Drove home. (On alternate days I go to the local YMCA to work out, biking 4 miles to get there when time permits.)

9:30am to 12:00pm - Gave a ride to Charlie to the grocery store as a volunteer for Help At Your Door. Read a book while he shopped.

12:00pm to 2:00pm - Made and ate a sandwich for lunch. Took a short nap. Checked social media. Called a friend.

2:00pm to 4:30pm - Gave a ride to Lee to an orthopedic clinic as a HAYD volunteer. (Two rides in one day is not uncommon lately since the organization is short of volunteer drivers.) Read a book during his very long appointment.

4:30pm to 5:30pm - Another sandwich for quick supper. Unloaded dishwasher. Got my mail. 

5:30pm to 9:00pm - Participated in a 13 mile group bicycle ride with the Rovers outdoor club. A beer and socializing afterwards.

9:00pm to 9:45pm - Showered and read before turning off the light.

I once chuckled when retirees said that they were busier after retirement than before. But now I see it is possible (although I was also very busy before I retired.) Not included in my schedule last Thursday were my regular and board meetings for Rotary, grocery shopping for myself, little things like bill paying, making appointments, car maintenance, fixing meals for friends, house and garden keeping, and, oh yeah, writing. Some days do get rather long so I fill them by reading and watching movies. But I prefer busy to bored.

Pre-retirement planning usually focuses on financial preparedness. And while that is not a bad thing, one needs to have a purposeful plan for staying active as well. One cannot read or watch TV or browse the internet all day.

Friends, develop a plan before you retire. 

Checking the mail - the thrill is gone

Our mailbox sat at the end of our driveway of the farm on which I grew up. Checking the contents was a daily thrill, even when most days had nothing addressed specifically to me. Christmas catalogs, newspapers, even the odd personal letter or card, could all be found now and then in that old steel half tube sitting on a post. When the flag was down, you knew the mailman (and it was always a man), had been by.

Nearly every morning now I get an email from the USPS telling me what mail I can expect to see delivered today. Scanned images of envelopes are included. This information saves me the short walk down the street to where my mailbox, along with a dozen or so of my neighbors’, squats in the shade. 

I get fewer than a dozen pieces of mail each week. And 90% of the ones I do get, go directly into the recycling bin in my garage. Most are requests for money - from charities, from alumni associations, from service organizations. You give once, you get mailers forever. Cable TV companies urge me to switch; appliance dealerships urge me to get a new furnace; hardware stores urge me to take advantage of their current sale. Catalogs, usually full of women’s clothing, round out my big mail days. Ah, if only I were a cross-dresser…

So when Congress looks to reduce the post office budget, I more or less shrug. Mail delivery once a week would be fine with me. Amazon has its own trucks. I get newspapers and magazines online. My bills come via email. Even greeting cards have gone digital. And it works the other way too - I go through less than a book of stamps a year…

Is mine the last generation that companies will market to using paper and the mail? For the sake of trees that give their lives for paper pulp and for the sake of the environment being choked by mail truck exhaust, I sincerely hope so.

Don't complain to me about inflation if ...

Yup, the price of almost everything seems to be going up. Blame Putin, Biden, the Fed, corporate America, supply chains, or Satan himself, but don’t complain to me if…

• You buy name brand products instead of store brand or generic
• You drive like a jack rabbit and get rotten mileage
• You buy junk food
• You shop for recreation and spend too much time on Amazon
• You drink bottled water
• You got in on low mortgage/car interest rate recently
• You eat meat more than a few times a week
• You stay in any better quality of lodging than Motel 6 when traveling
• You have multiple internet streaming services
• Your car gets less than 25 mpg
• You buy books, audiobooks, magazines or movies instead of checking them out from the library
• You put gas in an RV, ATV, or boat
• You drink coffee at Starbucks
• You drink, smoke, or guzzle sodas
• Your closets are overflowing with clothes and shoes, but you keep buying more
• You buy anything when it’s not on sale

I am sure I spend my money in ways which you may find frivolous. To each their own. But those of us with some discretionary income should not complain too loudly when fewer dollars can go for the “fun stuff.” For many, there is no room for “fun stuff” in their budgets at all.

Rather than dwell on inflation, think of the luxuries you may enjoy.