I retired in 1986 when I was 59 1/2, not because I was rich but because my future wife ( No 2 ) was already retired & working did not fit with travel plans. A really good 15 years until cancer struck. More good living for another 7 years with wife no 3. It has been 10 years now with a really nice lady. Time is filled with beer can airplanes, AAC, projects for friends, AM Legion & then house requires some attention. Did paint the roof last Spring; 5 gal. pails are sure getting heavy. Next month I'll turn 92.

Nice run in progress! I hope I am around to see that you are around to make a post on your 100th!

 

I still don't want to be retired, but it appears I was not consulted in this matter.

 

I still don't want to be retired, but it appears I was not consulted in this matter.

My retirement wasn't my choice either. Trying to make the most of it anyway. Even though pain is a constant consideration and I worry about idiots who can affect the stock market, economy, healthcare, ...

 

Against the ID10t error all we can do is duck and cover.

 

I am one of those whose retirement only appears to have been voluntary. The secret is that health forced my hand after losing my second job.

 

You guys all seem to have retired willingly. Not my case. The company pretty much shut down and moved most production to China. Was given the choice to take my pension and leave or stay and work for half the wage and loose the pension completely. That through me into a deep depression. Just now in the last few years getting back into doing the hobbies I didn't have time for before. Now don't have the money.

I have had a good time working in electronics most of my life. I am located in southern Utah in the USA. I started as a hobby was a young teenager. I remember building a oscillator in the 1950's with a Raytheon CK721 transistor. I enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1959, and spent a career of 26 years on active duty.. I was trained as a electronic technician for maintenance of most electronic equipment. Have way thru my career I became an engineer . When I retired from the US Coast Guard in 1985 I was in my mid forties and could not get a job in the industry. I went to work for a electronics industrial supply company. I worked at the local sales counter and developed a large quantity of customers. I also was able to run a small -part time electronics design business. I was able to design a build a lot of one time application specific devises. About 10 years ago I quit working for that company and have built many projects. Over the past several years I have slowed down and have been able to sell a lot of my test equipment and component parts. I turned 78 this year and have held a ham radio license for about 64 years. I have forgotten how long I have been a member of this forum. Cheers

 

I have forgotten how long I have been a member of this forum.

Since november 2008 to be precise.

 

k7elp60, we joined AAC about the same time & you tickled a memory from the late 1950s. For my CO
I designed & built a shallow hole , 2500 ft., gamma ray- self potential logging unit using germanium transistors
something like 2N130's, photo multiplier tube, NaI crystal with 6V to 1000V converter from Cam-Co. Recorder was a Recti-Writer 2 ch. chart recorder from Tex. Inst. Saw extensive use in logging future IBM sites. Lost one probe to a cave in in ND. I magnetized a spot every 100 ft. on cable to keep measuring wheel honest. Power
was 4- D mercury batteries controlled by mercury tilt switch.

 

k7elp60, we joined AAC about the same time & you tickled a memory from the late 1950s. For my CO
I designed & built a shallow hole , 2500 ft., gamma ray- self potential logging unit using germanium transistors
something like 2N130's, photo multiplier tube, NaI crystal with 6V to 1000V converter from Cam-Co. Recorder was a Recti-Writer 2 ch. chart recorder from Tex. Inst. Saw extensive use in logging future IBM sites. Lost one probe to a cave in in ND. I magnetized a spot every 100 ft. on cable to keep measuring wheel honest. Power
was 4- D mercury batteries controlled by mercury tilt switch.

Bernard, neat thing you did. I remember using a bunch of 2N404 transistors in the sixties. Electronic's experimenting and building projects hs been fun and exciting.
Ned

 

Anyone planning to pull the plug as we begin 2019? My decision was pretty much made during December of 2012 and after talking with my benefits people in early January 2013 I gave my notice of my intent. Hard to figure that come 01 May of 2019 it will be six years. Saw several of my old co-workers at an annual Christmas luncheon and it was strange as 95% of the people in my old department had been hired after I left. Like a major turnover happened. So who if anyone has a planned retirement coming up this year, 2019?

Ron

 

I could not wait to retire. As someone said, "Nobody lying on their deathbed wished they had spent more time at work." I remember that as my father entered his 60's his friends started to die off, and he worked up to within a couple of years of the end of his life. No thank you.

My last 11 years was in a high pressure manager of architecture and technology job in the personal computer industry. Thank you Steve Jobs for the stock options that allowed me to retire in January of 2001 at the age of 50.

About a month after I retired I realized that I had not taken my acid indigestion medicine all during that time. What was a daily pain in the stomach became a distant memory.

Now I do what I want, sometimes taking part time jobs in electronics and intellectual property law, not much different from what I did working for electronics companies, but without all that high-class expensive equipment and without the stress. That seems like a pretty good trade-off to me.

 

I could not wait to retire. As someone said, "Nobody lying on their deathbed wished they had spent more time at work." I remember that as my father entered his 60's his friends started to die off, and he worked up to within a couple of years of the end of his life. No thank you.

My last 11 years was in a high pressure manager of architecture and technology job in the personal computer industry. Thank you Steve Jobs for the stock options that allowed me to retire in January of 2001 at the age of 50.

About a month after I retired I realized that I had not taken my acid indigestion medicine all during that time. What was a daily pain in the stomach became a distant memory.

Now I do what I want, sometimes taking part time jobs in electronics and intellectual property law, not much different from what I did working for electronics companies, but without all that high-class expensive equipment and without the stress. That seems like a pretty good trade-off to me.

Oh yeah, enter the stress. I have seen guys totally stressed out in the workplace, eating antacids like candy. In many cases the damage done to their health was unbelievable. When my company changed ownership and I saw the big picture I was glad I was in a position to walk away from it all. Good deal Dick.

Ron

 

A sign of retirement.....??

A few days ago, I noticed that an old monitor being used on an old desktop started an intermittent flicker. Tonight, it changed....it comes on for a few moments and then goes dark (power light stays on). Checked some usuals and then researched it on line - likely the power inverter (matches symptoms and is a known issue). Start taking it apart (used a YouTube vid). Then I look into how much the board will cost plus shipping plus wait. Eff it, just bought one (refurbished) off the bay for $40). Should have it on Monday.

Thought about just picking up a cheap one tomorrow morning for $90-$100 but thought against that also. That old box is not long for my environment and I will get a new desktop this year and the one I'm typing on will replace the old one. I do need it for a bit longer but it is going to end up at Goodwill soon.

Years ago, I would have kept working on it for hours and hours until I had it running and quickly, if at all possible, or otherwise have had something up and working ASAP.

How is this related to the retirement club?

I find that Monday is never too far away and, in fact, it comes around before I blink twice. Also, I have lost all shame about not keeping things working until I have coaxed them out of their last electron.

*sigh*

UPDATE: It came today (Sat) and 10 min later...out with the broken and in with the refurbished and all is well. Didn't even have to wait for Monday at all. Sweet.

 

I find that Monday is never too far away and, in fact, it comes around before I blink twice. Also, I have lost all shame about not keeping things working until I have coaxed them out of their last electron.

Yeah, now that you mention it. I never gave it much thought till now. Several things around here I just continue to "milk". My wife, on the other hand, is quick to say let's just replace it and she is two years my senior. Something else to ponder.

Ron

 

if it is a CRT you will find you cannot give it away working or not, The art of repair is a dying one, CRTs are now considered Toxic trash.

 

if it is a CRT you will find you cannot give it away working or not, The art of repair is a dying one, CRTs are now considered Toxic trash.

Nahh, it's an old Dell 1907FP LCD. Come to think of it, it is only about 10-12 years old. I will include it when I donate the system [edit: I mean the new/refurbished one - the broken one will be robbed of a few switches and cables and trashed - or turned in appropriately because it has some mercury in it]. I know what you mean though - it is even getting hard to donate books!

I wonder if we will see the day when they refuse to take Arduinos

The other thing that I am thinking about is the impact of places like YouTube when doing this kind of repair work - at least for me. Here is the video I watched:

I would not have even considering *attempting* it with out that kind of information and everything else available with a few clicks. Others with more experience, sure, but me, not so much....I mean I might have tried, but probably would have messed it up just opening the case because today, snap together parts are preferred over screws.

 

Yeah, now that you mention it. I never gave it much thought till now. Several things around here I just continue to "milk". My wife, on the other hand, is quick to say let's just replace it and she is two years my senior. Something else to ponder.

Ron

When I was a lad something (I don't remember what) packed up and I told Mom that I could easily fix it. She said "Don't you dare! I've been trying to get rid of that thing for years."

 

When I was a lad something (I don't remember what) packed up and I told Mom that I could easily fix it. She said "Don't you dare! I've been trying to get rid of that thing for years."

Classic!

Ron

 

Yeah, different people have different ideas about when "it's time for that to go". The "any kind of hole" in clothing rule is one that I have been caught in before as well as the general rules surrounding keeping older shoes. My response is something along the lines of, "well those are good if I do some painting or something". I have many, many, articles of clothing suitable for painting

 

And I have five pairs of shoes in waiting for when I have to mow the lawn.