Countdown to retirement

[BobL]

As a line manager for ~65 people for nearly 10 years I found myself attending quite a few funerals, mainly for former and retired staff. One former staff member retired when he was 67 and had only been retired for 5 months when he became very ill and passed away a few months later - this was one of the things that got me thinking about retiring early. Of course one could always be run over by a truck this afternoon.

[BobL]

I spent a while yesterday afternoon discussing my wrap up at work with my line manager ie retirement party. The plan is to have 2 official retirement parties - a personal one for a small select group of people, and a larger gathering for the whole department plus people from outside the department, could be something like maybe 100 people . The later will include some hangers on and suits, which I am not really that enthusiastic about, but I will be gracious about it and use that opportunity to publicly thank a bunch of people that have helped me over the years.

I will also be holding a private party with a few friends down by the Swan river with a few beers.

The good news is the boss has agreed to give me a 3 year "Adjunct" position in the Department. This is a no obligation, no specific workload, unpaid position on staff. The advantage for the Department is that I agree to provide ongoing advice, or if I undertake any research I acknowledge the Department. In return I get official access to all staff facilities in the Department like email, library, labs and even workshops etc and I am legally covered for academic activities just like other staff. It does not prevent me from doing other part time paid work for the department which I may think about doing in the future.

[John Saxton]

All the best in your forthcoming retirement Bob.Having more time to engage in the pursuits of your at home activities is undoubtedly a plus with retirement.

Having the new pup in your household will be a source of delight for you as will the challenges of the training involved with the older dog.

Best Regards.

Cheers

[BobL]

All the best in your forthcoming retirement Bob.Having more time to engage in the pursuits of your at home activities is undoubtedly a plus with retirement.

Having the new pup in your household will be a source of delight for you as will the challenges of the training involved with the older dog.

Thanks John, the new pup is indeed a source of much amusement. New and older pups are constantly play tug-o-war, chasey, and what I call Pirate (lots of wrestling, biting and arrgh - arrgh - arrgh) a fair bit, which is good as this means they wear each other out and don't bug us anywhere near as much as when there is just one dog.

[BobL]

11 working days to go!

Although I still have ongoing paperwork to do, today was very quiet in terms of enquiries etc so I spent a hour or so in the workshop doing a bit of ally turning and then most of lunch dumpster diving as there are some major rennos going on in our building - see also here.



One thing I realize I will miss are the work dumpsters although I have my moles well installed and a standing arrangement whereby I will drop everything and come out with my van to pick up as required. The deal is we share stuff and I deliver as required.

[jhovel]

Only just spotted this thread....
I have 6 working days left myself.... beating you to it maybe? Last day 22/2/2013.
Yippee!

[FenceFurniture]

One thing I realize I will miss are the work dumpsters although I have my moles well installed and a standing arrangement whereby I will drop everything and come out with my van to pick up as required. The deal is we share stuff and I deliver as required.

Hmmm, are you sure about that Bob? I seem to remember reading often enough "....so I knocked it up at work.....". Some pretty nice (and no doubt vastly underused) machines tend to hang around Unis. Just duck over to Engineering, and call in a favour. Or of course take a 6pack with you. As I understand it, that is the currency of favour amongst Es, or is that just when they are students?

Cheers
Brett

[BobL]

Only just spotted this thread....
I have 6 working days left myself.... beating you to it maybe? Last day 22/2/2013.
Yippee!

Excellent but as I'm 3 years younger than you, maybe that kinda puts me in front?
What are your plans - other than play in your shed?

Hmmm, are you sure about that Bob? I seem to remember reading often enough "....so I knocked it up at work.....". Some pretty nice (and no doubt vastly underused) machines tend to hang around Unis. Just duck over to Engineering, and call in a favour. Or of course take a 6pack with you. As I understand it, that is the currency of favour amongst Es, or is that just when they are students?

I wish I could even look into our unis very fancy engineering workshops with their CNCs etc. If I want anything done by them they charge full commercial rates. Our very small (by Oz uni standards) science workshop consists mainly of 1960s era machinery and is run by a very talented techo. While the techo says he is happy to do stuff for me I always do it myself with his advice thrown in from time to time. The facilities are allowed to be used for private work by staff but there are rules of engagement like; competent with the use of the machinery, follow OHS rules, unless something is in the scarp bin provide your own materials, leave the workshop and machine at least as clean as when was found - preferably cleaner. Over the years I have also contributed to the general maintenance of the facility in my own time, e.g. fixed the headstock on the big lathe, cleaned out the coolant sumps on the big lathe, mill and hack saw - not the most attractive job. Most of the materials (eg 6 and 8 m long lengths of steel and ally) I have brought in for use I have left the remainders of behind. As well as providing a useful source of materials for the techo to do other jobs with, the bonus for me is I don't need to find a place to store it at home. If someone uses it all up then that is the cost of accessing the facility. The nice thing is that even though I am retiring I will not lose workshop access provided it is for private use - if I want to do commercial work I will have to pay for access.

. . . . the boss has agreed to give me a 3 year "Adjunct" position in the Department. This is a no obligation, no specific workload, unpaid position on staff. The advantage for the Department is that I agree to provide ongoing advice, or if I undertake any research I acknowledge the Department. In return I get official access to all staff facilities in the Department like email, library, labs and even the workshops etc and I am legally covered for academic activities just like other staff. It also does not prevent me from doing other part-time paid work for the department which I may think about doing in the future.

,

[FenceFurniture]

Pretty set then.

[rsser]

Good luck Bob.

....

I used to teach stuff on the meaning of work and I think it's transferable to retirement. Look for:

* time structuring
* social relationships
* social status
* a sense of purpose/being able to contribute

People's needs in these respects vary of course so it's just a check-list.

What is striking is the number of guys who've worked hard over a lifetime who cark it within several years of retiring (and not due to pre-existing conditions).

[BobL]

Good luck Bob.
....
I used to teach stuff on the meaning of work and I think it's transferable to retirement. Look for:
* time structuring
* social relationships
* social status
* a sense of purpose/being able to contribute
People's needs in these respect vary of course so it's just a check-list.

All good points you mention. My worst failing is probably the social stuff as I tend to be a bit of recluse.
Currently I'm racking up things to do that already indicates I will need more than one retirement to handle it.
About half of these will get me out of the shed (BHAWHA ..... ) but I know they are good for me.

What is striking is the number of guys who've worked hard over a lifetime who cark it within several years of retiring (and not due to pre-existing conditions).

My PhD supervisor was one. Retired in August and passed away the following March.

[snowyskiesau]

Best of luck to you Bob.
Do you have a list of projects to tackle or is it going to be a case of whatever looks interesting on the day?

I didn't retire so much as relocate to somewhere there's no work for me. It amounts to pretty much the same thing but requires less planning

[BobL]

Best of luck to you Bob.
Do you have a list of projects to tackle or is it going to be a case of whatever looks interesting on the day?

Cheers.

My list of to do projects includes - in no particular order

Woodwork:
New WW Bench
Picture frames
Coffee tables
Book cases
Dining Table
Double bed

Machinery/Tools
Belt sander
Another grinder stand
Woodworking Planes
Install VSDs on a few more machines
Attend some Blacksmithing courses - well you know what happens after that

Home Maintenance
Theres heaps of these but the two biggies are
Painting of external gables, family room
Renovate Kitchen

Milling Yard
Mill more logs
Set up timber processing facility, docking saw, rip saw and stroke sander
Set up some slab racks

Plus I still have some professional commitments through to 2015 and my interest in Dust research I would like to keep going.

[Chesand]

Bob

I make a list of all the jobs that need doing then if the job at the top of the list is not done in 3 months it goes down to the bottom.

It works well.

[Robson Valley]

I walked away from my Biology/Wood Science Prof job after 31 years.
I don't miss it one dang bit. I did enough of that. Was a very, very good job.
The irony is that I don't do 20% of the things on my preretirement list. Oh well.
So, I tossed a lot in the tip.
Instead, I came to realize that for the very first time in my life, nobody was yanking on my chain to do anything. For the first time in my life, I am in charge. There's a BS rumor that retired people have all the time in the world to do stuff for you because they have nothing to do. Sadly there are a few like that. Me? Im so busy, I don't know how I ever found the time to work.

Of course, there's the day-to-day living rubbish that spoils everyone's fun.
Today was a perfect example. Several wood carvings, staring at me from the bench. I was so dang busy doing house-crap that here it's supper time again.

To all of you about to walk off down the track, I'll meet you somewhere along the way. Good luck to you all.