Retirement - how did I manage to fit work into my schedule?
 

Well, at the end of August I took early retirement in order to spend time on non-paid hobbies as opposed to a paid hobby called work, having enjoyed every minute of my 37 years in employment.

Duirng the first month of retirement, I have spent time under cars, started clearing the garage and found tools I had forgotten I'd bought. The radio control boats are out and being refurbished, the RC aircraft will follow.

I am beginning to wonder how I ever found time to go to work!

I want to do 2-3 days per week of voluntary charity work - the memsahib already does three days per week - but will start that in the new year once my boats etc. are all ready for the water.

The joys of being a man of leasure - it's really quite tiring but rather enjoyable!


:}

Maninder, what about being a volunteer ambulance car driver, taking people to hospital for their appointments. Your fuel would be paid for and they would get a chance to have a ride in the Omega. I have done voluntary work in Nairobi, giving out the tablets at a charity clinic, seeing as many as over 100 patients in a day and taking the doctors and nurses to visit patients in their homes in my 4x4, who were too sick to travel or they had no funds to get to hospital - the poor, some trips were into the slums and some into the bush. Such work has its own rewards, it can be challenging and you see some terrible things people have to live with, but it puts your own life into perspective.

May you have many years of a happy and purposeful retirement :}

Good luck with your retirement.

I'm going to suggest Guide Dog puppy walking but I don't know if you do or don't like dogs!!

But wonderful to do - to be directly involved in the way they change someone's life is all the reward you'll ever need.

Andy.

Since retirement,all i get from children and g/children,is " you can take us here or to can do this,as you have nothing else to do."
If me and the wife need to go out,we must leave early before phone rings.:D

a number of people I know as well as myself have all said the same thing.
There are people that have noting after work. End of this month will be a year since I left, I cant believe how quick the year has gone
I hope you have a long and happy retirement

macafee2

Thank you Phil and Andy for your really helpful suggestions. I love driving and dogs so both of those activities would be just up my street. I had not thought of either of those options, so thank you.

I had spent a few months before retirement thinking about the options and had decided that volunteering in the education, homeless or health (local hospital) area would be my focus during the first 12-18 months. I feel that the homeless and the young are having a very hard time and there are unreasonable pressures on our education professionals, so if there was anything I could do to make a even tiny difference to a few it would be worthwhile.

I had sent my CV to a local sixth form/technical college and am seeing their head of science & engineering department in a week's time to discuss how I may be able to support the teaching professionals with their non-teaching activities. For the other half of the equation, we have a number of local organizations, including a food bank, that need volunteers so I will be getting involved in one of those.

I am going to look into your suggestions for the time beyond this initial 12 months.

Ian - I think I have mentioned before that son is studying aeronautics & aerospace engineering at Southampton uni. When I visited the uni during his selection visits, I spent nearly an hour talking to a technician who looks after the model aircraft lab. His job is to build/prepare model aircraft for use by students in their experiments. If I lived in or near Southampton, guess where I would be volunteering to help? What a job! :}

Thank you.

Volunteering with young people &/or health related &/or homelessness will be very rewarding - good luck to you.

You're a motorcyclist - how about Blood Bikes? Volunteers who transport blood etc. between hospitals. http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/

If you like driving and dogs (two good choices :} ;)) then Guide Dogs need drivers to transport dogs/equipment etc. so maybe that's something to look into in a couple of years.

How did you ever find time for work???????

All the very best.

Andy.

Update on Voluntary Work
 

The DBS checks have been completed and I start my volunteering - nominal 2 days per week - at the local technical college providing classroom support to the teaching professionals on a BTEC National Diploma in Engineering course next week.

This will allow me to spend one day per week on one of the homeless related volunteering opportunities, thus splitting my time 50/50 on volunteering and personal enjoyment/duties.

To say that I am looking forward to it would be an understatement.

:}

if your son find himself needing dads help i'm local so may be able to help out, so pm if you ever need to. build/prepare model aircraft, lucky so and so

saw a program on the Airbus 380 recently, really interesting

macafee2

macafee2

I think you need to be an advanced rider, experience and a clean license does not count.. Advanced rider with points on license does :)

macafee2