Hi, everyone..

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

My dear sweet wife and I are finally moving out of the very expensive Southeastern Michigan.

Going up north as we say, north of the 40. Hale, Michigan gateway to 60 lakes, really not ads. Google earth it.

Been spending a lotta time here lately cuz I won’t be able to respond to many friends for a while.

Let it be known, life is less expensive, life is a little slower, life is more fun.

I’ve retired. My wife has retired. Work is very over rated. Please, when someone asks you,
“What do you do?” Say something like I hike, i canoe, I do yoga.
You are not defined by your job. You are defined by you.

Live as you need. Just live and enjoy every second, every day embrace the moment.

Hey anyone know anybody around the Hale, Michigan area? Tawas City? Prescott?
Need help unloading my moving van.

September 15 come on it’s a Saturday. Beer and food will be served. Hard stuff if required.

Come on up .pm me for details. Love to see you guys.

Leafly stuff if harvested.

[Eko]

1. Lived a little NW of that

in Grayling for a bit. Was pretty nice.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

2. Sounds in the past tense...

If not come visit anytime.

[Eko]

3. Thanks!

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

4. Dude.. any time.

Love your choice of music. Into indie Canadian folk. Whitehorse,,Great Lake Swimmers, etc.

Pm and we will do dinner and a fire pit

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Work is definitely overrated.

I REALLY don't get people who retire and then go back to work because they get bored.

Okay, so I'm unusually good at doing not much (does spending time on DU count as "not much"?) all day, but it's infinitely better than getting up at some ungodly hour to go to a job. Also, I've NEVER been a morning person, and actually spent most of my working life on afternoon shift. Several years ago, after not working for about two years, I took a temp job. One week long, it was about two miles from my house so not much of a commute. But I had to be there at 8am. It was AWFUL! Not the job itself. That was pleasant and interesting. But by Wednesday I was in a psychological agony because of how early I had to get up.

If I ever take another job again, it absolutely will not start before 10 am, and preferably noon or later.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

6. I bet I can beat you at doing nothing...

Made a great living running my carpet and upholstery biz. Then I opened my eyes and understood the consulting business. Why sweat when you can tell people how not to sweat? Never, ever started before 10 am or fifth cup of coffee. Learned early it’s better to offer advice than to take that advice for yourself. More money too, hardly any overhead, do it on the road, wherever, whatever.
Never had a temp job, never had an hourly job, never punched a time clock and at 66, I totally understand the Millennial generation. They get it. Monetized a YouTube channel. Not much but ok.
Defunct now but had fun. Come on sat at my desk and told people how to do it.

Never lied to anyone, just told the absolute truth about running your own Carpet cleaning biz.
Actually went to a few places to see their operations. Streamlined the biz and cashed the check.
They were happy and a little more profitable. They paid for my trip, they put me up it cost me nothing but my time. Loved it.

But now I just want to forget work even as easy as it was..

Fishing, hiking, camping, getting lost in the forest, wandering, kayaking, cataloging trees for the NPS. Now that’s work I can enjoy.

Better than saying “Welcome to Walmart” ...

Bored how in the earths good movement do you get bored?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Now I'm pissed.

I never figured out the consulting thing. I probably would have been very good at it.

My deep dark secret is that while I was willing to work hard, I never had a job that I liked. I've often said that I went to the job, did what I was supposed to do, and they paid me. I am somewhat in awe of those who say they love their jobs. Assuming they're not lying.

Maybe the big difference between people like you and me and those who love their jobs, or go back to work after retirement, is that we have a life outside of work. Many years ago I was an airline ticket agent at Washington National Airport. The good thing about the job was the free travel. And I took full advantage of it. Heck, fellow airline employees were astonished at how much I traveled. Once, when asked how I could afford it (and we flew for free or very close to it. The only cost was hotel or meals) I said, "I don't own a car." Which was true. I took the bus to and from work. Anyway, in the first few years I defined myself by my job. Then I became a docent at the Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian (for the Bicentennial and I once gave the tour of the museum in French, brag brag), which inspired me to return to college. But even before the return to college, the docent experience caused me to understand that I was NOT my job. I was a person who did that job. In a way I was very lucky, because too many people do not understand that they are not the job, they are simply a person who does that job. And so, they reach retirement and they are lost.

Another thing. I have always been a reader. Fiction, non fiction, many genres, many topics. I'm interested in almost everything. So I have a wide circle of interest outside my job. Most people don't. Many, maybe most people, not only define themselves by their job, but have all of their social life intertwined with the job. Big mistake.

I suppose it also helped that I spent so many years as a stay at home mom, and had a whole life connected to that. And honestly, I don't get the moms who complain that they're bored staying home, or that a baby doesn't engage their intellect. I won't go into detail, but quite honestly, if you're bored staying home you don't know how to engage your own self without some outside validation. Which, in my opinion, you shouldn't need. You should be a whole human being on your own. You might have a baby. You might have a job. You might invent something. But you are not the same as what you do. Again, the problem of identifying yourself with your job. Even though I call myself a stay at home mom, that wasn't all I did. I still read books. I still wrote letters to friends. I still engaged in political discussion with my husband. Yeah, I changed diapers and cleaned the house. But I didn't let those things define me. They were simply things I did.

In any case, you will have a wonderful life in northern Michigan, and I'm just sorry that location will limit your time here.