Ahh, what must it be like… to retire? Not to live a life of leisure, but to live a life unfettered by obligation to an employer… A colleague walked out of our office today, after 33 years of employment at Kodak, and started a new chapter in his life.
It could go so many ways. One set of grandparents retired, and within a couple years Grandpa had a debilitating stroke. The others side of the family retired and had 25 years of great times. My poor Dad never got to retire. My mom – well that’s another story.
Would it be time to start another career? I think I’d like to go back to school. I think colleges have benevolent policies for old farts allowing them to audit classes – this would be a big deal for me.
And maybe it would become a time to travel… Road trips! I remember a rest stop conversation with an old couple – the wife indicated that they’s left home 6 years before. They had the equivalent of Noah’s Ark on wheels. They didn’t really leave home – they brought it with them. It is so cool to think about rolling around the country with no agenda but random desire. I would love that! I know I would because I’ve had more than a taste – I’ve had a long deep draught of it.
Al, Steve, and Judy catching a train in Tokyo
Not all my Kodak travels were road trips. I had a few longer distance gigs. These guys took me to Japan!I was lucky. But I felt bad, because we did not accomplish much. We had little to offer, and our colleagues needed a lot. I think Al came away disappointed. Not sure about Judy. Steve saw much that was positive – he always saw the positive. We explored how Kodak might get into online commerce. Tough challenge. We had an in with 7-11 – we should have jumped on that distribution network. But we didn’t. We did nothing. Four years later we tried again. To little avail. It is all a mystery to me now. Rats.
Paid to smile and hand out data sheets, they worked shyly.
What prompted me to dig out 10 year old photos of a short business trip to Japan? Who knows! I didn’t buy buch in Japan – but did bring back some junk.
The Pokemon Plane at Narita
The big hit of course was Pokemon cards. I brought back a ton of those!
Hobby time – I’d like to get back into Easter Eggs. The irony is that Psanky requires a steady hand – something I haven’t really got anymore. I want a microscope – nothing super extreme – but at least as good as the high school lab scopes with binocular view. I met a kite man in Seattle – he was retired from Boeing, and made magnificent kites. But I wondered if he was bored. He seemed happy to talk – so maybe it wasn’t the kite flying that was the main kick for him- but rather the company – random, ever-changing company – such as you’d find on a hill in a park in super cool city like Seattle.
Would it be good to be a crossing guard? I think those people are something! Marie wrote them a thank you letter once – she’s something else! What other kind of public servant? My Uncle is all in with Rotary – and he is genuinely toiling for others – raising funds to conquer Polio, improve infrastructure, build libraries, change lives. It’s amazing. But Rotary has no interest in me. But there are a thousand other ways I might volunteer my time.
A memoir is out. I’m boring – besides – I can’t remember anything. But I could write some stuff down – I really want to do that.
I hate to say it in any public way (the kids are too young for that stuff), but I hope I get to babysit grandchildren – I hope and hope and hope! But I’m cool – I’m not laying a trip on any kid – but let’s just say – I want in on that action!
I am going to be unable to learn how to play bridge. Too complex. The steel trap is now an aluminum sieve. I might re-read my old comics.
