One of the recurring questions I get is: “How does it feel to be retired?” I generally just chuckle.
It seems to be a common misconception that my stepping away from elected office was a retirement. It is true that I am no longer Mayor or on City Council, but I am far from “retired”.
Serving as an elected official was never more than a part time job. I continue to run my company, Gulfcoast Networking, but with our new home, I can do it from my home office instead of driving to work every day. I definitely enjoy being able to walk to work with a cup of coffee in my hand.
Among other things, I took delivery of four new computers for one of my clients yesterday. I’ll spin them up later this week and get them ready for delivery.
As many “retirees” have discovered, non-work stuff expands to fill the available time.
I took grand kids to their respective scout troop meetings last night. I’ve got a Zoom meeting scheduled for tonight. I start tomorrow with an 8am non-profit meeting and will wrap it up around 8pm, when we get out of choir practice. Thursday evening features both a Zoom meeting and a Maundy Thursday at church at the same time. I’ll make the church service and send my regrets for missing the zoom meeting. Friday’s schedule is getting fuller by the hour and next week’s schedule is starting to fill up as well.
This week’s schedule isn’t that unusual. It has been my practice to volunteer at the Chasco Fiesta several nights each year. This year, I was booked solid every single night. I made the street parade because I was helping organize our church men’s group float for the parade! I missed the boat parade because I was serving as an adult leader for my grandson’s scout troop. The troop was camping out near the west end of the runway at the annual Sun N Fun show in Lakeland. As much as I love the floats in the boat parade, seeing the Blue Angels and other groups perform was an event I just couldn’t miss.
The summer is also shaping up as busy. I got my camp physical a couple of weeks ago. I expect to be attending a scout summer camp for the first time in decades come June.
If staying active is the key to a healthy and happy retirement, I’m pretty sure I’m going to qualify.
Rob