Five Things I’ve Accomplished Y-T-D:
My Medium friend Jane Trombley goaded me (and several others of us in “the cool crowd” — yeah, that’s it… I’m looking at you mitzi.flyte, craig rory lombardi, "the Bronx Boomer", Marylee Pangman, Caroline de Braganza, Jeff Ikler, Diana Niewald) into enumerating five things we could say we’ve accomplished recently. After I got over the “deer in the headlight” moment, it didn’t seem too hard.
Right? I mean, five seems like a manageable number, eh?
At least it’s not higher. Like six, or something.
I’d’ve had to struggle for that…
So, here they are. In no particular order…
1.) Successfully transitioned into retirement mode after a 41-year career. This is actually kind of a big accomplishment. Imagine waking up one morning and realizing you have no one else’s agenda but your own? Seems kind-of existential, or something…
The thought of retirement used to scare me. After all, it’s one of the last things you do in your life, right?
But then I realized, as long as you keep your health, it’s going to be OK. Quickly, you realize that your health is actually your most valuable possession.
Fortunately, I apparently have the “improved-model” body — given to me by my parents and grandparents. For that, I am forever grateful.
Our bodies were designed for a reality that existed thirty-some thousand years ago — so you have to pay attention to your blood chemistry as you get older. Things that inferred an advantage to you in your twenties become antagonistic to you when you’re three times older than that in the year of our Lord 2018….
I’m on prescriptions for cholesterol, and blood pressure, for instance.
Here’s a tip — NEVER ask what the side effects of your long-term prescriptions are. And do not look them up on the web either.
Trust me — ignorance is bliss in this case…
Speaking of health, this leads to my second accomplishment since retiring:
2.) I’ve lost 25 pounds since January 2018. BMI is currently 30, which they still consider too much. How freakin’ skinny do you have to be to be considered normal? I’m not fat!
Ok, maybe I was a bit “pleasingly plump” before retirement (the written health report from my doctor called it “well nourished”… How rude!)
But with my new job, I’m on the way down.
My new job? Working on my botty…
I swear, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since I was a kid! I wake up about 7:00 or 8:00 am, go down and work out on my treadmill for forty minutes — Monday through Friday. Then, take a shower, and piddle around drinking a whole pot of coffee until mid-morning, reading, surfing, emailing, etc.
I never was one to join a gym and work out with other people. I guess I’m a solitary worker-outer.
Don’t tell anyone, but I only wear my underwear when I’m on the treadmill! (Sorry for the visual on that.)
Guess you couldn’t do that at a public gym, huh?
At least, not for long…
And I’ve also been occasionally riding my bicycle, now that it’s summer. Only on the bike trail, but at least it’s something…
My retirement watch was an Apple Watch.
Ok, well I had to buy it for myself, but anyway, it’s proven quite handy to track all my workouts and energy expenditures throughout the day. And, if you let it, it will annoy the shit out of you with various bings, pulses, and noises if you sit on your ass too long.
3.) Started writing (such as it is) on Medium. I think I got whatever writing talent I may have from my mother, God rest her soul. She liked to write every now and then. I guess I picked it up from her via inductance coupling. It’s a work in progress…
4.) Play guitar in a classic-rock cover band. We only play out every couple-few weeks which is great. And hardly ever in divey bars — usually we play in the animal clubs (Eagles, The Moose, etc). And summer is big for us in the outdoor circuit — county and municipal fairs, auto shows, and a municipal Mum festival. Whatever that is. It’s this coming weekend, so I’ll know more later….
Music that we grew up with. Music from the “soundtrack of our lives”…
It’s maybe a little strange to look out into the crowd and realize the median age of the dancers are sometimes in the mid-fifties or sixties…
But then, that’s exactly where we are in the band too, so that’s cool I guess…
www.sobosmusic.com
5.) Restarted my Amateur Radio hobby after twenty-five-year hiatus (KD8HP).
Do you know how cool the shortwave radio spectrum is?
That’s where I spend most of my time.
Even weirder yet — my favorite operating mode to contact people? Morse Code!
That’s right — Morse code — (referred to as “CW” or Continuous Wave in the Ham circles). Most operators use voice to communicate with fellow hams, but there’s a small subset of operators in the short-wave spectrum who still like to use Morse code!
When I first got my amateur radio license, you had to learn Morse code. And God only knows why, but for whatever reason, I found it kind of easy for me to learn it. It always seemed to be like a “secretarial” skill — sort of like typing or something — relatively easy to master.
Either that or I’m a reincarnated shipboard radio operator from the Titanic or something…
Or something…
At any rate, in the short-wave spectrum, depending on the Sun, or time of day, or atmospheric conditions, your transmitted signal gets bounced off the upper atmosphere and can come down literally anywhere on Earth! I’ve even communicated with Ham operators in Japan before — on just a few watts of power!
It’s an absolute perfect hobby for an old retired guy, eh?
If only I could find one….
An old one, that is…
It ain’t me, Babe …
No siree Bob…
