indyfabz

That is one of the teachings of the book “Younger Next Year.” A lot of people (especially men) wake up in retirement and feel useless with nothing to do. They often become sedentary and gain weight, leading to health problems and early deaths. The book says have plans and hobbies to keep you interested in doing things.

Interestingly, I happened to meet one of the co-authors on a bike trail in Copake, NY during my September tour home from northern Vermont. He’s in his 80s and still riding.

big john

Nervous as in possible bad news about your money?

genejockey 

"We put it all in Crypto, but not early on when it was cheap. No, we invested all of it at the peak. Then we got out at the bottom. We took the little that was left over, and invested that in Twitter shares, but not before the buyout."

genejockey 

American culture tells men - or, at least, it TOLD men - that you are what you do as a job, and that you should work hard and even sacrifice for your job, because success in your career is the most important thing.

Then one day, the career ends. Oops.

So, work to live, don't live to work.

datlas 

Agree. I hate the fact that the first question people ask when they meet is "what do you do?"

I typically answer "I ride a bike."

genejockey 

My Dad had a series of fairly consuming interests outside of work, but I'd say his most consuming passion was gardening - not just flowers and veggies, but the whole yard. So, when he retired, he had lots to keep him busy. But he also did things like tapping the maple tree in their yard and making a really tiny quantity of his own maple syrup, or when he visited us in our old place where there were lots of olive trees around, picking a bucket full of them and curing them - in both cases, because it was something he'd never done.

The man retired at 78 and STILL lived another 22 years!

BillyD

Agree 100%, even though the values and work ethic of past generations that built this great country have not been adopted in recent generations. And it's not all the worker's fault, management and supervision share the blame. Core values have changed somewhere along the line. It's tempting to think another World War might put values back on track, but there will be no bouncing back after the next one. So we're stuck with this large portion of the young population that believes the world owes them something.

BillyD

Yes.

I'm not signing ****!

genejockey 

You know, there's a quote from an ancient Greek philosopher, can't remember which one, complaining about the next generation not being hardworking and responsible like his own generation....

BillyD

Trsnrtr

I’ve noticed that professional people (lawyers, doctors, academics, etc.) have jobs that “define” them and find it very hard to give that up. Luckily, my wife and I always had hobbies and slid into meaningful retirement easily. It also helps that we both have government pensions, lived frugally, and were savers/investors and live a comfortable but not extravagant life. I’d say that my wife and I are very happy in retirement.

Trsnrtr

I once had a snooty professional engineer ask me about how many degrees, licenses and certifications I had. I told him that I have a Ph.D in cycling.

Seriously.

genejockey 

I told my kids to disregard the advice, "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life", because, I told them, it could be because you'd be unemployed. Also, nothing kills a passion quite like having to do it as a living.

Instead, I said find something that interests you enough that you could do it for 30-40 years, but be able to leave it behind at the end of the day. Still waiting for them to figure it out, though The Older Boy seems reasonably happy in Meat.

LesterOfPuppets

Lance is chillin' with Marshawn!

rjones28 

Should we stay off of your lawn?

LesterOfPuppets

You got both wheels done yet?

rjones28 

Yup.

BillyD

Beast mode.

big john

My maternal grandfather lived to 96. He gardened and grew his own vegetables for many years. He was also an extremely calm man. OG Irie-man.
Never met my paternal grandfather. He died before I was born, I think he was 54.

big john

I think it was Comicus. nsfw maybe

BillyD

Anybody with their own bike company needn’t.

Bah Humbug

Still does, yes, at least in many places.

Velo Vol 

Another day of me beautifying the earth.

You're welcome.

genejockey 

Stayed home, did you?

Velo Vol 

Rankings of the generations I've observed:

Best: Gen X (obviously)

Good: Silent Generation, "Greatest Generation"

OK: Millennials

Bad: Baby Boomers, Gen Z