Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

retirement

Unemployed again!

March 13, 2010

OK. I guess that’s a little overstating it.  I’m not really unemployed. The job is over and the contract is up; I can’t sign up for unemployment because I’m making too much money – from my pension.

students at a nuclear power plant simulator - photo rendered as a painting.

Students at a nuclear power plant simulator – photo rendered as a painting. 

This was my second contract since I retired a little over three years ago.  Both have been for about 6 months and both have been doing part of the job that I used to do before I retired – teaching license operator candidates in the classroom and in the simulator.

The class did well in the simulator operational exams administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week.  The last day of the operational exams was Thursday, which was also my last day on the job.  I had my box packed and was out the door by a little after 6 PM.

I suppose it will take a little time to get back into the swing of not working. 

I think I’ll be up to speed by sometime Monday morning. ;)

I’ve got quite a lot of work to do around our place this spring, summer, and fall.  Of course, we’ll get a little bit of traveling in, too.

Then, sometime in January, it looks like I’ll probably be back at work.  That’s about the time the next class should be at the point where I’ll be needed – if they allocate the funds, which I think is quite likely.

I’ve worked a total of about 13 1/2 months out of the last 36 – and when I do work, it’s doing something I know well and get satisfaction from.

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Moving on

December 14, 2009

While I’m moving on – or back – to other things, climate issues will continue to be an interest. With 5 of my last 6 posts being on the subject, it’s time to look at other things.  I’ll try to figure out a way to continue to share some of what I learn, though, without this becoming a climate change blog.

image

I’m still happy with Windows 7.  My computer at work uses XP, though, and moving back and forth between Windows 7 and XP makes getting used to Windows 7 a little harder, I think.

Yes, I am still working.  A contract extension has been approved and, assuming the VP signs the funding paperwork, I will be there until about the middle of March.  After that, I plan not to work for at least the rest of 2010.

Regular visitors to Exit 78 may recognize that my theme has changed once again.  I have moved to the Thesis theme, which allows a lot more control over the appearance.  I’ve got the basic structure down pretty good now, but I’ll be tweaking on it, so there may be subtle changes day to day.

I still have a little bit of material to post from our September trip, photo galleries to develop and publish and images from the great depression to share.

Moving on.

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Old Habits

July 30, 2009

IMGP0993Yesterday, I was going down the hall heading back to my office, preoccupied with what I was doing.

Sure enough, I walked in the wrong office.

I knew it almost as soon as I opened the door.  I went ahead and walked on in and chatted with Dave for a few minutes before he headed to the class he was slated to teach.

Without thinking, I had gone in the office I had been in before I retired.

Other than personal items and the chair, it looks just the same as it did when I left.

day 57

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Dad, I need you to….

July 10, 2009

control_room

On Wednesday, another retiree — who I’ve known for over 25 years — went back to work on contract, the same day that I did. He’s working in another part of the training organization from the one I’m working in.

It just so happens, though, that his son is an “in-house” employee in that same organization.

Since he has been contracted to work primarily in a support role, there may be times that he’ll be providing support for his son.

He told me today that he didn’t have problem with doing whatever they needed for him to do, but that his son might have a little bit of a problem telling his dad what he wanted done.

day 37

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Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho …, again …, maybe …, probably

May 19, 2009

It’s back to work I go — I think.

We should know something soon as the proposed date to start is June 1st.

The contract schedule will be a little different from last time.  I’ll be working about 6 weeks and will then have about 6 to 8 weeks off while the class is involved in activities that do not require my “expertise.” The entire contract for me will be 6 months of actual work.

During the 6 to 8 weeks that I am off — assuming the funding for the contract is actually approved — we’ll be traveling out in the western mountain states.  We had originally planned that trip for July and August, so it’ll be a little delayed, unless the funding  is not approved.

I really do enjoy the work that I’ll be doing under the contract.  It’s the best part of the job that I had before I retired.

The job will help us keep from dipping into our savings for the duration of the contract and we’ll try to pay down a debt or two so that the pension and other income will stretch further when I’m not working.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s off to work I go…, probably…, maybe.

We’re leaving Harper’s Ferry this morning, heading for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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Blogging Vacation

March 30, 2009

spiral

Sometimes, ya just gotta take a break.

I didn’t plan it that way.  It just sort of happened.

In the last several weeks, I’ve not spent much time working on my blogs or web pages other than a new blog, On Climate, where I now have 7 posts.

I’ve been reading quite a bit.  Besides a reading a lot of material on climate change, I’m on my ninth novel — three separate fantasy trilogies.  But for the internet and computers, I would be spending a lot more of my retirement time with my nose in a book — like I have been lately.  Two of the trilogies are rereads — excellent entertainment that doesn’t cost anything except that I couldn’t find the final book of one of them, the one that I’m reading now, so bought a replacement.

I’ve also been hitting the gym pretty heavily.  The one category of blog posts that I’ve been keeping up with is the Wednesday Weigh-In. For some reason, it has helped with the motivation that I was lacking in trying to get fit.  I am now spending 2 hours a day working out at the gym and have been making steady progress.

With a little warmer weather, I’ve been building storage shelving in the second floor of my at this point unheated and not yet finished shop.

Procrastinating like usual, I’m just now getting our taxes done.  Fortunately, our taxes this year are not going to be the horror that last year’s Taxes, Bloody Taxes were.  In fact, we paid so much in state taxes last year that, for the first time in several years, we can actually itemize deductions on the federal return.  Even though I said last year, “future years should be relatively painless,” it’s still been a bit of a pain digging up all of the deductions.  However, despite my tendency to procrastinate, the return is almost done and we didn’t need a tax specialist like last year.

I plan to be back posting on a more regualar basis, but….

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Mini-Depression?

February 27, 2009

store closing

February 27, 2009 — Watching the evening news, it sometimes appears as though the recession continues to spiral downward toward a mini-depression, if not  worse.

Store closures.

Massive layoffs.

Stocks indexes dropping to levels not seen in over a decade.

Bankruptcies.

Reductions in services.

Nonexistent availability of credit.

Continuing high rates of foreclosures and dropping home prices.

We live in an area that has seemed almost recession proof in all of the economic downturns since we moved here in 1980.  Yet, even here, there are empty stores as well as layoffs, foreclosures and higher unemployment.  On the other hand, there are new homes being built, businesses that are adding on or building new, and a few help wanted signs.

Most of the people we know, both here and elsewhere, are weathering the storm fairly well, though not all.  Quite a few people, including two of my brothers-in-law will have to postpone retirement because of losses in their savings and a nephew employed by Circuit City has lost his job.

So far, we have not been impacted, though we have changed some of our spending habits.  In these trying times, it seems better to be frugal and conserve what we have — just in case.

How are things in your area?  Have you made adjustments because of the economy?

Store Closing photo from flickr,  by dpicker, creative_commons creative commons licensing

Mini-Depression?

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Applying for Unemployment — The Rest of the Story

February 16, 2009

In January, I wrote about a coworker’s suggestion that I apply for unemployment when the contract that I was on was over — even though I didn’t need the job when I took it.  Comments on the piece overwhelming supported my decision not to apply for unemployment compensation. (see Applying for Unemployment)

aarp

The contract was over at the end of August.  In the turbulent economic months since then, I’ve had a few moments where I’ve thought about the extra cushion that unemployment income could provide.  However, I’ve never had a moment where I regretted my decision.

A few weeks ago I was at one of our every-other-week retirement breakfasts when I heard some fellows talking about putting in for unemployment benefits after thay had finished a contract job.  The nature of the industry that we retired from is that there is a lot of opportunity for contract work for those with the right experience and/or credentials. It wasn’t surprising that the idea of putting in for unemployment had occurred to others.

Apparently a couple of them had actually applied.

They were turned down!

They weren’t qualified because they were making too much money from their pension!

Since I was a contract worker working as an employee and NOT an independent contractor, if I didn’t have any other income, I could have applied for unemployment payments.  However, with my pension and other income, it didn’t seem right to apply.

In the end, I was not only morally right, but legally right, as well.

I would not have been able to receive unemployment compensation.

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Applying for Unemployment

January 25, 2009


Posted on flickr by royal_broil

On my last job, one of my coworkers asked me if I was going to put in for unemployment when my contract was finished.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” I told him.

“You really should, ” he said.  “After all, you’ve been paying for it all these years. It’s your right. I’m going to when I do contract work after I retire.”

He went on about it a while longer, but I didn’t have much to say on the subject.

I thought about it for a while, though, and concluded that, no, I was not going to apply for unemployment.

While the extra income would be helpful, I didn’t need it and, after all, it’s supposed to be used to help those who need it bridge the gap between jobs.  I wasn’t going to be looking for another job.

For that matter, I didn’t actually need the contract job that I was working.  It was helping to pay off some debt and, while I was working, we weren’t having to use any of our investment funds.

So, since I went to work when I didn’t need to, it just didn’t seem right to me to apply for unemployment.  It felt like taking advantage of the system.  (I’ll have more on this in a later post.)

What do you think?  Should I have applied for unemployment?

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I’m retired…, or am I?

October 6, 2008


Image shared on Flickr by Christopher Dick

I guess I don’t know what being retired means.

Either that or it means something different to other folks.

I guess there is being really retired where you don’t do anything that might bring in some extra income.

For some retirement includes working part time to bring in some supplemental income.

Then, there is retired and going to work in an entirely new career field.

As well, there is retired and going to work as a high paid contractor or consultant in the field you retired from — don’t know about the “high paid” part of that.

Then, there is military retirement, which apparently isn’t really enough for anyone to live on, as all the military retirees I know are working full time towards a second retirement income.

———

Even though I went back to my former place of long-term employment for a short stint as a contractor, I was still retired.  Sure, I was getting paid — better than what I was getting before I retired, I might add — for the work, but I was also getting a pension check.

And there was a difference in me that others noticed!

Before I retired, I couldn’t quit without putting my early retirement in jeopardy…, and I was not happy — stuck in a job I couldn’t leave.  As a retiree coming back to work a contract, I always had a smile, something that was more rare than I realized before I left.  I didn’t have to be there and, if I felt like it, I could leave with no adverse consequences other than the loss of pay and reduce likelihood of being asked back again.

Plus, I was getting to do the fun part of the job.

I’m retired and I don’t have plans to look for a new job.  However, if I’m asked, like I was last time, to go back to work for a few months and I get to primarily do the fun parts of the job, I’ll do it.

Until then, Im really retired — I think.

—–

In my recent post, I don’t wear a watch when…, one of the commenters said that she didn’t think I was really retired.

What does retirement mean for you? Do you want retirement without any other work or will retirement include working in some way for you or your significant other?

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