I’ve been retired almost a year now and I have enjoyed it. With retirement comes age and with age comes “stuff”. Until you reach retirement, you really don’t know what it is really going to look like. I’ve had some discoveries along the way.
Time. You think you will have time to do everything you thought you were going to do. For me this was a case of my eyes being much bigger than my stomach. Over the past year, I have been paring down my list to about a half a dozen activities, amateur radio being one of them.
Money. In retirement I do not make as much money as I used to. My wife and I are not eating Alpo, we are living quite well, but I can feel the reduced spending power. I have to give a little more thought to how I spend my money.
Age Related. Getting older means your body starts slowing down. More trips to the doctor, more preventative care, reduced ability. I led a pretty active life with 8.5 years in the U.S. Army and 20 years in the trades. I am now on the receiving end of all that wear and tear. Things hurt. I have to think more about how I do things and for how long I can do something. I still walk about 100 miles a month but power lifting at the gym is out. Coming to grips with your body not doing the things it used to do can be a humbling experience. Getting old is not for the weak.
My wife and I are spending more time taking care of each other and our special needs daughter. This means more time at home. Writing this, I am at the back side of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. I had a strong desire to go, 20 years ago I would have left in a heartbeat. Today, my responsibilities have changed. In any EmComm or disaster situation, the first rule, is always take care of your family first. It is a good rule and a smart one. It is the rule that is helping me to let go. While I may not deploy anymore, there are still things that can be done at home. I have a good home station and just added an SPE Expert 2K-FA amp which is MARS modified. I can comfortably run digital up to 1 kW. This mission hasn’t gone away, it has changed. Plus, I can still do the occasional POTA activation when I find time between all the other things I do. Stay safe and enjoy life. 73 de – Scott
KK4Z 