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T-Dubs
04-26-2007, 22:41
Met with the folks today at State Teachers Retirement to turn in my paperwork and it's a done deal. As of June 11, I am no longer a contributing member of society.

At the end of my 'signing session' the counselor shook my hand and asked,
"So now what are you going to do?"

"There's this path; in the woods."

Tom--"Lice-free for 31 years" :)

Patrickjd9
04-26-2007, 22:53
Congratulations!

Lugnut
04-26-2007, 23:28
"There's this path; in the woods."

:)


Good for you!

SGT Rock
04-27-2007, 01:03
Outstanding

warraghiyagey
04-27-2007, 02:37
So when do you start?:)
I believe I know of this path.

SOBO7

shades of blue
04-27-2007, 08:23
Congrats! I look forward to that day when I also become a "non-contributing member of society"....Actually, from what I hear, retired folk still contribute, just differently. Oh yeah, I hope to make it to 30 years lice free (16 years currently)....did I just jinks myself? Oh no. :eek:

Footslogger
04-27-2007, 08:56
You did it the old fashioned way ...you EARNED it !!

Different industry, but I'm a year and a half behind you.

Congrats. Enjoy that little path in the woods !!

'Slogger

Frolicking Dinosaurs
04-27-2007, 09:02
Congrats on the retirement. Hope you enjoy it as much as the dinos have.

Pennsylvania Rose
04-27-2007, 09:04
Lucky you!!! I don't know how you survived teaching that long - I'm pulling my hair out after only 5 years. But, ahhhhhh.....the summers!

BigwaveDave
04-27-2007, 09:15
Outstanding!, May I use your line when I retire? "There's this path in the woods" thats a classic. Enjoy and celebrate everyday

moondoggy
04-27-2007, 09:17
Tom: Best Wishes......Hike on brother,,Hike on
4yrs to go...in a very different industry.......

Ewker
04-27-2007, 09:51
congrats on the retirement...now go out and have fun

StarLyte
04-27-2007, 09:56
Besides the AT, I'm going to be sectioning the Buckeye Trail this year....come on out!

Now you can attend all the trail/hiker events too ;)

Congratulations.

jlb2012
04-27-2007, 10:12
green with envy as you can tell :D :D :D :D

784 more days for me

Photofanatic
04-27-2007, 13:04
Congratulations!

Give us a heads up if you section the Buckeye Trail, Hocking County. That's our other home.

moxie
04-27-2007, 13:29
I flew to Chicago, attended my son's wedding. Flew back to New Hampshire, rented a car, drove home, on the way home stopped by the company I worked and officially retired, went home, had a lobster dinner, went to bed, got up at 4am, kissed my wife, drove the rental car back to Manchester airport, hopped on a plane to Georgia, was on the AT by 10 am the next day, spent six wonderful months walking home to Maine. Best damn way to start a retirement I could ever imagine. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I do.

Lobo
04-27-2007, 14:06
Enjoy your hike! I retired in 1999 after teaching for 30 years (the gov. enacted a 30 and out bill) and hiked my hike in 2000. You won't realize that you're retired until sometime in September when you are sitting in your car in shorts and a T-shirt behind a school bus. Did you get a watch? I did. " Watch the door doesn't hit you in the a** on the way out of the building!

superman
04-27-2007, 14:52
Well shoot...at least you saw it coming. I had no plan to retire at such a young age. Even though I had 30 years in I wasn't thinking about such things because I was too busy bitching about everything. This man said "Step into my office and sit down. You know...Jim...you haven't been a team player for awhile now and we all have to be team players." In point of fact I'm a damn good team player....I know what side I'm on....I'm just not to damn sure about them. He continued "I can order a suspension of your security clearance and a complete review of your file or you can retire." So I retired with a couple good memories and a bunch of bad ones. I was pleasantly surprised that I wouldn't have to work in Wal-Mart to make ends meet. The rest as they say is history. When I hiked the AT I annoyed the hell out of a bunch of thru hikers with way too many anecdotes. Some actually politely listened or they had ear plugs in their ears. You never know where a single act will lead you; in 1965 I was supposed to stay home and mow the lawn....blah, blah, blah, etc.

T-Dubs
04-27-2007, 22:48
Thanks for all of the kind words, but all I've really done is get old while doing my job. (-:
<snip>
So when do you start?
I've planned to start about a year from now. Getting things in order financially will take some time and I've got to get this old vessel ready for any trip. I've always imagined a thru hike as a grand adventure but now I think long sections are the way for me. I've read hiker accounts wishing, 'that I took more time to enjoy each day' type of sentiment. I'm now thinking a 'ramble along the Appalachian corridor' is in the future.

<snip>
Give us a heads up if you section the Buckeye Trail, Hocking County
Thank you for the invite. I may just take you up on that. I've got a son down at OU and I'm sure we could work in some hiking.

Tom

walkin' wally
04-29-2007, 18:09
Congratulations on your retirement :)

I have 32 months 1 day and about 6 hours left to go for my retirement ( not that I'm counting). I hope to be on the trail Monday am March 15th 2010.

WILLIAM HAYES
04-29-2007, 19:42
I will be hanging it up in september after nearly 30 years in higher education and healthcare. I have been chipping away at the trail gradually. I have completed everything from springer to atkins in april of 08 I will start at atkins and hike the rest straight thru.It has always been a dream of mine.I
have met some some great people on the trail .Good luck and maybe I will see you down the trail-

Hillbilly

weary
04-30-2007, 09:52
My advice is to stay active. The "old" people I see are those who used retirement to avoid being active and useful.

I retired somewhat unexpectedly a few weeks prior to my 62nd birthday and have managed to keep busy -- too busy sometimes -- the 16 years since. A thru hike wasn't in my plans, but I hiked Maine with a 9-year-old the first summer, ran unsuccessfully for a State Senate seat the second summer, and headed for Georgia the third summer, mostly out of curiosity. I had hiked and helped maintain the mountains of northern New England all my life and wanted to do some exploring down south.

I sometimes think that I haven't retired, just stopped earning money. These days I'm a volunteer for the Maine Chapter AMC. the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and two land trusts. Most gratifying are the land trusts. There's no better feeling than the thought that you have helped preserve land that will be enjoyed long after one is gone and forgotten.

I highly recommend getting involved in land protection. No matter how hard one tries, poverty, sickness, blowdowns, the need for brush cutting on trails... will always be part of the human condition. But protected land will mostly remain protected and enjoyed for as long as civilizations and governments persist.

Weary

T-Dubs
04-30-2007, 11:36
<snip>

My advice is to stay active. The "old" people I see are those who used retirement to avoid being active and useful.
Weary

That may be a problem. I've told my co-workers that when I retire I plan to burn all of my clothes and buy 8 bathrobes. One for each day of the week and a special one for when company comes over.

If I change 'bathrobe' to 'hiking kilt' will it have the same effect?

Tom

Ps. Thank you for the words of wisdom in your post. I do plan to stay busy making these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/ThosS/birdcageoutside.jpg