A noticeable change since retirement.

[Ephemerella 0]

I retired after 42 years as an engineer, mostly with the same defense company (OK, it got bought 3 times with accompanying name changes). With one exception, every time I was fed up or bored, something appeared at my office door and I was able to take advantage of the opportunity. (Early in my career I left for a year to work elsewhere, and came back.) Not so much advancement into management (although I did that too), but interesting technology, lots of innovation, and some really interesting people to work with. By the end of my career I had spent an inordinate amount of time as a project troubleshooter - mostly technical, but also management type problems as well. These were mainly projects deemed important but hopeless. Remedying these projects gone awry took way too many 60 hour weeks, and lots of stress. I found the best times were motivating technical folks by spending time in the lab with them, asking the "dumb questions" and often getting the "uh-oh" look when one of the dumb questions sparked an idea on the nature of the problem.  I found 90% of the people I worked with (or led their team) could be easily motivated by being valued, listened to, and removing constraints on their ability to actually make progress. Almost never had to tell someone to do something - the idea was to get them to see something needed to be done and enable them to do it. Apparently managers and technical leads before me did not subscribe to this concept.  Plus most of my teams, nerds like me, enjoyed having a boss that was technical and interested in how they had created the design that was part of the troubled project. The other 10% were removed from the project one way or another. It appears this approach worked, and I found that I enjoyed working with the folks on the project, and it was reported that they enjoyed working for me.  This meant long-term connections with smart people, and we could and did call on each other for help if needed. So I miss that.

My own bosses were generally OK, but my position was more or less independent, so no day-to-day direction from most of them - a good thing.

But I also observed that over the 40 some-odd years, the company's approach to employees had changed from perhaps paternalistic but mutually supportive in the long term, to a more transactional (i.e. we pay you for that, so just do it) and more short term - things like making health insurance worse, and making it harder for young engineers to get a graduate education on the company's dime in the evenings (that benefit has a ROI to the company of less than a year, since the courses are directly related to the work - so no real management excuse for making it harder to access). And management whining about the millennials (they are actually smarter than I am, they recognized the transactional shift early in their careers and decided they could play that game as well). It was time to say good-bye to it all. That was 20 months ago.

So what's different? A little more time fishing, tying, tying at shows. Much better conversations with my better half. Lots of deferred maintenance and restoration on my house (it's about 150 yrs old).  Just rebuilt my table saw. I get up at 6 most days (a habit from when we had workmen at the house last year) - beats 4:45 am from my working days - and take my time at breakfast to read before starting my "honey do" list or my own list of projects and tasks.  Or go fishing, or plan a fishing trip away.  I do still keep a notebook with my to-do list and notes, but now it has measurements and dimensions for various woodworking projects, or notes on stuff to buy to repair something, or ideas on flies to be tied, instead of engineering analyses and the like. No weekly reports or presentations to angry customers or clueless executives. Money is different, since I now have to pay myself from retirement savings, etc. but not too hard to get used to. These things are all what I want to do (or my better half wants me to do), not someone else. I'm much more relaxed. I'm not short with my temper anymore.  I spend more time with my granddaughters (1, 3, and 6), and take a walk every day with the dog - some days a nice 90-minute fast walk on a nearby trail. I enjoy the sounds and smells of the morning and the sounds of all the birds, and savor how the plants grow lush in the spring and summer, and fade in fall - and enjoy the snow in the winter. 

I recommend it to you all. 

[MuskyFlyGuy 0]

A nice report and finding time for the important things. 

[jcozzz 0]

Good on all you guys.Forced to retire this year.Recovered pretty well from a stroke a year ago on Good Friday of all days.Worked construction for 40 plus years.Sat at home most of covid.Was all set to return,only 2 years til max pension and still strong and agile enough to work.By winter last year i realized i could not do 8hrs up and down on my knees on scaffolds etc.Still strong but a little off balance,right side does not always do what it should.I am finally feeling good about it,No more leaving the house at 5am.Driving to downtown Chicago,finding parking hauling my tools for blocks etc.Most of my friends are or will be retiring soon.I never really loved it but the money was good and the freedom of being in the trades was great.I gave it my all every day but never thought about work at days end.Passed every oppurtunity to be a foreman or superintendant.Did not need the endless phonecalls etc from the NEW generation that never comes out to a job.