Thank you everyone for your kind words of encouragement, and well wishes!
Oddly enough, many people I know, (who are close to retirement themselves), have been poking me for a while about not retiring earlier, and now that I have, the same characters are saying, "What are you going to do now", with a tone emplying I'm making a mistake.. too funny
There's a "Back Building" on our property that was previously a cabinet makers work shop, it's good sized at 24' x 38' I believe, (high ceilings, completely open inside, and no walls or posts). Unfortunately over the years it's turned into a storage building that's packed full of stuff that needs to get sorted, cataloged, sold, and/or trashed. I can't find anything in there anymore. I've put my daughters on notice, to get all their stuff out of there, once spring gets here the tossing begins.... The plan is to turn it into a decent work shop, with a new garage door to give access to the fleet, and the various other pieces of equipment I have. Perhaps a lift if there's enough ceiling height, ( I think it's about 12 to 13', I need to measure it). Also I'll wall off a man cave in one of the corners, etc. with conditioned air, beer fridge, etc. That will take care of the MB interests for now, all car acquisitions will stop unless there's a swap of some sorts, and I'll most likely trim the fleet down over time anyway. The lure of a large disposable income kept me in the game too long, so now that retirement is here, the luxury of buying things I can do without is over. There is some wiggle room left, but that money needs to really get prioritized now. Amazon and others will start wondering what happened to me....lol
The wife and I were boaters for years. We were boaters before MB lovers, belonging to a local yacht club and had a nice sized fly-bridge cruiser for years. We lost that boat to hurricane damage years ago, and never got around to replacing it. I still belong to the yacht club, located on the Hudson River, about 65 miles north of NYC, Nice big open water with access south to the Atlantic of course, and also to the Erie and Champlain canals to the north, which can take you to the St. Lawrence Seaway, or the Great lakes and beyond. Now being retired, both of us are interested again, so Boat shopping will start as we get closer to spring. One of my old dreams was making the "Grand Loop", which a few of the club members have done. Head north up the Hudson River till you get to Albany, jump on the Erie Canal which starts/ends there. Head west on the canal until you hit the great lakes, then other canals until you get into the Mississippi River. Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, then head east on the Gulf to the Ft Meyers area of Florida. Jump into the Okeechobee waterway, (canal), which runs across Florida to the Atlantic, coming out at Port St. Lucie I think. Then take the inland waterway north up the east coast and back into the Hudson river where it meets the Atlantic in NY Bay. Doing that will require a nice sized live aboard boat, probably a trawler type with an economical diesel motor, a gen-set, for elec. and hot water when not at a dock with power. Boat shopping is as fun as MB shopping...
If the COVID thing ever lightens up, we love to travel, (not just boating), and our oldest daughter who lives in Perth, AU is getting remarried this year (we think, COVID delays). Her fiance is from Northern Italy, with his family owning a BnB in the mountains north of Milan, near Como I think. So we're reserving time and money for a trip to Italy if it happens. Maybe stay longer and explore Switzerland as well, we'll see...
Beyond that I'm and avid gun collector, and belong to a 2000 acre private hunting preserve near the original Woodstock concert site near Bethel,
NY. I'm also a long time fly fisherman, once spending a lot of trout fishing time in the Catskills of NY, now it's Alaska in Aug. for the Coho Salmon runs. Ice fishing, cross country skiing, camping have filled my time in the past as well, but work has kept me from many of those things for a while.
Anyway, for those folks asking me, "what are you going to do now?", I just give them a smile and tell them I'll figure it out, I won't be bored at all.
Anyway, thanks again for all the warm wishes.... It's Time for fun and games.......Cheers...
Jokes
