Never retiring. My profession pays little and demands a lot but I love it so much. I translate mostly plays. Sometimes I get a chance to act or get invited to conferences on translating theatre. Other times I get grants. One day sooner rather than later, I may have to supplement it by working part-time at the local garden store so I'm trying to get and stay fit.
On Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 10:50 AM Bruce Metcalf via Silklist <[email protected]> wrote: > > Howdy, > > On 6/13/26 15:53, Sandhya via Silklist wrote: > > > Are you retired? What are you doing post-retirement? On hindsight, would > > you give your younger self some advice about what you would do > > differently? > > In a few weeks, I'll be retiring for the third time. Yeah, it gets > complicated. > > In 1998, I escaped a particularly bad work situation, and discovered > that my wife and I could afford to discontinue full-time employment, so > we retired and moved to Florida. > > I lasted ten months. > > It wasn't proximity to my wife (she was still trying to sell our old > house), it was just the lack of focus to my day. I had hobbies, but > wasn't able to focus on them sufficiently to fill the time. > > So I took on a part-time job. It was a lot of fun, if physically > miserable at times. The pay was but a pittance, but the benefits were > outstanding, and we made good uses of them. > > But being financially independent meant I could call bullshit when > management tried it without concern. I also became a union shop steward, > which made it nearly impossible to fire me. That role led me to read the > fine print in the contract, and I discovered in 2015 that I was eligible > to retire, retaining full benefits. Took the company eight months to > figure out how to retire a part-timer, and I understand I triggered a > change in the rules, but I was out with my second retirement. > > Starting in 2007, I accepted responsibility for a non-profit with a > healthy publication program, a substantial library, and multiple worthy > programs. The cause was the death of that organization's founder, and > his were larger shoes that I could hope to fill, even today. Working for > a non-profit board is never entirely safe, even when they trust you > (perhaps too much). It reached the point last year that all but one of > them stopped responding to my emails, which is a problem when I'm > supposed to be editing the magazines. > > They finally found another sucker, er, volunteer, and this week the > library and records were shipped to California, with three tons of junk > discarded. All I have left is a storage unit filled with library > shelving and file cabinets (which are cheaper to repurchase than move). > Finding homes for that, I'll be retired for a third time. > > I plan to spend a lot more time and energy on my hobbies. I just built > seven Ikea bookcases to allow me to pull books out of boxes, and some > general housekeeping (i.e.: junk trashing) is also in order. My wife's > health has also declined in the past decade, so I'm taking on more > household chores, more driving to doctors, and indulging her hobby, > which is taking world cruises (January thru June next year). > > Will this hold, or will I go back to work in some form? I can't say for > sure, but given my track record.... > > Cheers, > / Bruce / > > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist -- Translator/Owner AzulIndica Translations North Vancouver BC, Canada -- Silklist mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
