Monthly Archives: June 2008

Welcome to the exact middle of the year, at least by the Jullian calendar.

Is it just me, or did June DRAG by?  Well, fear not, the hump is upon us and Christmas, Hannukah and the New Year are right around the corner.

I am truly sorry to see that so many people decided not to join back up after I cleared the email list out.  I will not lie, it does bother me that so many thought so little of what I try and do here.

But this is a fresh start and you, my captive vict… er… I mean audience shall not be disappointed.

I am looking at the possibility of adding a guest writer for occasional pieces… if you are interested in writing maybe one piece a month and can write better than a 5th grade level… let me know.   I am not ready to do this yet, but ever since I had to fire my wife from the job, I have been considering opening this up to people.

As time goes by, I am realizing that the need to consider retirement is really not that far off.  Ideally I am hoping to retire at 55 years old, which is not that far off.

The obvious things worry me… will I have enough to retire, where can I afford to retire, will I have to take a part time job when I retire, just to make ends meet?  There are many concerns and in reality, unless you were already financially well off to begin with, nothing is certain until that fateful day when you take the step and leave the workforce and become a retiree.

I try not to worry about the financial side if it too much.  I am doing what I can and setting aside as much as I can.  We will see when the time comes if it was enough and with the way the economy is going right now, it is anyone’s guess.

I try to think more of the PLACES that I would like to retire to.  One thing that has become certain in my life is that the older I get, the less I like places that have large populations.  Sure, when I was a teen I loved the idea of living in someplace like Los Angeles, San Diego or San Francisco.  Those are party towns and they always have a lot going on in them.  My wife and I even briefly looked at the idea of living in San Diego back in the early 90s.  We even looked at lofts near Horton Plaza in the Gas Lamp district.  At the time it was a bustling older style area.  I think that entire area was renovated and the apartment is no longer there.

Today, my idea of the perfect place to live would be anyplace that has a small population and low crime rate.  Someplace that only has four or five gas stations, total and a population small enough where you will actually learn who your neighbors are.  This is something that I miss from my childhood.  I spent part of my youth in Taft, Ca.  While I like to make fun of it as a “Hick Town”, I do recall the fact that we knew everyone on our block and there was never really a question about who you did or did not trust.  You borrowed tools, helped each other, talked, visited and there was few, if any, problems with one another.  I miss that.

The places that I am looking at, with my wife, for retirement options are places like Olancha, Ca.  The place that my mother lived as a child.  Elko, Nv.  A small, out there, kind of town.  Fairbanks, Ak.  Where my mother, brother and his kids live now.  Sedona, Az would be nice, but probably a little pricy because of the tourist trade in that area.  There are a few other places, but I have not looked into them as much.

The way things are going, though, with gas and all… who knows.  We might have to retire to a cardboard box next to Highway 58.  You never can tell where you might end up, until you get there.