What have you been up to lately?

[Buster]

Cherish your Dad because when he is gone like mine you'll miss him - alot!

It's why I make the 6 hour round trip weekly, and in the summer to get him out on my brother's pontoon to drown minnows.

 

[jlake1958]

Signed up for Medicare in preparation for my retirement Jan 31 2025. It will be very different not having a job any more.

Signed up for Medicare in preparation for my retirement Jan 31 2025. It will be very different not having a job any more.

I have struggled a bit with retirement, Covid years, and loss of work friendships.
On the other hand, I have been letting my freak flag fly as I am in deep project mode. That part of retirement has been fun. Had a porsche 944 turbo project, then a Vanagon project, and now on a Lund Tyee total rebuild of the interior, the stern, and painting. These projects give my ADHD brain the obsessive focus almost to the exclusion of anything else. I plan on expanding my fishing in a boat greatly as I was not kind to my body in earlier years and now am paying the taxman so walking streams and most wading is a little dicey anymore.
Hoping to switch gears and really explore new species and locations in the Lund. I am thinking a 16' jon boat with a couple mods might be fun too.....ANOTHER PROJECT!

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Projects keep the brain sharp and blood pumping.

 

[lightflyer1]

About three years after my dad retired he said to me "I always wondered when retired people said 'I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working.' But now I understand--you do everything at about half the pace."
I checked out of full time work at 52 and did some light consulting for a few years just to keep a foot in the door in case I wanted to get back into work. Now I'm fully retired while my wife finishes up her career. She's happy working, I never was. My personal take on being busier is that objectively I (and most others) aren't "busier" if that means doing productive things that have to get done. Instead, we have expectations of doing more and however we decide to fill our days we can't get to all the things we want to do, so it feels busy. I also think many people WANT to feel busy because they've spent 40 years or more being busy and that energizes them. So we structure our lives in ways that make us feel busy. Using my 92yo dad again as an example--he tells me he's busy. He has to sweep the floor and read the newspaper and magazines, and there's a football game on at 3 and then he has to help mom with dinner and there's a movie he really wants to watch at 7. I wouldn't call that busy because with the exception of a bit of housework and meal prep, there's nothing on that list that has to get done--it's 90% leisure from my point of view. But I think he needs to believe he's being busy and productive. And if that keeps him going for a few more years--good on him.

My dad also always said that if he ever stopped he would just die. He always found something that needed doing.

 

[David Atkins]

My Dad said the same thing, he worked his garden (Summer and Fall) I did the tilling for him as the Sears 6 HP tiller would kill you if you didn't keep an eye on it, lol

We went fishing so he could bring home fresh fish for dinners, I took fresh venison and pork to him and mom from my hunting trips, he walked the dog 2 times a day for over a mile each time! He kept busy doing things for mom (she was an invalid)- cleaning the house, cooking food, grocery shopping - I told him he made a good wife, he laughed and said mom was his best friend, mother of his children, his honey pie! Made me feel warm inside when he said that, OH! they were married for 55 years when he died, tells you something about them!

Guess I learned something from mom and Dad - me and my better half will be doing out 35th in May of '25. She is also my best friend, mother of my 2 children, even though I am disabled I do the shopping and cooking when I can; finding a good woman is a blessing from God and to be loved, cherished and above all told how much they mean to us everyday! OFF MY SOAP BOX NOW - MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FAMILY HERE ON "TINBOATS" - MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

 

[Stand Up]

My Dad said the same thing, he worked his garden (Summer and Fall) I did the tilling for him as the Sears 6 HP tiller would kill you if you didn't keep an eye on it, lol

We went fishing so he could bring home fresh fish for dinners, I took fresh venison and pork to him and mom from my hunting trips, he walked the dog 2 times a day for over a mile each time! He kept busy doing things for mom (she was an invalid)- cleaning the house, cooking food, grocery shopping - I told him he made a good wife, he laughed and said mom was his best friend, mother of his children, his honey pie! Made me feel warm inside when he said that, OH! they were married for 55 years when he died, tells you something about them!

Guess I learned something from mom and Dad - me and my better half will be doing out 35th in May of '25. She is also my best friend, mother of my 2 children, even though I am disabled I do the shopping and cooking when I can; finding a good woman is a blessing from God and to be loved, cherished and above all told how much they mean to us everyday! OFF MY SOAP BOX NOW - MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FAMILY HERE ON "TINBOATS" - MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Too!

 

[Ldmoss]

Since I was 34 years old I've operated a business ranging from two employees to twenty one employees. Now that will keep a guy busy. I'm hugging on 80 years old now and I understand that busy is just busy. When I was fretting over how I was going to make this weeks payroll, I was just as busy as I am now when I'm trying to get my limb lines all baited before the rain sets in, and still make it home in time to help that ole gal with a little bit of supper. If we are to be successful day to day, your dad's life (and mine), still require some degree of scheduling, and thus incur some amount of pressure. Maybe not the same as making payroll, but pressure just the same. May God help us when we reach an age or a degree of weariness that we feel no pressure to succeed with our daily tasks and refuse to busy ourselves with them.

 

[Stand Up]

It was 34F here yesterday. So the dog and I went hunting... sort of. Hard to hunt rabbits when the snow is deep. The dog and I were happy to get out.
Notice how low the sun is on the horizon at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.



It looks like I'm in winter wonder land, however there is a massive power generating plant just a few miles from here. Huge power lines behind me in the field.

 

[Lost But Happy]

It was 34F here yesterday. So the dog and I went hunting... sort of. Hard to hunt rabbits when the snow is deep. The dog and I were happy to get out.View attachment 123862View attachment 123865View attachment 123864View attachment 123866
Notice how low the sun is on the horizon at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.
View attachment 123867

View attachment 123868View attachment 123869
It looks like I'm in winter wonder land, however there is a massive power generating plant just a few miles from here. Huge power lines behind me in the field. View attachment 123863

Beautiful!!! Well, except for the last pic. lol

Your pooch a Malinois?

 

[Stand Up]

Beautiful!!! Well, except for the last pic. lol

Your pooch a Malinois?

Yes, she is. I got her from the local Humane Society almost a year ago. I couldn't have got a better dog.

 

[Lost But Happy]

Yes, she is. I got her from the local Humane Society almost a year ago. I couldn't have got a better dog.

So cute! And she's probably quite the barrel of energy lol

 

[lightflyer1]

Those pictures remind me of my youth when my dad was stationed up near Fairbanks in Alaska.

 

[David Atkins]

Got me to remember my life on my father's farm when I was growing up; when it snowed we usually got 15 to 20 inches and sometimes with ice to boot. Made for fun times in the fields and woods; I remember hearing the pines snapping off from the ice and knowing that come the morning I would be on the axe or chainsaw until Dad and I cleared them out. God that memory made we fill up with tears missing my Dad and those tuff times we shared together, Stand Up you are a lucky man, true it's cold but nothing can ever take away those memories, Bless you brother for sharing them with us!

 

[Buster]

Got me to remember my life on my father's farm when I was growing up; when it snowed we usually got 15 to 20 inches and sometimes with ice to boot. Made for fun times in the fields and woods; I remember hearing the pines snapping off from the ice and knowing that come the morning I would be on the axe or chainsaw until Dad and I cleared them out. God that memory made we fill up with tears missing my Dad and those tuff times we shared together, Stand Up you are a lucky man, true it's cold but nothing can ever take away those memories, Bless you brother for sharing them with us!

I was a "city kid" (12k people in western MN--on the lake-filled edge of the Great Plains) but half my class and thus friends were from surrounding farms so there's some familiarity with all that. Stand Up, that last photo reminds me of jackrabbit hunting on friends' farms west of town.