Day off today. Treating myself to breakfast at the local diner.

[Aristus]

It feels so weird to be awake, not at work, and not following a schedule…

[nightwing1240]

1. Just wait until you retire

Enjoy your day!

BTW, I love being retired

[GreenWave]

2. I hope to never retire!

I am scared of the next stage after retirement...

[Deuxcents]

3. Nah..don't be afraid. You'll have time to do what you've always wanted to but had a schedule

[rubbersole]

4. After one month you'll wonder how in the hell you had time to go to work.

Trust me.

[doc03]

15. +1

[Irish_Dem]

5. Start getting some retirement hobbies and activities before you actually retire.

That way you will have things in place when the day comes.

[GreenWave]

20. You mean heavy gardening, moving 20+ tons of mulch etc.

It does take a while after each. My favorite is picking strawberries. Normally they suffer from snails and slugs, but not now as the leaping lizards are omnipresent.And the soil is so rich it burns holes in me denims! (typo allowed to preserve the Irish heritage!)

And who can forget, trimming the pecan branches in late winter? Nothing like being up there and the branch is like a bow and you are the arrow. Hang tight when the wind blows.

I already do that stuff. Work is not so punitive.

[Irish_Dem]

23. As you age, you may want some less strenuous hobbies lined up.

And activities where you do not have to climb a ladder.

Lighter gardening. And let the young folks climb the trees.

Also some indoor hobbies.

[Skittles]

28. I am doing that

I have always wanted to be bilingual and have started taking Duolingo Spanish lessons

[Irish_Dem]

29. Many studies have linked learning new things to delayed dementia onset.

So you are helping to stave off cognitive decline and working on retirement hobbies.
May lead to travel or volunteer work as well, who knows?

[Ocelot II]

18. Don't be, it's awesome.

The only thing you need to worry about is taking on too many projects and hobbies. People will want you to do stuff (committees, projects, etc.), assuming you have a ton of free time because you're retired. And pretty soon you'll be more busy than when you were working. Learn to say no!

[Aristus]

6. I'm looking at at least another fifteen years or so.

God speed the day...

[mitch96]

30. Yup, 6 Saturdays and 1 Sunday... nt

[3catwoman3]

7. Someday, you can be a ROMEO.

We recently learned this acronym from one of my husband's friends, a fellow retired pilot, who learned it from a waitress where he regularly has breakfast with other retired guys - Retired Old Men Eating Out.

What did you choose for your morning repast?

[Aristus]

8. Except I plan on eating alone.

Not interested in sharing a table or a meal with a bunch of trucker-hatted malcontents bitching about "kids these days".

There was a table of them right across from me earlier. Loud mouths, empty heads.

I finished my biscuits and gravy with eggs fried hard, paid up, tipped nicely, and left.



Now just relaxing at home, surfing the net, and hanging out with my beloved DU-ers.

[3catwoman3]

11. You could just make it singular - Retired Old Man...

…Eating Out.

[Aristus]

13. Much better.

[chillfactor]

9. Enjoy yourself!

You work hard....you deserve it.

[Aristus]

10. Thank you.

Harder than I should, really. Right now, I'm working my way through my electronic in-box, clearing the decks for work on Thursday. There's always so much paper on my desk when I arrive in the mornings, I can't afford to waste office time on stuff I can do from home.

[IcyPeas]

12. I hope you got all the free coffee refills the diner offers.

[Aristus]

14. Had three cups.

That will about do me.

[niyad]

17. Only three?? Lightweight!

[Aristus]

21. It's not the coffee.

It's how much sweetener it needs. I use a mix of Truvia and a bit of sugar. But more than two or three cups has me worrying about all the nasty stuff I'm putting in my body. So I try to limit it.

[niyad]

24. Ah, I understand. I use cane sugar or honey. Deadly allergic to the fake and crap.

[Aristus]

25. Plus, if I'm going to ingest sugar, I prefer it in its fermented form...

[niyad]

26. Brandy.

[Aristus]

27. Lovely.

[niyad]

16. Enjoy your day. You deserve it!

[2naSalit]

19. And a well deserved...

Day of pleasantry!

[Aristus]

22. Thank you.

[trof]

31. I LOVE diners. Story:

I was at a diner in Queens that I'd never been to before.
I'm from Alabama, and I like fried chicken.

The 50 something waitress came over.
"What can I gitcha' Honey?"
"I'll have the fried chicken."
She just shook her head.

"No?", I said.
"No, you don't want the fried chicken."
"What's good?"
"Try the meatloaf. You'll like it."

The meatloaf was delicious.

[Aristus]

32. Diner waitresses always know what's good.

Being from Alabama, you must have appreciated being called 'Honey'.

'Honey' or 'Hon' is part of the experience.

I don't miss the South, but I miss the little things like "Reg'lar 'r' decaf, Hon?"