Jack's Diary

Hi Jack it sounds like you had a good trip . Ah you are still very young . We will possibly have to work until retirement age of maybe 67 ish unless we win the lotto . I do have a pension clicking in at 60 but my aim is to invest it for a few more years .
you sound happier now so that’s good and good on the weight !!
 
Ah, it's sweet to have that pension.
 
Good to hear you're feeling better - and that you're happy with how you've maintained your weight where you want it to be. :)
 
So my wife just showed me the expenses and we're on track. I was a little confused about how to deal with the quarterly tax payments, but for retirement purposes, I won't have those anyway.

I was back at 170 this morning after having a bunch of frozen bananas last night. At least I got to the gym this morning and was 168 when I got back. It was chilly out!

I ordered 4 bottles of a memory/focus-enhancing supplement called "Mind Lab Pro" which got a good review from vaga.org. That web site looks pretty objective, but I was disappointed when their top two recommendations look like they come from related companies. But I went for it anyway - it's supposed to be non-addictive, unlike Adderall. I don't need to get addicted to anything right now.

The other thing vaga.org said is if you don't drink two liters of water per day and get regular exercise, you have no business ordering memory-enhance / mind-enhancing supplements because they are more effective in any case. Note to self - drink more water. Tom Brady is always preaching that as well.

I'm going to help my wife shop, then grab a quick nap. Both the Celtics and the Patriots are playing this afternoon.
 
Well done on getting the weight back down after gym.
I have been suckered into buying so many supplements over the years now I'm just depending on my balanced diet . Let us know how they work out for you please ?
 
Hi Petal,

Yeah, good point. When I read that exercise and drinking water would do more than the supplements, I was a bit let down. The origin was that one of my colleagues was joking around about Adderall as a brain supplement. I looked it up, and it's addictive and there's no way I would go for something like that - I'm not a college student studying for finals. But there are some natural, non-addictive "stacks" of supplements that are pre-packaged for you, and this one supposedly has all the good ones. If it makes any discernible difference (which I doubt), I'll stick with it.

Well, the good news is I had my annual physical and there's nothing wrong, in fact the doctor said it was hard to make any recommendations because I was "so healthy" - nice to hear that. I still have 5-10 lbs to lose though. That will be tougher as a sprained my back slightly at work (getting out of a chair at the wrong angle, how do you even do that?).
 
My daughter is home for the Thanksgiving holiday, she'll be around for the week, although off with friends for the weekend. The good news is she apparently has got a job at one of the biggest tech companies in the world (it's the default search engine for the known universe). This will be nice because if you have a name like that on your resume, it's good for your career. Plus it's in a cool area - something I'd like to get into myself if I weren't so close to the tail-end of my own.

Speaking of which - I ran into my boss in the kitchen yesterday, and he broached the subject of a new contract. He asked me if I had any plans to go elsewhere and I said no. Of course, I didn't say I was thinking about retiring, because I'm so conflicted on that right now. Just momentum, plus the job has gotten a bit easier (famous last words). Plus of course the desire to pack away a bit more money.

But I did expressly say there was a negotiation to be had, because my company had grabbed *all* the difference between what I and the temp company were making before I went direct. I explained to him I had actually lost money on the going direct route, which makes me mad when I think about it. I just have myself to blame for that, of course. So, theoretically we might not arrive at an agreement, but that seems unlikely. I don't really want to piss them off by being unreasonable, either.

He also did say something like "when we offer you a job", but then why extend the contract? I'm leery of that anway because at that point, all the extra hours go uncompensated, which has been a bit of a windfall for me. I might actually prefer the contract for that reason, despite the lack of benefits.
 
Hey Jack, it was nice to see a post from you on my diary. Not sure why I have not posted on yours before, I do read it from time to time. Are you still in Japan?

What are your objectives? Are you trying to lose weight or just maintain? It seems like you must be close to where you should be.

I see you are struggling with retirement, so am I. I am a bit older than you at 67, and have started trying to retire but not finding it quick or easy. I am an independent consultant, but in a different business and different structure than you. I have told all my clients that I want to retire, and have just quit a couple of them, but unwinding is hard. Good luck with your process.
 
Hi Jack,
Lovely to see your daughter got a job with that company . Think my son would enjoy that too . Seems to be me like you might be in a position to negotiate a better contract for yourself . Also I don't think you sound ready to retire just yet.
 
Alligator - thanks for stopping by. I've often read your posts in other diaries and decided to check yours out yesterday. I'm very impressed by your track record in getting your weight down and your biking in the cold got me inspired to get out to the beach and walk yesterday (and also rake some leaves).

I went to Japan this summer on vacation but I actually live near Boston. I've weighed around 165-170 for a long time now, but I'm at the high range of 169.5 and need to drop around 5. It's proving amazingly difficult, since I can no longer go to my old standbys, jogging and tennis, due to an arthritic knee.

I see you're an LSU fan and alum(?). I don't really follow college football, but the Patriots had a tremendous player, Marshall Faulk, who went there.

It sounds like you can retire financially, but it's tough to walk away from long-time clients who rely on you. Not a bad position to be in.

Petal - Thanks, I'm very happy and proud of her. On retirement, well, yeah. I guess I'm not ready. I guess. If they just ended my contract, I would be cool with that, though. I just hate to leave the money on the table as I'm not wealthy or anything, and I'm due for a raise.
 
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jackbenimble said:
I did expressly say there was a negotiation to be had.... I explained to him I had actually lost money on the going direct route...
He also did say something like "when we offer you a job", but then why extend the contract? I'm leery of that ...
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I'd be a bit leery of this boss! It doesn't sound like he replied directly to your point about the company saving the money by passing the agency cost (effectively) on to you; instead he diverted by talking about a possible job offer at some vague future time. I'm really glad you have the option to retire when you feel like it, though I understand there's multiple factors at play, like the fun of the work, the workmates, and the clients who rely on you. (And doing work that one can do well is fun!)
 
I had a nice session with guitar last night. The most fun part is just listening to Pandora and trying to solo along with it. I'm definitely getting better at figuring out the chords, although a lot of the songs have a pretty simple structure. I have been getting a lot of blues coming up, which Pandora figured out I like due to my thumbs ups, I guess. That's good, blues is good to learn and to step into soloing more. But I need to work on my timing, and counting.

I was listening to The Power of Now while walking along the beach yesterday. That book is just so amazing. It has such a different slant than the traditional self-help approaches. More complete. It's not *just* live in the present. It's *why* we should do that. It's not just "help others and you will be happy". It's about being aligned with the underlying "consciousness" of the universe. It's hard to explain, and I can't say that I particularly understand it or have adopted it. But just the experience of walking along the beach and hearing the secrets of life - and death - and how they are one and the same - etc. etc. - makes for an interesting walk.
 
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Had the day off today. I went to Guitar Center and got a guitar case, soft, with straps for the shoulders. It's something I've needed for years, it was like $50. I also got a looper on sale for about $75. Also a wah-wah pedal, for about $80. Some cables, picks and a power supply and daisy chain. Altogether it came to about $275. The cables and stuff really add to the cost.

But I'm stoked. The wah-wah pedal will be fun, and the looper will be good for creating chord progressions to jam along with.

I went to the beach to walk, but it was too cold - the wind was cutting through my winter coat and I couldn't even hear the book I was listening to on the earbuds. So I went to the gym and walked for about an hour on the treadmill. I'm still at 170, though, after having 3 frozen bananas this afternoon.

I'm thinking I'll let my boss know next week I'm not planning to continue working. Essentially, retiring. Or at least taking a break. They will be disappointed, I think, and it's not a bad job. I have my own cube, nobody hassles me. But it's just so busy - there are so many emails and so much fire-fighting. I'm not really doing programming at all. I kind of miss the programming, building stuff. But I'm glad I tried it. I was curious about what it would be like.
 
So - I'm feeling a bit down. I feel like I should be doing more with my life, and here I am about to retire. It's pitch dark outside and it's not even 5 pm. It must be one of the shortest days of the year by now.

Even though I have a couple of new pedals, I haven't touched the guitar yet today. I did walk about 45 minutes at about 3.5 pace at the gym, while listening to a Japanese podcast. It was the second time through, and I felt like I understood a lot more this time. At least 50% maybe more. It's not a hard one, but still.

I did have a chat with my wife about retiring. She's anxious about the money and if we'll have relationship issues. For the money, I showed her the chart from the Vanguard guy - the money goes down for a few years until I start collecting SS at age 67, then it starts going back up. Even the bottom 10% of projections her with plenty of money when she hit the age of 100.

As far as the relationship, I said we just have to communicate. What I really have to do is have a routine to get out of the house every day, just like work. Maybe find an easy part-time job or something. I certainly can't be like this.

But today is an exception because there's like 3 games I want to watch. It won't be like that normally.
 
Hi, Jack. There is more to life than work & money. Perhaps transitioning into retirement is a better idea for you than going cold turkey. Life & work shouldn't be all or nothing, but work seems to be that way nowadays. It is important to feel needed & fulfilled. Is there a job you would really like to do that may not be so full-on & may or may not pay as well?
 
Hi Cate,
Good question. I don't have a ready answer for that. Maybe a job that would be less stressful but still involved with software. Maybe some open source stuff?

I just need to tell the company that I'm not going to renew, that I'm taking time off to figure out the next step, maybe upgrade my skills. I don't have to mention retirement, but it would be a lot easier to explain if I said that. Maybe like recharge the batteries or something. Or just maybe to freelance app work. That's the tricky part.

I have to have that conversation asap, like this week.
 
It wouldn't (or shouldn't) hurt to say that you want to transition into retirement. I use recharge the batteries as my excuse for having some days at home. You have nothing to lose, Jack by having the conversation this week. Keep your head high xo
 
Hey Cate - so I let him know today. He asked me to consider a shorter extension, but I said not really, unless they were really stuck - what's the point? But I told P I would be around and could chip in if they were swamped.

Anyway, it's done. No regrets. Not yet anyway.
 
Well done, Jack :)
 
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