Reflections of a Lifetime

When I was in high school, I was very active and playing the following sports:  football, basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, and volleyball.

  

When I was in high school, I was not a very good student and made "B's" without spending too much time studying. 

When I was in high school, I enjoyed racing cars on the highway, tried to hide from police, and could not resist going to a party.

 

When I was in college, I was bored by my professors as the classes we were taking were designed to FLUNK US OUT.  These classes were like being back in high school all over again except they went into a little more depth and detail, expecting you to memorize what you would never use again.

From that standpoint, college seemed like a total WASTE OF TIME for both me and the professor.

While in college, I played no sports nor was I very interested in attending any of the games that were being played on campus.  I pretty much stayed to myself.

After two and a half years of college, I quit and enlisted in the US Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army or Marines and sent to Vietnam.  I knew that I did not like war nor did I believe in war and wanted to avoid it as best as I could.

Two years later, I returned to college, finished my degree and began my career.  Five years later, I enrolled in grad school to pursue an MBA.  It was a solid degree and there were not many of us around the workplace.

I spent 60 hours in grad school and today I can get than same degree and only spend 30 hours.  I question their level of knowledge and competence after only spending 30 hours in training.

I worked in a variety of jobs that revolved around education for 45 years before I retired at age 67.  After retirement, I continued to teach business classes at night for five years, just to have something to do.

Many people my age and younger have decided never to retire and to work in some capacity until they die.  And, while that is fine for them, I had no desire to do that.

If I had continued to work, I would have had more money which is a good thing, but towards the end of my career, I began running into incompetent bosses who simply wanted you to kiss their asses and I refused to do that.

When I was a boss, I never had any desire for any of my subordinates to kiss my ass...  although a few tried and I got rid of them.

I enjoy being retired as does my wife.  I still shave every other day but I wear no coat and tie.  Mostly I wear old clothes unless we are visiting people, going out to dinner, or on vacation.

It seems odd to go on vacation when one is not working but it is nice to get away from routine, even if there really is no routine.

Fortunately, we managed to save enough money for retirement that we can pretty much do what we want.  Oddly, there is really not that much that we want to do.