Since I retired from teaching at the end of May I have been keeping busy, but also trying to be cautious. I have not gone out and bought a bunch of stuff, or even traveled to far off places. I am trying to be conservative until I can figure out what the norm will be. I’ve tried to be aware that my “stop and think point” when it comes to buying stuff has shifted since I no longer have a paycheck and and won’t until the State of Indiana untangles their red tape to get my pension out to me. I have been told that August is most likely when that should happen.
I’m starting off each week by making myself a pitcher of iced tea. It seems like a good habit to get into. I’ve also tried to walk a few times a week, but due to health advisories (Blame Canada) and this being summer in the Midwest, that has not happened as much as I would like. The cats having lost one of my earbuds doesn’t help… but I still love my cats and I know the darn earbud is around here somewhere. I have gone out with some friends- something I really never did over the summer when I was teaching. These have been helpful in just understanding who I now am… I’m no longer a teacher, and I am really trying to figure out how that change impacts my sense of self. One thing I have tried to avoid is being an ever-present entity on social media. While I think I have increased my time, I’ve also consciously made sure I am not commenting on everyone’s posts, or posting meme after meme just to make sure people know I’m around.
So far I have spent a great deal of time in the “Pit of Despair” aka the basement, trying to organize 20+ years of junk that has accumulated there. Mostly, it seems that I have a lot of comic books that needed to be sorted and organized and then decisions needed to be made. It seems that I have around 8,000 comics from collecting since I was a child. I’ve gone through them once before, but not in earnest. I’m taking my comics to my favorite local shop, Comic Carnival, and giving them first go at buying what they would like. I know some people might not agree with this, but I am all for simplicity and for helping out a local small business that I want to keep going long into the future. My plan is to take the store credit I get and buy a few key “collector’s” issues to actually invest with. I know I won’t sell them unless I absolutely have to, but if something were to happen to me, I want it to be easy for someone to get the best value for the collectibles I have.
The Pit has been on my mind for years so getting to that has been important, though slow going. Which leaves me to other projects and trying to figure out exactly what retirement will look like. I have a number of things I geek out about, so what will I focus on? Many people think about all the crazy things I did as a teacher with robots and that is one thing I’m avoiding. I’m going back to drawing, and well, just being creative. While I still think robotics is important I think I need a break, from that and school related stuff. I started by snoozing pretty much my social media feeds from any group related to STEM, Robotics, or School. As they resurface after 30 days, I’ve snoozed them again… someday I may want to go back, but not right now.
What has been on my mind (and the mind of a lot of people new to retirement I guess) is serious adult stuff like income, health insurance, and how am I going to afford this? Fortunately, Sue is still happily working, but I’m still waiting for my pension, to determine health insurance options, and to get all the various other retirement accounts in order and humming along. These all require me working with people who calmly tell me to be patient and don’t worry. While they have the experience… I have watched people burn through a lot more money than I will ever see which is why I’m not doing a lot of things, besides cleaning out the Pit of Despair and mowing the lawn.
I have gone on a few day trips- the Geocaching and Pizza Trail in Seneca County Ohio was a wonderful day trip as was starting the Aviation Trail in and around Dayton, OH. These are getting me out of the house, but also giving me a chance to do small things while I wait. I have a few plans that I’m looking forward to which will help me to understand the direction I want to take- Gen Con, Going Caching, & New York Comic Con and chance to try out a few tribes and see where I fit in.
I have always enjoyed gaming, but being anti-social and an Introvert can make it hard. Gen Con will give me a chance to play and for the first time I will be able to attend the entire four days. I’ve signed up for a few things, but am taking an entire day to play around with puppetry. They have a writing workshop and a puppetry workshop as part of the Con and I’m going to try my hand at puppets- because I’ve always enjoyed the medium. I’ll also be trying out some games, but I have found that I’m always anxious when playing a game, that I will make a mistake… which I tend to do.
I started Geocaching in 2006 after the ISTE conference and while I still enjoy it, Sue is the real cacher in the family. Going Caching is a one day (not really, but the event happens on one day) puzzle based event with a different theme each year. This year it’s based on Vikings so “Uff Da?” We are teaming up with some friends (yes, I do actually have a few of those) and we are trying to decipher the clues to figure out what we need to do. It should be a blast, but only time will tell.
I last went to New York Comic Con when I first started this strip. I went to Web Comics Boot Camp and was given some advice that I wasn’t ready for and a harsh critique of my work which I needed. This time I’m going with my brother and it will be “fascinating” since according to him, he has never attended a comic book convention ever. I was hoping to make this an annual thing with my niece and nephew, but “dad” needs to check it out first. I’m looking forward to being the tour guide fro him and hopefully get him to understand my tribe… if this is my tribe.
So what have I done to celebrate the end of a 35 year career besides clean the basement? I had plans, but until I can feel secure, I’m not doing much. I have commissioned graphics for my Roadster. They will be put on in the next few weeks and I’ll go into details with pictures sometime after that project is done. That is probably the celebration of my new found or yet to be really discovered freedom. In preparation I removed the LEGO bricks from the car, making it less noticeable to former students. In that same thought I shaved my beard. I’ve finished some drawing projects, and started more. I fixed Cecil’s chainmail for Going Caching and have attended a few more geocaching events since I took a hiatus for the hobby. I’m really taking time to discover who might have been hiding behind the guy who devoted 35 years to teaching & his classroom above everything else. Am I a geocacher? Am I a cartoonist? Am I a gamer? Am I a LEGO enthusiast? Am I comic book geek? Am I something else or an amalgam of everything? Only time will tell.