Submitted my paperwork

[flyer1]

Well, after nearly 35 years with the FAA, I submitted my retirement papers. We have our house in Michigan under contract and close on our place near Granbury,TX. This should all happen in a month. We are very excited. We need to find a place to shoot, get used to the heat and many other things. Do any of ya'll live near Granbury or Pecan Plantation ?

[lightman]

I don't live near either, but Congratustions on retiring from a successful career!

[PaulG67]

"Submitted my paperwork"

Feels good don't it?? One of the best days of my life was the day after I retired when I woke up at 9am instead of 4am.

[flyer1]

Thanks guys. I have mixed feelings. I have been working full time since I was 10, starting out on the farm. I am excited about the change and the move. A start of a new phase of life for me and the family. I am not sure I know how to get up after 0500. I will most likely look for some work after the move. I am wondering what I will be doing every day.

[twc1964]

You will like granbury. I want to high school there and lived there in and off for yrs. Now I live about an hour from there. It's a bit touristy now but not horrible.

[flyer1]

Twc1964, after the family gets settled, maybe we meet and have a coke.

[facetious]

Sure just rub it in. But in three years and a few months or so and I am going to fill a hole page with smiling dancing thingies to celebrate! I will be quitting with forty years of doing the same thing over and over and over..........

[shoot-n-lead]

I have no knowledge of the area and can offer no suggestions for you.

However, I can say CONGRATS on the retirement...enjoy. Tomorrow, makes 3 months since I worked my last day...36yr career...and it has been a nice experience, so far.

[flyer1]

Sure just rub it in. But in three years and a few months or so and I am going to fill a hole page with smiling dancing thingies to celebrate! I will be quitting with forty years of doing the same thing over and over and over..........

That 3 years and some months go much faster than you might think. About 4 years ago some were offered an early out. I was just short of being eligable. That time flew by.

Not trying to rub it in, but would really like to get advise from some of the " old hats" here.

Also, if any one knows of a King Air pilot job in thr DFW metroplex, I am interested.

[bayjoe]

Time for you to start enjoying life.
Congratulations and have fun

[tmax64]

I can retire in as soon as 16 months, can submit the paperwork up to a year in advance. I'm thinking spring of 2018 is looking mighty tempting.

[leadman]

It took awhile for me to grow accustomed to the change after retiring. I did have the feeling of stepping into the unknown for about a year but it passed.
Keep as healthy as possible and once settled in the new place take time to breath. Decide what you will want to do with your time and plan out the finances if necessary.
Health care cost increases really put a big hole in our finances as they almost tripled in 4 years.

[buckwheatpaul]

I don't live close to Granbury....but you will go my place on the way into TEXAS.....if you need a cup of iced tea or coffee I will be glad to welcome you.....congrats on retirement....and welcome to TEXAS!

[flyer1]

I don't live close to Granbury....but you will go my place on the way into TEXAS.....if you need a cup of iced tea or coffee I will be glad to welcome you.....congrats on retirement....and welcome to TEXAS!

Where are you located? You can send me a pm if you would like. If it is sweet tea I may just stop by. I think I will come down I35 from Oklahoma City.

[woodbutcher]

:smile: Outstanding sir.Enjoy.My Dad retired after 50 yrs as a house painter.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[flyer1]

Thanks guys. I guess it the unknown that is a little worrysome to me.

[bstone5]

Turned 70 in October, retired in May.

I like being retired.

Started at 13 throwing news papers from bike.

Worked most of the time offshore drilling wells in the water all over the world.

It is funny still stay very busy working in the shop and doing design work with sheet metal using 3-D modeling software.

A few friends told me it would take a while getting use to being retired. Took me one day to like being retired.

Move to Texas and stay busy, you will soon like being retired.

Welcome to Texas.

If in Houston area feel free to make contact.

[flyer1]

Thank you very much. I may just take you up on your offer.




Turned 70 in October, retired in May.

I like being retired.

Started at 13 throwing news papers from bike.

Worked most of the time offshore drilling wells in the water all over the world.

It is funny still stay very busy working in the shop and doing design work with sheet metal using 3-D modeling software.

A few friends told me it would take a while getting use to being retired. Took me one day to like being retired.

Move to Texas and stay busy, you will soon like being retired.

Welcome to Texas.

If in Houston area feel free to make contact.

[plus1hdcp]

Congrats from a retired fellow FAA ATCer

[AKtinman]

If you like pie, you should stop in at the Pie Peddlers in Glen Rose.

[facetious]

May be thy should start a retirement forum. It seams that every one is retired or trying to be. The ones that are retired could be passing on what worked and what didn't to the ones trying to join them.

I too think I will like retirement, it is the figuring out how to do it that is wearing out the calculator's.

[flyer1]

Congrats from a retired fellow FAA ATCer

Thanks, I did 18 years as a 2152 (mostly in FSS) and the last 16+ as a 2181.

[flyer1]

May be thy should start a retirement forum. It seams that every one is retired or trying to be. The ones that are retired could be passing on what worked and what didn't to the ones trying to join them.

I too think I will like retirement, it is the figuring out how to do it that is wearing out the calculator's.

This is a great idea. Every time I worked with a calculator on retirement, I got different numbers. Finally gave up and am just retiring.

[flyer1]

If you like pie, you should stop in at the Pie Peddlers in Glen Rose.

I will put it on my list.

[facetious]

This is a great idea. Every time I worked with a calculator on retirement, I got different numbers. Finally gave up and am just retiring.


The hard part is that some one is always changing the rules. I have been working in newspaper pressroom's working on the big web press's for 37 years and had it were I could get both pensions at 62 in full. As soon as I hit the 30 year mark to get the bigger of the two at 62 thy change the rule and said you couldn't get it till 65. Then about ten years ago or so thy freeze the other. Now thy say you can get reduced benefits at 62 on the bigger one. So I have been trying to come up with a way to start things to get the most out pensions and SS. with out having to work till I'm 65. I'm lucky that I got in to the 401/k when thy started it in 1990 and had a dad that pushed me to start a IRA in my twenty's. So I think I can pull it off ok. The hard part now is trying to figure out how to do the health care. Talk about changing rules!

I will turn 59 next week and if you haven't heard newspapers aren't the big sellers thy used to be. I some times wonder if thy will last long enough for me quit on my own terms. Now the thing is to cut your hours and tell you the you can work you days off to make up your time. ( at strait time )

Yes I think I will like being retired.

[2thepoint]

Thanks guys. I have mixed feelings. I have been working full time since I was 10, starting out on the farm. I am excited about the change and the move. A start of a new phase of life for me and the family. I am not sure I know how to get up after 0500. I will most likely look for some work after the move. I am wondering what I will be doing every day.

I've been retired for 5+ years and wonder how I managed to work with all the hobbies I have!! I tried the part time work route for a bit thinking it would add some $$ for pleasure. The problem was I didn't have time to enjoy it.....problem solved when I retired for good!

Enjoy a long and healthy retirement.

[BrassMagnet]

Flight Check?

[flyer1]

Flight Check?

We're the folks that check both ground and space based navigation systems that are used by aircraft. We verify for flyability and signal accuracy for aircraft to take off,fly to a destination and land safely, to include takoff procedures and intrument approaches. We also, check visual aids, communications,radars and obstruction verification as well as airport markings. We also find radio frequency interference and after accident inspections of navaids.

There other things but, that is a thumb nail summary.

It is part of the DOT, Federal Aviation Administration.

Mike

[gandydancer]

retired fifteen years ago.at 62 years old. sense then i have broke my neck & my back had neck surgery twice can just about walk Balance shot to hell and am unable to do a damn thing i used to do no shooting or reloading no more flying airplanes or riding my Harley no longer can hunt or fish no scuba diving. it all pretty much sucks, retirement is great if your able. I have never been so damn bored in my life. but life goes on. [smilie=b:

[EllasPapa]

As many others have said, Congratulations! I retired from a career in aviation as well, after 36 years in 2010 (started out in ATC, four years later went into airport Operations, eventually airport management). Can't help you with any insight into living in Texas...I'm a bit north of there; western Canada.

Although I was ready to retire when I did, and glad that I made the choice to go, after the first six months I was really thinking I'd made a mistake. It bothered me a great deal to be "out of the loop". As you know all too well, airports are very insular environments; if you're an "airport guy", all your friends are airport guys, you're USED to having days off when no one else does, working holidays & actually enjoying that in a perverse way. I've heard it said a thousand times, and believe this saying to be true 'you don't have to be crazy to work at an airport, but it sure helps!"

Finding something to do thats productive is critical to your emotional well-being; as nice as it 'sounds" to be able to shoot every day, all day, the reality is a bit less that that....especially in a place like Texas in the summer, where outdoor shooting all day can be a serious health risk, not to mention just plain miserable.

Me personally, I found that going back into a different spot in aviation was a bad move. Mentally I could not reconcile having spent decades as the Boss, to do something else. It wasn't a power issue at all; it was much more an issue of trying to re-integrate into the politics in a different role. For those not in the industry, airports are incredibly close to having the same dynamics as a moderate sized city. They have their own special interest groups, their own communities, neighbourhoods, regional problems on the airfield, vicious politicking at times, interaction with various levels of government, etc.

It was just more than I wanted to deal with, emotionally. I went into something completely unlike anything I'd done before, learned a completely new industry, it's dynamics & my functional role. I worked part time for several years before I finally had unwound enough to just be happy not working at all.

I enjoy life enormously. three years before I retired, cancer tried very hard to kill me, so my appreciation of the "small stuff" is a bit more highly focused, I think. I LOVE the time I spend with my granddaughters. I love to shoot, and go weekly multiple times. I've become involved in a volunteer search & rescue team, and love that; it keeps me fit, I learn new things every call-out, and have access to a wide variety of specialized training that I'd never have seen in the aviation industry.

I'm just as busy, if not more so, than before I stopped working. The BIG difference is that now, I do what I do because I WANT to do it, not because I HAVE to do it. It's subtle difference but in reality a much more significant. Best of luck with the move & the new career hunt!

[flyer1]

Thank you EllasPapa. Wow, that was a fantastic bit of insight and info. You have given me some new ideas to think about. I never occurred to me to go another route. I have been in aviation for more than 40 years. Maybe time to get out of the furrow. Thanks!

[Hickory]

Congratulations, keep busy and ACTIVE, and don't stay in bed to long in the mornings or the same chair during the day! Those are the two places the Grim Reaper checks out every day. Don't let him catch you napping.

[Travelor]

I've been retired 13 years now, from the VA after 32 years. Retired on my 55th birthday and have not looked back. At one time I had three jobs at the same time (VA, teaching flying, and US Army Reserves). Seems that life is so much better and I'm quite busy either shooting, reloading, housework (I'm a widower), or napping. My companion these days is my Shi Tzu dog/daughter who makes life worth living.

Six years ago I started a Thursday morning shooting group at our Club that shoots 22 LR rifles from the bench at 50 and 100 yards. Currently we have 12-14 shooters regularly and we all look forward to our Thursdays. We start out at the local McDonald's, then adjourn to the range for about 2.5 hours of shooting and visiting, then go to lunch together (great discussion each week picking the restaurant for the day).

For most of us Old Guys, this is the highlight of the week.

[flyer1]

These are great ideas. Please, keep them coming. Thank you.

[flyer1]

All my concern about wondering what to do with my time, may be, all for naught. Just had a company call me for my resume'. I may end up having a job when I get down to Texas. Thanks, Pat. I used your resume'. The up side of this would let my wife get the changes to house done sooner. Happy wife, happy life.

[Blackwater]

Congratulations on your retirement! I wont' tell you how busy it'll be. That'd spoil the anticipation for you, and I can't do that. But it won't be long before you'll wonder how you ever found time to work! Just enjoy yourself, and all the discoveries you'll be making about what makes and keeps you happy, active and vital in it. You've earned it.

[flyer1]

Thanks, BW. May take some time to visit your neck of the woods.

[facetious]

Some time ago on a crew I was working with, while waiting on some thing, the foreman asked what we would like to do for a living after we retired every one started telling what kind of job thy would like. When she got to me I ask her what part of being retired she didn't under stand. I want to be retired! If the first thing I have to do is start looking for a job I mite as well keep working!

[Half Dog]

Coming down 35W? Just north of Ft Worth there is a great BBQ restaurant called Shady Oak. It is my wife's favorite restaurant so I try to take her there for special occasions. Afterwards, there is a Cabelas a few miles north that is a great place to walk off the meal.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

[flyer1]

Coming down 35W? Just north of Ft Worth there is a great BBQ restaurant called Shady Oak. It is my wife's favorite restaurant so I try to take her there for special occasions. Afterwards, there is a Cabelas a few miles north that is a great place to walk off the meal.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

We will put that on the list. Thanks.

[mold maker]

The only advice I'd give is, "Don't put off the things You've always wanted to do".
You aren't going to live forever and health issues will come sooner than you think.
Do IT now and have the memories to think back on when you can't do anything else.
That is a stark realism that everyone comes to, but for many, it's too late to make it right.......

[flyer1]

The only advice I'd give is, "Don't put off the things You've always wanted to do".
You aren't going to live forever and health issues will come sooner than you think.
Do IT now and have the memories to think back on when you can't do anything else.
That is a stark realism that everyone comes to, but for many, it's too late to make it right.......

Wow, moldmaker, kinda blunt but that is the advise I need. Thank you.

[TXGunNut]

I know a shooter who retired to Grandbury awhile back; also an officer in the Texas State Rifle ***'n. Saw her in Raton today, will ask her when she gets back home.

[BrassMagnet]

I've been retired 13 years now, from the VA after 32 years. Retired on my 55th birthday and have not looked back. At one time I had three jobs at the same time (VA, teaching flying, and US Army Reserves). Seems that life is so much better and I'm quite busy either shooting, reloading, housework (I'm a widower), or napping. My companion these days is my Shi Tzu dog/daughter who makes life worth living.

Six years ago I started a Thursday morning shooting group at our Club that shoots 22 LR rifles from the bench at 50 and 100 yards. Currently we have 12-14 shooters regularly and we all look forward to our Thursdays. We start out at the local McDonald's, then adjourn to the range for about 2.5 hours of shooting and visiting, then go to lunch together (great discussion each week picking the restaurant for the day).

For most of us Old Guys, this is the highlight of the week.

This is the type of activity that will keep you alive, healthy, and enjoying life.
Don't forget, you also need at least thirty minutes of exercise a day at least six days a week. Bicycling, walking, or other low impact exercises all work. Weight training can help keep the bones strong, just don't get carried away at the weights!

[flyer1]

Thanks, BM.