"Projects" and "Retirement"

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One of the cool things about having money show up every month without going into work is that you get to start "projects." This can be anything from backyard garden railroads, to fixing things from tools to structures, (and, on the social side, renewing relationships), to volunteering at the local senior center. The problem with "projects" is that, like people and personalities, you kinda like to try them all, and the next thing you know, you're over-committed, and it feels like you're back at work again. They all have to be balanced in the NOW, and the big ones need to be realistically assessed in terms of do-ability from time to time, and perhaps some of them need to be "retired" themselves, at least temporarily.

I'd love to spend more time studying psych/soc/and anthro, and also time on the Law, to help some people through issues I just don't feel expert enough in. The Internet makes this possible as never before. These were my original interests, back before, well, way, way back when, in the 60's. I went on to be a high school teacher, which used a lot of what I learned, and to which I added a whole technical (computer) line. If I had had normal hearing as a child, I might well have been an engineer like my dad and brother. Now in late life it's funny, my eyes are going but the new digital hearing aides allow me to hear as never before. Anyway, it's fun watching projects evolve, and seeing at least some of them through to completion.

Of course the latest project for all us "Boomers" is wondering if the financial rug is about to get pulled out from under us. According to Allen Greenspan, this is inevitable, as nothing has been done in the last eight years, and the money going to "stop terrorism" in Iraq has been largely wasted, except for some troop to civilian interactions, which could have been done far better with Peace Corp folks, at far less expense. The balance could have bought solar panels which would have dropped the price of oil, but now the drumbeat begins for nuclear power, even in ads on tv. The last thing the MegaCorps want is for the little guy to have his/her own power station. The name of the game for MegaCorps is to keep them frazzled, keep them in debt, and don't let them think about it. Oh, and maintain a MegaCorp Pokerface while doing it. Picture MegaCorps as Bart Simpson mixed with John Giulgood (sp).