Yes, I am still retired. Seriously, you knew that would be true. And while I miss some things from work, it’s starting to fade into the past (as it should). I don’t have to go back to work after THIS vacation! But what have I been doing? Taking it easy? Yeah, some. But busy too, with these things and more…

A couple days in Santa Cruz, a couple days working in the garden, dog training, more time (and activities) with the grandkids, visited with friends, a Rivercats game, Spamalot (twice), Brandi Carlile concert, Twilight: Eclipse at the Imax, Second Saturday, watching the Fab Four at the fair, catching up on some things, hanging some album covers for art (a couple different times), a walk to the grocery store, some reading, a little work on Obsessed With Music and SacMusicBlog, food at Curry Corner, Capitol Dawg, A Taste Of Thai, 524 Mexican, La Fiesta Taqueria, etc.

And other stuff that my aging brain doesn’t remember off hand. Does any of that sound interesting? Feel free to comment.

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Is this the last in the series? Maybe. After all, I have officially retired. And not a moment too soon as our idiot governor has decided that all state workers will get paid the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr). Don’t get me started on that egotistical, bullying chowderhead. That was the nicest thing I could call him, he deserves much worse.

But anyway, I have more things I will miss and may even think of more down the road, but here are some:

My RDO – I used to get every other Friday off, because I worked an extra hour on each of the other days. It works out to the same number of hours but a better schedule makes a happier and more productive employee. Of course, now every day is a day off.

June 30th, 2010. The day will go down in history as the beginning of a new era. Remember, a wise man once said “there shall come a day when ye shall work no more” and I think he also said “enough, dude!”

And so it goes. Today is the first day of my retirement and I shall go to work no more. As you can see from the picture, my loving  wife Petra decorated the most important places of the house (at least on first getting up). She did the coffee maker and also the spot where I tend to sit and drink the coffee (and read the paper). Awww, is she the sweetest ever or what?!!

And we had a nice lunch today with friends Jared and Ashleigh at Pooja, an Indian food buffet. And if that was not enough, we have an art class with one of the grandkids later today. So you can see I’m keeping busy, at least on the first day. But sharp-eyed readers will notice that I did NOT go to work.

Feel free to comment below…

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Almost to retirement. And yet there are still some things I will miss. Hopefully you have been following this fascinating series of posts.

As I get to the final days, I realize another thing I will miss. And that is: cubicles. Really? Are you kidding me? Well, I’m pretty sure that I will adapt to not having one. After all, soon the whole world will be my cubicle, hahaha!

Well, maybe that’s not the best way to look at it. But cubicles are so organized. And orderly. And functional. A place for everyone and everyone in their place. Yeah, both me and Dilbert have been in a cubicle for a long, long time. Yikes!

Well, ok. I’m crazy and I admit it. Hey, maybe I need to retire 😉

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I’m getting closer and closer to retirement. Yes, I am counting the days and I have a rough idea of the hours. Hope I don’t change my mind. Yeah, right!!

One more thing I will miss from work is having two monitors. Both are hooked up to the same computer. If you haven’t had this setup, you might think “why would you want it?”. But once you have it, you realize it is very cool. You can make code changes in one monitor and then view the changes in the other. And no more switching back and worth between programs. You can multi-task with any two things you want to do. Seriously, it is a good thing. Of course, I could have this at home if I really wanted it, but remember, I’ll be on a “fixed income”.  😉

Hey, wait a minute. What’s that on the right monitor? Yes! It is! It’s www.stevenology.com. Readers who click on the picture may also notice the Sgt Peppers mouse pad and the peace magnet and the Beat record store magnet. Not to mention the general messiness of the cubicle. What can I say, I’m half-packed and getting out of here!

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As I now get VERY close to retirement, I am still blogging about some of the things I will miss. You can read some of the other things elsewhere on this web site.

But here is another thing I will miss. You may scoff, but I will miss the ATM machine that is in the cafeteria at work. It is SO convenient to have it in the same building. Need cash, no problem (well, if you have it that is). But it is so easy to get a little spending money.

Not for long, though. Once I retire, my bank’s closest ATM to my house is about four miles!  Sheesh! C’mon, Golden One Credit Union, how about an ATM near my house? Ok, enough of that. I’m still retiring!!

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As retirement gets even closer, I think of more things I will miss. Not enough to keep working, of course! But it seems like there is always a birthday, someone leaving, a new baby, an engagement, a promotion, or some other event happening to one of the group at work.

And so someone, or even everyone, brings in some food. It could be one thing, or it could be a conference room full. Just look at this stuff from the other day: cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. Yow! And what you see in the picture is about a third of what there was to start with. Most of this stuff I never buy. But when it’s in front of me? Well, what’s a guy to do…? 

I’m sure my body will be better off without all the food that people bring in. But it’s so good, you know I will miss it!

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Retirement is getting closer and closer. As you may know, I have been blogging about some of the things I will miss from work when I retire.

Well, this one is kind of weird, but I do have a good parking space. I know, that’s crazy and I should be glad about saving $50 a month. And I am, for sure! But I have this routine. I park at home in a garage, and I park at work in a garage, so really it doesn’t matter if there is rain, wind, extreme heat, cold, sleet, a rain of bats, blizzard, whatever. I don’t even have to step out in it! I go from the garage into the car and then, when I get to my parking space (see photo), I go from the car  into the stairway and up to my cubicle. Who even needs a jacket?

But hey! Wait a minute. I’m retiring. So… I won’t have to even go out at all if I don’t want to. Ha, yeah! Bring it on, mister bad weather maker, I won’t be driving to work at all! But, still, it IS a nice parking space, all cement with a faded yellow line to separate it. Hmmm, you know what? Maybe I won’t really miss it. 😉

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It’s the people who work there I will miss. Well, some of them. Not all of them. Of course, some of them won’t miss me either! Whatever.

Seriously though, there are some good people where I work and some of them that I will actually miss. Maybe I’ll even keep in touch with a few. And just so you know, that picture is old and lots of those people don’t work there any more. And if you click on it, you can see it bigger and say “who are those people?” Heck, I don’t even remember some of them and I work there! 😉

But for those that I like, it has been a pleasure working with you. We’ll just leave it at that.

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As I mentioned before, I will be retiring later this year. It’s been a good job but it’s time to move on. While retirement is a huge positive step, it turns out there are still some things I will miss. Here’s another in the series: my cubicle door!

Now, I know cubicles are not supposed to have doors but I’ve always valued my privacy and my co-workers know it. One day my cube-neighbor Lu gave me a wonderful gift, this “door”. She made it out of a shower curtain and drew the design herself. What an awesome and totally cool thing! Click on the picture to see it larger. Is that great or what?!!

So when lunch time rolls around I can “close” my door and eat my lunch in peace!

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