h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I no longer 'fit the business model of the new department' (which is the old department with a new name).

Soooo. I get to go back to freelance or bump some poor schmoo in another division. Or I could teach. Or I could retire and do odd jobs. But those are not entirely my choices to make- I have a 6 month old angel of a grand daughter I would like to spend more time with but I would most certainly have to move to do most of the above. I have three beautiful and talented daughters I would have to move away from as well, but then I have close, older family where I would move to.

What do I WANT to do? Live a quiet life near the beach and my (future) sailboat, garden and fill cracks in the wall for people who apparently will pay for that service. And babysit my grand kids when their parents are on vacation.

I need a bigger parachute.

Hey zoom

Blimey...no contest...got to be the idyl by the sea..they'll come visit you if you live in such a place...crikey *I* will Don't worry I'll bring tent to prevent cabin fever In fact we could have a Canadian/Anglo Effers meet there..

And you produced three daughters. Fantastic...well done..and a little'un now. The female population is well served by zoomer genes I reckon.

Do what *you* WANT to do...you only live once.

My fantasy is after chemo is finished which will be November time is to go back to Oz and rent somewhere on the Pacific for a few weeks to convalesce...then next summer visit Canada..I got itchy feet again since all this palaver.

Well that's a fantasy...make yours real.

Shall get back with a few points on the Panoramic Photography thread some time later. Thanks for your reply and thoughts there.

Did your employers downsize? That's sad!

I retired just in time to avoid the agony of downsizing. Then, they didn't downsize after all. Oh, well.....

There's a book [regularly updated] called "What color is your parachute?" I know what kind of "parachute" they are talking about, but it's still fun to imagine the different colors that parachutes could sport. It's a bit like balloons; not much call for boring colrs like black or white or brown.

I can't really offer any advice, but, in keeping with the subject line . . .


Time can change you
but you can't change time.




Maybe it's time to reinvent.

I'd teach. I like teaching. I'm trying to do more.

Move to Chinatown and start rewriting the works
of Willy the Shake for Oriental minds.


~jwf~

Just be careful. You don't want the empty void to relocate inside your head.

Thank you all for the advice.

Obviously the cottage by the sea would be my first choice, but it would be restricted by finances. I would have to prematurely tap into my pension and continue to work part time (which would not be that much of a hardship I suppose).

Teaching has long been a goal of mine and the handful of times I've tried it I enjoyed myself a great deal. Not sure if the students enjoyed it!

I've recently been told there are other options for me, including training, job mixing and (as I mentioned) 'bumping' a younger employee (we have a fairly strong union). I have mixed feelings about telling someone that their job is now mine and training this late in life seems odd, but the mixing thing might be a good idea.

Anyway as I said, thanks for the good advice and kind words.

If you enjoy teaching your students will too.

enjoy being taught, that is. Obviously.

The sea option is my first choice for you too

Cos I know that's what you really want.

A friend has just returned from Hong Kong; I'll see her next week..she has a small flat on the beach on the south coast..it's ing brilliant. Big window with an amazing view out to sea.

I never felt so at peace and relaxed in years as some time I spent there. It's so good for the soul. I hope to god she's still got it..I want to go and stay there.

Thanks Ed.

I find now that when we hire recent graduates with communications or technical degrees on a occasional basis, I get cornered by them to teach operational 'tricks'. You know, things like "How would I recreate what I saw" and "Tell me how a DOF lens works?"

I thoroughly enjoy showing them things I learned decades ago, unlike their former instructors. I think I'd like to do that- even part time. And I bet I would learn a thing or two in the process, which would be very enjoyable.

You too, Effy!

And on top of everything else, I could have a dog!!
(Not fair to have a dog in the city, I think.)

So you could do that..*and* get a small cabin and rent it out...that's what she does. She lives near me.

But I won't nag...it's your choice.

Yup - the point of students is that they're meant to teach you. One of my lecturers used to give extra marks for telling him something he hadn't thought of.

I vote for the cabin thingy.

But then, I would, as it's sort of what I chose myself

Then there's all that crap (7 million tons of it) floating in from
Japan and cluttering the beaches. And you wanna make sure
your cabin is a few hundred feet above sea level...

Chinatown I say! Discover your inner Khan. Write poetry.

Oh, and ask around at ACTRA and the Teamsters if there
is a film school program that could use your expertise.

And finally, register for the CPP and start taking it at 60.
Don't wait for the 'full benefit' at 65, that's false economics.
Only problem is you have to be unemployed for one month
before and after you start getting CPP but after that you can
work again with no interruption of benefits (and no CPP deduction).

~jwf~

Can you register for CPP at 50? I've been unemployed for eight years. Would that qualify?

Yeah you can get self-build kits really cheap now..I don't know much about traditional Canadian building of that type..but I could imagine that you could buy a plot of land in a brill location and do that...Using wood from sustainable forests..yes?

Is planning permission to build a dwelling hard to come by? For reasons of space it is here..but I'm supposing its different in Canada.

'...Nine bee rows will you have there, a hive for the honey bee
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.'