Retirement Road Trip #1

First retirement adventure trip completed.  Nine days out.  

We spent a week at a condominium where Kari had stayed before. Right on the beach in Cayucos, Calif., just north on Morro Bay.  60°-70° F weather was a nice break from the Fresno heat.  We stopped the first night in Paso Robles and saw Darius Rucker in concert at the Mid-State Fair.  

While on the coast , we spent some wonderful time with good friends, (unfortunately others couldn’t make it to join us), swung golf clubs for the first time in 3 1/2 years, and mostly enjoyed the sounds, surf, along the great food in the area.   

We returned to Paso Robles for the last night and went to the Sensorio light show.  It was pretty cool.  

Monday starts the long list of projects around the house, four years worth of To-Dos to complete.  Next planned trip is in October—actually two trips.  One for my 50th high school reunion in Ventura and another to Phoenix for Kari to attend a credit union seminar.  It’s going to be very busy around home until then.

At some point I’ll learn how to put the photos in order, because they aren’t here   

Time passes

For the better part of 45-50 years, I’ve always had a watch, a clock in the home, or later, my mobile devices set to 24-hour “military time” format.  This will be an adjustment.   

Retirement

Let’s start this off with my retirement announcement on Facebook.  

***

July 7, 2022.  It’s time.  Sooner than some.  Later than others.  

I’ve joined a handful of you who also transitioned during this past week, including my dear bride who officially retired a week ago, last Thursday, June 30. 

This will take some adjustment.  I’ve been in the work force one way or another for a long time.  

First job: Contra Costa Times, AKA “The Green Sheet” as a Carrier.  Yes, it was printed on green newspaper, and it was an early morning paper.  I often went to elementary school with green ink on my hands.  

Longest job: 1967-1996 (Sometimes part time, other times full time, and lots and lots of donated time.)  Working for my father’s cable tv company, Western Cable Enterprises, as a Laborer, Mechanic, Installer, Technician, commercial size (the really large ones) Satellte Dish Installer, and Vice President.  He also had a safety company called Action Barricade that kept us busy.  It also included a stint as a Bar Manager.  After my dad “retired,” he owned a popular bar in Ventura, California.  When he became terminal ill, I dropped out of law school and ran the bar for about a year before we sold it.  

Biggest case worked: TCI (Telecommunications, Inc.  At the time, the world’s largest cable TV provider) Nothing like taking something that started with a vehicle stop by some drug cops that turned up nothing other than a couple cable TV boxes in the trunk that looked damaged.  It eventually turned into a several month long case where I worked jointly with the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Divison that resulted in six search warrants being simultaneously executed in three time zones in four different states, not to mention a questionable suicide that turned out to be a related murder.  It was intense and fun.   

Best job: Chief of Security and Fire for Delaware North in Yosemite National Park.  Awesome place and an awesome team.  

All the other jobs were fine for their time, but they just get the “Participant” ribbons.   

I’ve got a wide variety of projects lined up, so I’ll stay busy for some time to come.  Travel will happen too.  Unfortunately because of our recent lifestyle, we haven’t swung a golf club in over three years.  Nevertheless, Kari Stone has a goal to golf in every state, and we are about a third of the way through the list. 

First order of business for retirement is to dress for success so I may need to go out and buy a selection of oversized Hawaiian and bowling style shirts, short pants with plenty of cargo pockets, and the ubiquitous New Balance shoes.  

Happy trails.

The last employed tour of duty: