Life of a retiree
last update: 08/27 @ 18:05

It’s been 30 days now and I felt the need to gather my thought a little bit.

I had a great sendoff from USPTO; a lovely lunch with coworkers (and Sarah). I was pleasantly surprised by some former colleagues who joined in as well. Also I was surpised by the number of folks who came as USPTO was finishing up our recovery from the CrowdStrike issue. (I don’t want to presume anyone would be OK with me posting their image, so I’m just using this photo of Sarah and me.)

One of those former colleagues made this great kayaking cake. She just happened to guess at the boat color and it’s perfect.

I’m enjoying being able to manage my time as I’d like to, not needing to be as aware of what time or day of the week it is. I’m taking advantage of that flexibility to paddle more (just watch this space). And I even did some work on the treehouse this week. And I smile just realizing that I can read the paper in the morning, rather than only having time to scan the front page.

My brother and sister-in-law stopped by for a visit, it was great to be able to take them on river without waiting for the weekend; not feeling rushed to get our visiting in on just the two weekend days. And real surprise, I managed to win at Scrabble (I lost at Catan, though).

I do have some short-term plans: I finished up a project of recreating a slideshow of my 1994 Grand Canyon trip (that was part of a present from Sarah this year). I knew for that, I wanted an easy way to just view the photos (something others have asked about for some of the pages here). That demonstrates one of reasons this seemed like the right time to retire. Writing that bit of JavaScript is exactly the kind of “make the web useful” work I really enjoy. I don’t need USPTO’s website to play in that space (although I don’t have as many folks to help ensure “useful” really is useful).

There are a few more IT projects I have on my agenda. And, of course, there will be more travel. Watch this space. I’m still comfortable that my gradual approach is right for me; I don’t believe I need any big bang trip or change in scenery to help solidify this new life stage I’m enjoying.

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This week I learned…
last update: 08/27 @ 11:29

… that there are lumber options beyond 4X4s that are treated for ground contact.

It’s like this… About 10 years ago, Robert and I built a treehouse or platform in the backyard.

I thought the stairs would be OK as long as the risers were resting on 4X4s even though the 2X6 (which was treated) was not meant to be in contact with the ground.

Becuase it wouldn’t be in contact with the ground, it was going to rest on those 4X4s.

But it turns out…

That’s a damp part of the backyard.

And I think when it rains hard enough, there is some pooling there.

Which, I think, led to the stairs getting dangerous.

Something I didn’t realize until last week.

Steve and Helen were visiting and they invited over one of Helen’s cousins who was moving into the neighborhood. And his family has three kids.

Who were happy to check out the treehouse and zip line in the backyard.

After seeing them playing, I thought it would be good for me to take a look, as it’s been a long time.

When I saw the condition of the stairs, I was glad no one was hurt. Clearly those were unsafe.

With my new found free time, I was happy to tackle replacing those — and this time using 2X8 risers (which are treated for ground contact).

I know it gets very little use, but I feel much better knowing it’s safer (and I really didn’t want to contemplate taking it down.

The rest seems fine, though I will replace a couple of the deck boards when the weather cools off a bit.

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Change in the weather
last update: 08/23 @ 17:46

A few days later…

Blue skies, warmer weather.

It’s getting back towards normal August here. And Sarah and I had a lovely time on the river (on a weekday — I’ll get over that eventually).

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Break in the heat
last update: 08/20 @ 23:21

It was like an early fall day today.

Cool, but not cold.

And the water level was OK, a bit low but not summertime low.

And exactly what I had hoped for in retirement: the weather was perfect for a quick trip to Angler’s Inn and I was free to take advantage of it.

The sun did break through the clouds now and again. But I’m very happy to have the cooler weather, even if it’s just for a couple of days.

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Fun day on the river
last update: 08/16 @ 22:41

Steve and Helen have landed in Alexandria on the tail end of their trip around Lake Superior.

And they brought boats.

So Sarah and I introduced them to Anglers to Lock 10.

We did paddle up to play in the chutes a bit before heading down to lock 10.

New to me (weekday paddling): we ran into a summer camp trip from Calleva. They had a fair number of kids in kayaks, on SUPs and in rafts. They all seemed to be having a good time and they were very nice to our four boat party at the take out.

Steve and Helen may have some Facebook posts later.

And Sarah is likely in the market for a longer padde after playing with theirs.

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As expected
last update: 08/13 @ 18:21

Beautiful day.

Good water (much of the Hurricane Debby water has receded — not all but most of it).

And I got on the river.

On a Tuesday :)

Saw one other boater on the river and had no issues with parking spot. Seems like I could get used to this.

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Perseids and Northern Lights?
last update: 08/12 @ 12:56

Perseids?

Check — I saw a few. (You’ll likely need to click for the bigger version of these photos.)

Not as many as we saw in Friendship Maine years ago. And nothing as spectacular as the one we saw break apart in the sky that night.

It was supposed to be a clean night.

But wasn’t really.

And there was a chance to see the Northern Lights even from around here.

I did see this faint reddish glow and it didn’t stay the whole time I was there — so not just more light pollution.

But the clouds are likely playing trick on me here. I’m sure that’s not the amazing Aurora Borealis I hope to see some time. But I did wonder while I was there if that might be a hint…

I would not have felt comfortable heading up to Skyline Drive that late on a Sunday if I had to go to work the next day. So, yes, I’m liking this retirement thing :)

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Another blast from the past
last update: 08/07 @ 13:53

From the Legacy Box scans Sarah gave me for Christmas this year: Steve and Helen on the Reventazón River in December 1991! A few more photos in the vacations section.

With the free time I have now, I’ve got one more substantial project to post from those scans.

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Less than 90 degrees
last update: 08/04 @ 17:04

I got out this morning apparently during Cabin John VFD swift water rescue training.

It didn’t look like there was anyone being evacuated, and I got the sense they were checking out where the rocks are with the low water to better know how to get up and down the river.

I enjoyed my time out; I saw a couple kayaks and some SUPs in addition to the rescue rafts.

But no heron today.

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