Someone posted this on their Google+ page: http://nedbatchelder.com/blog/201302/a_regular_crossword.html (Thanks, Terri). Now, this is a crossword puzzle for techies. (If you don't know what a regular expression is, this won't make any sense to you). I've been too busy to solve much more than the obvious parts (and I haven't really figured out how to go around the hexagon; it's hard to read letters that are upside down). But it's now on my todo list. It's more like a sudoku than a crossword puzzle, in the sense that you really have to do it in a single sitting -- each answer depends on several clues, so one clue may limit a cell to 3-4 letters and another clue also limits it, but they only have one overlapping letter.
Retiring is good for my social life. The second of several retirement parties is tonight -- with people I was particularly connected to at work. And lots of facebook friends have said "let's get together for coffee". I think I have found most of my local friends who retired before me.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The costs of not working
The typical article about retirement (at least the ones I read) tells you that your expenses will be less in retirement, because you don't have all those costs of working. Well, in my case, I don't think that's going to be true. Yes, I no longer have my commuting expense (which was only 8 miles round trip, and I biked some of the time, so it wasn't very large. I have a Prius and I seldom filled up more than once a month). Clothing is not a serious expense; I can't go around naked in retirement, and the clothing I wore to work is the same as what I plan to wear in retirement. And childcare -- that's a distant past memory.
In the other direction, I'm not longer getting free breakfasts and lunch, so my grocery bill is going up (yes, this isn't true for most people, but I suspect a number of Googlers are following this). I now have to heat my house during the day, so that's an expense 4-5 months of the year (I don't have air conditioning; I hope that being retired doesn't cause me to want to put it in). I'm drinking a lot more tea during the day, rather than the free beverages at work. I no longer get my internet service reimbursed. And I am planning on doing some interesting cooking projects (like rediscovering bread making and pasta making) that may increase my food and/or cooking equipment expenses, at least in the short term. Seems like there are a lot more things increasing than decreasing.
I definitely hope my taxes will go down, but it will be a while before I have a handle on that. Health insurance is going to go up a lot (because Google's subsidy was large. Mr. Retired-techie (henceforth to be called Mr. R-T) doesn't have such a generous employer, and I don't even want to think about what it would be if I were on COBRA or buying an individual policy.
Most likely the biggest drain on my bank account will be travelling, and I hope to do that often and for a long time. But that's the subject of a different post.
(I probably should revisit this topic in a few months to describe how the differences work out when I have more actual experience, rather than just starting to notice these things.)
In the other direction, I'm not longer getting free breakfasts and lunch, so my grocery bill is going up (yes, this isn't true for most people, but I suspect a number of Googlers are following this). I now have to heat my house during the day, so that's an expense 4-5 months of the year (I don't have air conditioning; I hope that being retired doesn't cause me to want to put it in). I'm drinking a lot more tea during the day, rather than the free beverages at work. I no longer get my internet service reimbursed. And I am planning on doing some interesting cooking projects (like rediscovering bread making and pasta making) that may increase my food and/or cooking equipment expenses, at least in the short term. Seems like there are a lot more things increasing than decreasing.
I definitely hope my taxes will go down, but it will be a while before I have a handle on that. Health insurance is going to go up a lot (because Google's subsidy was large. Mr. Retired-techie (henceforth to be called Mr. R-T) doesn't have such a generous employer, and I don't even want to think about what it would be if I were on COBRA or buying an individual policy.
Most likely the biggest drain on my bank account will be travelling, and I hope to do that often and for a long time. But that's the subject of a different post.
(I probably should revisit this topic in a few months to describe how the differences work out when I have more actual experience, rather than just starting to notice these things.)
Monday, February 11, 2013
This is the first day of ...
Today feels like it's the real beginning of my retirement, especially since the weekend was busy with exactly the same things as I do every weekend. I 'slept in' till 6:20, went to the gym, did some house chores, and then started the New York Times Sunday crossword in the late morning. Doing the crossword was the symbolic beginning of my retirement, since I doubt I have had time to do one of these in ten years or more. I managed to finish it in under two hours, which is much better than I thought I would, I think because the theme answers for this puzzle were pretty obvious to me, and those were long answers that provided a lot of help for their crossing words. I had to use Google for seven clues (all cultural/historical references of some sort), again much better than I expected. I think doing the Sunday crossword is going to be on my to-do list permanently.
The rest of the day was a bunch of small tasks that needed to get done. Nice, quiet, peaceful day. I'm sure I'll want more activity and more interaction with other people in my days going forward, but the solitude and not feeling like there is more to do than there is day to do it in was delightful. Even when I do a 'staycation' holiday, I always feel like these days are so precious, I should fill them with as much of my TBD list as possible. This was different.
Off to make a nice seafood risotto. We have an out-of-town visitor for one night. Usually when such people arrive on a weekday, I cook something simple I can do after a full day at work, but this time, I can make something a bit more time consuming. Another retirement plus.
The rest of the day was a bunch of small tasks that needed to get done. Nice, quiet, peaceful day. I'm sure I'll want more activity and more interaction with other people in my days going forward, but the solitude and not feeling like there is more to do than there is day to do it in was delightful. Even when I do a 'staycation' holiday, I always feel like these days are so precious, I should fill them with as much of my TBD list as possible. This was different.
Off to make a nice seafood risotto. We have an out-of-town visitor for one night. Usually when such people arrive on a weekday, I cook something simple I can do after a full day at work, but this time, I can make something a bit more time consuming. Another retirement plus.
Friday, February 8, 2013
On to New Beginnings
I finished my last day of work. They threw me a lovely "tea party", so I got to say goodbye to a lot of people (there were hugs all around). I was pleased by the people I don't see every day who took the time to come by to say goodbye to me. Then I went through the official "exit interview" steps. I had this moment of panic, where I almost said "No, this was all a mistake. Give me back my badge and I'll be back at work Monday morning." But even though I recognize how much enjoyment I get from my work, I am so ready to start new things.
I announced on various social medial that I have retired and got a lot of responses (and I think surprise). Didn't discover anyone else who 'fessed up to having retired behind my back. I do seem to be one of the first of my cohort to take this step.
It's not going to feel like a new era till Monday, when I don't have to go off to work (and am responsible for making my own breakfast, sigh.). Enough people asked me what my first activity in retirement would be that I have come up with an answer: I'm going to save the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle (yes, I still subscribe to a newspaper -- proof that I must be old enough to retire) and try to complete it Monday morning over some homemade muffins and a lot of tea. Then I will need to "get to work". My list of things that I have to do because of my life change includes:
I announced on various social medial that I have retired and got a lot of responses (and I think surprise). Didn't discover anyone else who 'fessed up to having retired behind my back. I do seem to be one of the first of my cohort to take this step.
It's not going to feel like a new era till Monday, when I don't have to go off to work (and am responsible for making my own breakfast, sigh.). Enough people asked me what my first activity in retirement would be that I have come up with an answer: I'm going to save the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle (yes, I still subscribe to a newspaper -- proof that I must be old enough to retire) and try to complete it Monday morning over some homemade muffins and a lot of tea. Then I will need to "get to work". My list of things that I have to do because of my life change includes:
- figure out how to keep a free checking account (or get a different one) now that I don't have direct deposit
- start the process of signing up for Medicare
- figure out what my relationship to the Social Security office will be (more on this later)
- get moved over to my husband's benefits
- determine what to do with my 401k -- whether to keep it at Google or roll it over
- change my health club membership (I had a corporate membership till now)
After that there are a bunch of nagging little tasks (clean out this drawer, make lists, etc) that I need to do. I also want to find some hiking and biking buddies -- I have some who are available on weekends, but now that I have weekdays free, I need more. So if you know me in real life, and you too are on a 'flexible schedule', get in touch.
This is beginning to feel as exciting as starting a new job. Of course it has all the downside of any job where you work for yourself -- a real slavedriver of a boss.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The Bittersweetness of Leaving Work
It's my next-to-last day at work. Really just winding things down, getting my files in order to pass on to someone else, etc. (Don't get me started on how hard it is to do something that simple.)
I sent out a message earlier this week telling the people I was most connected to that I am retiring. I have received almost 100 responses that have been really touching. People remembered incidents that I hadn't thought about in years (and a few that I will never forget; too bad confidentiality restrictions keep me from sharing those), but that apparently made a difference in their lives. The comments came from many different people; engineers I have worked with, user experience people I have worked with and who have worked for me (Melanie's gratitude that I believed her story that she was late for work one day because she was rescuing a bunny in Golden Gate Park cracked me up), technical women I have mentored or just discussed the challenges of working in our field with, and random people I have interacted with over the last eight years. Another comment that had me chuckling was the former intern who told me that his professor said that he couldn't get course credit for his internship unless he had proof that he had introduced himself to me during that summer. I hadn't thought of myself as sort of an exam. I really am welling up at the realization that I had made a memorable impact on so many people.
Of course, they all made an impact on me -- that's why I sent them the farewell note. Every one of those incidents was one I remembered, even if I didn't recognize that it was more than a minor exchange at the time. One of the things I have enjoyed most at Google is watching a bunch of young, often fresh out of school engineers, designers and researchers grow into risk taking, passionate, more-than-competent, effective professionals. Knowing that I played a small part in their development is extremely gratifying. And knowing that they valued my input, my experience, my perspective (maybe my wisdom, but I'm not sure they always got that) makes me feel good too.
I am going to miss all these great people. I am accustomed to having access to lots of really smart, competent, congenial people to share the load on projects. While knowing that I am losing access to my main source of that energy is not enough to pull me back to the workplace, I will need to figure out how to re-create something similar in my retirement -- whether it's help with things I take on, or just a set of people to chat with over coffee/lunch that make me feel connected to the world and that help me focus my thinking.
Tomorrow is R-day. I've left jobs before, but this is definitely different.
I sent out a message earlier this week telling the people I was most connected to that I am retiring. I have received almost 100 responses that have been really touching. People remembered incidents that I hadn't thought about in years (and a few that I will never forget; too bad confidentiality restrictions keep me from sharing those), but that apparently made a difference in their lives. The comments came from many different people; engineers I have worked with, user experience people I have worked with and who have worked for me (Melanie's gratitude that I believed her story that she was late for work one day because she was rescuing a bunny in Golden Gate Park cracked me up), technical women I have mentored or just discussed the challenges of working in our field with, and random people I have interacted with over the last eight years. Another comment that had me chuckling was the former intern who told me that his professor said that he couldn't get course credit for his internship unless he had proof that he had introduced himself to me during that summer. I hadn't thought of myself as sort of an exam. I really am welling up at the realization that I had made a memorable impact on so many people.
Of course, they all made an impact on me -- that's why I sent them the farewell note. Every one of those incidents was one I remembered, even if I didn't recognize that it was more than a minor exchange at the time. One of the things I have enjoyed most at Google is watching a bunch of young, often fresh out of school engineers, designers and researchers grow into risk taking, passionate, more-than-competent, effective professionals. Knowing that I played a small part in their development is extremely gratifying. And knowing that they valued my input, my experience, my perspective (maybe my wisdom, but I'm not sure they always got that) makes me feel good too.
I am going to miss all these great people. I am accustomed to having access to lots of really smart, competent, congenial people to share the load on projects. While knowing that I am losing access to my main source of that energy is not enough to pull me back to the workplace, I will need to figure out how to re-create something similar in my retirement -- whether it's help with things I take on, or just a set of people to chat with over coffee/lunch that make me feel connected to the world and that help me focus my thinking.
Tomorrow is R-day. I've left jobs before, but this is definitely different.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Introduction
Hello, my name is Robin and I'm about to retire. I've worked in the tech industry for the last 40 years. Now that I have announced my impending retirement, all my techie friends are saying "tell us what it looks like from the other side", so I've decided to do just that. This is going to be the story of what it's like for someone with technical skills, technical interests (and a few not typical of my fellow techies), and a technical outlook on life to retire.
I'm retiring from Google, so retirement means giving up a lot of things others don't think of: free meals at work, fresh fruit and good chocolate never more than 50 feet away, free massages, always knowing what's going on in the tech industry (with very little effort on my part), early access to innovative products, etc. I think this is going to be the biggest adjustment of my retirement. At Google we refer to such challenges as "first world problems", and I think most of you reading this are thinking something similar -- would that I had such things to give up! I know how privileged I am, but that isn't going to make the change any easier.
What everyone asks me is: what do you plan to do with all that free time? I'm sure I will have no trouble filling the hours with meaningful activities, and that's going to be the topic of some of my first posts. But you'll have to wait to find out.
Whether you are a Google colleague, a professional friend from other places I have worked or from my volunteer activities, a non-techie friend or neighbor, or a complete stranger who just happened upon this blog, welcome. I hope I can keep your interest.
I'm retiring from Google, so retirement means giving up a lot of things others don't think of: free meals at work, fresh fruit and good chocolate never more than 50 feet away, free massages, always knowing what's going on in the tech industry (with very little effort on my part), early access to innovative products, etc. I think this is going to be the biggest adjustment of my retirement. At Google we refer to such challenges as "first world problems", and I think most of you reading this are thinking something similar -- would that I had such things to give up! I know how privileged I am, but that isn't going to make the change any easier.
What everyone asks me is: what do you plan to do with all that free time? I'm sure I will have no trouble filling the hours with meaningful activities, and that's going to be the topic of some of my first posts. But you'll have to wait to find out.
Whether you are a Google colleague, a professional friend from other places I have worked or from my volunteer activities, a non-techie friend or neighbor, or a complete stranger who just happened upon this blog, welcome. I hope I can keep your interest.
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