My wife and I are on vacation in Great Britain this week. She read in the newspaper that the average English government worker gets 28 days of vacation a year. Almost a month! While that seems like a huge amount relative to the United States, the below chart shows how many average hours are worked across a number of developed countries. You can see that … Continue reading No Vacation Nation?
Labor Day weekend brings an end to summertime and a return to work and school. While this is the second start to Autumn in which I’ve enjoyed having no job, I definitely can still relate to the ridiculousness that happens in the workplace. Instead of giving you a post this morning, I thought I would just share these work memes to get readers off to … Continue reading Summer’s Over – Back to Work
We dropped our son off at college yesterday to start his sophomore year. Naturally, I am reflective this morning about him and his adventures. He really had a productive summer. He worked part-time at a retail store and took three summer classes to get ahead on his Bachelor’s degree. My wife an I were astounded at how responsible he is. We met when we were … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Back To Campus
I love this wry quote. It describes a desire that is very human. Although I have never been much of a bridge burner myself, I think we can all relate to the vengeful appeal of breaking free of an authority with no plan to ever return. There is something about this emotion that runs deep in all of us. A satisfyingly potent cocktail of independence … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Burning Bridges
I had a painful deja vu moment last week when I left the house for a meeting in downtown at 9am. It was the same route (and same building) which I had trekked to MegaCorp for more than a dozen years at the start of my career. It was also a route that was choked from start to finish with an unending traffic jam. As … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Grinding Traffic
Some say not to ignore the LITTLE things each day because you might discover that they are really the big things in life. I have written a bit about some of the big things that have changed in our life since retiring early last year. The BIG things are the easy things to notice that aren’t to hard to figure: I am a lot more … Continue reading The Little Things In Life
We declined on rejoining the boat club we belonged to for the last five years and now that the weather has jumped up into the 80s, I’m wondering how much we will miss it? Financially, it certainly was a terrific deal. We paid $3K a summer and had unlimited uses of a terrific fleet of speedboats, cruisers, pontoons, and water ski boats. I wrote in this … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Boat Life
Roger Moore, most well-known for his seven movies as James Bond, passed away earlier this week at age 89. It was a long, grand life for this military officer and well-known actor, who in addition to acting served as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations/UNICEF and was knighted by the Queen for his charitable work. Moore was the Bond that i grew up with in … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Bond On Life
One of the funny things about being retired early is that people are always suggesting jobs that you can do. People say, “Oh, you should get a job as a golf course ranger,” or “With your extra time, you could get a side hustle flipping houses”. Many people focus on what you have given up – a job – and forget all that you gained. … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Gaining Work?
When people learn that I retired early, they will almost always enthusiastically ask “what it is like to not go to work?” In response, I often say “Truthfully, it’s the best job I never had.” That answer is always worth a quick laugh, conveys the truth of the situation, and provides me just enough ‘cover’ to then change the subject to weather, sports, politics, travel, or … Continue reading FIRE Station Funny – Conversation Pivot
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