Rave....Damn It's Good To Live In Texas!

[ROGER4314]

I retired and spend 7 days per week fiddling with rifles, pistols and shotguns, reloading, riding bicycles, playing with my little dog, Jake, going to movies, cooking, riding the Harley and I even manage to work part time teaching at a local college.

Retirement is GOOD!

Sometimes, it gets even better! My next door neighbor came over a few days ago to invite me to a bash that he's having tonight. He bought 200 pounds of Crawfish, potatoes, sausage, shrimp, and lots of goodies. There was plenty of beer (I don't drink) a Zydeco band and people everywhere!

Some of the teens took several 4 wheelers out and tore up some muddy ditches. A few of the neighbors complained about the mess so they got shovels and brooms and cleaned up the mess. No harm, no foul, right? Cars are parked all over my yard and people are running around everywhere! We'll fix the wreckage tomorrow.

Neighbors were popping in and out all evening. We all pitched in and dragged extra chairs out for the mobs of people.

I ate 3 flats of bugs and I'm in a complete state of misery! I ate a pound or more of the sausage, too!

The band was great and although most of the locals didn't dance to the Zydeco, the band brought lots of friends who did dance. Every race I could recognize was represented and we all had a blast!

For years, I worried about retirement until I finally said "F" it and pulled the plug at 63 1/2. I am so glad that I retired and I'm having a flipping ball! I'm happier than I've ever been in my life, have something cool to do every day, have wonderful friends and neighbors and I'm so glad to live in TEXAS!

GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Flash

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Glad to hear it! You deserve some peace and relaxation, and I'm glad to hear it sounds like you're getting plenty of both! :-)

 

[Das Jared]

Good story to hear in our troubling times.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[TX69]

Where are you originally from?

 

[ROGER4314]

Where are you originally from?

Born in Chicago and was raised about 1/2 mile outside of the Chicago city limits. Left home at 17, worked and lived all the way down the center of the nation. Came to Texas from Oklahoma. Never settled down anywhere before but I'm going to STAY here!
God Bless Texas!

Flash

 

[TX69]

Where are you originally from?

Born in Chicago and was raised about 1/2 mile outside of the Chicago city limits. Left home at 17, worked and lived all the way down the center of the nation. Came to Texas from Oklahoma. Never settled down anywhere before but I'm going to STAY here!
God Bless Texas!

Flash

LOL Good on you. Its an awesome feeling of freedom isn't it. I have lived in other states for long periods of time to experience the people, politics, taxes and just the general vibe. Texas, by an enormous margin, wins in all categories. We are just talking at the moment but are planning on retiring in the hill country area. Going to buy some property and enjoy life.

Post some pics of your partying!

 

[AcidFlashGordon]

Just another reason I'll be moving my old ass to Texas.

As soon as I clear up some legal wrangling over the death of my Father (in 2011) and why I, the next of kin and only child, wasn't informed of that....as well as who the Hell sold his house and other possessions, also without notifying me, and where those funds went, I'll be able to concentrate on getting OUT of Nevada (a.k.a. California 2.0) and TO Texas.

 

[Charlie]

OuuuuuWheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!! Zydeco ! ! ! The very best music!

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

Sounds like a blast!!

 

[deemus]

I been to those parties. Too much fun!

 

[mitchntx]

This thread is worthless without pics!


Gotta love retirement, bugs, Zydeco and retirement.

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

^^^^ point set match!!!!

 

[Stumpy]

Glad to hear it Flash! Sounds like you're doing retirement right!


From the desk of a literate squirrel named Leonard.

 

[ROGER4314]

Guys, I'd like to post some pictures but the TGT system says that I have my quota. It's hard for me to get anything to post. The neighbor who threw the party told me he wished he could have gotten a satellite picture of his place during the party. Now THAT would have been terrific!

I haven't been outside yet so I guess I need to survey the wreckage.

I'd like to point out something about the party, though, there was a big crowd of people of all ages, every conceivable ethnic background, there was lots of beer and EVERYONE GOT ALONG JUST FINE!

There were some things that made that work............ We were all Texans who have a good sense of self esteem and most were strict individuals.
There were lots of bikers there. Again, staunch individuals with "don't F with me" attitudes. Live & Let Live was strongly represented.

A lot of the people work together on the job. From my days working on the assembly lines, I can testify that it's hard not to get along when you work elbow to elbow. Racial differences melt away when you work that closely. We are all just people.

People spoke up when their space was violated. The kids who trashed the muddy ditches got a tuneup and they went back to fix the problem. Everyone had their rights and property respected.

Everyone shared. If someone brought a 4 wheeler, they shared it with others. Food, drink, chairs, stories were all shared.

There were NO Liberals present! We are all Texans, all individuals, all different and all accepted each other!

Wow! What a neat experience in Human Relations!

Flash

 

[ROGER4314]

I just came back from surveying the party damage. There is some clean up to do but everything looks pretty good! Considering the number of people who floated in and out of the party over 5 hours, things look pretty good!

Flash

 

[ROGER4314]

I have lived in other states for long periods of time to experience the people, politics, taxes and just the general vibe. Texas, by an enormous margin, wins in all categories.

No foolin'! My county voted two years ago to EXEMPT people over the age of 65 from all taxes. That includes property tax, road & bridge, school taxes and several others. I didn't know about it until the next year so I applied and they refunded all the taxes that I had paid during the year that I turned 65! It was about $1K and was sweet to get!

I got another shock when my mortgage (which is almost paid off) refunded the tax money it had put aside in escrow, then cut my tiny house payment to compensate for the exempt taxes! This keeps getting better!

Once again.....GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Flash

 

[mitchntx]

What I think you fail to realize is that there is a faction of us who are pre-retirement and therefore live vicariously through those of you who are.

"Quota limits" is unacceptable and frankly I would expect more from a user who goes by the name "Flash".




Oh ... and to maintain the GBT theme ...

 

[ROGER4314]

What I think you fail to realize is that there is a faction of us who are pre-retirement and therefore live vicariously through those of you who are.

Absolutely! I remember an old guy that I worked with in Tulsa. At his retirement party, I asked Levi what his plans were for retirement. He replied that he would sit in his rocker on the front porch. The result? DEAD in 6 months! I never forgot that. You need purpose, goals, direction and motivation.

My retired friend Don, hooked up with his church and they work the Hell out of him. I told him recently: "Don, you need to learn how to say "NO!". If he's happy and it works for him, I say go for it!

I traveled all of my life and have been to 48 of the 50 states so that isn't something that I really want to do. My retirement is about having fun here in Texas! I pledged to put as much effort into my playing as I did in my working and it paid off! Playing is my JOB and I do it well! I also tinker with guns every day. I actually like to work on them more than I enjoy shooting them. Building that electric clay pigeon trap was a blast then I acquired some old shotguns and completely refurbished them.

I am a master teacher in Ok and TX but I swore that I was finished with teaching. The college called, hooked me up with some short industrial training courses and I'm back in the game. I taught a class on Friday about precision measurement using scales, calipers, micrometers etc. It was fun and I earned some extra money, too. Never say never as you don't know what may come down the road.

The next trick is going to get back into canoeing. I was trained in solo and tandem canoeing by the four time national champion freestyle canoe team. My big boat is long gone and I have two solo boats that are too small. I'll get a canoe appropriate for my size and get back into it. Canoeing done properly will make HUGE upper body muscles and work your belly off.

I guess I can Hijack my own thread if I want to........Lets talk retirement.

OH.....I LOVE the flag picture!

Flash

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Easiest thing to do for photo sharing is sign up for an account at Flickr: Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

It will give you a lot more options for sharing pics vs. the gallery system here. It's easy too.

 

[M. Sage]

I actually use Facebook for hosting (shhh, don't tell them). You can set the pics to "me only" and if you hot link (right click the picture, "copy image location"), there's no fingerprint to your account. You don't have to use it for anything but hosting or even give them your real name.