Sunday, June 26, 2022

Retirement Looms ...

Six months from now, if all goes according to plan, I shall be fully retired.

Right now I am fully retired from the U.S. Air Force, but still working full-time. Forty hours a week (well, technically 80 hours over two weeks, divvied up as 44 the first week, 36 the second) takes up a lot of time. I have many hobbies, some of which I have not pursued in many a year.

The picture above is an illustration of one of my hobbies. Napoleonic miniatures and the table-top gaming what is in it.

The last time I painted any of my many figures (all of which require far more room than I have available, mind you, the square footage is there, it's just that The Missus Herself would prefer I not leave my "toys" scattered about the living room) was 22 years ago.

We were settled in to the new digs, the new job, and I felt that I had time to pursue the hobby. I remember the day I was sitting at my desk in the Home Office (the one in Little Rhody, not the one in London) painting a figure of the Emperor Napoléon mounted upon his white horse Désirée.

We were expecting my parents, coming down to make their first official visit to the abode. So I was painting. I heard, then saw, their car pulling into the driveway, so I downed tools, put the Emperor back in his box and haven't lifted a brush since. Just haven't had the time for one reason or another.

The job has become more intense, though far more rewarding from an intellectual and financial point of view, than it used to be. Takes up most of my waking hours, either being there, or thinking about it. I can't leave it be, I'm a professional and the job takes up a lot of space in the old brain box.

In six months, that will no longer be the case.

So I have many things planned to make my retirement interesting and filled with interesting stuff. That picture above shows the latest acquisition of stuff I find interesting.

Each box contains what is called a "Starter Army," one box is Wellington's, the other is Napoléon's. Note the small package in the upper right of the photo. Paints those are, nice ones, with brushes, instructions and other paraphernalia so's that I can paint all those soldiers in those two boxes.

How many soldiers you might ask? Over a thousand in each box, infantry, cavalry, and artillery (both foot and horse) enough to wage a fair size battle atop the dining room table. (Provided management blesses that idea.) The troops are approximately 15 mm scale. I say approximately because the company in Britain which produces them wanted to have a scale of their own I guess. As they make all the stuff you need for multiple armies (the Prussians are on the way, available but not at a price I'm happy with), I'm okay with that.

I have three videos for you, two of them show you what's in those boxes (and it mentions a price, which I didn't pay, getting them through Amazon was about 2o to 30 dollars cheaper per box), both British and French (unless you're a real grognard¹, you only need to watch one of those, other than the unit types, they're both similar). The third video shows the troops deployed (though unpainted) and gives you an idea of what they look like in "action." I thought that they were quite impressive overall.

The beauty of this scale is that it doesn't require as much room as the bigger figures. Which should please management here at Chez Sarge.

They were pricy however, amazing how the cost for things plastic goes up as oil does. Related they are, related they shall remain. I used the money The Missus Herself, The Nuke, and LUSH gave me for Fathers Day. It's what happens when I have cash in hand and am left unsupervised with Amazon up on the computer.

I buy things.







In other news ...

I have hit a complete writer's block on the new novel. Currently I have one of the main characters sitting in the pilot's seat of his Ju-88 wondering just where the Hell he is and what day it is. Am I over the Channel at night, on a daylight mission, and is it late in the Battle of Britain or early on, say in September, where I left the story?

North Africa and the Eastern Front both beckon and I'm keen to get there. But I need to do the preliminaries dontcha know?

Bear with me, we'll get there.

Eventually.






¹ A grognard is what the Emperor called his veteran troops, literally means "grumbler." For those of you familiar with La Vie Militaire, the troops spend a great deal of time complaining. In a wargaming context, a Grognard is someone who has been at this for a long time. About 57 years for myself.

32 comments:

  1. I have a set of The Army Painter's rifflers!

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    1. This is my first time using this product. Good to know you use them!

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  2. Best of luck with the prepping of both armies Sarge. Stay away from GHQ though, both the WWII and the Modern Era......ask me and my wallet how I know. But it's fun and beats taking a walk on a day when the temp drops below minus ten. Wrangle that Muse Sarge! When retirement hits every day is like the weekend although I learned to stay out of the stores on those two days, less crowded Monday through Friday.

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    1. Every day like a weekend ...

      Looking forward to that, I am.

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    2. ..."You'll enjoy retirement they said. Every day is like a Saturday they said". Remember what Saturday is for? To catch up on all the chores and jobs you could put off during the week...

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    3. Not in my case, I have a plan, a cunning plan.

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  3. My bet is, within six months, you will be back working as a consultant. Your skills and knowledge will be needed and you won't be able to say "no". I say this as someone who has observed it happening frequently. Part time - hold the line firmly- but back into the fray so to speak.

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  4. my GP (strongly) recommended that upon retirement I take up walking ("get up off your ass every hour and walk it around for 5/10 minutes; if it brays, so much the better") he made some other suggestions which have done me in good stead

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    1. I try to get off my butt, from the looks of things, I need to do that more often and make the walks a bit longer! 😉

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    2. Yep, 30 minutes pretty much daily. Does work wonders on undoing SOME of the mistakes you've made. Just sayin'

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    3. Something I used to do, and need to do again.

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  5. I need to come up with a hobby for both now and in retirement, even though that's quite a ways out. The fraternal organization I belong to is good, but I don't want that to be everything about me. The drum kit you own is something I'm considering, getting back into it. A friend of mine in DC plans to move out here when he retires and we would like to have some sort of garage band.

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    1. consider taking up one of the "easier" languages, like Russian or Japanese

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    2. boron - Yes, there's a thought. (My head aches at the thought of memorizing all of those characters in Japanese. My jaw hurts at the thought of trying to speak Russian.)

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    3. Never give up, never surrender. Russian and Japanese are easy. Try to learn ancient Klingon!
      Just sayin'.
      juvat

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    4. My wife took Russian for a year and was considering joining to go to DLA, but life happened. I want a fun hobby!

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  6. Sarge, you're forgetting something, and, if yours is anything like mine, She won't let you just sit there and do "Things". Retirement into a life of leisure is a welcoming thought, with little basis in reality. Most people I know that are retired are every bit as busy as they were when working. Only now, they get to prioritize what they want to do, take time off when they want to and, generally, work their butts off.
    There's an old movie title that strikes me as an apt description. "It's a wonderful life". You're gonna love it.

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    1. There is always that possibility. But she has never had a "Honey Do" list as she knows that you can't even lead this horse to water, let alone make him drink!

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    2. Sarge,
      "Suggestions, merely Suggestions" Feel free to ignore them.


      If you dare.

      I admire your courage my Friend

      Can I take out life insurance?

      juvat

      :-)

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    3. We have an understanding. I understand she likes to be busy, she understands that I do not. I will lift heavy things which she cannot, but projects? Nope, why start now?

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  7. Being retired is much harder work than being employed. Not only do you have to do all of the work -- mostly oy yourself, which does have advantages -- you have to be the boss of that lazy ....

    Enjoy the today you have

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    1. We shall have to see, I'm looking forward to never turning the alarm on again. Doing things when I want to.

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    2. Interesting, that alarm clock comment. Except for Sunday, I don't have an alarm set. However, I wake up between 6:30 and 7AM on my own without fail. The first year I thought it was because it was summer and light outside. But the other seasons didn't change things. Wonder if you'll find that to be true also. I do enjoy it because Mrs. J doesn't wake up until 7:30 or 8. So, I've got time for a peaceful coffee. Read blogs, write down what I need to get done in the near future. E.G. Me time.

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    3. I typically wake up before my alarm goes off, but knowing that the alarm is set sometimes makes for less than good sleep. When I'm on vacation I tend to get up earlier than normal weekends. Because I can do what I want.

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  8. Sarge, we're gonna wait; what choice do we have? Most of us stall-out at one time or another.
    Juvat's got a point; soon you will get to prioritize (within limits set by the 51% of the vote). Retirement can be busy. I would avoid going back to the grind unless you a) LOVED what you were doing and b) need the money. Neither of those are true in my case.
    The "get off your ass" rule is a good one; especially WRT sitting in front of ANY screen
    Boat Guy

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    1. Retirement should be busy, doing things one loves. As for the paying gig, they are becoming far too woke for my tastes.

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  9. Sarge, if TB The Elder was any indication, you will have more than enough to fill your time. Good news is that it will at your choice, not at someone else's. Congratulations on the upcoming retirement!

    (Concur with Well Seasoned Fool they will be calling you back at some point. Charge appropriately).

    The miniatures look super cool. Many, many years ago we wargamed with the Airfix (I think it was Airfix) World War I and World War II Characters.

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    1. I still have a bunch of my old Airfix figures, WWI, WWII, and Napoleonic. Good stuff.

      They can try and call me back, but I don't think they would be able to afford me at that point.

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    2. It will take deep pockets for me to go back after I hang up the cleats, so to speak.

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