Gainfuly Unemployed

I am now officially out of a job. Done.
After setting up a few things with my replacement I said my good byes in the office yesterday, got  handshakes and hugs and left. It was a funny feeling. I'll have to get used to that. Now today I already had one phone call from the parole reentry task force asking for information but I don't mind giving guidance.

Got a few things to do this week; dentist and taxman stuff. Think I'll start on the workshop. I'll post a few pictures of it as it now stands (a complete and utter shambles) and do some updates as it progresses.

The wife and I have a trip to Fayetteville, NC, planned for April. We'll spend a few weeks with our daughter and enjoy the warmer weather down there. I'll also look for some furniture to refinish.

I'm still a little antsy about my decision to leave but I know I did the right thing. New York State is getting absolutely ridiculous with its law enforcement programs and I am tired of dealing with them. The nit picking is tiresome and there is a pervasive theme of social justice and minority favoritism that has spread throughout the entire system under Cuomo. Add to this admixture the people in the State I trusted, who I have dealt with for years, are also retiring; stir, bake and the result is time to leave.

Perhaps this is contrary to popular opinion, but there are some great people who are bureaucrats. And of course there are slugs also. Most of my experiences have been with the good ones and I am most fortunate for that.

Get Back In The Kitchen

My wife retired today after 17 years in the medical billing department of a local practice. They gave her a nice send off with cake (above) flowers, gift cards and a few tears from the ladies she worked with.

Prior to that she spent 15 years with Ma Bell, then 13 years working at home raising kiddles. She went back to work after I retired from the PD in 1998 and now can stay home again. And make me sammiches.

Relax hon, I got this.

I Don't Want To Hear This

I probably will apply for social security this month. I have been eligible for four years now but decided to hold off as I am still working and intend to do so for at least another year.

Entitlements: Officially, Social Security has enough money to pay all its promised benefits until 2033. But a new study suggests this forecast could be wildly optimistic. And that spells big trouble for future retirees.

Every year, the Social Security Administration releases its Trustees Report, which projects the program's solvency — how much it will take in, how much it will pay out and how long the "trust fund" can cover revenue gaps — over the next 75 years.

The latest report says that Social Security can meet its financial obligations for about 18 more years. After that, the trust fund will be exhausted, and payroll taxes won't cover nearly all the benefit costs.

That's bad enough. But a new study by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth shows that this day of reckoning will almost certainly come far sooner than that.

Story here.

I may be working longer than I planned....

I Don't Believe It...

Look at the last city in Yahoo's list of the Best Places to Retire on  $75 a Day.

Once you no longer need to worry about getting to work in the morning, you're free to have a second cup of coffee, look out your window at the pillowy snow drifts and think about all the money you're saving by not retiring in a more expensive area.

Then why are so many people moving away from here? The population in Syracuse has dropped from 190,000 in 1970 to about 144,000 today. The County's population has been stagnant for the past 40 years; 14.6% are aged 65 and older as opposed to the national average of 13.7%.

My doctor has already warned me not to do anymore shoveling in the winter.
Sure, retire to Syracuse and die face down in a snow drift.