retirement is boring
Summary: In the discussion titled "retirement is boring," participants expressed various views on their experiences with retirement. keziak initiated the conversation, sparking responses from individuals like evry1nositswindy, caldreamer, and others who shared their personal reflections and sentiment towards retirement. Some participants seem to echo feelings of monotony, while others engage with keziak, perhaps offering advice or discussing activities to make retirement more fulfilling. The exchange appears open and exploratory, with several members interacting to share perspectives and possibly seek connection or solutions to the boredom associated with retirement.
I'm currently mostly retired, work about 1-2 hours a day tending auctions. Sales are such t hat the mail is no real issue. I'm burning through a lot of backlog. I manage to stay pretty busy but I miss working more (and making more).
Unfortunately my knee is uncompromising about working. I miss the "fun" of taking in books to trade at the bookstore but haven't figured out about how to do that without aggravating my knee. I did take bags to the library though so it's probably doable. I'm opening my inventory in JUly to (hopefully) buyers but so far I've only had a friend in and he also has a bum knee so hasn't bought much.
I can't tell if I really miss the work or being busier. I feel bad that I am not more grateful to not have to work. But I do get pretty bored. I have been working out in the pool and today will try a warm water aerobics class. My knee is about half way there but is still stiff enough that I don't have full range of motion. I am doing more volunteer work at the library now that I am no longer a suspicious dealer out to rob them.... or something.
Just one person's experience and maybe a tip for anyone looking at retirement anytime soon too!
keziak
OP2 months agoThat may be my problem, lack of dreaming much of anything. Hubby does much better. He's super active at church and has recently joined the choir. Teaches a class there. Active politically. Plays instruments. Hikes. The things I do are quieter and solo. But I lack the vision thing. For so long I was a busy business woman and it's hard to abandon that totally.
roccotacodad54
·2 months agoI retired 7 years ago and at first was bored. Then I started a couple of new hobbies and now I don't seem to have enough time in the day.
I was in alot of pain and now it has eased up alot. It seems my work was causing me more pain than I realized at the time. I physically do as much (or more) but it's a different type of physical activity and helps with my pain. I went from constant pain therapy to just a little help 2 or 3 times a year.
Your work in the pool should help. I went from constant pain meds and physical therapy to weaker meds (2 or 3 times a year) and just P. therapy once every year or two.
Hopefully you'll find something that doesn't aggravate your knee and life will be better....................
keziak
OP2 months agoI swam for years for my knees and it worked until some months ago when I got busy bringing books upstairs from the basement. One knee drove me to the orthopedist and now the other one is very stiff. I read that the strokes I did were not good for knees a nd that warm water is better. I took a warm water class today and found it fast paced and hard to follow but it was my first time after all. I"m hoping that will help. I've gone from near crippling pain getting up in the morning and from sitting to being much better. I just need to be careful, no more carrying books in bankers boxes everywhere.
I did break down the other couple of days when my friend bought books but after that anyone who buys from me will be on their own.
adamcartwright
·2 months ago@keziak
I had a feeling you would come to that conclusion.
If you enjoy selling, how about continuing it as a hobby -- something not as heavy as books and not stored up a flight of stairs.
keziak
OP2 months agoRight now I am coping by operating on one floor (upstairs where my computer is). I might carry a few books upstairs but mostly it's been my son carrying boxes up. I use most the "guest" room but my husband was OK with it when my child visited recently and we had a bed in there for them. I doubt we'll host anyone else but I am avoiding putting anything on the bed.
If I didn't have my son it would be game over.
gloryglorygifts
·2 months agoI actually left a job in banking 18 years ago because of health issues (my aorta twisted, yikes!). After being in bed for the first two years, I got myself up one day and created a website. I had started glory glory when I was still working and did shows on the weekends. The website gave my local customers access to my holy land products. The locals called me the rosary lady. This year I was switched from disabled to retired by the SSA, so now it is official! I consider myself to be extremely blessed to still be able to run the ebay store. Even though both of my knees are now crumbling, along with the rest of my body I can still enjoy all the things retired people do. I seriously don't know how I did all that I did when I was still working in banking. (I've had Cushing's Syndrome for 30 years.) Now my days are filled with painting, writing, blogging, being with family (especially my great grandson), gardening (on a stool), reading, watching guilty pleasures on the boob tube. I see my family every day. Even with all of that, I would find it extremely difficult to give up the ebay store. I give you credit for really retiring from it and wish you well. I know that you will find some awesome things to do to fill your days! Good luck to you!
keziak
OP2 months agoI am humbled reading that and for griping about my stupid knee. I still get around but have to be careful. For example I have a book supposedly for seniors with knee problems but so many of the exercises are on the floor. I got down and could do them then had a scare when I couldn't get back up and nobody was around. I finally managed it by pushing up on my cat's big scratching pad. Later I had my husband spot me and really did it to my knee. It's really frustrating but nothing major like other people deal with every day.
I did some pastels the other day and threw two of them away. And I wasn't even trying to be perfect. That has kind of set me back. But I am working on a new embroidery project. that is something I've wanted to be able to work on during the day not the end of the day when I"m tired.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 months agoKeeping busy in retirement is a full time job.
I have effectively been retired for close to 30 years, when I closed down my successful computer company because there was no way I could make any money because PCs had become dirt cheap. All of my competitors who tried to ramp up their volumes to make up for the price drops lost most of what they made in the good years.
As I have aged, and my aches and pains multiplied, the items I offer for sale online have gotten smaller and lighter. Most of what I offer is under 4 oz. shipped. My current active Ebay inventory is over 5k "little bits of a paper", not as small as postage stamps, The amount of storage they require is tiny compared to the amount of space my inactive inventory occupies. The covid epidemic led to a shortage of auctioneers running weekly, in person, who were the way I dealt with merchandise I did not want to deal with online. It also led to the demise of several social groups which I participated in. They had run for years before the lockdowns stopped them cold, and it was too much effort for the leaders to start them up again.
ed8108
·2 months agoGet a cat companion , helps you stay busy
keziak
OP2 months agoYou have met my cat! (you would like him, he's all over anybody who comes to the house). he's mostly outdoors now but we still get in lap/grooming time.
ed8108
·2 months agoretirement can be fun
chapeau-noir
·2 months agoI hate the idea of retirement - I would still be working at a jobby job if my profession hadn't gotten swallowed up by AI and general illiteracy. I'm selling here just part-time now as I'm out of the country part of the year, but have projects I've been working on and do contract work in AR/VR/AI.
One project, though, is cleaning out the house!
keziak
OP2 months agoMe too. The basement is a big project thanks to so many boxes I don't use. I thought about tackling it today but it's more stairs. I need to chunk it out. I will offer them on Marketplace. That would be a steal for someone as they are all new, never used.
chapeau-noir
·2 months agoGive them a small discount for hauling them up the steps themselves!
ETA: A good friend told me that it took him about a year to get used to being retired. He's really busy now - he's a boat builder in his spare time and now he has spare time to do it! Lots of reading. Goes out for bike rides with me. He is leaning on me to just stop banging away with online sales and work on other projects that are more fulfilling - he has a point, but I've shifted gears to house clean-out.
keziak
OP2 months agoMy husband would like nothing better that for me to clean out the house by jettisoning everything. No need for boxes if I don't have anything to ship. I understand his frustration with the house expecially the basement. It will be a big job to clear that out.
1786davycrockett
·2 months ago@keziak
As @fern*wood has mentioned, you seem to be missing the "fun" aspect of eBay.
Just a suggestion -- but how about branching away from those heavy books -- and maybe consider something more light-weight, that you could handle primarily by sitting down?
A few years ago, my wife and I were antiquing together, until she encountered a close friend of hers who was also antiquing. The two of them wandered away together, leaving me unattended (never a smart move!).
At one of the stores which I visited, a vendor had a couple of poorly maintained bins filled with the usual old paper items to which I am often drawn. Flipping through old farming manuals, road maps, instruction booklets and so on, I finally ran into about 14 mounted sheets of colorful miscellaneous foreign postage stamps. These had all the looks of having once been some Boy Scout's merit badge project, and were undated and unlabeled -- and, frankly, unwanted.
So I wandered away; but I kept coming back to that bin, just to riffle through those sheets again.
I recognized some Nazi-era German stamps, plus quite a few Olympics series, and a few from countries that no longer exist; but most of them were quite colorful -- and the price was cheap: for 14 sheets of stamps, numbering over 200 individual items, the buying price was only about $42.00, including tax -- about 27 cents per stamp.
Now, I'm not a stamp person -- not since my Cub Scout days, back in the 1950s -- but this seemed to be a good deal, and $42.00 wasn't going to break the bank.
So I bought them.
My wife, of course, thought that I was nuts -- until I began showing her some of the oddities in the collection -- and none of the stamps had been released after about 1975, and several were over 100 years old.
I began listing the stamps, one at a time, on my site several years ago; and, to my surprise, they began selling -- and I've made a very nice profit on my $42.00 investment, with no regrets.
The moral is -- try something more lightweight, and don't give up yet on eBay -- you really sound as if you miss the fun!
keziak
OP2 months agowhere are you finding more of the stuff to fuel your business?
I thought I would miss scouting because it's fun but oddly I don't. Also listing always bored me but now it's all I want to do but I have to pace myself due to having 250 free listings (non store). I like the pleasure of finding people who want what I have to offer.
1786davycrockett
·2 months ago@keziak
"where are you finding more of the stuff to fuel your business? "
As of January of this year, I resolved that I would give up sourcing (except for items under $1.00).
I may have mentioned previously that many of my regular sources had simply gone out of business, or retired (not quite the same thing), or had sold their business to others, who had promptly raised their overall prices, and were no longer honoring the previous owners' "good ol' boy" discounts.
So it no longer made any sense to waste the driving time (plus gasoline and motel room rentals and meals) on lost causes.
Which left my regular scrounging at a couple of the Half-Price Bookstores surrounding me -- they don't look up everything that sellers bring in, and I have many, many times picked up some pricey paperbacks for less than a buck each.
But the used book business is so depressed right now (which leaves me depressed) -- 2025 was bad enough; but 2026 is doing all in its power to put me out of business.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, as you will), I have tens of thousands of items which I have accumulated over the past 65 years -- so I am not even close to running out of items to list.
But I just turned 79 on June 3 -- and I'm just not putting as much effort into it anymore, either.
Depending upon the whims of eBay and USPS, I may just throw in the towel next year.
Then I can work on my novel -- or write "beat" poetry -- or re-learn how to play the guitar -- or get back into the acting biz.
Or become a Chippendale dancer.
If you're gonna dream, dream BIG!
aeparts1
·2 months agoI'm looking forward to being bored.
Hopefully 2 more years, I can't wait!!
keziak
OP2 months agoIt's not as fun as it sounds. Whine whine.
fern*wood
·2 months agoEbay is what I ended up doing after I quit my job. I didn't want to sit around doing nothing either. You have many interests that you may find yourself easing into more now, which will take up your idle time.
I feel you really don't want to quit ebay, but just needed to find a different niche that isn't heavy books. Maybe you will happen upon something new to sell and be excited about that is easy on the knees.
jdbelt1960
·2 months agoI understand completely. I got hit by a car at 15 and had broken Tibia and Fibula bones along with torn ligaments in my knee. After 4 months in a full leg plaster cast I had to wear a knee brace. The type with metal on the sides. It allowed me to get around during the year it took to heal.
caldreamer
·2 months agoYes, retirement can be boring. I took an early retirement at 58 when going through menopause (or mental pause that I like to call it). I joined the Red Hat Society and spent every day going to restaurants and fun places (spending all my hubbie's money). He spoils me rotten and even cooks for me.
My hubby finally retired in 2011 and he is the busiest person I know. He always has a "project" he is working on and never sits still.
klhmdg
·2 months agoI retired early - 2 years ago.
Moved across the country -
I am so busy I have no clue how I managed a 45 minute commute in west coast traffic and working full time and a house and yard.
I dont have knee issues but have autoimmune stuff which is somewhat better with less stress and not working full time.
I do this to get rid of stuff and I volunteer at a pet rescue.
I take classes in stuff I never had time for when I worked.
I am always busy with the grandkids, classes, exploring new places ....
I cant imagine ever wanting to go back to work - but we are all different.
keziak
OP2 months agoI always said retirement would be good, I have so much going on. I do some but the pain kind of saps my energy and I don't do things like garden. I'm working on my knee from many angles and I"m hoping it will clear up.
evry1nositswindy
·2 months agoWe are looking at retirement in the next few years. No knee problems, so We will continue with the antique shows, booths at the antique mall, eBay, and bake sales. Our side hustles keep us pretty busy. Hopefully I will be able to list more on eBay when we retire! Just an excuse to go to auctions!