Taking a Break

Welcome back. I’m going to take a couple of weeks off to play and seek out new blog topics. I hope you won’t mind, and I sincerely hope you’ll miss me.

In the absence of new Retired—Now What? Blog posts, may I suggest that you review some of the older posts? I’ve released nearly 400 posts since April 2011, and the lengthy Blog Post Topics column of links on the right of the blog website can help you find possible posts of interest. (If you’re not on the website, it’s at www.retired--nowwhat.com)

Most-Viewed Blog Posts

If you’d like to sample the most-viewed posts, here are links to the top five, listed from first to fifth. Six posts are listed because the last two were tied.

Mehgan Murphy’s exceptional photographs made the Anteater Photo Addendum very special. (Photo from www.flickr.com/search/?w=26357527@N05&q=anteater)

I was surprised at the interest that Stroboscopic Training elicited, especially because it didn’t really catch on until months after the post was released. (Nike advertisement for stroboscopic eyewear.)

The interest in Fish Eyespots, which also began months after the post’s release, caused me to wonder if I should be writing more about tropical fish. (Photo from www.ibrc-bali.org/)

Like most of my research reviews, The Ecuadorian Bat mixed research reporting and personal experience, with a dose of humor. That wasn’t too difficult when writing about a bat whose tongue is roughly one and a half times longer than its body.

The blog has had writing contests, and I was thrilled when Josefina Wopatova's entry, Goal Setting--Second Winning Blog, made the most-viewed list. (Rock concert photo from multiple websites)

How rewarding that the research review Curse Tablets--a topic I found fascinating--did so well! (Photo of 5th century BC curse tablet from www.schoyencollection.com/greekbkscr.html)

Examples of Older Humorous Posts

Some of the oldest posts were very well received though the blog had yet to attain a ranking on Google that would allow it to be found by chance. Many of those posts tended to be humorous, such as these three:

In the post Time for Lawn and Garden, I described the rites of spring at our former house but somehow twisted my photos and captions. For example, this photo was labeled "Neighbors’ kids helping out in Warren’s garden."

The post Dental Check-Up Time was an abridged memoir of my dental experiences from youth to present day. Pictured here from the post is the drill used by the local dentist I visited in the Philippines. (Photo of Fuller drill from Amazon)

The pet posts were all well received, particularly those about cats. Nevertheless, my choice for the top pet post would be Time for Non-Furry Pets, at least the part about my wife’s tropical fish, Godzilla. (Photos provided by badmanstropicalfish.com/)

Noteworthy Firsts

Being a romantic, I’ve always had a special place in my heart and archive for my first Valentine’s Day post Happy Valentine’s Day!. Familiarity with the Trogg’s love song "Wild Thing" will enhance your admiration for the rose I presented to my wife.

I occasionally venture into the world of fantasy, most often knowingly. The first such post was Predawn Jogging Mystery.

Although I began including travel photos with my first blog post, the first travelogue was Time to Visit the Arecibo Observatory, which documented my introduction in 1965 to Puerto Rico and the world’s largest radar-radio astronomy telescope.

Research Reviews
 
A sea change in blog topics came with my shift from personal experiences to research reviews. While that didn’t please every regular reader, it certainly attracted a much larger audience. 

The first research review was the post Memories and Doors, which addressed how walking through doorways caused forgetting. I had questions about the student test participants and if doorways would affect cats.

Most of my blog posts are now research reviews; however, there was a gap of four months between the first and this second research review, Snail Power, in which I proposed powering your house with snails in the basement. (Photo of Giant East African snails by Roberta Zimmerman, USDA APHIS.)

Wrap Up

That’s probably more than enough. If there’s a blog post you would like to see but can’t find, email me at retirednw@gmail.com. I’ll try to find it.

Thank you for stopping by; your visits are always greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2015! -warren

One of the earliest Retired--Now What? Blog mastheads.

Goal Setting--Second Winning Blog Post

The blog’s contest--to write about a goal that you, someone close to you or your pet accomplished or failed to accomplish--ended in a tie. Last Friday’s blog post offered one of the two winning entries, One Old Goal, and today’s post features the second, by Josefina Wopatova.

My Goal

A teenage goal to star in a rock concert.
 (photo from multiple websites;
www.livescience.com, credits Maigi)

My teenage goal was to be a Rock Star. I wanted to be rich, famous and live a slightly dangerous life. That was the one of several goals I wasn’t ultimately destined to achieve. But, here’s the thing. Of those three components, the first two really didn’t speak to me. I learned that I don’t really crave the kind of attention that a “Star” would garner. I don’t even crave an excess of money. It rather seems wasteful to me. I eschew Hollywood mansions and suburban McMansions alike. I’d rather have old and character-driven people and things around me. I like quirky, and I like tarnished. So, maybe the real goal, unbeknownst to me at the time, was to find out who I was inside. I thought I wanted to be known to others, but really I wanted to know myself. I thought I wanted wealth, but perhaps inside what I really wanted was to be wealthy in love, friendship and family.

The third component of my teenage dream was to be controversial or take on some risks and dangers. I got closer to that goal than the others. Mostly, I tried out adventures that were slightly out of the norm: skydiving, alpine skiing, spontaneous and reckless travel (planes, trains and automobiles combined). Okay, that last one might just have been dumb and landed me in a couple of tight spots. This was the era before ATMs, cell phones or computers, and I’m amazed that I got from place to place without trouble. However, I did get to meet some semi-famous people along the way and learn more about human nature. The funny thing about talking with celebrities is how vulnerable they also are. John Madden (NFL Football) was afraid to fly (how silly! I thought), so I found him on the train. Sam Kinison (comedian) was insecure, shy and soft spoken, completely unlike his on-stage character. Lawrence Taylor (NY Giants) was kind, quiet and generous to young me, the cocktail waitress, belying his hulky appearance. 

My adventures weren’t beyond the pale, but felt way outside of my Midwestern, small town life experience: I ate lamb’s brain in France and tamales in Mexico; I flew loop-the-loops in an airplane over Huntington Beach, Calif., and hiked up the Matterhorn in Switzerland. I camped in Roma on one of the seven hills. I drank too much Ouzo in Athens with other globetrotting young people. I laughed at the “bathrooms” in Italy, where at the time and place, it was simply a hole in the ground that you hovered over.

Tarantula crossing sign, though
in California and not a highway.
(photo from justalittlefurther.com)

I stepped over rattlesnakes and played with tarantulas crossing the highway in Arizona. Did you know that there are spider-crossing signs there, just like we see deer crossing signs in the northern climes? Weird.

So while my life goal wasn’t achieved, per se, one of the components of it was--enough to satisfy me at least. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Oh, and I sing like a Rock Star. Especially in the shower.

Goal Setting--First Winning Blog Post

Welcome Back. On 18 October, I announced the blog’s second contest--write about a goal that you, someone close to you or your pet accomplished or failed to accomplish. Thank you to all who participated and to the six judges whose count made it a tie: Josefina Wopatova and Jay P. share the spotlight.

You might remember that Josefina was the winner of the blog’s first contest and Jay was the runner up. When you read their essays, you’ll see why they were chosen as repeat winners. Today’s post is Jay’s essay, next Tuesday’s post will feature Josefina’s.

One Old Goal

Author’s 5th grade school, now
converted to condominiums.

My first recollection of my goal-setting behavior is from about the fifth grade. Although my time in fifth grade dates back to just past the mid-1900s, I wasn’t in a one room school house but rather one with four rooms. It was sort of a cubicle of a building. Because there were eight grades, two were conducted simultaneously in each classroom. While this arrangement might alarm modern pedagogs, teachers’ union reps or trendy parents, it wasn’t a horrible learning environment. Each year students received either a preparation for what was to come or a review of material that may have been unclear the previous year. And although I didn’t learn what a study hall was until I got to high school, when there’s one teacher for two grades, about half of one’s school day is supposed to be devoted to individual study.

This affected my goal setting because there happened to be sufficient time for individual daydreaming as well as study. My father transferred his interest in automobiles to me by the time I was halfway through K - 8. I remember much of my study time being devoted to contemplating things automotive, both domestic and the then rare foreign models. I distinctly recall those exotic Mercedes sports cars and thinking they had to be the best because they were way more expensive than Corvettes and Thunderbirds. So sitting one day drawing one in my own little study world, I determined that a measure of success in life would to be able to afford any car I wanted. It might not be a Mercedes when the time came, but it could be. It wouldn’t matter because I set my sights on being able to buy the one I wanted. 

Volvo P1800 (photo from
community.thefoundry.co.uk)

This goal remained with me a long time. Upon high school graduation I had saved enough money to buy myself a nice car. Ironically, the choices were narrowed to two used sports cars, a Mercedes SL 280 and a Volvo 1800, or a brand new Jeep. I was a practical Wisconsinite and opted to pay $2800 for the Jeep with four wheel drive. It turned out to be the only new car as well as the most troublesome vehicle I’ve ever owned. Still, I didn’t think I had reached my goal because I couldn’t afford the new models of the sports cars. 

1970 Jeep (photo by Marc Lesko,
65.181.130.138/rigs/clubrig15.shtml)

Then, in the somewhat more recent past I was working at my career in a police department. I walked through a hallway in which hung framed photos of our officers in action or training. Amid these manly and womanly police people with their weapons, vehicles and dogs was a curious new addition. A framed quote that read: One hundred years from now it won’t matter what sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. It made an impression and I reevaluated an old goal.

Goal-Setting Photo Contest

Last Friday, I announced the blog’s Goal-Setting Writing Contest: Write about an achieved or failed goal. Today, in keeping with the blog’s usual pattern of new-topic-narrative followed by photo-addendum, I’m announcing the Goal-Setting Photo Contest.

Photographs that best illustrate the goal-setting theme will be selected from those submitted to appear in a special Retired—Now What? Blog photo addendum.

Oops…The goal isn't to hit it straight up.
(Photo from Baseball Photo Addendum)

Contest Rules

-Photographs: Submitted photographs should be G or PG rated illustrations of one or more humans or whatever you choose accomplishing or failing to accomplish a clearly defined goal.
-Contestants: Anyone may enter, young or old, retired or not retired. Contest entrants may submit no more than two photographs for consideration.
-Due Date: Tuesday, 19 November 2013
-Submissions: Include your photograph(s) in the body text of an email to RetiredNW@gmail.com. Do not attach the photograph(s); attachments will not be opened. Email me at that address if you have trouble embedding the photograph(s).
-Judges: Photographs will be judged by my award-winning, professional photographer daughter, Rachel, and other creative individuals whom I have yet to approach. (Though you may have missed it, there were no photo entries--none!--to the last photo contest.)

Once again, Vicki’s pet rock gives up, failing
its goal to get through War and Peace.

-Prize: Winning photographs will be featured in a Retired—Now What? Blog photo addendum. I’ll attribute the photographs to almost any name you give me should you wish to remain anonymous.

OK! Get shooting!

Goal-Setting Writing Contest

Welcome back. Months have passed and I’m sure you’ve been wondering, “When is the Retired--Now What? Blog going to have another writing contest?” Well, the time has come. I hope you’re ready to write.

Contest Theme

For the theme of our second writing contest, I’ve borrowed from the website www.StageOfLife.com. In addition to offering a free platform for multi-generational writing, teens to grandparents and retirees, Stage of Life holds a monthly writing contest for teens.

Oh, stop groaning! I know most of you haven’t been teens for a few years. I’ve chosen one of the recent contest topics that you can handle: Goal Setting. And I’ve modified it for an even better fit. Be sure to check the details below, but here’s the elevator version: Write about an achieved or failed goal.

Developing the Theme

The Retired--Now What? Blog contest invites both serious and not so serious goal-setting essays. If, instead of writing about yourself, you would like to write about the efforts of someone close to you (e.g., mom) or your pet, feel free to do so.

Label now being added to both
sides of a plain white mug of
otherwise dubious nature and quality.

For those who entered or remember the blog’s first contest on Personal Bests, you might feel the Goal-Setting theme is too similar. That really depends on what you select for a topic and how you develop it. But even if your goal-setting essay goes in the personal best direction, that’s fine.

Contest Rules

The following should cover everything you’ll need to know.

-Topics: Write a nonfiction essay about a goal that you, someone close to you or your pet accomplished or failed to accomplish. Only G or PG rated essays will be considered.
-Essay Length: No more than 500 words, all or mostly in English.
-Due Date: Monday, 18 November 2013
-Submissions: Include your essay in the body text of an email to RetiredNW@gmail.com. Do not attach the essays; attachments will not be opened. You’re welcome to submit a second essay, but no more than two and please send them in separate emails.
-Photos: It would be great if you had one or more digital photos ready should your essay be selected; however, that’s not required. There’s no need to include any with your submission.
-Contestants: Anyone except a member of my immediate family may enter--retired or not retired, young or my age.
-Judges: We’ll have to see who submits. I’m hoping some of the five former judges will enter this time.
-Winner(s): The judges' choice of the best essay will be final. If the submitted essays fall in different categories (e.g., serious, not so serious), more than one winner may be selected.
-Prizes:
(1) The newly designed, not yet produced, but sure to be coveted “Retired--Now What? Blogger” mug.
(2) Publication of your essay on the Retired--Now What? Blog. If you would rather not be identified to the Internet universe or let people know you visited the Retired--Now What? Blog, we’ll attribute your winning essay to almost any name you choose.

OK! Don’t wait until the last day! Get writing! Good luck and thanks for stopping by.

Personal Best–Runner-Up Blog Post

Last Friday’s blog post offered the winning entry to the blog’s writing contest--describe your personal best in or at a topic of your choice. Today’s post is the runner-up, written by Jay P. I think you’ll find why some judges thought there should be co-winners instead of a winner and runner-up. 

Please comment, let me know what you think of Jay’s personal best or send me any message you’d like conveyed to him.


When I read this “assignment” I recalled my time hiring police officer candidates. “Tell us about the thing you’ve done that you’re most proud of,” was the interview inquiry. This then reminded me of the trepidation many people experience in the job interview process. Or on first dates, which may partly account for a lot of nervousness associated with those meetings.  

Interviews, professional or social, as well as autobiographies documenting our big accomplishments are instances requiring us to “blow our own horns.” I’ve been in my share of interviews, successful and not so much. Though usually unflappable, I too find a certain uneasiness with them. I’ve come to think this is because of a high school lesson I’ve retained through life. In Latin class, the teacher would write some small item in an upper corner of the chalkboard for the edification of the day’s students. For me the most memorable was the Latin phrase ego laus feteo--self praise stinks.

The author, a police officer,
in the mid-1970s.

Anyway, that’s the topic and I have to come up with something! I was also thinking that personal bests can come in all the things we do. For many of us who strive to excel in our professions, personal bests are often work related. 

As I wrote, I did police work. Police officers can have many bests in what they do, though they seldom see it that way. In a lot of endeavors, doing amazing things becomes routine and part of the job. Some of those bests for me were arrests and convictions of people doing bad things, assisting victims of those people and contributing to preventing student demonstrations against raising the drinking age from becoming riots. It might be more accurate to say preventing riots from becoming bigger riots.
 
We have personal bests in other things we’re passionate about: running, sailing, judo, collecting, quilting, bartering, swimming, etc. I’m not so driven to achieve the next personal goal. I’ve ridden a bicycle 92 miles on a few days but never 100 miles; and that’s OK by me. For others, those goals prompt them to excel and so, are important. I applaud anyone working toward new bests.

The author and his sons when
 all three were young.

What is it then that I consider my person best, worthy of some self praise? I’ve thought about it for a much more leisurely time than afforded in the job interview pressure cooker. Though common to most of us, I think raising my two children was the activity where I dedicated my best efforts. This was made very intense for me because my wife decided, when the boys were starting school, that I wasn’t much fun anymore and found someone who was, without mentioning that maybe I should think about changing something. Though I have to acknowledge a lot of help from parents and friends, I did my personal best to keep things fun for my two sons.

Personal Best--Winning Blog Post

Welcome back. On 31 May, I announced a writing contest to describe your personal best in or at a topic of your choice. Thank you to all who submitted essays and to the five judges who selected the winner and runner-up. Both essays will be posted here on the blog.

Today’s post is the winning entry, written by Josefina Wopatova. Please comment, let me know what you think of Josefina’s personal best or send me any message you’d like conveyed to her.


When Warren announced the contest on personal bests, I immediately thought of the 110-mile bike ride I did a few years ago. That was the culmination of months of fear-induced training. It turned out well, and I’m proud of my effort; but ultimately I decided I couldn’t honestly categorize that achievement as my own personal best.

The author’s trusty hybrid bike.

My next thought was what I would actually write about: maintaining patience in the face of parenting. I could say “in the face of chaos” but that would be redundant. 

Surely every parent is tested now and then with their children, but 2 of my 3 boys fall under the category of ADHD, which includes all the accompanying impulsivities, delayed maturation, disorganization and general inability to fit into the public school model-student peg hole.

My youngest boy also falls under the autism spectrum as defined by the old DSMIV manual. His therapist recently recommended I read the book Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions by Pat Harvey and Jeanine Penzo. Dutifully, I went to our large public library system to get yet another book on parenting difficult children, only to find they don’t have this book yet. Of course, I put in an order to get it.

A sample of the author’s
parenting-health bookshelf.

Please don’t recommend another book for me to read. I think I’m the only person to have read every book on the parenting shelf of our library. While I won’t veer off into the medical facts, suffice it to say that “Frederic”–not his real name–can be the dearest, sweetest child in existence, but when he loses it, it’s on the scale of WWIII. It doesn’t matter where we are at the time and it’s sometimes difficult to anticipate the triggers.

A Mother’s Day card the author
received from her youngest son.

He is now 13 and his emotional regulation has improved dramatically over the past decade. Yet just last night I had to quickly take him home from a school function because he was heading down the track of losing it.

I wasn’t raised by patient parents, so I suppose I come by this struggle honestly. For me, it’s been a labor of love, perseverance and a desire to change history--my history, but that’s another essay. I’ve had to work at this patience thing. Did you know that “bite your tongue” is actually a physical process that some of us have had to employ?

So, my personal best is getting through a day, an episode, a moment without saying something I will regret and without falling apart. I guess I’ve mostly succeeded. The trouble with personal bests is that they presume a peak performance. For me, it’s the individual and minute successes that add up to good, or at least mostly good, patient and loving parenting.

Photo Addendum Contest

Last Friday, I announced the first ever Retired--Now What? Blog contest--The Personal Best Contest: Write about your personal best in or at a topic of your choosing. (Be sure to check the rules before submitting.)

What goes with a Retired--Now What? writing contest on personal bests? You guessed it! A Photo Addendum Contest on Personal Bests!

Syracuse University sprinters practicing
starts, 1932. Photo by unidentified Syracuse
Post-Standard Newspaper photographer was
used and described in Track Photo Addendum.
(Warren’s father is 2nd from left.)

The top personal best photographs will be selected from those submitted for a special Retired—Now What? photo addendum.

Contest Rules

-Photographs: In keeping with the blog’s scope, submitted photographs should be G- or PG-rated illustrations of one or more humans or other animals, including insects of course, or even plants achieving their or its “personal” best.

A snail achieving its personal best
snail trail. Photo by Mary Bean from
Snail Tracking Photo Addendum.

-Contestants: Anyone may enter, young or old, retired or not. Contest entrants may submit no more than two photographs for consideration.

-Due Date: Monday, 30 June 2013

-To Submit: Include your photograph(s) in the body text of an email to: RetiredNW@gmail.com  Do not attach the photograph(s); attachments will not be opened. Email me at that address if you have trouble embedding the photograph(s).

-Judges: Probably my award-winning, professional photographer daughter, Rachel, whom I haven’t asked yet, and other supremely creative individuals.

-Prize: Winning photographs will be featured in a Retired—Now What? photo addendum. I’ll attribute the photographs to almost any name you give me, but if you want to copyright the photograph, you should probably use your true name.

OK! Let’s see those personal best photos!

Personal Best Contest

Wife Vicki's first marathon.

Welcome back. For over two years in well over 200 blog posts, I have divulged many of my personal bests in such diverse pursuits as jogging, sleeping, fishing, swimming, softball, basketball, guitar and probably others. It’s time for you to stop holding back, to forego your humility. Tell us about one of your personal bests.

Since you will never speak up without being tortured or enticed, I’ll make it a writing contest! (Note the exclamation point.)

This is a contest for you to describe your personal best in or at a topic of your choice. And “you” can be young or old, retired or not. (Most of the blog’s readers are far from retired.) 

Topics 

In keeping with this blog’s history and theme, recalling and exploring, I will be really loose about topics as long as you keep it G or PG rated.

You might write about achieving a personal best in a traditional pursuit of personal bests like running. For example, our friend Willie once wrote about running farther and farther, advancing his personal best, in his blog Bill’s Running Shoes.

Or you might reach deeper into your bag of bests. Suppose you were my former colleague, Jim, who never bothered to learn touch typing. You might describe the ecstasy of reaching 20 words per minute keyboarding with only two index fingers.

Symbols of our son Noah’s personal
best in grade school.

Contest Rules

I think the following covers everything you’ll need to know:

-Topics: Describe any personal best but keep it G or PG rated.
-Length of Write up: No more than 500 words, all or most in English.
-Due Date: Monday, 1 July 2013

-To Submit: Include your write up in the body text of an email to: RetiredNW@gmail.com  No attachments; attachments will not be opened.

-Photos: It would be nice if you had one or more digital photos ready should your write up be selected, but there’s no need to include any with your submission.
-Contestants: Anyone, retired or not retired, may enter, except a member of my immediate family, who would never enter anyway.
-Judges: I haven’t gotten that far yet.

If the judges throw up their hands at the difficulty of choosing a winner, more than one winner might be selected, especially if the top submissions are in different categories (e.g., Frisbee toss and SAT scores).

If there are no submissions, I will be inconsolable.
If there are no worthy submissions…nah, not possible.

Oh, almost forgot:
-Prize: Publication here on the Retired--Now What? Blog, using your true or pen name for copyright.

I hope you’ll jump at this opportunity for fame. Thanks for stopping by.