[AT] O.T. - Retiring more than once mentioned recently...

[Dennis Johnson]

Indiana,

I took a pension after 40 years with Schlumberger. I have several part time things going on.
1 - I work for a Argentina supplier to oil field service companies, running a small logistics operation here in Houston - basically management and doing payroll for them. This actually pays a little bit that I can use for “toys”.
2 - Part owner of a company in China to build oil field service equipment, but that has almost stopped due to decline in oilfield business, especially in and around China
3 - Part owner of another company that is building RV transport trailers, and also a little oilfield equipment in markets where CEO of company #2 does not want to deal with.
4 - Part owner of another company set up for importing things from China to the USA, but tariffs and Chinese politics have basically made this endeavor where is has not done anything yet. Still waiting for SSA to issue paperwork to allow Chinese partner to get US ID number.
5 - Facility manager at local church - volunteer, plus similar function at another ministry in Tulsa area.
6 - Rental properties - had 3 properties, but son now has one of them, wildfire near Tulsa took second one few years back, and have 1 rented now.

Plan is to stay active in these as long as I can do it. Hopefully more of them will start to make $$$.

Thanks
Dennis

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 13, 2019, at 5:41 PM, Indiana Robinson <robinson46176 at gmail.com> wrote:


I retired in steps and am still doing it. I've always been on the farm and also worked at several other things, sometimes several at once.
I walked away from a good seed corn research job because it was supposedly part time but became a 50 - 60 hours a week part time job along with being on the road working at out of state test plot sites right when I needed to be in my own fields in the spring and fall.
A number of years later (about 1996) we retired from our store that we owned for over 20 years. That one was planned...
Quitting grain farming wasn't planned... I was only farming a couple hundred acres and figured that I could do it for many years yet. Along about 2003 or so my mother was getting fairly bad with Alzheimer's and we had also taken in Diana's mom who lived with  us for 3 or 4 years. Her mom was great to care for but she was legally blind, almost totally deaf and could only walk with a walker. Nice lady but caring for both her mom and my mom took a big toll on both of us. I finally gave up on grain farming when my mom got so bad that I could not keep her from wandering out and getting lost. I had already quit renting ground away from home and I then cash rented out about 70 acres to a good neighbor who only lives about 2 miles away. He still rents that from me today. A good guy who has become a good friend. I did keep some ground for hay production and baled for several years. Then one really muggy hot (95 degrees +) July day about 2007 I was laying under the baler working on a chain, laying on my back reaching up and streaming sweat when a batch of chaff fell on my face and into my open mouth. I've had such things happen about all of my life but I guess that was the wrong day. After I quit sputtering and spitting I said out loud "I don't have to do this $#1t" and ran the baler in the tool shed and parked it. One more retirement step.
Around 2008 We started getting into horses... Much of the former hay ground was land I didn't want tilled or a little of it I just didn't want in corn any more. I never did like being boxed in around the house. That was about the time health problems started. I had not been to a doctor for over 40 years but I'm pretty caught up at it now.  :-)  About then I could only walk about 100' at a time and that was with 2 canes. After fighting it a year I finally picked out a doctor and went. It turned out to be a simple thyroid problem that medication pretty much cured in 3 weeks. Don't put off going to a doc... A quadruple bypass in 2013 "adjusted" a lot of plans for me... Between Diana and I we now know a "LOT" of doctors...  :-)
Most of our own horses are rescue horses, all 5 are just pets. We have had more but over the years a couple have died of old age, both about 30. We pasture board a batch but the count is constantly changing, usually from 6 to a dozen. We currently have no plans to retire from the horses but like most of life, especially at my age (77) things tend to be a little unpredictable.
I was rethinking that future retirement from the horse boarding 2 days ago when I got into a short shoving match with an upset thoroughbred but our disagreement passed OK.  :-)
Those thoroughbreds will run over you, especially when they first arrive. The difference is kind of funny. Our own bunch include 3 quarter horses, a Belgian Draft and a smallish Hackney. I can walk among them with them milling about and never worry. It is easy to tell that they are being careful to not hurt us. Sure different from those track horses.

Is anybody else retired but not quite?


.


--
--

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com<mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>








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