I reached a few milestones recently. The first was to have completed 25 years with the state of California. After which, I retired from it. The date on the plaque isn’t correct, but that’s government for you. I began retirement unofficially in early October when I began using up vacation time. Officially, my last day was December 14th, the day before I turned 55.
As I am sure anyone who spends that much time somewhere can attest to, it is a little difficult saying goodbye. I have gotten to know many great people at CalPERS. I met my wife there. I have worked on many projects that have affected many people there. I have spent years on some projects that I have contributed so much to and that I am really proud of. Throughout my career, not just at CalPERS, I have mentored people to become better programmers and it prides me to know that I have helped them in their careers, too. So many people, so many projects, so many hours (sometimes at all hours) spent in those buildings. It has been a large part of my life that I have now turned away from. But it is time to start doing other things.
Everyone asks what I am going to do when I am retired and if I will be bored. I always thought that was amusing. How could I be bored? There is so much to do! I have had projects lined up for years that I haven’t had time to get to because of work. Thanks to my wonderful wife who is out there taking on the world and saving it from the likes of COVID (not literally, she is grounded like the rest of us right now and working from home), I really don’t have to work again. Not saying that I won’t, but I don’t have to. So, for now, I work on hobbies and home projects that are making the house more organized, less cluttered, and smarter (yes, I have even allowed Alexa into my house). And obviously, one project is to work on this website. I have started with this blog. I have a few years of pictures to update. That will come. Seriously, I have so many projects going on right now, I don’t know how I ever had time for work.