Sitting here working on my memoir for a content I want to enter when my phone rang.  Ron, from the Activities section, here at Imperial Plaza, was calling asking for help at the Superbowl Party.  It should be a lot of fun and there will be a lot of food and drinks.  It starts at 5:30 but I am to be there at 1:00 setting up.  I haven’t been to a good football party in a couple of years.  Come one, come all and have fun with us.

After we talked about the party, we discussed a new billiards (for the common person, that mean pool) competition.  I knew about the table in the building called Camilla but I didn’t know about the one in the building called Boxwood.  He suggested Boxwood and Dogwood play each other in Boxwood and Camilla and Azalea play each other in Camilla.  After a few games and a winner is determined for each, then the two winners will play for the championship.  Pending the Activities Department budget, maybe a trophy or certificate will be given.  Also pending the budget, food and drinks will be served.  This is something Ron is working on and wants my help, in which I am more than happy to give.

I haven’t played pool in thirty years or more and I wasn’t that good then.  This should be interesting, to say the least.  Ron said he hasn’t played in many years either but he will try.  There is a resident that is really good and he has been trying to get me to play with him since I first moved in.  I’ll wager money that he is the first winner but I’m going to practice and try to make him sweat for the title.

There is another thing going on that is probably happening at other senior facilities.  What I am talking about are gossip groups, for lack of a better, printable description.  I haven’t been with these people and I may be wrong for calling them a gossip group but it’s what I perceive.  These are people that, each evening, sit in each building’s lobby and talk.  It’s the same people every evening.

Then there are the people that troll for whomever they can find.  I have heard about them from more than one person.  There was one incident that happened to me.  I was walking to the garage of Dogwood when a woman with her walker approached me and started a conversation.  After a couple of minutes I attempted to graciously go on.  My wife drove into the garage and I tried to move the ten yards to give her a hand in unloading the car.  This woman grabbed my arm and kept talking.  I extricated myself and moved on.  My wife thankfully heard and saw what was happening and thought it was funny.  I have been a policeman for many years and have seen the results of a situation like that.  I’ll stay to myself.

Let me tell you, it’s still cold outside and, while going down the mall hallway, it’s cold inside too.  I was passing one of the maintenance men, by the activities office, as he was working on one of the wall radiators.  I asked if the heat was off and he told me it needed bleeding.  I went on about my business and he went about his.  Later that evening, as my wife, my sister-in-law and I were going to dinner, I could feel the coolness radiating through the window making the mall hallway cold.  It was not cool, it was cold.  I put my hand on the radiator and I could barely feel heat coming out of the vents.  I believe it was too cold outside.  I believe it was around eleven degrees.

Imperial Plaza has great food and greater prices.  The Magnolia Room is like a restaurant and Andrea, one of the managers, is one of the greatest people at Imperial Plaza.  She knows everyone by name and she goes out of her way to assist everyone.  I have never heard anyone say anything bad about Andrea.  All the people at Imperial Plaza are great but Andrea, in Food Service, and Ron, in Activities, seems to be above great.

I am getting spoiled with all the great food and prices in The Magnolia Room.  Next door is the cafeteria and it’s the same there.  Great food, great people and great prices.  In fact, when I go to either place, I leave food on my plate and I’ve never done that before.  You’ll never leave either place hungry or wishing for a larger portion.  Then you have deserts that should be advertised as for two.

I haven’t been to the gym this week.  I’ve been too busy plus I had a doctor’s appointment but my body feels the layoff.  I have no excuse for not going to the gym except I am lazy.  However, the gym is a tad too warm although I love warmth.  Then I think of the older users that need the heat and can’t deal with coolness.

This brings me back to the cold hallways.  How did the older residents, at Imperial Plaza, tolerate the change in temperature?  Now that I think about it, I should have spent a lot of time in the gym.  The change of temperature would have been ideal.  In fact, I probably would have had the gym to myself.  Oh well, that is a lost opportunity.

This sheet is almost finished (I only get five hundred words) and I would like your input.  What should I write about?  How deep do you want it to go?  Facts or just what my mind perceives?  You tell me and, if I can, it will be done.  Yes, I love my new retirement home, here at Imperial Plaza, and want to share what this life is like.  As you can see, mine is very busy and I hope it will stay that way.

Let me jump ahead of myself for this article.  I have just attended two events, given by the Imperial Plaza Activities Staff, and had a great time.  I would like to attempt to tell you about them and the participation.  The staff of two is great and does a fine job that should be commended.  It takes a lot of hard work and time.

As I have mentioned before, there is one activity attended by men.  The activity is called “Romeo” which stand for Retired Old Men Eating Out.  Since it’s a men only function, Ron, the assistant activities man, the other being female and his boss, always go out with us men.  Last Thursday evening, Ron drove the little bus because the regular driver had driven all day and could not drive us, like he usually does, on our outing.

We went to P. F. Chang and there were only ten of us men.  Paying to go out was seven of us walking normally, two in wheelchairs and Ron.  This is a poor showing for a senior community the size of Imperial Plaza.  I have taken the once a month outing three times now and each time the turnout is very poor.  I have heard rumors about some of the other men saying they cannot afford it or there is another conflicting engagement.

The men that attend the outing is usually the same as always.  I have asked about this and was told that it’s normally ten to twelve men.  The other men also said they have tried to get other men to attend without any luck.  Ron told me the same thing.  I’ll drop it and not dig any further.

The other event was the Pre-New Year party that was a blast.  The band “Second Floor” provided the music, a mixture of Christmas, pop, rock and soul.  The party was to be from six thirty to eight with drink, food and dancing.  My wife and I did not leave until almost nine and some people were still there.   There was wine, champaign, a punch fountain, chocolate fountain, and finger food.  Those that were able to danced and everyone was singing to the music.

One of the residents got on stage sang and so did Ron.  My wife and I also had a new resident sit at the table with us and found out she had only been there a week.  Since she lived in our building and we were also new, we became immediate friends.  She walks with a walker and is from Southern California therefore we told her to contact us if she needed anything.

As my wife and I started to leave with another resident from our building, the band was still playing and most of the party participants had preceded us.  It was a lot of fun and my wife even had a picture taken of us and posted it on Facebook.  It was a good evening.

Now that I have seen the apartments, I have decided to take a newer apartment in the newest building.  Why I choose that is because of the heat and air.  For heat and air, the other buildings run from one unit for the three buildings.  Therefore, on a particular date, it is changed over to heat or air regardless the temperature.   The building I choose has its own temperature control unit for heat and air with the separate apartments controlling the temperature for the apartment.  I couldn’t have asked for anything better than that.  One day it’s cold and the next it’s hot and there is nothing better than being able to dial up the temperature you want.

I was looking at the long range weather report and it’s saying that some unusual weather is heading this way.  The heat is already on and I think that we will have a cool spell and then it’ll turn hot.  I will need to control my own heat and air.  I like it warm but not too hot.   My wife likes to keep things cool, especially while sleeping, while I grab a blanket.

We were shown an apartment, on the seventh floor, that is available.  It’s a corner apartment and is very large.  I was told the corner apartments were larger than the others.  I’ll take it.  I surprised everyone by making my choice so quickly.  Now let’s do this and do it fast.  I want to settle in before it gets cold and I want to have at the gym.

My wife has been on my case, for a long while, to join a gym but I have always refused.  I was getting enough exercise by doing yard work and a lot of other things.  My wife has belonged to many gyms but, after a while, she always dropped out because of one excuse or another.  I plan on a lot of use and, unlike my wife’s gym membership, it’s free.  It has everything except free weights.

A lot of trees died for the amount of paperwork placed before me.  I signed as much paper as I did when I bought my house.  I was told, years ago, that computers would make mountains of paperwork unnecessary.  I guess that was wrong.   I also have a lot of policy paperwork to read.

We will move in before the holidays, in fact, the middle of November.  That’ll give me time to get rid of the house and, with my car, move little by little.  I think it will work out fine.  This way the moving company will only have to move the large items and I’ll already have the smaller items there.  That will also be the middle of leaf raking season and, this season; I don’t have to worry about it.

I would appreciate it if this blog is passed on to get the readership higher.  Pass it on to your friends and have them pass it on!

Well, the die is casted and I am giving up the house and will move to Imperial Plaza, a retirement community.  But first I must attend to the house and yard and make the necessary plans to make the move.  I have decided the grass can stay the way it is and the leaves, in the front yard, will be taken up one last time.  The back can remain covered because the dogs love the leaves, running and rolling all through it.

During this time, my wife and I took the tour through the retirement community.  I was flabbergasted.  Not only is the place beautiful but self-sufficient like nothing I have ever seen before.  I originally thought that it was one building but it is four plus a nursing facility that is separate.  The four buildings are connected so that no one has to be outside for any reason unless they want to be outside.  There is an assisted living section and the rest is for those that don’t need assistance.

The main building not only has all of the administrative offices and a secretary but other amenities as well.  To name a few, I’m sure I will miss one or two; there is a bank, library, snack bar, restaurant, gym, doctor’s office, dentist office, pharmacy and small store.  Everything is well lit and it’s very spacious.

The staff was wonderful, in fact, one of the staff members wanted to take one of my dogs and that was a blessing in itself.  The activity people, there are only two, went out of their way to make us welcome and extended, to the both of us, the opportunity to participate in the same activities the residents do.  Of course I wanted to have a free tryout of these things.  My wife and I went on a trip to the casino in West Virginia and I also went to dinner with the men group called ROMEO (retired old men eating out).

There was a dinner dance that my wife and I were invited to and I really couldn’t believe the cost for dinner, dancing and socializing, for the both of us, was only twenty bucks.  When we left to go home, we were full and did more than enough dancing.  The woman that go around and get people to dance also have a session called mix and mingle.  That is free but only last an hour and is in the afternoon, twice a month..

After all of this, I was sold and I still have not seen an apartment.  We had set a date for looking at the apartments.  The reason I say (plural) apartments is that there are different price ranges and different sizes.  I am looking forward to seeing them.  In the mean time I will look at the brochures.

I believe I am finally going to enjoy retirement.  Join me on the next installment and see what my retirement is like….

I am starting this blog telling my actual experience with retirement, how it started, why and what’s happening in this self-imposed retirement.  I really didn’t want to retire but, like falling dominoes, one thing led to another.  Read about my saga, I have not decided whether it will be once or twice a week, and the things that are happening.  Enjoy, pass it on and prepare for yours.  It’s coming sooner than you think.

One day, a year ago, while at my part time job, I decided I didn’t want to work anymore and, when I told my wife that night, for the first time that I can remember, my wife was speechless.  When she finally regained her composure she simply asked “why?”  I simply said that I was tired working and wanted to do what I wanted to do, when I want to do it and how I want to do it.  I didn’t want to have a clock or any schedule for any reason with the exception of seeing the doctor or getting up early to go fishing.

Let me tell you how this all started and, later, how it’s going.  I’ve been working since I was a teenager (not counting chores around the house and around the neighborhood) and I am now sixty seven.  There has only been one day, which I can recall, in all of these years that I was not gainfully employed.   It was time to hang up my spurs.  I still had the work around the house and around the yard, not counting taking care of my two dogs and a small garden.

My favorite pass time is saltwater fishing and my shortwave radio listening.  Taking care of the house, the dogs, the yard, honey-do lists, appointments and getting a little sleep meant something had to be scratched from the schedule and put on the back burner.  Sleep suffered, fishing went into the dumps and shortwave was virtually not heard in my “Man Cave”.  There was more than enough yard work and the honey-do list never got any shorter.

Retirement was not going the way I thought it would and I was even more tired.  I had to push on.  I had to persevere.  I could not give up and let things go.  A house will slowly die and things, inside, will quickly break beyond a do-it-yourself fix.  I am a do-it-yourself man and hate to call a pricy laborer.  This is my house and why should I pay someone to do something I can do myself, if I had the time.

Then, God must have heard my silent cry; my wife had me go with her to a retirement community that a friend had shown her.   She thought I wouldn’t like it and I would have negative things to say about the place.  Little did she know how wrong she was.  I fell in love with it and wanted to move in right away but my wife reminded me about the house and dogs.  I quickly had a plan but that was going to take a little time and I had to work fast.  My wife, again, was speechless because she thought I wanted the house and yard.  She was wrong because I was ready to go except I didn’t want to give up my dogs, aka my two sons.  I had to put them up for adoption although it was going to break my heart and I would miss them dearly.