What will my future hold?

[TW]

This phase of my life will be coming to and end in the near future, and a new phase will be begining. For almost fourty eight years I have punched the time clocks of several different industries. Leading a somewhat nomadic life I have moved from place to place, wherever the work was. With each move I have reinvented myself and started anew. This has occured at least five times, although the last time was more a matter of locale than job skills. At 3:30 P.M. on Veterans Day (November 11, 2009) I will clock out for the final time. I expect that to be an emotional moment. The joy of having reached retirement mixed with the knowledge that I will not be seeing many of my friends again. At present my future is somewhat uncertain. Do I return to the lands of my youth? I would love that. However those lands are no more, and it pains my heart to see what the land developers have done to them. Do I stay in Middle Tennessee? There is nothing here that holds me, I have no real connection to the area. So I wait for God's guidance as to where I will spend my final years.


TW

[MacUser]

Retirement? What is that? Some of us may never see that luxury.

Regardless.. don't let some clock tell you it's time to stop working. Do what you enjoy/placed on your heart and not what you are told to do.

God Speed.

[RamboPreacher]

wallmart greeter? hehehehehehee

[paul]

This phase of my life will be coming to and end in the near future, and a new phase will be begining. For almost fourty eight years I have punched the time clocks of several different industries. Leading a somewhat nomadic life I have moved from place to place, wherever the work was. With each move I have reinvented myself and started anew. This has occured at least five times, although the last time was more a matter of locale than job skills. At 3:30 P.M. on Veterans Day (November 11, 2009) I will clock out for the final time. I expect that to be an emotional moment. The joy of having reached retirement mixed with the knowledge that I will not be seeing many of my friends again. At present my future is somewhat uncertain. Do I return to the lands of my youth? I would love that. However those lands are no more, and it pains my heart to see what the land developers have done to them. Do I stay in Middle Tennessee? There is nothing here that holds me, I have no real connection to the area. So I wait for God's guidance as to where I will spend my final years.

TW

TW, for years I worked in a factory, both prior to my entering into the ministry and several years after while pioneering smaller churches. I have a great appreciation for the factory worker. Youself, Gerald and others. You were and are a great part of what is fast becoming a part of America's by-gone era.

My hope and prayer is that the next adventure in your life will be fulfilling. I trust that you will discover as many new friends in the future asyou have had in the past. I am a firm believer that life is what we choose to make it. And I know from the post that I have read over the past few years that you have the ability, intelect to make it great.

[ImaPK]

Oh the stories I could tell of working with my best friend for the last 14+ years! He has always had my back. He was the only one from work who came to the funeral home when my mom died. He was the only one from work who came to see me after we were hit by the tornado. He was the only one who would LISTEN to me after my dad died. I have had alot of friends in my life but only 3 BEST friends and TW is one of those 3. I am PROUD to call him my friend and will miss him greatly when he is gone from work. We do plan to keep in touch.

[Jennifer Smith]

Greater things are yet to come, greater things are yet to be done,
(song stuck in my head today,)

Your latter will be greater. Praying for you to be able to seek out and find that which would fulfill you most in the Lord. Have you thought about moving to Florida and working at a Christian Retreat Center part time. Or just to enjoy the sunlight and be close to rjc? Volunteer work is a good idea as is finding a way to do the things you love to do most!

Hope and pray it all works out well for you.

[TW]

Mac, I do plan to stay active and productive. I just won't be punching a time clock. I believe that when you become sedentary that you lose the will to live and enjoy life.

Rambo, it's not out of te question . . . but I hope not.

paul, thank you for the kind words. I think that you are right in life being what we make it. That's why the decisions I make over the next few months will be so important, and why they must be guided by God. My history of decision making (on my own) leaves much to be desired.

ImaPK, I'm proud to call you friend. I know that you are one of a handful that will make the extra effort to stay in touch. Thank you for being my friend.

Jennifer, moving back to Florida is a possibility. RJC and I have talked about this, and if possible we both would like there to be some distance between where we live. That way we both could escape the worst of the seasons. I could visit her during the coldest part of the winter, and she could visit me when those Florida summers get oppressive.


TW

[Jennifer Smith]

Mac, I do plan to stay active and productive. I just won't be punching a time clock. I believe that when you become sedentary that you lose the will to live and enjoy life.

Rambo, it's not out of te question . . . but I hope not.

paul, thank you for the kind words. I think that you are right in life being what we make it. That's why the decisions I make over the next few months will be so important, and why they must be guided by God. My history of decision making (on my own) leaves much to be desired.

ImaPK, I'm proud to call you friend. I know that you are one of a handful that will make the extra effort to stay in touch. Thank you for being my friend.

Jennifer, moving back to Florida is a possibility. RJC and I have talked about this, and if possible we both would like there to be some distance between where we live. That way we both could escape the worst of the seasons. I could visit her during the coldest part of the winter, and she could visit me when those Florida summers get oppressive.


TW

Well if that's what you're looking for, Pensacola is a beautiful place to live! It was one of my favorite places. There is still a resemblance to four seasons. Southern home cooking, the beach, the Naval Museum, Blue Angels, military families, a strong sense of community, great churches, and Alabama is only a few miles away. (That is in case you want to visit the outlet malls, go to Lambert's Home of the Throwed Rolls, and pick fresh vegetables.)

[TW]

Jennifer,
I have been researching foreclosures online for about two months now, this is the market where I will get the most value for my dollar. Before I began my research I established the parameters that would narrow down my search. The first thing was price, I need to find a home that I can afford to pay cash for and avoid a mortgage. The price must be low enough that I will still have the revenue from my 401 to do any repairs or upgrades that are needed. The second thing is location. I need to be close enough to a large city to get medical care for my various health issues. I, however, do not want to live in a metropolitan area per se. I would prefer a little more of a small town/rural environment. Cost of living, crime rates, and taxes (income, property and sales) are also considerations. My research has lead me to the area of Southeast Tennessee, Northeast Alabama, and Northwest Georgia. There are a number of small towns within a twenty five mile radius of Chattanooga (for access to shopping and medical care). There are a fairly good number of homes in the $40,000 > $50,000 range that would not require major remodeling or repair to be habitable. The cost of living averages 20 to 22% lower than the national average. Crime rates are much lower than the national averages, i.e. Chickamauga, GA's violent crime rate is only 0.4 per 1000. This compared to Pensacola's violent crime rate of 15.6 per 1000 is more than adequate reason for me to rule Pensacola out. Also, property crime rates are very close to the respective violent crime rates for both cities. The over-all tax burden works out to be very similar between all three states. This seems to be the area God is leading me to at this time.


TW

[justsam]

TW sounds like you are doing your homework!

Good for you. I pray it will all work out really well.

Jennifer

[oletimer]

TW don't count out all of North Alabama. especially Huntsville. Florence Al area has several hospitals, also not far from Birmingham, Nashville Tn. Huntsville Al and Chattanooga Tn.. Athens Al is really a good area as clost to all of the above andright on I-65. Just some thoughts.