Retirement….One Year Later

Today marks one year since my last day wearing the uniform. Sure, my official retirement date wasn’t until Sept, but a lot of things have happened. In that time, we’ve continued to live through a pandemic, I’ve started a job, quit a job, and started another one, done a lot of work around the house, and been able to enjoy life a little bit. I will start by saying that I honestly haven’t been this relaxed in a very long time. I’m back working at CYBERCOM but as a contractor and it’s nice to know that if things go to shit because they don’t want to listen to advice, that is entirely on them. On the other hand, I’m getting to do a lot of engineering work, and it’s been a lot of fun being able to get my hand back on keyboard.

It’s nice knowing that when I get home each afternoon, that I don’t have to worry about work (something that hasn’t been true since long before I became a warrant). If something happens after hours, I know it’s not my phone that is going to be ringing. It’s given me a lot more time to focus on my wife and kids (I actually have two…..who knew? j/j). Yes, the pandemic has made it a lot harder to go out and do things (my wife and I celebrated our 16th anniversary at the end of March and it was the first time we’d been out in a year) but we’ve found a number of other ways to reconnect at the house.

I’ve written several articles over the last year that talked about things I’ve learned when it comes to retiring. If you haven’t had a chance, go back and read them. While the overall process itself is fairly easy, there are definitely some things out there that can bite you in the ass if you’re not careful. I have a few more things I probably should write too. The biggest lesson I can tell you I have learned is to be flexible. We’ve all talked about how the best-laid plan never survives first contact. The same is true when it comes to transitioning out of the military. I had a plan, and that plan has changed significantly several times over the last year. Overall, I think the changes have all been for the best but I wasn’t always sure about that.

When it comes to getting a job, HAVE A BACKUP PLAN! I thought I had a couple of different jobs, only to have them completely fall apart on me without even knowing it (that is a post I need to write). Fortunately for me and my family, other than a little bit of stress, it didn’t cause us any significant problems because I always had another option on the sides just in case. I’ve been with my current company now for about 8 months and always keep an eye out for another opportunity. Not because I want to leave (I actually love what I’m doing and where I work), but because you never know when things are going to change.

Well that’s all I have to say right now. I really need to do a better job of writing. I’ve been working with some pretty cool things lately, just suck about writing about them.