On 12/10/2015 4:52 PM, Wade Garrett wrote:
On 12/10/15 4:35 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 12/10/2015 2:17 PM, Eagle wrote:
Don Y expressed precisely :
On 12/10/2015 11:15 AM, Eagle wrote:
What do you pay for TV, internet and phone?

The more interesting question, IMO, is how many hours of your life
do you spend at your 9-to-5 (before taxes!) to pay those (after taxes)
rates? Then, asking oneself if it's really *worth* that much of
your time (so you can diddle away even MORE time watching the
boob tube, surfing the web or chatting with others).

I'm retired, and so is My Wife, so We watch lots of TV when We are not
busy
doing other things. I race My 1968 Chevy C10 short box, and do
estimating on
building projects for private builders.

My comment, that follows, is obviously purely a matter of my own,
personal, point of view -- your mileage obviously may (*does*!) vary:

I'd be "disappointed" if I worked my whole life just to spend
retirement "watching TV". I can understand not being physically/mentally
able to undertake other activities. But, *choosing* to sit in front
of the idiot box seems like such a colossal waste of opportunity;
you're finally at a point where you don't have to answer to someone
else's marching orders... can choose *what* you want to do with YOUR
time... "watching TV" wouldn't be high on my list.

(How many folks do you think express dismay, on their deathbeds,
for NOT having watched MORE TV?)

I am constantly cheating my body out of needed sleep/etc. simply
because there are so many things that I *want* to do with my waking
hours! I regularly lecture SWMBO to take advantage of "opportunities"
as there's no guarantee she'll be able to take advantage of them
in the future (nor that they will present themselves, then).

No interest in learning another killset? Mentoring youth? Volunteering
at a hospice? etc.

[Again, YMMV... I'm just pointing out *my* attitude towards the "MY TIME"
we each are, hopefully, granted]

I'm retired too.

I was a hard-working SOB my entire life-- started working real part-time jobs
around age 14, put myself through college and grad school, worked about 10
years for big companies then went out on my own and ran a lucrative consulting
practice for 35 years.

Traveled regionally and nationally, some international, with 10-12-14 hour days
the norm- and too many consult all day/travel all night weeks- with maybe
Sundays "off."

So I gotta tell ya', I'm damn tired and my head still spins when I lay down at
night. I love nothing better than a mindless veg-out in front of the TV-- or
waste time posting on usenet ;-)

I spend my work time seated with my mind doing all of the "work". So,
for me, vegging-out entails engaging my body and distracting my mind.

As I have a lot of flexibility in how I spend my time, I arrange to have
some suitable "activity" in each day that allows me to get things done
while also giving me a mental diversion and some physical exertion.

E.g., an hour walk. Juicing lemons/limes/oranges. Painting the roof.
Weeding the yard. Washing a car. Changing oil, filters, brakes. Baking.
Shampooing carpets (I don't vacuum! : ). Volunteering. Defrosting freezer
chest. Cleaning refrigerator interior. Sorting cables. Shredding
documents. Framing paintings. Cleaning/smoking/packaging meats. Felling
trees. Sharpening tools. etc.

The idea of sitting -- motionless, unthinking -- in front of the Idiot Box
has no appeal to me.

I dread the prospect of retirement as that will come when I no longer have
the skills/abilities to continue with my primary passion -- my *work*!
There are far too many interesting ideas to pursue while I have the skills
to pursue them!