It was a wonderful four months a year ago last winter in La Peñita, basking in the temperate sunshine of the Pacific coast an hour’s drive north of Puerto Vallarta, the longest time we’ve spent in Mexico. We’ve grown fond of the people we have gotten to know there. They are unselfconsciously generous, easygoing, and ever so … More On the Road Again: Leaving La Peñita
Another entry in the Mad Jubilado series. I had not flown in almost four years. I recalled retired folks telling me that when I retire I would find myself with too much to do. I didn’t pay much attention. Not having to work sounded like not having much to do at all. Well, they were … More Up in the Air Again, and Down
~ ~ ~ Another in the Mad Jubilado series ~ ~ ~ I can’t remember not working with wood. My father was an amateur woodworker. He built some really nice furniture for our house – a hallway entry table, a coffee table, and end tables in the “early American” style – with little more than … More Some Words on Wood and Wings
Choices multiply with time, or maybe not. Potential decisions proliferate as knowledge grows, but we may not necessarily make them as obligations set in. With good health, the Jubilado [retiree, en español], if modestly financed with a decent pension, has many choices, not all costly. Unfortunately, many Jubilados either never had a pension or it … More Choices and Freedom, Decisions and Destiny
Craftsmanship is the opposite of boredom. One does not usually think of digging a ditch as a matter of craftsmanship. But when I dug that ditch at age 15 as precisely as possible to avoid boredom, I had no idea that I was becoming ‘craftsman-like,’ but I was. If you do anything with craftsmanship, striving … More Craftsmanship, Flying and Boredom
Jubilado Jubilee “So much to do, so little time.” That cliché never meant much to me. The “so little time” part had no meaning. I was busy with my life and there was always tomorrow. It seemed as if I had all the time in the world. Careers go fast if you are busy and … More Diary of a Mad Jubilado: (first in a series)
We all know that politics is rife with deceit of the public and deception of the self. Claims as to the reasons a senator or congressman supports or opposes a bill or a policy are often merely “cover stories” hiding the widespread real reason the politicians vote the way they do – money. The conflation … More Why Is Social Security So Insecure?
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 