the intern

the INTERN
having been rained in for several days
having seen too much rio olympics
seeing all those stories about swimmers urinating in
a gas station
why not just save that for the swimming pool guys
having not enough football yet to watch
i said to my wife she
lets find a movie on tv
so on hbo
there was the movie the intern with robert deniro and anne hathaway

as i watched this
as many of you who have retired
as i did too early 5 years ago
you recognize that lost look
that
what am i going to do now
you can only clean the house
mow the yard
paint
read the paper
organize your papers
all those other things that need to be done
then
what next you ask

thats when
your life can either get better for everyone
or
you become stagnant

i chose like robert deniro did
to not to become stagnant
look at
you need to see the movie
the good
how much he made those around him
better
and
happier

there are a lot of retired folks who have a lot to offer
their numbers keep growing and growing each year
why dont we
schools government charities businesses
do a better job of taping into this source of knowledge and manpower
some of its free ie they just volunteer

thats what i did

i always wanted to help build a house with habitat for humanity
so
i showed up one day and started volunteering once or twice a week
i am on somewhere between 10-15 houses that i have helped with
most i have supervised and planned the landscape
with sometimes little funds

i would do it again

then
my mom got free meals
so
i volunteered for meals of wheels delivering once a week
on a 28 mile route spread out from the kitchen site
to close to where the country n is located

i have befriended several of the clients
helping one find the right medicare rx plan and saved him a
couple of thousand on his drug bills each year
i also helped with making sure his last will was handled like
he wanted along with other dedicated volunteers

i even planted a tomato for a 94 year old client in a movable
pot so she could grow fresh tomatoes
a proud possession is that tomato for her

i recently cut down a fallen tree off another clients wheelchair ramp

things i wouldnt have got to do if i hadnt decided to get involved
with meals on wheels
the clients life was made a little better by my decision
i feel good inside for doing it

i got involved with the alzheimers movement
doing alzheimers walks to raise funds
i having personally raised several thousands for the movement over
the last 5 years
i like doing alzheimers talks answering those questions about the disease
that people always want answers for but cannot get them
i am involved with alzheimers research as a volunteer subject
ive been stuck with needles in the arm and the back multiple times
endured numerous memory tests
hoping to do my part to find an answer for this disease
at the same time somehow making my memory better

wait
maybe it was because i chose like robert did
not to stay home and go stagnant
but
to get involved

so
if your are retired or if you just have some free time
you need to get involved
maybe
become an intern

the organicgreen doctor

retirement advice

RETIREMENT ADVICE
when i retired 3 1/2 years ago
i was like a race car every day
zooming around all day up every day
to work before 7am
seeing patients from 730am to 500pm
not really stopping for lunch
sitting eating doing all that paperwork thats required
then
bam i hit the brakes on that ferrari called work
never to drive again

the next day i was in retirement

no time to plan or think about it really
like i guess when you get old and your employer
lets you go out of the blue
i guess its the same thing

now i will admit i knew my day was coming about
6 weeks before it happened
so i was able to prepare things over that time period
and
years before i moved to the country n knowing that
when i retired i would have these things to do to keep
it going
boy was i right about that

but even though i prepared myself for years and i had
those 6 weeks to get ready
there it was
on that thursday
a blank slate for the day

i must say it took be about 6 months to get into some
type of groove as i gradually filled in my time doing
those things i like to do
almost too much at times

i do the country n stuff garden a lot
maintain the place
maintain the water system
you really dont ever catch up

i also dialed in a noon time nap
the best thing ive ever done
maybe we all should do that years earlier
ive worked with doctors that take noon naps

i do my volunteer work with habitat for humanity
with meals on wheels
with the alzheimers association
give alzheimers presentations like im doing later today
and travel especially in the summers

my plate is full
i feel fulfilled every day
i guess i feel as good about what i do as i ever have

now thats what retirement should be about
right

my bff gh from medical school had his retirement party this
weekend
it was fun to see his family and friends again

i spent time talking with him about retirement
he has had time to plan his and plans to stay busy

he will work some part time
thats good

i told him he needs something to do 1 or 2 days a week
working or volunteering
then
take the rest and let them be his days
i know i had a lot of old projects old honeydoes that needed to be
done
they all got done
now that im busy that rate of completion has dropped
i do things now in stages
like the barn its in stage 2 now


so stay busy
but have downtime for yourself and your wife
try some new things
and
most important part of all

take those naps
youll feel better
and
live longer

best wishes on your retirement

the organicgreen friend

quad dipper, footballlllllllll

Walk to End Alzheimers
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click here to find your local walk 

QUAD DIPPER
youve heard of a double dipper
thats someone who eg retires from the 
military then gets a civil service job and
retires from that job
a double dipper

this is a tshirt that was given to my historian
brother who just turned 65
he had a party not to celebrate his birthday but
to celebrate the fact that he now is a quad 
dipper ie 
he has qualified for his fourth retirement plan
military, teachers retirement, soon to be social 
security and his 403b plan
he is now almost a quad dipper

this didnt just happen
it took hard work as he went through his 20 
years of military service-9 years served overseas

after that retirement he got his 2nd bachelors degree
then his masters then his doctorate degree
he then began teaching in college
where he just qualified for their retirement plan

all that was from years of hard work and discipline

he also has paid along the way into the social security
system which he will qualify next year for full benefits

he also has had the discipline through the years to 
place money into his 403b plan (similar to a 401k for 
teachers or public employees) and also into a 
457b plan which is another tax exempt retirement plan
available to those same employees
and wait theres more
he also has placed money into a roth ira

so that makes him a 6 dipper or a seis dipper

it took a lot of financial discipline and foresight and 
hard work over the years to accomplish this 

remember some of these are available to all of us
401ks roth iras and some the 457bs

we will need to all be this disciplined in the future
we can all learn something from him as some of 
our pensions will disappear

we and the future generations cannnot have the 
attitude that social security wont be there for us 
we have to make sure that the system makes sure 
its there as we are the system
we just need to demand of our politicians that it happens
and it fiscally happens
if it fails its our fault for not getting involved and 
electing politicians that will do what needs to be done 
to protect those protective net programs 

those of you that are younger need to be thinking of
these things now and begin now 
and to live fiscally responsible lives

good job historian brother
we can all learn from you 
of course his cowgirl wife will be the one to benefit 

FOOTBALLLLLLLLLL
man i ve a bad hangover today
its a football hangover
i had way too much football yesterday
well thats not possible

rg3 he did good
not bad for a player out of high school that wasnt
highly recruited to be a quarterback but just an athlete
good choice baylor
and washington redskins
maybe he should have been the number one choice in the draft

and then peyton did his peyton thing and beat
the steelers
that was fun to watch

what a good season it will be for football

the organicgreen doctor