Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

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Canuk
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Canuk »

I'm trying to learn all the words for bike parts in French. It's a lot harder than I thought, as many words have changed over the years as technology has advanced. I've made quite the fool of myself twice now in my lbs asking for parts which might have been reasonable in the 1950's but seem kind of stupid in 2018!
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al_yrpal
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by al_yrpal »

Its about a year since I last posted on this thread and things have changed a lot due to my Mrs becoming partially disabled which has been very traumatic and imposed a massive change in our lifestyle. We are very lucky having already travelled everywhere in the world we wanted to. We decided to make a complete change of lifestyle and location having lived in the same house for 40 years. We will be buying a house to share with our daughter and new husband. Our daughter has always wanted to look after us in our dotage so she will fulfill her wish. Our new location will be Devon so there will be a whole new landscape to explore by bike and the chance for me to get away touring whilst my wife is in the care of our daughter. In our new house I will be tasked with constructing a recording studio inside an outbuilding and a garden workshop for my daughters decorative glass business as well as improving the kitchen and making some high raised beds and other changes for my Mrs in the garden. There will be an awful lot for me to do. In my mid 70s I am really looking forward to these new challenges.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

661-Pete wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:"you may lead a horse to water, but you cannae make her drink"
Well - Google translate offers:
"Możesz doprowadzić konia do wody, ale nie możesz go wypić"
but I seriously doubt whether that makes any sense - let alone being idiomatic!

Viell Kueoek verdiaerwt den Brei
(Muensterland)
Viele Koeche verdirben den Brei
(German)
Too many cooks spoil the broth
(English)
..
Too much broth fattens the cook
(Cyril Haearn)
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Grandchildren! :D
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Lance Dopestrong
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Lance Dopestrong »

I read a lot, and keep myself busy with my SAR volunteering, which brings a surprising amount of admin. I regularly shoot to keep my concentration and hand-eye coordination sharp, and because I enjoy it. Design and build ham radio kit, which keeps my brain happily tied in knots for days on end.
MIAS L5.1 instructor - advanded road and off road skills, FAST aid and casualty care, defensive tactics, SAR skills, nav, group riding, maintenance, ride and group leader qual'd.
Cytec 2 - exponent of hammer applied brute force.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

I do not often forget things to do but I sometimes forget to post a letter, I remember later and have to find another post box
Had to post a letter this week, taped it to my handlebars so it was in view, remembered to post it at the first post box I came to
..
Going to a talk about literary translation tomorrow
The translator puts books from Norwegian* into German
* & five other languages, still wondering which ones, that should keep her brains warm :wink:
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Audax67
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Audax67 »

Four 3-string guitars built since my last post in this thread, 3 for descendants and one for me. Currently planning a proper bass and a chord zither just for the hell of it.

Gave up on the routing site, but need to convert my vast cycling program to some other language since Windows 10 (damn Microsoft's rotten soul to the 9th of Hell (treachery)) will no longer support Win 7's XP emulation and Win 7 won't be supported after next Jan. They buggers talk as if all a computer were good for was email, social newt-orking and looking at porn. Oh, and buying stuff. Above all, buying stuff.

Still doing a couple of hundred k a week, weather permitting.

And ranting about things I can't change.
Have we got time for another cuppa?
Cyril Haearn
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Re: transition to retirement - what do you do?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The sudden change from working to not working could be a problem as described by Paulatic upthread
I plan to move when I retire too but the big change shall be freedom and lack of the structure, one is suddenly quite free after decades of restricted freedom
I am planning already, or thinking of planning
How have others dealt with the transition?
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rmurphy195
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by rmurphy195 »

Currently I spend too much tiome converting km to miles so I can understand what people are on about!
Brompton, Condor Heritage, creaky joints and thinning white (formerly grey) hair
""You know you're getting old when it's easier to ride a bike than to get on and off it" - quote from observant jogger !
BrightonRock
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by BrightonRock »

A while to go yet for me, but I was quite a decent amateur landscape and portrait painter when I was young. Been a long time since I held a brush though..
Mike Sales
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Mike Sales »

BrightonRock wrote:A while to go yet for me, but I was quite a decent amateur landscape and portrait painter when I was young. Been a long time since I held a brush though..


I would love to have the merest smidgeon of artistic talent, enough to justify me in trying, but, alas, I do not.
I read, voraciously. If you need a quiz team member, I'm your man.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

rmurphy195 wrote:Currently I spend too much tiome converting km to miles so I can understand what people are on about!

I sort of remember decimalisation, that was a challenge although the new system was simpler in theory :?
I am quite good at mental arithmetic, younger people use a calculator, I use my head
I know the 27-times table to work out gears

Went to a film in French with German subtitles, that should have created a few million more synapses in my brain
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squeaker
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by squeaker »

Should have posted this on 3 May - got elected to district council :shock: that's the next 4 years sorted... :roll:
"42"
Oldjohnw
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by Oldjohnw »

squeaker wrote:Should have posted this on 3 May - got elected to district council :shock: that's the next 4 years sorted... :roll:


Congratulatinns/commiserations


Coming to the end of my spell as VC of the governing bodies of two schools. Just appointed to the County board of the CAB. That should take me to the birthday when I don't get a free TV licence.
John
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661-Pete
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Re: Keeping your brain alive in retirement - what do you do?

Post by 661-Pete »

squeaker wrote:Should have posted this on 3 May - got elected to district council :shock: that's the next 4 years sorted... :roll:
Yes, congrats from me too. Mrs P also got elected - to Town council. She was persuaded - after a lot of cajoling - to stand as a 'paper candidate' in a supposedly safe Tory ward. Our Green Party organiser told her "don't worry, there's not a snowball in hell's chance of your getting elected". On Count night, she scraped in by four votes. Oops! Now she has an awful lot of work to do. Quite a life-changing experience - for both of us.

I'll bet you're being kept busy too...
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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