thoughts on a coworker's retirement

I don't write about work much... because I don't know who sees this (not many people other than me, if the site statistics are to be believed).

Still, a coworker retired yesterday, and last night a few of the folks in my department and two from a supplier went out to dinner for her. She spoke about what she planned to do, and most her plans were about what she was not going to do - she was not going to be awakened by an alarm, she was not going to get out of her bathrobe, she was not going to put shoes on, and so on. She is planning a long road trip with a family member, but beyond that, her plans didn't seem focused or firm.

I don't get it. It doesn't seem to me that the alternative to working should be doing nothing. Instead, the alternative to working should be doing what I want to do, but actively, rather than just not going to work.

It strikes me that it's similar to my feelings about the go-to-the-beach, sit-in-a-lounge-chair-and-do-nothing-all-day vacations. They don't appeal to me at all; I'd much rather have a vacation where I get to do cool stuff (even if there's some early-rising and following-of-timetables involved). My aversion to the lack of plans may stem from a personality difference from the retiree in question: I'm a complete failure at filling unstructured time. When I was single, free weekends were ordeals to be endured, and I was actually relieved most Mondays when I could go back to work and have something to do. Most of my retirement thoughts are about,"What will I do with all that time?", rather than, "Won't I enjoy the idleness?".

In other news, we went to a Hibachi restaurant, and, while it was fun, the emphasis seems to be on the performance rather than the food. I'm glad I went, but I'm not going to be a regular there. (In other other news, I'm glad I went because I got to hang out with several people from my unit whom I don't get to chat with much - another effort in my long-term plan to try to maintain relationships.)