Things That Surprised You...

[John6185]

When I was a kid (no pun intended) we had goats and one could buy one for $3-$5.00. We had one that would bleat at us and I could mimic the sound and the goat would continue bleating until I quit. They are the most friendly animals aside from dogs and make good pets in my estimation. Watching a young goat jump and frolic and climb on top of things is really funny and interesting. I remember we could be eating and the nanny goat would stand on her back legs and look into the window screen at us.
We ate the goats too but it wasn't my idea at all. After I left home my mom and stepdad bought a Billy Goat and it butted the stepdad and knocked him down-I guess it hurt him because he wouldn't go into the pen again without a club. Supposedly it was an aggressive huge Billy Goat and I wanted to see it but unfortunately it became supper unbeknownst to me while I wasn't there.

 

[Aries]

I want a couple of "fainting" goats. The ones that freeze up and fall over if you make a loud sudden noise. Those guys are HILARIOUS!

My wife won't let me get any. She's probably right. Poor little things would need therapy after a couple of weeks with me.

 

[wawazat]

I want a couple of "fainting" goats. The ones that freeze up and fall over if you make a loud sudden noise. Those guys are HILARIOUS!

My wife won't let me get any. She's probably right. Poor little things would need therapy after a couple of weeks with me.

The down side is they will stop fainting if triggered too frequently, or so I have heard. We just kept enough goats to keep the underbrush cleared out. Mom would never let us butcher them though.

 

[Timmy59]

I'm surprised I don't know Ed and hit it regularly.

 

[Bravo1413]

I never thought I'd be living my retirement years in Oklahoma. But I'm glad I am.

I never thought I'd be sitting in a goat pen, having a cup of coffee at dusk, surrounded by four little goats and just generally loving it. But I'm glad I did.

After spending another $200 on just a few groceries my wife and I are discussing becoming more and more self-sufficient and less reliant on the outside world. I'm finding it fascinating and there's a lifetime of things to be learned. I was fortunate I was able to retire at a fairly young age. So I'm looking forward to spending many years here.

I may talk to my son and DiL about moving here and helping to run things when he retires from the AF next year. That would pretty much be the highlight of my life, I think.

My wife and I also moved to Oklahoma 3 years ago after over 40 years in Arizona. Tired of congestion. Retired early and moved to Payson from Scottsdale. Wanted small town. Great little town, until everyone from the valley clogged the freeway and entire town coming up for winter sports or running from the heat every week end that morphed into 5 days a week. Traffic was so backed up that people that lived there would not go into town on week ends. Traveling through OK, on way to visit relative in Tx. Wife looked at me and said want to move. Yup,,, here we are.

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

Nice read. You sound like a well rounded individual who has certainly earned your bounty. Congratulations on a blessed life, cheers to many more years!

 

[dennishoddy]

I never thought I'd be living my retirement years in Oklahoma. But I'm glad I am.

I never thought I'd be sitting in a goat pen, having a cup of coffee at dusk, surrounded by four little goats and just generally loving it. But I'm glad I did.

After spending another $200 on just a few groceries my wife and I are discussing becoming more and more self-sufficient and less reliant on the outside world. I'm finding it fascinating and there's a lifetime of things to be learned. I was fortunate I was able to retire at a fairly young age. So I'm looking forward to spending many years here.

I may talk to my son and DiL about moving here and helping to run things when he retires from the AF next year. That would pretty much be the highlight of my life, I think.

Great experience you're going through. It's good for the soul getting back to the earth.

 

[dennishoddy]

This.
I just retired a few months ago. I highly recommend it, but I worked until 67.
55 would have been preferable.
Maximize your 401-k every year and start at a young age.

Live below your means and put money into emergency accounts to cover those things that make you have to sell guns to get past them.
You don't have to live in a shell and not enjoy life, just live in a home a lot cheaper than the bank says you can afford.
I retired at 62 and should have earlier according to my financial guy. Gained little by staying longer.

 

[dennishoddy]

My wife and I have 55 as our goal. Her retirement is a bit ahead of mine because I honestly had no intention of seeing 40 years old until I met her, so I spent every penny on experiences to try and max out enjoyment until then. I can still get there in the next 16 years, it will just take a little more sacrifice.

She wants to travel but I require some form of a job to feel like I have a purpose. We are constantly brainstorming ideas for a business where I work for myself that allows for our travel to be tax deductible as a business expense.

The thing that surprises me the most right now is how different my life and the things I value are from what I thought I wanted in my 20s and early 30s. Before my wife and our two kids, I had no interest in settling down with anyone and definitely no kids in the picture because I wanted a clean break when I was finally done with life. Thinking about my expiration date being less than 18 months away from today and I cannot imagine cutting this short. Every single seemingly impossible day I managed to somehow power through has paid off a million times over to allow for the life I have now and the people I love all around me.

Lots of opportunities out there for travel on the road with a job to add some money to the till.
We are on the road 6-7 months out of the year in our RV and the only thing I regret is that it's not longer.
Do some research about mobile work and you might be surprised at what you can find. The only issue is finding a spot where you have internet and Wi-Fi access that can support whatever you want to do.
I would bet the farm there is a group somewhere out there on social media that can direct one to those locations. Some may not be the most awesome place you ever stayed, but visit what you want in the local area for fun and move along to the next.
Life on the road is an awesome experience.
I retired three years before my wife did. She has an incredible work ethic.
Every day after I retired, she came home and asked what I did today that was productive.
My reply was typically nothing, or mowed the yard.
Maybe tinkered around in the shop.
It really upset her for a long time and then just gave up.
6 months after she retired, we had a heart to heart one day and she finally said she now understood my answer. We are totally Complient now!
We don't do squat unless we want to, and we do it when we want to.
Back in the working days, we got so much work accomplished on the weekends.
Now it may take two weeks.
Life is good.

 

[JEVapa]

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