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Living,Lack of Paycheck, to Lack of Paycheck


cmgoodin

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You know when I retired 4 years ago I took a few years to do the things I always wanted to do.

With those things out of the way,  I really started missing the work environment.   Now I am totally bored.

But now that we are all locked up in our homes and ALL out of work (Mostly). 

Everyone gets to feel what it is like to be retired and living lack-of-paycheck to lack-of-paycheck.

Thank goodness for Social Security and meager Union Pension...   

 

What are all of you doing to entertain yourselves during this un-scheduled mandatory hiatus from work?

And what have you come up with to make some cash on the side while restricted to our homes?

 

All I am missing is the ankle bracelet.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hey Courtney,

 

I hear you.

One week, and I'm already feeling it. Although I have  two kids, and the schools are closed, so there is a lot of time filled there. This actually is kind of a bonus to get to hang out with them.

 

Otherwise:

- Been walking around the neighborhood for about an hour every day.

- Got Dante Level 2 certified.

- Ordered some bulk cable and low profile connectors (delivered today) and will solder up some cables.

- Hoping to record some new tunes, but this will have to happen late at night after the kids go to bed.

- Figuring out how to file for UI. I have never done this before, and it is "interesting" to say the least. Nothing on that website is really set up for what we do. I'm filling out the forms with intermittent head scratching pauses.

- Roasting coffee. I love good coffee, and have been buying green beans to roast at home for a couple years now.

- Clean and sort gear.

- It's tax time, so compiling all the paperwork, receipts etc.

- Been calling / FaceTime-ing with some old friends and family and have spent some time this week catching up on here and FB groups.

 

Just a few ideas.

 

I'm hoping all this will be behind us soon, but who knows....

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Hi Courtney. I too thought of starting this topic because it is affecting all of us and as they say, “misery loves company”, but glad you did because I never would of thought to included the retirement component. One reason I haven’t retired yet is that I do love set life and the challenges presented making media. More so the people I get to work with keeps me hanging on. That said, as someone who has worked the commercial arena for decades, I am use to time off and have developed many ways to spend/waste my time when off. Walking is the best thing I do whenever I’m off work. I’m lucky my town has so many miles of trails to walk on and my dog and I use them for 1.5 hours a day unless it’s raining. A great way to think without thinking about things. I have a nice house that always has maintenance chores to do to keep it nice and I enjoy that in the right proportion, a little bit everyday works for me. I’ve had a vegetable garden for 45 years (mostly chili peppers and tomatoes) and that is rewarding in all manner of ways. It’s fun to share my crops with friends and neighbors. I have a small personal studio over my garage that I play and record music in. I edit video footage I shoot, mostly personal media. Up there I can crawl into the YouTube thicket looking for who knows what (mostly music related) and that can waste endless hours without some degree of discipline. I draw and paint for fun which eats up time at an incredible rate. I shoot some photography too. I help my wife as much as I can when she cooks (she’s very talented in the cuisine scene) but that is usually doing the dishes or running to the store for a forgotten last minute ingredient. What I enjoy the most is my grandkids but sadly that’s on hold (other than FaceTime) for awhile. I love to read and always have a book or two going. The only downside to reading is it can put me to sleep so maybe it’s not a downside if one thinks napping is a good thing. I don’t watch much TV in general, but we do watch a movie or series each evening after dinner. So if this is what retirement is like I’m good with it as I’m never bored, but I do worry about my family and friends who aren’t as fortunate or as well positioned for this new time we are in. Fear is as powerful an agent as any I’ve encountered and easy to succumb to without a fight. Most fear the possible, not the probable and that is a problem to be addressed head on. If you find yourselves overwhelmed with fear you’ll miss the abundance and love life has to offer. We will get through this together with family and friends to help lighten our load. Peace and Love to all.

CrewC

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When I retired 7 years ago, after moving to Mexico, I immediately began volunteer work for the local community theatre doing sound design and operating. I'm as busy as I want to be and never bored.

 

Now, with the remainder of this theatre season canceled, I am spending a great deal of time learning more about French, Italian and Mexican foreign films. (Thank God for streaming) ... So much to learn and plenty of time to learn it! 🙂

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1 hour ago, old school said:

Hi Courtney. I too thought of starting this topic because it is affecting all of us and as they say, “misery loves company”, but glad you did because I never would of thought to included the retirement component. One reason I haven’t retired yet is that I do love set life and the challenges presented making media. More so the people I get to work with keeps me hanging on. That said, as someone who has worked the commercial arena for decades, I am use to time off and have developed many ways to spend/waste my time when off. Walking is the best thing I do whenever I’m off work. I’m lucky my town has so many miles of trails to walk on and my dog and I use them for 1.5 hours a day unless it’s raining. A great way to think without thinking about things. I have a nice house that always has maintenance chores to do to keep it nice and I enjoy that in the right proportion, a little bit everyday works for me. I’ve had a vegetable garden for 45 years (mostly chili peppers and tomatoes) and that is rewarding in all manner of ways. It’s fun to share my crops with friends and neighbors. I have a small personal studio over my garage that I play and record music in. I edit video footage I shoot, mostly personal media. Up there I can crawl into the YouTube thicket looking for who knows what (mostly music related) and that can waste endless hours without some degree of discipline. I draw and paint for fun which eats up time at an incredible rate. I shoot some photography too. I help my wife as much as I can when she cooks (she’s very talented in the cuisine scene) but that is usually doing the dishes or running to the store for a forgotten last minute ingredient. What I enjoy the most is my grandkids but sadly that’s on hold (other than FaceTime) for awhile. I love to read and always have a book or two going. The only downside to reading is it can put me to sleep so maybe it’s not a downside if one thinks napping is a good thing. I don’t watch much TV in general, but we do watch a movie or series each evening after dinner. So if this is what retirement is like I’m good with it as I’m never bored, but I do worry about my family and friends who aren’t as fortunate or as well positioned for this new time we are in. Fear is as powerful an agent as any I’ve encountered and easy to succumb to without a fight. Most fear the possible, not the probable and that is a problem to be addressed head on. If you find yourselves overwhelmed with fear you’ll miss the abundance and love life has to offer. We will get through this together with family and friends to help lighten our load. Peace and Love to all.

CrewC

Thank you for a much needed reality check Crew. This is a scary time for all of us and its nice to hear wise words from the "Big Guys" like you. I'm so appreciative to this forum, especially in times like these.

 

Some things I'm doing:

- My boom op and I are taking Ken Strain's boom operating video course (highly recommended BTW) to stay sharp and learn some new things.

- My fiancé is very involved in animal rescue so we are fostering a cat. A lot of cats and pups that need temporary homes right now.

- I am learning to read Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It's kind of like learning a language and kind of like learning to draw all in one.

- A sh*t ton of cables are getting made. Neutrik and Switchcraft are probably doing just fine right now! (That was a joke. Apologies if they are not)

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Rebuilding/wiring my cart, watching a ton of documentaries, FaceTiming with friends. I got my guitar out of the closet, we’ll see if I go for it! Cooking of course, and trying to avoid Facebook ;)

 

Lets keep good conversations going here!

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One of my beliefs for many years now is the importance of doing, learning, engaging in, and attempting things away from my sound profession when I’m off work. It’s not that sound for picture or anything doesn’t need continuing education, it most certainly does, but the other aspects of life should never be short changed. I feel everything I’ve done outside my career has made me better at my career and it keeps me balanced. Now that 99% of our careers are in suspended animation, I’d suggest going away from our obsessions about our craft and seek a different way to see the world and our place in it. There is so much to explore and try when we get off the treadmill and pop our bubble of exclusion. At some point this will end, so don’t waste this once in a lifetime of free time to worry away the possibilities that are there for the taking. Above all stay healthy mentally and physically. It take engagement to do so but pays dividends that last your lifetime. Peace and Love.

CrewC

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26 minutes ago, JonG said:

and trying to avoid Facebook ;)

 

Oh man, this should be #1.  Let's all take a mental health break and stay off social media.  You don't need to worry about some fake news your aunt posted from some blog site or whatever.  I've been spending my time cleaning gear, watching movies I've been wanting to see, going for walks and going through and re-alphabetizing my record collection (after so many years of moves, things have become rather wonky).  It's a weird time but maybe there will be a silver lining when it is all said and done?  That's how I feel at the moment but maybe ask me again if this goes on for months!

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1 hour ago, JonG said:

Rebuilding/wiring my cart, watching a ton of documentaries, FaceTiming with friends. I got my guitar out of the closet, we’ll see if I go for it! Cooking of course, and trying to avoid Facebook ;)

 

Lets keep good conversations going here!

I've finished my tax prep and sent it off to my Accountant who is working from home.   Now I am working my way through 4.5 Billion DIY videos on YouTube. I'm now thinking on taking up Yak Shaving.

22 down and 4.498768 Billion to go.   I wonder if I'll hit the Data Cap on my Spectrum Cable Internet.

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Besides the complex hassles of finding enough toilet paper and Tylenol for the apocalypse, I'm working (remotely) with some of the folks from the dance co I'm the sound designer of to bring the company's work to its audience via the web.  Not at all what we want to be doing--those folks have always been all about in-person audience-artist interaction, so this is very hard for them.  But I keep telling them we have to do this or the audience they've built over decades will scatter and blow away.  So, a WHOLE lot of new technologies for me to force myself to learn....while waiting for "senior hours" @ the markets.

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On 3/22/2020 at 1:51 PM, henrimic said:

As the planes are mostly grounded and the traffic is reduced, it's time to record quiet nature atmos that are impossible by regular times....

Gosh I was thinking of doing just that and large sea shore ambients without annoying boat engines, but then the authorities also banned access to the Mountains and Calanques around here. Anyway now we are not supposed to move more than 1km away from home...

I guess I am finally going to explore the 80% functionalities of my Nuendo software that I never used before 🙂

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