I've Retired

 

My last job ended 04/27/2016. I'm currently receiving Social Security, but I'm still working hard. Take a look at http://organicforest.us/ The Organic Forest website isn't the only thing I'm working on; I'm also working on the Organic Forest, itself. The Organic Forest is my wife's retirement dream. My wife wanted to retire on a farm; one she created herself. So we are clearing out a 15 acre plot of land, growing plants on it, and preparing to reap what we are sowing (we want to eat what we grow, but also grow enough to generate some income). My wife's target date for the grand opening is Spring of 2017 (gives us a 3 month window for starting the business).

I finally got back to my emotions program; my work was halted by my not being able to host my own website (it took a while to get my website up and running on a Linux host - still a work in progress). I thought I'd get to work on it by creating a haarcascade xml file from the images I've already downloaded and processed, but the software I downloaded to finish the project (goto https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~m.rezaei/Tutorials/Creating_a_Cascade_of_Haar-Like_Classifiers_Step_by_Step.pdf" too see what I downloaded) doesn't seem to be able to process images of the size I decided on (too large). I probably need to go back a step or two and just enter the OpenCV commands by hand (for Python). In my last blog I said I'd have another blog to post on my emotions program by the end of the year; need to step on it to make the "deadline".

The other thing I'm doing in my retirement is continuing my workouts. We joined the local Y because my wife wanted to use the pool, but that didn't work out. When the Y membership ran out, I bought a Marcy incline bench (I found on craigslist) that came with a dumbbell set (spin lock collars), for just $60. I supplemented the dumbbell set with 4 ten pound plates that I bought from Wal-Mart (online); another $30. So, for $90 I have a life long "gym". I keep the weights in a container that's on the farm; I workout on a gym mat that came with the Marcy bench. For now my workout consists of incline bench presses, flyes, rows, squats, shrugs, overhead dumbbell press, Zottman curls, lateral raises, bent-over raises, front raises, triceps extensions, sit-ups, and toe raises. I start with incline bench presses, and keep adding weight per set, until I'm out of weights to add. I use the same weight for flyes, rows, squats, and shrugs. The squats are done while holding a dumbbell in each hand, so it's a good grip exercise besides being my only leg exercise (quadriceps and hamstrings). I've developed achilles tendonitis, so my toe raises have become body-weight only.

Retirement has been a busy time for me, but I still play with the idea of some part-time work. The Social Security office told me I can still earn a modest income without it cutting into my SS benefits. So I'm thinking in terms of a part time job, preferably a telecommute. In any case, I'll keep working on my website.

 

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