Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Thanks, C40. I have a man-crush on Seneca!

Have a great weekend. A lomg long longest weekend. Its exciting and it sounds like the company has done all it can to snure that there will be no glancing over the shoulder in regret. Even if that is not why they messed these projects up its a useful by-product. Congratulations.

Just wanted to stop by and congratulate you on the last day! Enjoy the relief of letting go, and really relax this weekend (or for weeks... you're the boss). I'm looking forward to hearing what comes next.

x2! Tell us how it went!

Happy last day of work!

Following the countdown this week has been quite a vicarious thrill. I feel like we're in Plato's cave, and there's a small group of us in the corner getting to watch you walk out. Sure it's not like we're leaving yet, but wow we're really getting to watch something that doesn't happen much and realizing it's not just theoretical.

Congratulations. I hope that we keep hearing from you after today, and I wish you all the best. Maybe in a few years I will join you.

#060 08/15/2014 -- Spooooon!!

For starters, I will direct you to a nice Soundgarden song that you can listen to while reading this post...it’s my namesake’s song.

After years of living below our means and building a dependable stream of dividend income, we have finally reached our final day of work. We are now free to live our lives on better terms!

My day started as it has for the past 8 years: I was jolted awake by my alarm, that awful mechanism that we’ve used to punish ourselves for so long. I languidly made my way to work on the bus, rejoicing the fact that the smelly guy (and his beer breath) not far from me will no longer be part of my life. I got to work and walked all over the place wrapping things up with HR.

I have to admit that when I handed in my work badge I felt a bit sad, I looked at my badge photo that was taken 8 years ago when I started working, that happy face with a gleam in his eye. What would he think of what I was about to do? I composed myself and remembered that I’m better off Looking Forward, Not back. So it was with excitement that I finally got up from my cube, grabbed my bag, and walked out of the building for the last time.

As I walked out of the building I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face, and muttered under my breath: “Spoon.” After I was twenty yards from the entrance, I said it a bit louder “Spoon!”. Then, 50 yards or so away, I raised my arms and yelled “Spoooooooooooooon!”. I didn’t care what passersby thought, because I wasn't gonna look back.

A great deal of positive emotion came out with that invocation. I let the universe know that I was not gonna submit myself to a timid life ensconced in a silly cubicle! So, on we go now to face new challenges, which we will deal with head on.

Spoongirl is far less emotionally attached to her job than me, so she dealt with it efficiently. Tonight we will have a candlelit dinner and toast to our newfound freedom!

Spoongirl and I would like to thank the FIRE-seeking community for all of the support we’ve received. I just can’t imagine pursuing a life outside the 9-5 framework without the tangible support and encouragement that this community provides. I hope our journey thus far has inspired many of you. We will continue to keep the community informed of our post-FI adventures!

Spoooooooon!

Congrats. Enjoy the moment!

@Tyler9000: Thanks man! Now I'm realizing I should've shown up to work dressed in a Tick costume...

I read that post with a smile..Congratulations!! Well done.

You yelling spooon reminded me of this video I watched the other day...http://youtu.be/tz251JkmfoA?t=7m24s

@m741: You provided a great deal of inspiration in the first few months after I discovered ERE. Thank you!

@GandK: It was intense and exciting at the same time...spoontastic!

@5to9: I think these events will become more common as more people join the community and share their experiences. You'll get there yourself before you know it!

@theanimal: AHAHAHAHA! That video is awesome! I'm youurrr daaaaaddy!

spoonman wrote:I raised my arms and yelled “Spoooooooooooooon!”. I didn’t care what passersby thought, because I wasn't gonna look back.

How about "sea shells" song starting Monday? enjoy this internet classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Ef5Aob4cE

Congrats, and thanks for all the entertainment!! Now go outside and play, we are busy working here you know

@mxlr650: Hah! Thanks for the giggle. For some reason, the guards scene from Monty Python (search for the holy grail) comes to mind.

Spooooon!! Congratulations! Stay in touch!

You're getting to the most exciting parts of the journals. I'm really looking forward to hearing about what you do now.

@Gilberto de Piento: Thanks, I'll definitely stay in touch.

@C40: It will certainly get interesting. For the next several months we will simply decompress and get acclimated to our new budget. I will take my sweet time deciding how I will achieve self-actualization.

#061 08/16/2014 -- Our First Executive Order

Our first executive order is to ban alarm clocks! =).

I’ve put my alarm clock in our donation bin. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long, long time. That’s right, ours will be an alarmless household. We’re aiming for zero alarm emissions, but in reality we’ll just try to minimize our alarm footprint.

Our one exception is Spoongirl’s fancy clock with a glow-in-the-dark feature. We’ll keep that one around, as long as it isn’t easily weaponized. In the rare occasion when we actually do need an alarm clock, we’ll just use my cell phone.

In other news, when we first woke up this morning it felt very much like a regular Saturday. Although the morning feels great, I think the full realization of our freedom won’t be become palpable until at least Sunday evening or Monday morning. To complicate things, we are planning to visit my brother next week, which may push the sense of freedom until the following week. The reason I say that is not because we won’t enjoy ourselves (we’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while), but because the hassle of packing and getting ourselves to the airport will probably “harsh the buzz”. Then again, we plan on hanging out at the beach while we’re there, so maybe that will trigger the full realization. Who knows, but we plan on reporting our findings as they happen.

#062 08/17/2014 -- A Dreadless Sunday Evening

It’s Sunday evening and my mind keeps probing into the near future, only to find that there is nothing to dread about the next day. Monday is just another day of the week now, there’s nothing to feel down about.

However, Spoongirl and I both agree that at this point the experience is indistinguishable from that of a vacation or a three-day weekend. The full magnitude of quitting our jobs hasn’t manifested itself yet.

For the time being, we are trying to take it slow. In a regular weekend our goal was to cram as much stuff as possible. It’ll take a while for that reflex to go away.

spoonman wrote:In a regular weekend our goal was to cram as much stuff as possible. It’ll take a while for that reflex to go away.

Yep. It took me the better part of a year.

I expected this sustained blissful "Woohoo!" moment to occur when I left paid employment, but other than a temporary high for the first week or so after I left work, it really didn't. I was certainly happier, but it didn't feel like I thought it would. In fact, it was stressful for the first few months, kind of like when you're expect something unpleasant to happen but then it just... doesn't.

Also, over the first year, I gradually worked my way up to 10 hours of sleep per night, then came gradually back down to 7.5 (my norm). It felt like I was working all the employment stress out of my body through sleep.

GandK wrote:

spoonman wrote:In a regular weekend our goal was to cram as much stuff as kind of like when you're expect something unpleasant to happen but then it just... doesn't.

I guess I have yet to feel significant stress, but I have to admit that I am in a vigilant state right now. I'm going down my must-do list and attacking it head on.

I'm hoping to take more naps...there are no excuses not to anymore.

Congrats Spoonman and Spoongirl! Your journal is very inspiring for the crowd here!