Rube's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
McTrex
Posts: 180
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:35 am
Location: NL

Re: Rube's journal

Post by McTrex »

Congratulations rube!

mooretrees
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Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

Re: Rube's journal

Post by mooretrees »

Exciting!!

DutchGirl
Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

Congrats on giving notice. Onwards to a new fun and exciting part of life!

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thank you all. Still a couple of months to go. Will be busy to handover tasks, train others etc.. Told my direct reports today. Some got emotional. Yes, I will probably miss part of it as well.
Of course we tend to remember mostly the good things.

Learned today I can't get my eyes lasered. New glasses it will be.

I'll start the process of selling four of our rentals early next week. It is/was a difficult disicion, but I think it is good moment to sell and diversify into other investments We'll keep two of the easiest/low maintenance rentals.

NW is up due to bonus and stocks up/recovering. If we can sell the rentals for the estimated prices by the RE agent, NW will go up considerably as my own estimations were, as it looks now, very conservative.

DW registered her own company. For now it is just a couple of hours per month consulting work, home based.

DD is planning to go (alone) on a holiday-volunteering trip to a country in east Africa this summer. She has registered, paid the initial fee and set the starting date. Pretty scary to let here go alone at age 16...but she's very determined, working hard to be able to pay for this and I guess we need to accept and be proud she is an adventurous girl.

Ukraine, 😔.
Last edited by rube on Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

DutchGirl
Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

You can't get your eyes lasered, Rube? My sister couldn't (too big of a refraction problem for a cornea that wasn't thick enough to fully correct it), so instead she got lenses implanted in her eyes in front of her own lenses. The artificial lens was developed by a Dutch professor called "Worst" for his last name, but given that that would make it the "Worst lens", not a very attractive name in English, the lens is instead called Artisan lens. Is implanting such lenses perhaps an option for you?

J_
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Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:12 pm
Location: Netherlands/Austria

Re: Rube's journal

Post by J_ »

Good timing to start selling your rentals Rube, to my opinion. And the same for stopping your job. Your freedom becomes more and more complete.

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

@DG, after several test the doctor concluded that it was not an option to laser my eyes. So he said, let's check if implanting lenses is an option. More tests were done. After he checked those results he explained that implanting lenses would unfortunately (also) not give desirable results, i.e. far from optimal vision whereas with glasses I can see excellent.
He advised to check in a couple of years because it might be well possible that in the near future the type of lens I would need would become available.
Oh well, I just keep on wearing glasses like I do already all my life.

@J_ thnx. I'll give an update here later how the selling goes. Hopefully fast, smooth and for a good price!
Yes, it seems that this will be a year for us with a couple of important, big and positive changes.

MBBboy
Posts: 212
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:11 pm

Re: Rube's journal

Post by MBBboy »

You can't get LASIK OR PRK? I've never heard of someone who wasn't eligible for PRK, that's really unusual. I'm sorry - having my vision corrected was probably one of the best expenditures I've ever made.

Good luck on selling the rentals, and congrats on giving notice! Great timing on selling real estate - being able to sell something at higher prices without having to turn around also buy something at a high price is a great place to be in

DutchGirl
Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

I am following your transition with interest, Rube. I'm really curious how it'll go. No doubt the road will have its challenges, but it will also have lots of awesome adventures, is my guess.

And your daughter is slowly starting to create her own adventures as well :-)

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

@MBBboy, indeed Lasik, PRK isn't possible. Or at least in won't give a good result.

Right now using public transport for the first time in two years to visit the local office for the 2nd time in two years(!).
I'll see some new persons who I will meet for the first time. And perhaps also the last time ...though HR asked me, when I informed them, "and do you want to come back after your travelling?". I kind of referred to the discussion with my manager about the possibility to become a kind of external advisor for crisis/difficult situations.

I visited yesterday a lecture about the brains of teenagers. Turns out I can't really blame DS and DD for several/many "stupid" things they (frequently?) do. Lots of very funny stories how teenagers and the adult caretakers experience and see lot of things completely different due to differences in the brains. That said, it doesn't mean they can't do everything without concequences...

After readings DG journal, I thought about future plans, getting older etc. It used to be running away from work. Thereafter it became running to a new house and the house renovation, now it is probably towards to our traveling. But I don't have an exact plan for thereafter. So I am not running towards something specifically long term. I don't think it is really needed, I expect I will find several things to keep myself busy and fulfilled, which could be even some kind of paid work, but in a more relaxed and playfull way compared to the old days.

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

And another month passed.
8.5 working days to go - end of May.

LiberateMind
Posts: 197
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:18 pm

Re: Rube's journal

Post by LiberateMind »

Congrats on quitting the job!! Let us know how you progress your retirement life.

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thanks Liberatemind.

6 working days to go - end of May. I've been helping HR and my manager to find a new person and to organize things/people to prepare them for when I am no longer with the company.

I got only one bid so far on two apartments. Unfortunately about 13% below the low end of the expectation. Interest increased sharply last couple of weeks/months. Perhaps I have been a few months too late with putting them on the market to get the highest price.
I guess we'll see if higher bids are coming in. I might lower my expectations, but if bids are not sufficient, I'll just keep them for now and keep on collecting the rent.

Bought a new backpack, shoes and the first tickets for our trip. First stop will be the Caribbean. Planning to head for Mexico and/or South America thereafter and study Spanish, do some volunteer work. Might also visit California/Nevada/California area.

Still working on some things of the house. Won't be able get everything done before our trip, but want to finish a few key things before leaving.

Got my new glasses a few weeks back, but they weren't comfortable and not as good expected. Went back and upon detailed checking, it was concluded that certain things were not entirely correct. I will get a completely new one.

Since we're produce a lot of electricity these months, way more than we use, I changed our energy contract to the provider which pays us the highest price. Obviously May is one of the bests months for solar panels over here, so it's not representative for the whole year, but this month the house will generate this way a passive income which is about equal to the interest of the mortgage.

BlueNote
Posts: 501
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:26 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Rube's journal

Post by BlueNote »

Congratulations on quitting Rube!

DutchGirl
Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

One more week to go, Rube! And then you are free to enjoy the rest of spring, and summer, etc etc.

Does it feel real already, or not just yet?

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thanks @BlueNote. Not sure when I will visit you city again now my employer won't pay for it anymore! I expect I will be back one day, but we'll see.

@DG yes 1 week only! It does not feel real yet. I think. Yes, more relaxed. But still a bit of work to do and other things of life just continues. Perhaps it is also because it has been a gradual process for us, I went to 20 hrs/w 2 years ago, DW quit her job last summer and now I will quit. And in the mean time DW started to do some free lance work, some volunteering work etc. And since I started working part time I have filled my time largely with DIY, taking care of the rentals and this week I actually worked a few hours for a project DW took on.

So I guess and expect it will be different when you work full time, don't have any side jobs etc. and quit cold turkey with no specific things to fill your time with.

But perhaps l am wrong and I will feel very different in June. I actually think I might feel more different in September, when we have started our traveling. Away from our work, our home, rentals etc.

On other news, the government announced a kind of rent control as of 2024. Excact details are not known yet. Unsure how much it will impact us. Most likely it will make it harder to sell the rentals for the prices that look a few weeks ago still reasonable and if we don't sell, how it will impact the rental income. I'm not too concerned for ourselves though as I think we have enough margin. I guess we'll have to see how things develop and action upon it when and where we can.

rube
Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:54 pm
Location: Europe (NL)

Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

12 hours left

DutchGirl
Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

Is that 1 full work day and 1 half work day? Or are you going to work a 12 hour day just to end things on a good note?

mooretrees
Posts: 762
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

Re: Rube's journal

Post by mooretrees »

rube wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 2:55 pm
12 hours left
exciting!!!!

My eye doctor has also concluded that I'm not a good candidate for Lasik, which is a bummer. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about retired life!

sky
Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:20 am

Re: Rube's journal

Post by sky »

Its the final countdown...

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