The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought ( hope there is no confusion with deep seek) over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is.
Of course it is, I just tried (unsuccessfully) to link it to the maturity ( or may be not) in 40s
After 3+ months into retirement, facing similar issues. What to do in life? Shudder to think how to spend next 20+ years. Moving to India was the right decision, no doubt about that. Social environment in US was not to my liking or interest. Felt more isolated/bored out there. Feeling bored in India but at least it is better to feel bored at lower cost of living and not worry constantly about medical appointment/insurance.
I knew about this issue few years back, so kept pushing the retirement. Wanted to get out in 2022 but managed two more years. Cannot work in India after 60, but in US it was possible to work for another 5 years but not 40 hrs/week. More like 20 hrs/week as I need afternoon nap. If I work in US longer, then may grow older and will be lot difficult to move back at 65/70. Even at 60 it was a herculean task to sell all the stuff, pack the rest in the container and resettle. Now anxiously waiting for the container to arrive and there is no space in the current house. Wish the container falls into the ocean, problem solved. But will lose 10+ giant packs of Charmin Ultra.
DW suggest to take up teaching. Students will suffer and am not a good teacher. Social work - cannot do anything that is physically demanding like moving to rural area and work in a village. One of my friend did that in MH but he was in his 40s then.
I know my former manager became president of local city council and volunteers at SD Zoo. Being a white he will fit into those roles but I cannot do that. Still trying to figure out what to do with life?
Last edited by old-spice2 on Fri Feb 07, 2025 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
old-spice2 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 7:17 pm
After 3+ months into retirement, facing similar issues. What to do in life? Shudder to think how to spend next 20+ years. Moving to India was the right decision, no doubt about that. Social environment in US was not to my liking or interest. Felt more isolated/bored out there. Feeling bored in India but at least it is better to feel bored at lower cost of living and not worry constantly about medical appointment/insurance.
I knew about this issue few years back, so kept pushing the retirement. Wanted to get out in 2022 but managed two more years. Cannot work in India after 60, but in US it was possible to work for another 5 years but not 40 hrs/week. More like 20/hrs week as I need afternoon nap. If I work in US longer, then may grow older and will be lot difficult to move back at 65/70. Even at 60 it was a herculean task to sell all the stuff, pack the rest in the container and resettle. Now anxiously waiting for the container to arrive and there is no space in the current house. Wish the container falls into the ocean, problem solved. But will lose 10+ giant packs of Charmin Ultra.
DW suggest to take up teaching. Students will suffer and am not a good teacher. Social work - cannot do anything that is physically demanding like moving to rural area and work in a village. One of my friend did that in MH but he was in his 40s then.
I know my former manager became president of local city council and volunteers at SD Zoo. Being a white he will fit into those roles but I cannot do that. Still trying to figure out what to do with life?
Since you are a foodie, you could cook atleast one meal a day( arachavitta sambhar with small onion - peeling the small onion will make you feel you spent 5 hours ) . Chatgpt might give a better routine for you. You come across as a very extroverted person and you could strike a conversation with the locals like a pro ( unless you do something like a typical NRI would do - walking with a Stanley mug or a King size Kinley water bottle )
Get up early and go for long walks. Come back eat and sleep. Get up, find banks where you always have an excuse to do something. Go get rashan, forget Zepto/blinkit. Keep stopping on the way and talk to people. Watch reels, ott, yt. Pick fights with wife, her relatives. Clean vegetables for cooking. Maybe talk to your relatives. Make friends and socialize with them. Tire yourself during the day and go to sleep early.
Last edited by Returning_Indian on Sat Feb 08, 2025 4:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
desi4ever wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 9:21 pm
Since you are a foodie, you could cook atleast one meal a day( arachavitta sambhar with small onion - peeling the small onion will make you feel you spent 5 hours ) . Chatgpt might give a better routine for you. You come across as a very extroverted person and you could strike a conversation with the locals like a pro ( unless you do something like a typical NRI would do - walking with a Stanley mug or a King size Kinley water bottle )
That option is out as we were lucky to find a maid who wants to do everything. DW has outsourced veggie chopping and atta prep to her. I have to fight with wife for rest of the work as she is not ready to leave that. She says she wants some purpose in life, so will take care of rest of the cooking.
Yes it is tough to kill time. I have Tata Play with DVR. Keep recording Hindi/Tamil movies from DD and Sun TV. That takes care of 2-3 hrs a day. Bhagyaraj's Mundhanai Mudhichu is waiting for viewing.
old-spice2 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 7:17 pm
After 3+ months into retirement, facing similar issues. What to do in life? Shudder to think how to spend next 20+ years. Moving to India was the right decision, no doubt about that. Social environment in US was not to my liking or interest. Felt more isolated/bored out there. Feeling bored in India but at least it is better to feel bored at lower cost of living and not worry constantly about medical appointment/insurance.
I knew about this issue few years back, so kept pushing the retirement. Wanted to get out in 2022 but managed two more years. Cannot work in India after 60, but in US it was possible to work for another 5 years but not 40 hrs/week. More like 20 hrs/week as I need afternoon nap. If I work in US longer, then may grow older and will be lot difficult to move back at 65/70. Even at 60 it was a herculean task to sell all the stuff, pack the rest in the container and resettle. Now anxiously waiting for the container to arrive and there is no space in the current house. Wish the container falls into the ocean, problem solved. But will lose 10+ giant packs of Charmin Ultra.
DW suggest to take up teaching. Students will suffer and am not a good teacher. Social work - cannot do anything that is physically demanding like moving to rural area and work in a village. One of my friend did that in MH but he was in his 40s then.
I know my former manager became president of local city council and volunteers at SD Zoo. Being a white he will fit into those roles but I cannot do that. Still trying to figure out what to do with life?
What did you do after work and weekends when you were working? Or was it a lot of overtime work?
old-spice2 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 7:17 pm
After 3+ months into retirement, facing similar issues. What to do in life? Shudder to think how to spend next 20+ years. Moving to India was the right decision, no doubt about that. Social environment in US was not to my liking or interest. Felt more isolated/bored out there. Feeling bored in India but at least it is better to feel bored at lower cost of living and not worry constantly about medical appointment/insurance.
I knew about this issue few years back, so kept pushing the retirement. Wanted to get out in 2022 but managed two more years. Cannot work in India after 60, but in US it was possible to work for another 5 years but not 40 hrs/week. More like 20 hrs/week as I need afternoon nap. If I work in US longer, then may grow older and will be lot difficult to move back at 65/70. Even at 60 it was a herculean task to sell all the stuff, pack the rest in the container and resettle. Now anxiously waiting for the container to arrive and there is no space in the current house. Wish the container falls into the ocean, problem solved. But will lose 10+ giant packs of Charmin Ultra.
DW suggest to take up teaching. Students will suffer and am not a good teacher. Social work - cannot do anything that is physically demanding like moving to rural area and work in a village. One of my friend did that in MH but he was in his 40s then.
I know my former manager became president of local city council and volunteers at SD Zoo. Being a white he will fit into those roles but I cannot do that. Still trying to figure out what to do with life?
I FiREd in May 2020 and I have no issues in following a routine and killing time. Days, weeks and months vanish into thin air. The only time I had issues with killing time was on my visit to India since I was not able to continue my routine.
old-spice2 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 7:17 pm
After 3+ months into retirement, facing similar issues. What to do in life? Shudder to think how to spend next 20+ years. Moving to India was the right decision, no doubt about that. Social environment in US was not to my liking or interest. Felt more isolated/bored out there. Feeling bored in India but at least it is better to feel bored at lower cost of living and not worry constantly about medical appointment/insurance.
I knew about this issue few years back, so kept pushing the retirement. Wanted to get out in 2022 but managed two more years. Cannot work in India after 60, but in US it was possible to work for another 5 years but not 40 hrs/week. More like 20/hrs week as I need afternoon nap. If I work in US longer, then may grow older and will be lot difficult to move back at 65/70. Even at 60 it was a herculean task to sell all the stuff, pack the rest in the container and resettle. Now anxiously waiting for the container to arrive and there is no space in the current house. Wish the container falls into the ocean, problem solved. But will lose 10+ giant packs of Charmin Ultra.
DW suggest to take up teaching. Students will suffer and am not a good teacher. Social work - cannot do anything that is physically demanding like moving to rural area and work in a village. One of my friend did that in MH but he was in his 40s then.
I know my former manager became president of local city council and volunteers at SD Zoo. Being a white he will fit into those roles but I cannot do that. Still trying to figure out what to do with life?
Since you are a foodie, you could cook atleast one meal a day( arachavitta sambhar with small onion - peeling the small onion will make you feel you spent 5 hours ) . Chatgpt might give a better routine for you. You come across as a very extroverted person and you could strike a conversation with the locals like a pro ( unless you do something like a typical NRI would do - walking with a Stanley mug or a King size Kinley water bottle )
LOL- King size Kinley is a definite give-away; I was doing it all the time in India. In spite of that I caught cold, cough and sore throat that still persists. since I let down my guard one time when I was offered a 'welcome drink' as I checked into my hotel in Jodhpur!
join some sort of club..go early in the morning comeback only in the evening.. hang out in the library.. read the newspaper cover to cover for 3 hours, get some workouts in.. massage every now and then. sleep in the afternoons.. pickup some new sport or hobby. pick up new friends ,host a boys night out every week with these new friends. explore your city..
i had an uncle who would get on a particular number bus and ride that route from start to finish. occasionally a stop would pique his interest (a temple or a place of interest that he wanted to further investigate) and he would get down and post exploring, get back on the bus.. rinse, repeat on a different route/line.. he had many different stories that he would regale us with.. my aunt happy to get him off her hair would pack a nice lunch with some snacks and send him on his way.. he would do this as often as he wanted..
Razz R wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2025 2:28 pm
join some sort of club..go early in the morning comeback only in the evening.. hang out in the library.. read the newspaper cover to cover for 3 hours, get some workouts in.. massage every now and then. sleep in the afternoons.. pickup some new sport or hobby. pick up new friends ,host a boys night out every week with these new friends. explore your city..
i had an uncle who would get on a particular number bus and ride that route from start to finish. occasionally a stop would pique his interest (a temple or a place of interest that he wanted to further investigate) and he would get down and post exploring, get back on the bus.. rinse, repeat on a different route/line.. he had many different stories that he would regale us with.. my aunt happy to get him off her hair would pack a nice lunch with some snacks and send him on his way.. he would do this as often as he wanted..
