more memories...#5

 more memories...#5

    

               

  

   This is not the first time traveling after retirement has been mentioned in one of my posts.  In fact, unofficially, retirees wanting to see and hear the sites and sounds of far away places is the initial thought of the majority of people I interview.  At the least, it is the favorite activity most people would like to be able to afford to do. 

  For most of us, our travel desires during working years are restricted to predictable annual domestic vacations.  Spring Break and Fall Break here in Louisville, Kentucky, will usually find vacationing families headed for Destin or Pensacola, Florida.  

  I am reminded of a young lady during my Encore Performance.  She was a senior by the name of Avery Jackson.  

  She and I and another student were in my office two or three days before this particular Spring Break.  I asked Avery what she was going to do next week and she said, We're going on an African Safari.  I laughed and chipped in, Sure you are.  The other student looked at me and said, Mr. George, they really are going to Africa. 

  I remember saying some semblance of a garbled apology for laughing at her and left the room.

  HUH?  What's up with that? 

  What would it be like if you traveled for an employer and you saw a multitude of countries over  a span of 51 years before you started collecting pension checks?

  I retired as a pilot for Thornton Oil Company last January, Larry Richards,71, told me. 

  Would it be fair to say you've been all over the world?

  Probably, he said.  I flew wherever Thornton executives wanted to go and that was a lot of places over 51 years. 

  Let's make a Top Places to See list.  What city or country would be at the top?

  I think Number One would be Inverness, Scotland, he replied as he played my game.  

  What makes it so wonderful?

  The streets are clean, the city is beautiful, the food is great, and the people are fantastic, he ticked off. It's just outstanding. 

  Give me another one of your favorite places you've landed.

  Siena, Italy is fabulous.  The city is gorgeous and the food is some of the best in the world. They have great wine too.  Siena is on a huge hill with a castle that's magnificent. Florence, Italy is top drawer too if you are into art and history. 

  What cities are on the other end of the spectrum.  Seen it once and that's enough type places. 

  Big cities like London, Paris and Madrid are at the bottom of my list, he smirked.  I don't need to go back. 

  If I were to ask you where you had your all-time best steak in the world, what would you say?

  Argentina, he responded with no hesitation.  The absolute best steak I've ever eaten in my life. 

  What about a favorite memory?  Do you have one that you enjoy and like to revisit?

  I just got back from Spain with my daughter, he smiled. She's 25. I took her partridge hunting and we loved it.  I've taken her hunting with me many times going back to when she was five years old. 

  Why did you choose Spain for that trip?

  I've been there a lot for work and it's just a beautiful country, he answered.  

  What about a bucket list?  Have you had time to organize one? 

  I'd like to go to Normandy and see the beachhead there, he reflected.  I've been to France many, many times and I could kick myself for not seeing Normandy, but, I haven't seen it and I want to.  I'd say that's at the top of my list. 

  Larry, enjoy your retirement.  Thanks for talking to me. 

  He said, I'll see you around.

  Larry (Oct. 2023), Jim and Connie (Mar. 2020), and, Rebecca (Jan. 2020) are the most well traveled people I've encountered.  However, not everyone wants to travel to Europe or other foreign lands just as everyone doesn't have a favorite memory. 

  I don't have a special memory, Diane Fuller said.  I have a lot of great memories from a lot of different things.  

  What do you do for a living?

  I'm in the insurance business, she answered.  I've worked from home since 1997 and I love it.

  How about hobbies.  Anything special?

  I started an e-bay business about a year ago, she smiled.  It's done really well.  

  Tell me a little about that process.  Where do you get your merchandise and what do you sell?

  A little bit of everything.  I go to Goodwill, yard sales, Facebook, estate sales, even T.J. Maxx, she offered.  I sell everything I buy at a much higher price than I paid for it.

  Give me an example.  Something that was unusual and you made a good profit.

  Probably the biggest markup was this ugly cat I bought, she replied. Not the most money, but, the biggest margin of profit.  It was a stuffed cat and it was from Star Wars.  I call it ugly because it was.  Anyway, I bought it for a dollar at Goodwill and sold it for 65 dollars on e-bay.

  I think every business would like that kind of markup. 

 It would be great if everything I bought had that kind of profit, she wished. 

  How about a bucket list?  Do you have one?

  Not really a bucket list, she guessed.  But, I want to see the northeast.  My husband, our son and I have traveled all over the country, but, we've never been northeast.  I'd like to see Maine and those states.

  Diane, keep selling and I hope you see the northeast soon.

  Oh, I'm sure we will, she predicted. 

  Coming up:  another oddities, observations, & ?'s; a job$ someboy's gotta do, and; a chat with a Korean War Vet.

  And, finally. Who knew the Speaker of the House did not have to be an elected member of that chamber?