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Retirement, Our Adventures — Table of Contents (TOC)

A brief synopsis & links to my stories about our adventures and tribulations. New activities, not much work & nothing dangerous.

Synopsis

• Most important story: Dancing on the Square to Live Concerts — Every Day
• Our normality: Shocked by the Dance Floor Surprise

TOC Methodology

• Medium has made it extremely difficult for a new reader to see your entire portfolio. Even a TOC with all of my articles is long. This post is a sub-category with descriptions and links to my articles.
• Sections: The Villages, Travel, Finances, City Fire Nightclub Entertainment
• Example:

Sections in this TOC:

1 - Every Day 2 - The Villages 3 - Travel 4 - Finances 5 - City Fire Nightclub Entertainment

Every Day

• People, i.e. strangers, frequently comment on how they love watching us dancing together. Odd since I don’t know how to dance. One lady even gave us a red rose.
• How do other people see you when you are out in public? Do you look happy to be together? Do you pay attention to each other?
• A simple story on how to improve your relationship.

• A vacation or weekend activity is not sufficient

• Restaurant desserts have gotten out of hand in size (2023)

• Having a small dessert on the menu can help retain customers (2022)

• Part 1: Tribulation and how to avoid this one

• Part 2: Last party due to advance cancer
• Friends, live music from favorite singer before isolation & dancing

• Looking back from age 75, certain events and locations should stand out

The Villages

• A Florida retirement community of over 135,000

• Live music on the Square every night drove the decision to retire to The Villages. It made them unique from the dozens of other places we visited. The lively bands draw over 100 dancers for every song, pre-virus. The music is mostly rock, with some country, soul and other music mixed in. The 3 squares have partly reopened.
• This is something else to do during retirement in The Villages, other than play golf and join the 3,000 clubs. Some of the 30 or 40 bands are pictured here.
• We dance for about two hours every day.

• From small to large — not much difference in this case

• All of Florida is susceptible to hurricanes

• People are generally polite and courteous, but there are always a few exceptions. I don’t know if they are blind, stupid or just plain bullies, but we still have to watch out for them.

• We go dancing at City Fire in The Villages most nights
• Even inside, we still have to watch out for them

• I’d expect this out of a 6-year-old, not someone over 40
• Shows such behavior is not limited to the movies

• How many pregnancy tests do old women need — over 100 in stock

• My wife makes every day a perfect day.

• The Villages residents are much more active compared to those in the movie.
• There is a two-year wait to join The Villages cheerleader team. There is also a Hula team.

• The squares in The Villages, Florida do not close for Christmas Day. The audience, dancers and songs were quite different, though.

• One of the downsides of living in Florida

• Total of $4,922 proposed (+ $500 if replaced by equal toilet)
• Sloppy work errors by the plumber, electrician & air conditioner expert

Travel

• For us, uncrowded Viking cruises provided new and unique experiences.

• The Danube looks blue only through the eyes of one standing next to their own true love.
• Compared to an ocean cruise ship, huge, impressive, like a skyscraper on its side, the sleek Viking river cruise ship rests quietly on the water.
• With 185 passengers instead of 7 thousand, it is uncrowded, peaceful — a feel-good story of dining, dancing, and tranquility.

• Trapped in Budapest, Hungary by a hurricane in Orlando, Florida, then tossed out of our hotel. Marriott came through.

• I would never have dreamed of doing this

• Age questions are always dangerous, even when required as part of the job. Young people seem to think retired people sit all day in their rocking chairs.
• The poor desk clerk at the museum in Budapest, Hungary learned differently. Her look of shock was priceless.

• You need to have nerves of steel to drive using the rules that I discovered.
• New York, Boston and Chicago look tame in comparison.

Finances

• I built our own financial model for stretching out our savings. Even with it, we still have to be careful.
• In January, I put our balances into the spreadsheet and it tells us how much we can spend for the year. It self-adjusts for major surprise purchases, like a furnace or air conditioner.

• How we wound up in The Villages, requirements for picking a house, and the plan we followed to make it a home.

• Hurricanes subject trees to 100 mph winds. Weak or dead limbs can become projectiles.
• A thick, heavy canopy won’t let the wind go through and may topple the entire tree onto your house or send extremely large limbs flying.

• People do all kinds of things to their carts.
• Most commonly, they put their first names in the front, add strips of lights, eye-lashes on the headlights, back seat for the dog, college and sports logos of every kind, and then it really gets weird, like fire trucks and Hummers.

• With a bit of planning, money should be the least of your worries. Ways to accumulate a nest egg and spread its depletion over time.

• Social Security is running out of money.
• Control of Congress will determine who gets taxed for it
• The rich CEO or the low-income seniors.

• Protect yourself using isolation. Use a throwaway credit card just for internet purchases — a card used only on the internet and not connected to anything else.
• Many sites, like Amazon, keep your card on file. Also, your connection might be vulnerable.

• NOTE: This article is a complete rewrite one year later of “Picking Fresh, Tasty Berries in the Spring” and stands on its own merits.

• There is much more to do in and around The Villages than the usual retirement stereotype of playing golf. One is picking your own fresh fruit.

City Fire Nightclub Entertainment

• The nightclub has pretty much replaced the free town squares for entertainment. Before Covid, the Villages provided chairs. Now, we have to carry our own, maybe a long way.
• By June of 2022, the squares had pretty much returned to normal.
• City Fire provides the same drinks, at the same price, except they are delivered to our table. We don’t have to stand in line. We can order dinner too. Finally, it is heated in the winter and air-conditioned in the summer, also has a roof when it rains.
• City Fire is located on the square, so it’s the same distance from home.
• There are many other restaurants and bars on each town square, but this one is the best for us.

• A cellphone video of us dancing isn’t as unusual as we thought

• Dance-floor collisions happen frequently in a college setting, but are quite rare at City Fire. People are polite and careful. This incident was really different!

• We go dancing at City Fire in The Villages most nights
• Even inside, we still have to watch out for them

• More dance floor antics.

• Many places have summer programs for kids. The Villages Academy, which generally provides adult classes for residents, scheduled 22 events per week for grandchildren.
• City Fire had a Cooking Competition with Top Chefs from City Fire (like Chopped), Cupcake Decorating, and karaoke.

• I never did anything like that in my life — not even 5th grade! Like most people, I was terrorized.
• Now, almost 3 years later and at age 75, I do a song or two nearly every week, 11 different songs so far.

• What I learned and links to songs

• Comparison between Alan Ross at City Fire and a karaoke bar in Macon, GA

• My wife pulled me from entrenched thinking.

• A challenge to appear in karaoke

• City Fire was proactive when the Coronavirus hit #1. They managed to stay alive during the shutdown and gradual reopening.
• That one restaurant has kept their 40 employees from starving and provided some relief for their customers.

• City Fire was proactive when the Coronavirus hit #2. At half capacity, they had live music with one singer only, no bands.

• City Fire was proactive when the Coronavirus hit #3. They reopened at 25% with social distancing, live music, and microscopic dance floors — one per table.
• Even the usual 4-piece band was at 25% capacity, one singer and recorded music in place of the band.

• Management can be blind! Some pay attention to the wrong things; others are just too arrogant! Restaurants provide a microcosm for all businesses, large and small.
• City Fire, under private ownership, has thrived even through the Coronavirus.
• Hacienda Hills Country Club, owned by The Villages developer and supporting a major golf course, did well at first, then failed under four managers before they tore the place down.

Author’s Story

• Extension of the general story

Full Table of Contents (all stories)