Update: August 18, 2005 (2 wks into my retirement)
I finally stopped showing up to work beginning in August. I finally quit -- yeah! I was first busy with packing and just making arrangements. After that, I went to the Sierra Nevedas, where I "came back to life." I read lots and just felt at peace. I also felt as if time slowed down. Whereas before, at Intel, I would pickup my coffee in the morning and walk to my cube... then, like time warp, all of the sudden, it was 5pm! And there was still work to do for another hour or two! And compounding that, it was quick when weekends came around... then weeks, then months, then years... and all of a sudden, I'm 50 years old? Hell no! I had to put a brake on that cycle!
Now that I have a lot of free time, time itself has slowed down. It makes living worth while when you can know every moment of it. I know by "sacrificing" the corporate life and financial stability, I will not be able to afford that big house, that SUV, that wife and kids, that 1.5 dog, and finally, that humungous RV when I turn 65! But I think I'm getting something much more worthwhile than all of that -- life!
Update: August 18, 2005 (bum in Lone Pine, CA)
I was out in Lone Pine where the Sierra Nevedas are. Brought lots of books and some hiking stuff. I lived out of my truck:
And did some hiking...
Here's Mt. Whitney in August... some traces of snow on the Mountaineer's Route.
