Tag: retirement

First REAL Day of Retirement

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aeronca Champ, retirement1 Comment

Flying is a big part of who I am. So what makes more sense than to go flying on my first REAL day of retirement? I mean, it’s Monday. I should be at work at my desk answering email, ignoring email, checking on the hospital computer network. But I wasn’t there, I was tying the airplane down at Los Banos Airport.

It suddenly hit me that I truly was retired. Last Monday, I was outstanding in the field of network engineering. This Monday, today, I was out standing in a field between the Los Banos Airport tie-down area, and Highway 152 as it runs through town. I wasn’t walking to the hospital coffee shop, I was walking to Jack-in-the-Box. On a Monday! The only way I can describe the feeling was weird. It was good. But it was weird.

I jaywalked across the highway, it’s a right of passage for pilots flying into Los Banos. One I long since partook in many years ago. But it was fun to relive that first flight to this airport to get my $100 hamburger. The McDonalds I remember being there was now replaced by Weinerschintzel. Nah, they don’t do breakfast. Walked a little farther past a Black Bear Diner. Nah, not looking to sit down. I just want something to go. Jack-In-The-Box was next. Got a breakfast burrito and a coffee to go. That’s more like it. I walked back up the highway with my coffee cup and to-go bag trying to time the traffic just right. Finally did and made it back to the airport.

Had to stop and pause and just take it all in. Monday. I’m at an airport. Yeah. I could get used to this. Found a picnic table just outside the airport and had breakfast. Nothing was going on at the airport. It’s Monday morning. No students, no weekenders coming out for their $100 hamburger. Just me and the cool humid wind that was being blown by whatever storm system is currently passing by.

I didn’t linger too long after breakfast. This picnic table wasn’t the point of this morning’s flight. The flight was the point of the flight. Literally, it was all about the journey. It’s only 40 minutes from Oakdale to Los Banos but I was up. Above the Monday traffic, above the emails, above the projects, above the budgets. They say you have to stay busy in retirement. Yeah, I think I can do that. Cruising along under a warm stable weather system at 1500 feet MSL at 80-ish MPH. Yeah, I definitely think I can do that.

Warm and stable weather
Cruising along at 1500 MSL
80-ish MPH indicated airspeed

It’s not all fun a games though. Next job is repacking my travel trailer’s wheel bearings. No wait, when there is no time table, that is fun! I like this job!

See you next time when I’m elbow deep (hope not) in bearing grease.

Retiring from San Joaquin General Hospital

On By The Flying DutchmanIn WorkLeave a comment

Well, how do I sum up close to 10 years of work here at SJGH? Managing the switching and wireless environment for a large county hospital — keeping it running reliably, keeping it secure, planning for the future — that’s been a meaningful way to spend the final years of my career. I took a daisy-chained network of older Extreme Networks hardware and upgraded it to a fully redundant, survivable network. Completely overhauled. I’ve cleaned up lots of wiring, labelled every important uplink cable, aliased every important switch port in an effort to make the network self-documenting. I’ve mapped it all out with Intermapper and XIQ-SE. I’ve created over 30 IPSEC tunnels to our business partners. I’ve upgraded our wireless infrastructure twice (almost). I’ve had to troubleshoot broadcast storms late into the evening alongside Extreme’s engineers. I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night to reboot servers and respond to power issues in the network closets. I’ve worked long hours responding alongside the help desk to virus outbreaks and CrowdStrike failures. I’ve worked with difficult end users. I’ve worked with some absolutely wonderful doctors and nurses, many of whom have advised me on my own personal medical issues. I’ve thanked God EVERY DAY for this job. My wife can vouch for that. I’m proud of the work we’ve done here.

For those of you who are lost in all the technical jargon, here’s the main point: retirement isn’t an ending. It’s just the next leg of the trip. And if you remember anything about me, I hope it’s that while a career is important, it’s not the whole story. Build things with your hands. Serve your community. Travel with your spouse or friends. Have adventures that have nothing to do with your job title. And don’t let anyone tell you that this job is just about VLANs, firewalls, and switch configs. It’s also about people. It always has been.

Thank you all.