My son will not be getting married after all. They went through a major melt-down and broke apart after 18 months together. There is no reconcilliation.

My neighbor had a heart attack. That was his SHORT hospital stay. A staph infection set in two weeks later causing him to spend two stints of a total of two more weeks in the hospital. During the latest hospital stay, he was robbed of an extensive silver dollar collection and cash.

I am being forced into retirement. I feel I'm not old enough to retire nor do I feel finacially comforatable to retire after just turning 52. The finacial adviser from the company says, "Sure, you have the funds to retire.", but I'm getting a second opinion. Maybe a 3rd. With unemployment near 7% here and possibly hit 10% after Chrysler closes and the brewery lays off thousands more, I will probably be spending at least some time in 'retirement' with their measley lump sum payout and their stock, which is crashing badly, I might add.   For the record, my plan was to stay working until 60.

Not all bad, though. My son landed a mechanic job with the county gov't. doing maintenence on police cars and other county vehicles. He can get a pension from this job and CAN retire after 30 years, or age 52, (like I am now).

I have been cleared by the doctor to be able to ride a bike again. The threat of heart failure or stoke seems gone for now. Soo, clean off the dust from one of the rat-traps in the garage, a 1999 Raleigh R-500 road bike with 4,300 miles on it, and only 4 of the 24 gears worked. Rode 6 miles. At least, it's a start and the tires held air.

I'm sorry you're experiencing all these blows at once.  I truly do know what it feels like when life does that to you even though the things that happened were different.  The insecurities about what the future brings when things change is what I find hardest. 

I'm sorry,Sir Rat to hear of all the bad news!  I do hope things get better!

News flash!

My son met a new gf. This one has waist length hair!

I'm glad to read they built a new hwy. 19 bridge from McKittrick to Herman. That old rickity one with the 8 ft. lanes and NO room for error was a nightmare. Now... if they could only do the same with the hwy. 47 bridge in Washington.... I haven't been on the bike since but now 7 gears are working hanging on the garage hook. It's either been storming or the heat index is in the 100's.

2nd opinion of retirement. "Basically, go for it if you want a lower standard of living thru retirement, but strongly suggest working a couple more years". Had an interview with County Highways& Traffic, traffic signals division. We'll see if this pans out instead of just retiring. If there is a gap in work, I'll take a few days and ride on the KATY trail.

I'm glad to hear your son is moving on (with the long hair bonus!). 

I agree that working longer for a better standard of living in retirement is probably worth it.  That's why I am still working!    I hope you can find something that you can enjoy as well as providing for a better retirement.

Hope you can get out on the Katy!

I am glad things have turned around!