You are so right. No backup from students homes. My wife was a teacher in an upper class community in NJ so it was different and she was lucky. But Newark, Camden or Trenton...no way. NJ has or had great teacher salary and retirement benefits but Florida teacher compensation is low and even lower in Florida charter schools. I dont see how teachers can make a living in Florida.

Well, I know how you feel, until our current president, Washington DC has been waging a war on US manufacturing. I have lost 2 jobs to the Chinese. Not sure even now I would recommend anything in the Mfg sector to a young person either. Of course all the non-mfg people who I told to buy american said things like "it is my business who I buy from, etc." No support at all.... I think if I had to do it all over again I would go into IT.

To set the record straight, it has been demand from consumers who wanted low prices and stockholders who demand maximum stock appreciation for 4+ decades...that resulted in off-shoring/foreign manufacturing.

The fact that some American industries, such as automotive manufacturing, thought they could build vastly inferior products and shame people into "buying American"... exacerbated the problem.

Besides which many foreign automobiles are built in the US, providing jobs here.

There are many sides to that story. Some say the real thing that killed manufacturing jobs was automation.

Good points. :thumbup:


In all honesty though, automation was but one (albeit, probably the biggest) result of consumer/stockholders demands.

Topic is adjusting to retirement. Let's not let political topics intrude or the thread will be closed.

I've been retired for ten years and have enjoyed every minute. When I retired I loved my job, but was commuting two hours from my lake home (had an apartment near work where I stayed during the week) and wanted to get out of that rut. My kids own a successful healthcare staffing company and gave me a part-time job to allow me to transition to medicare (I still work one day a week for them). The thing that helped me, and that I advise all new retirees, is that I have continued to get up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning, including weekends. I Shower and shave and get dressed just like I'm going to work even though I may not have anything planned, or I golf early in the morning when in TV. I think, for me, sleeping late and lounging in my PJs would be a concession to age and self-defeating. I am 72, active, and feel great.