DrLefty

Comments

• I’d call it smart planning plus willingness to take risks. Your CCRC journey has really informed my thinking, and I’ve pretty much talked my husband around, too.

  Post: 27 Months

  Link to comment from December 14, 2025

• I went back and read that article again. Your final thought—carpe diem—was really poignant given that it was before Jonathan even knew he was sick yet. I saw him in the comments cheering you on to write more articles, which I’m glad you did. Jonathan leaving us way too soon plus watching my in-laws has driven all of this home even more. My FIL didn’t retire until 70, and my MIL was taking care of her dying mother and twin sister, who died seven weeks apart. Then she had responsibility for her widowed father, who lived to be 102. After he passed, we hoped they finally could have some fun—travel and spend more time with their grandkids—but by then the Alzheimer’s had already started to emerge. She passed last year at 84, and they never really got to enjoy retirement together or the comfortable wealth they had amassed. Carpe diem, indeed.

  Post: 27 Months

  Link to comment from December 14, 2025

• That’s a great response. Very thoughtful.

  Post: 27 Months

  Link to comment from December 14, 2025

• Happy anniversary, Dick & Connie! Congratulations on your long and happy marriage. You’re an inspiration. Hope you two are having a wonderful day despite the awful weather. 🥂

  Post: Fifty-seven years and counting and it’s snowing…again.

  Link to comment from December 14, 2025

• I wasn’t one of the downvotes, but I have thoughts about this. Several years ago, I co-chaired a task force for the UC system on the Entry Level Writing Requirement (which deals with “preparatory” [remedial] coursework in writing for incoming students—back in the day it was rudely called “Bonehead English.”) One of the points we made in our report was that the UC is a large, comprehensive university system that draws from all over California, which is a very diverse state. Some students are multilingual. Some are from economically disadvantaged school systems. They qualify for UC admission and may have some major strengths (e.g., in STEM, or in “soft skills” like grit and resilience and work ethic)—but may need some extra support at the beginning of their college careers to be ready for the range of academic reading and writing tasks that will be required of them. We’re talking one extra course during the first year, maybe one or two more if they’re ESL students. If these programs are well designed and executed, and that was what our task force was asked to evaluate, they give the students tools for success that for reasons usually not their fault they didn’t get in high school. High school English in the U.S. is problematic because teachers have huge class/student loads and many are trained to teach literature, not writing. I used to teach a course for future secondary teachers called “Writing and the Young Writer,” but I don’t know how many teachers get to (or want to) take a course like that. Anyway, what we argued was that having entry level writing courses was not a sign of failure but rather a tool for equity and leveling the playing field so that more UC students could be successful. I’ll climb off my soapbox now!

  Post: $92,000 a year is quite an investment. The ROI is real, but maybe not.

  Link to comment from December 13, 2025

• Thanks for letting us know, Elaine. It's preordered! I hope you're doing as well as can be expected. You and your family have been in my prayers.

  Post: One Last Book

  Link to comment from December 12, 2025

• I’ve been retired a bit over five months, and my husband is still working, so I’m not sure I’m quite in retirement mode yet, but I’m settling into a nice rhythm on weekdays. I wake up early, have a cup of coffee (or two if I feel like it), check out headlines/social media. Then I play Wordle, fill up my water bottle, and change into my workout clothes. I have a spin bike and rower at home and also do strength classes. I usually work out for 45-60 minutes. Some days I take a 50-min Pilates class at a local studio, and others, if weather permits, I’ll take a lengthy walk, usually instead of cycling. (My legs can tolerate 4-5 days a week of cycling but not 7.) After the workout and shower, I’ll head to my computer for a couple of hours of productive activity—I’m still doing some academic writing projects that I’m working on at a leisurely pace, I do some writing for church activities (teaching or curriculum), and I write for a baseball fan site and sometimes for HD. By lunchtime, I’m usually done with sitting at a computer. Depending on the day, I’ll run errands, nap, cook, or read in the afternoon. Evenings are either social (cards or wine tasting with groups of neighbors, Friday night dinners at home with friends or out, Wednesday night Bible study group in our home) or relaxing over a sporting event or TV show with my husband. I usually head toward bed before 9 p.m. and read a bit in bed until I’m sleepy. I like this pace. I’m enjoying retirement a lot so far. I thought I’d miss my job at least a little bit, but—nope.

  Post: What’s Your Perfect “Normal” Day?

  Link to comment from December 12, 2025

• My older daughter went off to Berkeley at 17. My younger daughter wasn’t as strong of a student and went to community college before transferring to a Cal State campus. When I paid the bill for her first semester of community college—15 units of transferable coursework for $600, and she could live at home—I asked myself why everyone doesn’t do it that way. And in her case, she had better teachers and classroom experiences in the community college. There are some excellent teachers there, and they don’t have to worry about publishing, so they can focus all their energy on teaching.

  Post: $92,000 a year is quite an investment. The ROI is real, but maybe not.

  Link to comment from December 12, 2025

• Totally agree.

  Post: $92,000 a year is quite an investment. The ROI is real, but maybe not.

  Link to comment from December 12, 2025

• My final job was in a writing program at a UC. I’m happy to report that writing instruction has evolved quite a bit since you were in college. I think it’s more when you went to college and less so about where—back in the 60s, people wrote one-shot “themes”—no instruction, no feedback, no revision—which were returned with red pen corrections and a grade and perhaps a scathing remark. Thankfully, times have changed.

  Post: $92,000 a year is quite an investment. The ROI is real, but maybe not.

  Link to comment from December 12, 2025