Thinking about Retiring? This could be fun.

[Mailer]

Lately, there has been some discussions about retirement here.
Don't know if it is workable, but it may give some of us an alternative way to retire. It made me think. This could be an option instead of hanging around the house and get old. Lol.

If you haven't seen it. Check link below.

He asked an old woman why she's alone on a cruise ship. Her response is priceless!

https://mobile.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1083952938331783&id=10478435

 

[Steady Eddie]

I spent a day in Philadelphia one week. At the hotel I stayed at, there was an older lady there every night. The staff would go to her about every 30 minutes. I ask about it and was told she lives there instead of a nursing home. She signs her check over to them and they feed her when ever she wants something. They would use the shuttle bus to take her anywhere she needed to go, doctors or where ever. Smart woman.

 

[ATeam]

That's an amusing piece but is is realistic? Using the woman's math, she would spend $54,750 per year to live that life. Additional expenses would be incurred for clothing and incidentals.

Medical care on cruise ships is limited and not covered by insurance unless travel insurance is purchased. There is no pharmacy or lab on a cruise ship. The ship's "doctor" may not be a doctor at all. See: What You Need to Know About Medical Care on Cruise Ships

The cruise ship/nursing home comparison is a false comparison. People don't move into nursing homes who do not need long term care. As long as the woman's health (and money) holds up they'd let her sail. The minute her health fails, she'll be banned from the ships and quite possibly put off the ship against her will in a foreign country in the midst of her illness.

It is very common in our culture for people to maintain retirement fantasies that include perfect health. It's better to PLAN for a healthy retirement and do everything you can to get there by spending a dollar or two a day to belong to a gym, use it, eat healthy and enjoy the many benefits fitness brings, today and in retirement.

In our gym, we have a good number of 70, 80 and even 90 year-olds who have done that very thing. They walk steps and get in and out of their cars more easily than obese people half their age. When they fall ill or are injured (as happens to everyone), they recover more quickly. Their doctors enjoy taking care of them because these uplifting people take care of themselves.

If you want to live a long and healthy life in which you have some spending money to spare, you won't get it by nursing unrealistic fantasies. You'll get it by imagining the life you want and taking steps every day to achieve that goal.

 

[Mailer]

Good one Eddie

So there ia a glimmer of hope for us expeditors afterall, Lol..

 

[blizzard2014]

You guys are going all health nuts on us lol. If I knew I was going to live a long life, I would take better care of myself. But I'm already half way out the door as it is. I merely stood on my feet for two hours yesterday and I am in pain and limping today. The Gym is out for me. I have however fixed my high blood sugar with insulin. I can't see living the rest of my short life eating Styrofoam. I agree that being healthy is good for retirement, but not all people are healthy. Look at what happened to Jack Berry. Going to the Gym does not extend life, it merely makes you feel better. I'm still on the eating myself to death gig. The only way for me to have normal blood sugar is to eat only meat. That will also kill you. I hope you make it to your cruise Mailer, After a few years of expediting in a cargo van, you deserve a break. I may have to scope out your Gym someday A-Team if I ever travel. I will drink my diet iced tea and sweat as I watch the 90 year olds exercise circles around me. I have to let the old people walk in front of me sometimes. Now, more importantly, where is all this extra cash for cruises coming from?

 

[ATeam]

Going to the Gym does not extend life, it merely makes you feel better.

You are right about the feeling better part. Gym users routinely report that they feel better after a workout. The statement that "going to the gym does not extend life" is factually incorrect.

Go to Google and ask, "do people who exercise live longer?" and you will find numerous studies that show that exercise not only helps people live longer but also enhances their quality of life while they grace this earth.

For expediters, there are the added benefits of safety. If you are in shape and agile, you are less likely to get injured on the job or nod out behind the wheel.

While it is always possible to cite stories about people who die young even though they exercised, the statistics are clear when applied to the general population. In general, people who exercise live longer and enjoy a better quality of life.

It's the same as any statistical analysis. With driving, you can cite stories about million-mile safe drivers who perish in tragic accidents. Yet it remains true that people who drive safe are less likely to be involved in a crash than those who do not drive safe. The more you expose yourself to the risks, the more likely it is that the negative consequences will come to you.

Biizzard, assuming you are not joking when you say, "I'm still on the eating myself to death gig," there is nothing we could do for you if you visited our gym. For others who are not healthy but have a different outlook, I want you to know that if someone like Blizzard walked in, Diane, our training staff and I would respond with great hope and optimism.

Our professional trainers know quite a bit about nutrition and exercise that Blizzard does not know. The fact that standing for two hours produces pain the next day does not disqualify one from joining a gym. Many of our exercise machines have seats. Our trainers (both of whom have college degrees in the field and 20+ years experience) can develop a safe and effective exercise routine for anyone who resides this side of a casket. We have seen them provide nutrition advice that makes near-instantaneous differences in how people feel and how their bodies react to exercise.

We have seen it happen with our own eyes. There are people in very bad health who come to our gym to get well. Some of these folks get discouraged, quit and do not return. Others persevere, become more encouraged as they see results and later rejoice as they tell us of their progress. Some go off their meds because the meds are no longer needed. Some overcome their diabetes. Some recover range of motion in their joints. Some improve their balance and put their canes away.

Before we left expediting to get into the fitness industry, Diane and I did not fully appreciate the huge differences a good health and fitness routine can make in people's lives. Having now seen such progress in numerous cases, we love this business more than ever. It is more than a business. It is a ministry in which we can make a very real difference in peoples' lives and in the lives of the loved-ones who care about them.

 

[Mailer]

Lol..Phil. Yes indeed, the link is somewhat an amusement and probably not realistic for most. But for some of us, realistically, it's possible to have that quality of life similar to the example in the link.

As an expeditor, we worked our butts off all those years to make a living, paid our dues and the kind of schedules that we have put into it, there's not a whole lot of quality of life we gave to ourselves. The remaining years is our rewards and we should spend the hec out of it. Eventhough the quality time may last only months or a few years, it sure beat paying for room and laying in bed staring at the ceiling in the nursing home.

Yes all exercises have benefits as you have explained and I plan to do them before, during and after the cruises.

Say no to nursing home! Lol...

 

[Mailer]

I hope you make it to your cruise Mailer, After a few years of expediting in a cargo van, you deserve a break....

Thanks blizzard. I have the inventory full of Lululemon pants for the cruises, enough for the moderators and staff if they have decided to joint me. Lol...

 

[Turtle]

That's an amusing piece but is is realistic?

No, it's a complete fabrication, derived and evolved from at least 2003 when the waggish diatribe against the cost of nursing home care had its writer swearing to check into a Holiday Inn when the grey hairs became too many. By 2004, some of the numbered items now found in the "cruise ship" tale were in place, albeit in a version that claimed the Holiday Inn rather than a Princess ocean liner as substitute elder care housing ( "TV broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience"). By 2005 more numbered items had been added, including some cruise-specific ones (e.g., "There is always a doctor on board" and "And don't forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge").

That's probably because of the 2005 Time magazine article (there have since been several in many publications) about people choosing to retire on board a cruise ship instead of a retirement home or some other traditional retirement arrangements. One of those early examples cited in the Time article (and probably others) was Bea Muller, an 86-year-old retiree who took up residence on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 on 5 January 2000. She's now become legend, albeit an actual true one.

Thanks to her frequent traveler discounts, her overall costs amounted to about $5,000 a month for her windowless 10x10 foot cabin that barely fits a bed, radio, and television, with a bathroom smaller than the average closet found in a typical home. Its cramped quarters aside, Muller was happy with her life aboard a ship. "I've got full-time maid service, great dining rooms, doctors, medical center (where she volunteers), a spa, beauty salon, computer center, entertainment, cultural activities and, best of all, dancing and bridge."

So you can see how a lot of this evolved from Holiday Inn to Princess.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired from service in 2008, and Muller passed away in 2013. Bea Muller was not the first long-time cruiser by a long shot, as Cunard Cruise Lines had a previous guest, Clair MacBeth, who lived aboard ship for 14 years.

There are at least two retirement "cruise" ships on the seas with the , MS The World being the largest, and three more being built. The Utopia is due to be finished this year and will be 971 feet long, 327 feet longer than The World. Although the rooms on board are condos which you buy, same as a condo on land. Rather than a cruise ship, it's technically a residential yacht. Not sure about the others, but the residents of The World own the ship. They collectively decide where the ship goes and for how long. Pricing starts at a little over $1 million for a studio and goes up to $9 million for the large condos. About half the residents live on board full time, the rest live on it part time. It has 12 decks and a full-time crew of 280.

 

[Mailer]

No, it's a complete fabrication, derived and evolved from at least 2003 when the waggish diatribe against the cost of nursing home care had its writer swearing to check into a Holiday Inn when the grey hairs became too many. By 2004, some of the numbered items now found in the "cruise ship" tale were in place, albeit in a version that claimed the Holiday Inn rather than a Princess ocean liner as substitute elder care housing ( "TV broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience"). By 2005 more numbered items had been added, including some cruise-specific ones (e.g., "There is always a doctor on board" and "And don't forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge").

That's probably because of the 2005 Time magazine article (there have since been several in many publications) about people choosing to retire on board a cruise ship instead of a retirement home or some other traditional retirement arrangements. One of those early examples cited in the Time article (and probably others) was Bea Muller, an 86-year-old retiree who took up residence on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 on 5 January 2000. She's now become legend, albeit an actual true one.

Thanks to her frequent traveler discounts, her overall costs amounted to about $5,000 a month for her windowless 10x10 foot cabin that barely fits a bed, radio, and television, with a bathroom smaller than the average closet found in a typical home. Its cramped quarters aside, Muller was happy with her life aboard a ship. "I've got full-time maid service, great dining rooms, doctors, medical center (where she volunteers), a spa, beauty salon, computer center, entertainment, cultural activities and, best of all, dancing and bridge."

So you can see how a lot of this evolved from Holiday Inn to Princess.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired from service in 2008, and Muller passed away in 2013. Bea Muller was not the first long-time cruiser by a long shot, as Cunard Cruise Lines had a previous guest, Clair MacBeth, who lived aboard ship for 14 years.

There are at least two retirement "cruise" ships on the seas with the , MS The World being the largest, and three more being built. The Utopia is due to be finished this year and will be 971 feet long, 327 feet longer than The World. Although the rooms on board are condos which you buy, same as a condo on land. Rather than a cruise ship, it's technically a residential yacht. Not sure about the others, but the residents of The World own the ship. They collectively decide where the ship goes and for how long. Pricing starts at a little over $1 million for a studio and goes up to $9 million for the large condos. About half the residents live on board full time, the rest live on it part time. It has 12 decks and a full-time crew of 280.

Thanks Turtle.

Good Research and info. Lol, with that kind of pricing(the last paragraph), there might still be some hope for the expediter carrier's Presidents and CEOs.

I will now list my lululemon pants on the Amazon for sale. Lol...

There got to be other better alternatives for us expediters to enjoy the final years.

Anyone with good suggestions or ideas? I'm pressing for an early retirement here. Lol..

 

[ATeam]

As an expeditor, we worked our butts off all those years to make a living, paid our dues and the kind of schedules that we have put into it, there's not a whole lot of quality of life we gave to ourselves.

I guess it all depends on your point of view and purpose in expediting. For Diane and me, expediting was very much a quality-of-life endeavor. First and foremost, it had to be a profitable business, which it was. Other reasons for entering the trade included seeing the country, spending time together, sharing in a business project.

Yes, there is a certain amount of hard work and sacrifice in expediting, but is that not true in any trade in which the rewards are worth seeking? Our ten years on the road were mostly a blast. We treasure the memories expediting provided. It was literally the case that the truck was our home and the nation was our back yard. Every day felt like a weekend compared to the careers we left. Our quality of life was greatly enhanced while we were expediters and it continues to be enhanced to this day by the experiences then gained.

 

[Ragman]

Best of both worlds......

 

[Mailer]

Best of both worlds......

Lol...Perfect Ragman!

 

[Mailer]

I guess it all depends on your point of view and purpose in expediting. For Diane and me, expediting was very much a quality-of-life endeavor. First and foremost, it had to be a profitable business, which it was. Other reasons for entering the trade included seeing the country, spending time together, sharing in a business project.

Yes, there is a certain amount of hard work and sacrifice in expediting, but is that not true in any trade in which the rewards are worth seeking? Our ten years on the road were mostly a blast. We treasure the memories expediting provided. It was literally the case that the truck was our home and the nation was our back yard. Every day felt like a weekend compared to the careers we left. Our quality of life was greatly enhanced while we were expediters and it continues to be enhanced to this day by the experiences then gained.

Thank you Phil.

We need more success stories like yours and Diane. Certainly, you both have well executed plans and were able to sightseeing and expediting at the same time. Quality of life indeed.

For many of us, the vanners, as Turtle once said, most of our sightseeing happened at night. So, we only get to see everything in quality green color.....with the night vision goggles, of course.

We are working on it. Lol..

 

[Opel2010]

He asked an old woman why she's alone on a cruise ship. Her response is priceless!

I've heard about her during my Transatlantic cruise... I can't say it's a smart choice, but for sure she has a lot of fun...

 

[Opel2010]

That's an amusing piece but is is realistic? Using the woman's math, she would spend $54,750 per year to live that life. Additional expenses would be incurred for clothing and incidentals..

Last year I paid $800 for a 16 days Transatlantic cruise with Norwegian. That's $50/day... and that was for two people. About clothing, they do have shops and lots of clothing articles that are going on sale before reaching a port.

 

[blizzard2014]

Last year I paid $800 for a 16 days Transatlantic cruise with Norwegian. That's $50/day... and that was for two people. About clothing, they do have shops and lots of clothing articles that are going on sale before reaching a port.

That's cheaper than the parking lot! lol

 

[Turtle]

Last year I paid $800 for a 16 days Transatlantic cruise with Norwegian.

I think Norwegian is the best cruise line overall. They regularly have last minute deals as low as $50-$75 a night. But the main thing is their rooms tend to be the largest of any cruise ship, and they have more free activities, like the music, comedy and Broadway shows, that cost extra on other cruise lines. Carnival is a little cheaper, so if you don't so a lot of paid extra activities and you don't mind the smaller rooms (and thus more people on board) then it's good. I've been on 4 cruises, 3 of them on Norwegian and 1 on Carnival.

 

[Opel2010]

I think Norwegian is the best cruise line overall. They regularly have last minute deals as low as $50-$75 a night. But the main thing is their rooms tend to be the largest of any cruise ship, and they have more free activities, like the music, comedy and Broadway shows, that cost extra on other cruise lines. Carnival is a little cheaper, so if you don't so a lot of paid extra activities and you don't mind the smaller rooms (and thus more people on board) then it's good. I've been on 4 cruises, 3 of them on Norwegian and 1 on Carnival.

I had a pretty big inside stateroom with Holland America... and a nice last minute deal, not as cheap as Norwegian, but not expensive either, $1100 for 16 days from Barcelona to Tampa

 

[Opel2010]

Holland America - inside the stateroom