DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... I retired. Friday was my last day in the grind.

I wasn't going to post this because it's really not important to anyone but me. However, I had to tell somebody other than my few friends & my family.

I have 30 years experience in the graphic arts. Twenty of those has been in the sign industry as a sign designer, sign painter, sign maker and for the past 8 years I've done design almost exclusively.

My health has waned a bit over the past few years. Because of that I've missed too much work. Enough, in fact, that I'd become the reason a few jobs were delivered late. I hate being that guy. (not you That Guy, I mean that guy who misses deadlines. lol)

I'm 63 and could have retired a year ago. But I hung in there for the money and for the love of it. However the time has come to step down and do other things.



I'm a musician with a bit of a home recording studio so I plan on spending the kind of time on it that I've always wanted to do. I got married at 27 and took on those responsibilities which put music in the back burner. I still played in bands and worked at being a player but family responsibilities took center stage.

Now, I've been divorced for 24 years and my youngest child will be 27 in September. Being retired I can now pick up on where I left off all those years ago.

I don't plan on playing in any bands, (unless they let me play Johnny B Goode siting in a chair hahaha). I plan on spending my music time writing songs and recording my album for the ages.

I feel leaving a legacy of music behind will satisfy me. Again, I guess that's not really important to anyone else but me, but it is important to me.

At 17 yrs old, (1969), I played guitar on a record that actually got pressed. We were one of a zillion garage bands at that time. I played rhythm guitar.

I still don't know how to post a YouTube link on this new board but the link to side one of that record here The Hazards_Tinted Green Side two is here The Hazards_Hey Little Girl

We had a lot of copies printed and probably sold 30 of them.

Once, about 5 years ago, I saw we were on YouTube I searched the web and found this...

THE HAZARDS - 'Tinted Green'/'Hey Little Girl (C'mon Let's Live)' (Unicorn 23793/4) 1969

Every now and again I become obsessed by a song and at the moment the song doing my mynd some pleasurable damage is 'Tinted Green' by The Hazards.
I've not got this rare 45 and have never seen it offered for sale via dealer lists etc. I checked popsike and a copy in 'worn' condition and full of noise sold for almost $1600. That kind of price is an indication that it's a sought after disc and beyond scarce.

There's more of the article here

I was more than proud of that at the time and then even more so when I found the article in that link. It made me feel like I'm was a part of Rock 'n Roll history. I guess that record all those many years ago sealed the deal that I'd burn years of my life chasing the dream.

So I'm off on the pursuit of finishing what I started. Or, I'll spend some of my retirement money on upgrading my studio to something a bit more professional and spend my time recording Clemdawg. That is one badass! musician there. (Clem, I've never heard you play solo but I did listen to "The Composer Is Dead" a half-dozen times as I played it for friends. I was so proud of you dude. Besides, the realm in which you play in makes me feel unworthy to polish your shoes. )

haha Well, anyway, you can probably tell I'm excited to be able to work on music any time I want.



If the passion for design work drives me to it I'll freelance in graphic design. There's a lot of clients that very much like what I do. But currently I have no plans to get that going any time soon, if ever.

Anyway, I'm off on the journey of the next era of my life. At this point I couldn't be happier.

I do plan to spend a considerable time doing some of the things I've neglected in recent years. I love walking in the woods and around the lakes, fishing, visiting friends & family more often and learning to be a better cook. I love to eat but lately I've been knocking out ok meals because they don't take long to prepare. From now on I'm gonna eat better, even more healthy and certainly much better tasting.

Congratulations.

20 more years for me. Crap.

Congratulations. Enjoy all of the free time you now have.

Congrats! You can't put a price on time. Its the most valuable thing we have. Enjoy every minute of it.

congrats man.

Congratulations ddub, enjoy everything!!

Congratulations!!! Remember - keep your self busy. No joke.

Man it's great to hear you can finally follow your passion. Too many people either never have that opportunity or simply give up on it.

Enjoy each and every minute of it my friend. Kudos to you.

Good luck and have some fun.

we are the same age. I'm not ready to retire yet. I like what I do and it's not overly tough or tiring so I will continue until it's just not fun anymore.

Again, good luck man...

Congrats man. Arch is right - stay busy. My mom retired a few years ago and spends the majority of her time babysitting. I'm trying to convince her to pursue a college degree.

Congratulations ddubia!!! Retirement is excellent but you will often wonder how you ever found time to work. Time to enjoy your passions in life!

Congrats ddub! Enjoy your time.

Congratulations on a job well done, ddubia. Now get busy and write the next "Free Bird".

Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes.

Time to do what ya wanna....
Time to do what you need....

______________________

You've now reached that place in life where the manner in which you spend your time is more important to you than than the manner in which you earn your money.

You're standing at the threshold of freedom, My Friend.
What a great place to be.

Enjoy it!
And.... PLEEEEZE share your creative output with us.

I tell all my students: "Get your ass out there! Music only has relevance as an art form if it's shared with others."

And it seems that your efforts in the garage have left an impact on others.

I LOVED the soundclip you shared with us. The Farfisa organ sound was on-the-money for the times... and the band's sound was psycho-hip as all get-out. You Dawgs were bleeding edge!

THIS is the kind of stuff I've always loved... folks trying to make into flesh a vision... a concept that fights against commercialism, and strives for true expression.

I can easily see this band playing Woodstock 1 in the afternoon... and sending kids to the 'medical tent.'

_________________

Thanks so much, for your kind words about me. It's nice to know that my efforts have been appreciated by others. Having said that, I must add this to the conversation:

You've managed to be a part of something that I WISH was a part of my own personal history... and tonight, I find myself deeply envious of what you've done. I also envy where you are, and what you're about to do. What an exiting new phase in life is this.

Seriously? A 'Garage Band' that got waxed? And remembered on the internet, 46 years later?




Here's looking forward to what you might share with us in the future. I'm dying to see what your first efforts might bring us.

GIT ON THIS NEW QUEST, DAWG!!!

This could be quite the interesting conversation... But not for here.

Congratulations, DDubia. Staring at the start of my own career I receive reassurance that people can make it through.

As far as the song you posted (the first one, I haven't made it to the second one yet), I'm loving these organs. I think it perfectly fits the melody. Great job.

Congrats you old fart. I listened to both of the records you listed (some of these youngins around here never played a record) I was reminded of the Doors Enjoy your free time, you earned it, and this old fart is happy for you.

I have to be honest and say my first response was extreme envy, but also honestly a very heartfelt congratulations.

I Love It!

Great news ddubia.

I hope you have the chance to spend countless days immersed in making music.

Do you have friends you can "jam with"?

And hey, that "freelance in graphic design" sounds like a potentially enjoyable avocation option. (work is so much more fun when it's "optional")



Randy Bachman is god.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, encouragement and inspiration.

I do have two old friends with whom I get together one night on the weekends. They are both retired as well. I've got a feeling we'll not be isolated to only weekends. Since I've now retired none of us really has a weekend limitation. We have a 7 day weekend, sort of.

I like the way you describe the avocation option. I had to look up the definition of that word and I love it.

I've never heard it put that way. It's hard getting used to at this point. This morning I feel a bit like a "no call-no show" employee. But every once in a while, for a brief moment I sense the freedom. Hopefully as the weeks go by I'll settle into this as my new way of life.



I currently have two songs I'll post as soon as I figure out how to post them to YouTube. Neither was particularly well recorded or mixed. But they are a sample of two different styles.




Kinda mind blowing if you're in my shoes. And we only ever played one gig. A New Years Eve party when we really only had about 15 songs total. I don't know how that even worked at all, but after a 3 hour, 15 song gig they paid us an extra $100 to play another hour. They were pretty drunk as I remember. hahaha

Imagine my surprise and elation in finding our record on the internet 35 years since I'd last heard it or even thought about it! Just for the hell of it one night I searched the titles on YouTube, expecting nothing. And then later, when I saw someone paid nearly $1600 for an old, scratchy/noisy copy I was floored!

It made me feel, for the first time, like the Rock Star I wanted to be all those years ago. It sort of made me feel like I actually met my goal, (without ever knowing it ).

In reality I'm nobody nor do I have aspirations of trying to be somebody like I did when I was 17. The goal now is simply to leave a legacy of me and my buds that will outlive us. Who knows, maybe 46 years from now a future relative may stumble on it on YouTube the same way I did. haha

Of all people you've got some nerve calling someone else a fart. But I take that with extreme pride coming from the master.

Thanks GM.

None of us can take credit for the choice of that old keyboard sound. It wasn't an old keyboard back then. It was sort of a standard thing. I think the sound fits the melody because the melody was written to that sound.

Thanks for your kind words.

Dang! Now I feel like I've really accomplished something. A response from one of my favorite people ever on the board.

Thanks Jules.

Congratulations

Belated, but congrats!

About 6 weeks ago I reached my retirement date...the earliest day I could retire and get a full pension (yes, they still exist.) There are significant monetary benefits to continuing to work, and I'm not YET to a point where I'm ready to quit working for a living, so my plan is 5 more years.

But about the same time I achieved another of life's milestones, I completely paid off my mortgage! Today I got the bank's official "Satisfaction of Mortgage" paperwork. Man, is that a good feeling! That old song "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" no longer applies.

Congrats ddub!

Enjoy the new life

I agree!

So that's the thread I was looking for

Huge congrats!!!!! I'll be joining you in about 5 years

Thanks again you guys for all the kind words and well wishes.