If it wasn't for Democratic Underground, I don't know what I would do for 5 hours a day.

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

[DBoon]

1. Isn't retirement great?

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

2. Well...

I’m 57 and found a way to make a living from home that takes very little time so, yes, I might as well be at least “semi-retired”.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Same here! I am here a LOT. DU is my electronic home! ♥

[viva la]

4. Oh, you could be writing the great American novel...

Me, I'd be watching reruns of home remodeling shows

...

[usonian]

5. It's good in theory, but I need to get a better handle on it.

I have two fantastic news aggregators (read the one-line headline, and decide to click or not)
• DU for faster than twitter news of a general and political nature (I completely hate twitter, for many reasons, but ADHD mainly) and this REALLY is a Pearl Harbor/Vietnam War situation.
• Hacker News (https://news.ycombinator.com/newest ) for tons of tech news and some other.

Now, I stay here too much because
• Dammit, I live alone and get no visitors, despite living in a place somewhat nicer than Jackson Hole. So, communication with like-minded people is medicine.
• People appreciate my photography, *and I appreciate theirs! Hi, Peggy!*
• I do get to make some statements I think are important to say, and doing so helps me clarify my thinking process, and
• Some stuff is just fun. I fake the occasional photo. (but also made the DU for Ukraine logo for Omaha Steve)

We had a heat wave recently, pushing 100 degrees, so I had to spend more time indoors. Bad.
I'll get some better control of this.

I could *easily* spend all day with the photography, music and other studies. I haven't done any woodworking in a long time, nor building computer stuff and gadgets, as I thought I would. But *I own my time* and must choose wisely.

I do enjoy communicating with people, and sometimes helping them! I did computer support, among the countless other things I made a living at.

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

8. I love your post!

It describes me as well in a lot of ways. I, too, was an IT guy for years and owned a computer store for 25 years. However, I was eventually burned out on tech but I dabble somewhat with it when necessary. I’ve had thousands of friends in my life but have few now, by design. It was nice to discover this site to talk to reasonable people in mind and character.

[usonian]

10. Glad to help.

This is a non-toxic site. Sometimes disputatious and often manic-depressive, emphasis on the depressive, but I have choice, and I am pro-zactive with the Debbie Downers, by posting my GOTV page often, and others.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216884744 Two replies! I persist, because it's the right thing to do.

I dealt with an insane spectrum of people on jobs and communicated well with all, from college to service (USCG) to aerospace (social Darwinists) to UC Berkeley (computer support to Nobel Prize winners) to finance to Sun Microsystems, to Silicon Valley startups. That's right! I couldn't hold a job!!!

Forrest Gump less the shooting and the money. I have stories .....

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

11. Usonian, your writing and vocabulary is brilliant!

I would bet that you do have stories and would love to hear them sometime if I could mentally keep up.

[usonian]

12. Sure. I'm a down to earth person despite the $5 words.

I couldn't have survived all these years and different workplaces otherwise.

If I use educated words and deliver advanced information, I ask everyone to take it as a sign of respect for them.

Just yesterday, I gave some advice on growing roses, which I did for some 50 years, and posted some f-stops and such with my photos, same long experience curve. It's not bragging if you're that good? right? LOL.

Point is: I explained that my rose advice came from years of pruning, and I have the scratches to prove it, and I backed off all the technical info on the photos. My Dad was an artist, and he created some fine paintings low-tech, no-tech!

Thank you for a nice conversation on another of those difficult days.

[bermudat]

6. Ditto

[Lars39]

7. just five hours? amateur

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

9. Lol!

[Skittles]

13. pony up a few bucks and become a Star member

you may be on even more

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

14. I don't want to be a star, and never have but is that through "subscriptions"?

I’ll be happy to contribute.

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

15. I figured it out. Thank you. I am now paying for something I enjoy.

[Skittles]

16. heh, I was gonna say, good question

they do fund drives a couple times a year, but it's worth getting a star just to stop seeing annoying ads! I am a long-time donor to DU because it consistently gets better and better