Jubilación Segundo Aniversario
Well, we made it through our second year of retirement. It's our Jubilación Segundo Aniversario. Time really does fly when you're having fun, and we've been having a ton of fun. Jubilation is "great joy and celebration", and in many parts of Latin America it is used to mean retirement. Such a good word, and so aptly used! This is also our 75th blog post, so that's another mini-celebration.
Now when I think of retirement, the first word that comes to my mind is freedom. We have the freedom to live where we want, to do what we want, or to do nothing at all, and we get to do it on our own schedule. That is freedom and that is jubilance!
In our second year we had a lot of island adventures; we snorkeled, paddleboarded (I even caught a wave once!), fished, hiked, bicycled, kayaked, explored, and visited the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. With huge help from Zack at Pyle/Digital, we started the Vieques Beach Directory to help tourists discover more sand and sea in Vieques. We watched the sun set, the moon rise, and the stars twinkle. We went to Colorado in August for our son's wedding where we saw our children, our parents, and some siblings. And we visited with lots and lots of friends. I for one also saw the bottom of quite a few pints of Colorado craft beer. It was a great time! We were only there a few weeks but in September the air started to turn brisk, and we knew we had to head south again.
I said this in a previous post: "I would say this whole thing started as a small idea, grew into a big idea, and then a leap of faith with only stubbornness as a parachute. Step by step we went down the path, knee deep in it from the start, taking each event as it was presented to us and doing what we could at the time." Yep, that's still about right, we're taking one step at a time and doing our best as we go.
All along, music has inspired us and we like to embed songs in each blog post. So in looking back over our second year, once again we've done a youtube playlist of all the songs we linked from our blog posts in the past year. We like to listen to the songs and remember where we were and what we were doing and thinking at the time. We hope you click through to youtube and enjoy the playlist, we certainly have fun with it. We'll be back soon with new posts, new thoughts and adventures. But for now, we have a little bubbly to taste test.
Here's TODAY'S SPECIAL:
Jubilación 2do Aniversario - Retirement 2nd Anniversary Playlist
From the youtube page, click PLAY ALL and enjoy!
The first year wrap-up can be found here, and that first-year playlist is right over here, for your listening pleasure.
Thank You!
Finally, from the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank you for following along on this journey. We're nearing 10,000 readers and 100 different countries and territories over the last 2 years. We are humbled that so many people take their time in this busy world, to read our words and look at our pictures.
Talk to Us!
Finally finally, we want to ask all you kneedeepers what questions you have or subjects you'd like to see covered in the coming year. Is there anything you keep wanting and waiting for us to discuss? Send your thoughts along from our Contact Us page please, and maybe we'll get a chance to talk about them soon.
All the best,
Norm & Deb
Congratulations Deb and Norm on your second anniversary. You reminded me that I need to have a chat with our mutual friend “Sean O’Brien” !!!
Thank you Paul! That Sean is a good guy; buy him a beer for me! 🙂
Congrats guys on your second year anniversary.
Thank you Catherine! 🙂
Been thinking about you. Cue Jimmy Buffett – Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. Congrats on the 2nd Anniversary.
Just got back from Lake Powell, working on the Big Boat. Added a 3rd pair of solar panels. Should get about 18A at high summer at this latitude. That goes into the freezer/fridge – gotta keep the beer cold.
It has been 5 years since I retired. Last February, I reluctantly wrote Perl code to do a financial simulation. I stay away from real languages like C++. (Feel free to use Excel, but stay away from macros written in Visual Basic.)
Wow, 5 years?! Congrats! I’ve done the math on my solar system and the payback is at 15 years, which is a long time! But that’s not why we put it together. It’s much more about covering our butts when the power goes out. I love it.
Re: B.E.T. on solar. Had a similar calculation – 15 to 20 yrs. However, electric demand is elastic – that first KwH is worth about $100, since it preserves food. … and keeps the beer cold!* On Lake Powell, gasoline is $5/gal, so the BET is much less.
I still think “Pyle Emergency Electric Cooperative LLC” could be a growing concern. Sell subscriptions prior to hurricane season. When the SHTF, run a 100′ extension cord to your neighbors to keep their refrigerators running. The Big Boat uses a pair of ~600 A-Hr “retired” mining ventilation batteries (always topped, never used, replaced every 3 yrs). $150/ea, but F.O.B. Vieques is more.
* When you think about it, all the great inventions – fire, the wheel, electricity, refrigeration, computers – were really all about making, transporting, and storing beer. Cheers.
I fully support any technology that keeps beer cold!
Norm & Deb, Marly and I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog! You two are living our dream and we hope to join you someday! Congrats on your anniversary and may there be many more in the future. We would love to come and visit sometime to get a Taste of the Island life!!…
Hi Sheila, thanks, we’re glad you’re enjoying the blog! Let us know if you head down this way.
Wow – has it been that long already?!
I love getting these little slices of Island Life served up regularly. If I can’t yet retire, it sure is fun to admire it from a distance!
Felicidades!
Muchas gracias, mi amigo! 🙂 Glad you’re enjoying! Can’t wait until you announce your last work day. It’s quite an event!
Congrats Norm and Deb! I love that you are living your dreams. Not quite enough snow for me but to each their own.
Thank you Jon! The snow levels here are just right for us, so yes, to each his own. 🙂