2025

[robav8r]

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to my virtual Ready Room. Please take the time to do the following in January as we all start the new year:

1. Tell the important people in your life that you love and appreciate them.
2. Get a full-body cancer screening.
3. Make sure your investment portfolio is balanced and aligned with your life goals.
4. Find a way to give back to your community and humanity.
5. Carve out some time and reflect on how lucky we are to have been a part of Naval Aviation.

Cheers,

FOG

 

[Brett327]

I love you, Rob. 🖤

 

[robav8r]

I love you, Rob. 🖤

Wait, why the black heart ??? Hmmmmmmm . . . .

 

[Griz882]

I love you, Rob. 🖤

 

[Brett327]

Wait, why the black heart ??? Hmmmmmmm . . . .

It's the most platonic of the heart emojis.

 

[Swanee]

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to my virtual Ready Room. Please take the time to do the following in January as we all start the new year:

1. Tell the important people in your life that you love and appreciate them.
2. Get a full-body cancer screening.
3. Make sure your investment portfolio is balanced and aligned with your life goals.
4. Find a way to give back to your community and humanity.
5. Carve out some time and reflect on how lucky we are to have been a part of Naval Aviation.

Cheers,

FOG

Getting old sucks.

But dammit, I really wish my friends who died young were here with me to complain about it. They were better officers and pilots than me. How am I supposed to do this without them?


Edit: This post was weird, but I'm okay. I just miss some of my friends- like we all do!

 

[Brett327]

Getting old sucks.

Just wait... it gets worse. I'm a week away from my 54th birthday. While I'm in relatively good physical shape, time eventually catches up with all of us. That said, I have friends in their 60s and 70s who are hacking life in all the ways that are important, which is reassuring. With retirement on the horizon, I'm caring less and less about the things that really don't matter. I've always been pretty risk tolerant at work, and I know that the kids are gonna be alright.
Take your ibuprofen, and carry on, folks.

Some of you know my retirement plans (Dream 2.0), but I'll probably create a thread at some point to document it for AW posterity.

 

[hlg6016]

Wait there is more. You go to the Doc for a gripe about some ache or pain and he finds an unrelated issue that you were not even aware of.
*Edit* Said gripes can no longer be ignored or toughed out, Do your family the favor and do what the Doc. tells you to do.

 

[JTS11]

With retirement on the horizon, I'm caring less and less about the things that really don't matter. I've always been pretty risk tolerant at work, and I know that the kids are gonna be alright.

I know that early on that I thought that the squadron couldn't operate without ME. Of course that wasn't true. Then, I had a CO that described the impact of his exit from the military as a pebble being tossed into the ocean. People will notice a few small ripples, then they disappear and the ocean keeps on doing what it does.

Deep thoughts from JTS.

 

[zipmartin]

Great points Rob. I'm closing in on 74 years of life on this planet, and I make a point of doing all of your suggestions.....except I haven't done a full body cancer screen yet. My health is very good, but some of my parts are wearing down, most notably my back. The old joke about old farts comparing what hurts is a fact. My good friend spent too many years on the rodeo circuit and has had both hips and both knees replaced. He commented yesterday that he can finally sit and cross his legs without pain. My wife and I are on a Christmas journey to visit our siblings around the country because we're not sure just how long we'll all still be here. Merry Christmas everyone.

 

[Mos]

I know that early on that I thought that the squadron couldn't operate without ME. Of course that wasn't true. Then, I had a CO that described the impact of his exit from the military as a pebble being tossed into the ocean. People will notice a few small ripples, then they disappear and the ocean keeps on doing what it does.

Very true. Because half of my career was spent moving to a unit down the road from the last one, I've been able to see that the majority of initiatives that I've led to make things better have been discarded within a year or two of my leaving. That used to bother me but after a while I accepted that it had become someone else's problem and they were going to find their own solutions which would in turn be discarded by others.

 

[RobLyman]

My guard unit invites the retirees to the annual Christmas party. Last year it was 10 months after I retired. People asked me how retirement was, but didn't mention how things were going at work now that I was gone. I knew that no matter how irreplaceable I might feel, the machine would move on in my absence.

Last week I went to this year's party and had quite a few people tell me how much they missed me both as a person and as a coworker. They are of course the ones I miss working with. The few that diminished my enjoyment in my last few years working were either not there or faded into the corner tables and snuck out early. Don't get me wrong, I was by no means the life of the party, but I did notice a small difference. I had a touching conversation with my former boss, and though it was alcohol enhanced, it did feel heartfelt and grateful.

I don't need to work anymore, so I volunteer, build projects, and try to stay healthy. I flew Black Hawks all the way up until 2 weeks before I retired just 20 months ago. I will say, 26 years of wearing flight boots took a toll on my feet and knees, my hearing is shot, and I even had cataract surgery two months ago. Getting old sucks. For me, it was like someone flipped a switch when I turned 59 years old.

Next year I'll do more volunteering. I encourage you all, retired or not, to do Wreaths Across America. Seeing and meeting all of the people laying wreaths recharged my faith in my community.

 

[robav8r]

My family does the “Wreaths across America” every year at Arlington. Always a heart warming experience . . . .

 

[SteveG75]

Agree with everything written here.

Started a new job last year working for the Air Force (yup, I crossed over). The gent who retired from the position got a cancer diagnosis three months after he retired. Sucks.

I just got my VA up to 100%, so retirement plans are in flux right now Job is great though so think I will push out at least a couple of more years.

 

[ChuckMK23]

Agree with everything written here.

Started a new job last year working for the Air Force (yup, I crossed over). The gent who retired from the position got a cancer diagnosis three months after he retired. Sucks.

I just got my VA up to 100%, so retirement plans are in flux right now Job is great though so think I will push out at least a couple of more years.

Being a DAF GS has been awesome 👍 and the best career move I have made.