I retired from work on November 7th, 2013, after over three decades as an electrical, software, and systems engineer. I started my professional career on June 11th 1979, three weeks after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from a very small college in Pennsylvania. I set out on quite an adventure back in the summer of 1979, moving from Pittsburgh where I lived all my life, moving all the way to Florida where I knew not a single soul. Employed on a continuous full time basis the entire time in Florida, spanning over 414 months, I am very grateful.
I want to thank all my employers for giving me the opportunity for a wonderful career. I also want thank my colleagues I worked with. Privileged to work with many talented, smart, hardworking and dedicated employees over those 34 years, I just tried to keep up with them the best I could. The teamwork, camaraderie and the friendships over those years is what I will remember the most.
I plan to settle into my next chapter in life over the next year bicycling out to the Gulf of Mexico for breakfast or lunch and taking long walks along the 30 miles of beaches. Then I plan on volunteering at the SPCA and YMCA. My new title will be “Kitten Giver Outer.” After I adjust to the new lifestyle over a couple of years, I will embark on travels out west for months at a time to the Rocky Mountains, either renting small mountain cabins, or pulling a small trailer. Seeing most of the west from either a bicycle or my own two feet over the last 17 years makes me very feel extremely fortunate. Spending two weeks in the mountains during those cycling tours was the longest I could stay while working. Now I plan to return to those same places, but will stay for months. I know where I want to go, selecting from my favorite places I have been to over the years. I have fewer summers left than places I want to go live.
I will always return to Pinellas County in the winter. The west coast of Florida is simply paradise. You just need to get to the beaches and waterfronts and away from the crowded interior parts of Pinellas County that we spend most of our time in.
I am going to keep a blog with stories and photos describing the places I go, and hope that some of you will follow the blog. This will be my new passion, bicycling, hiking, and photographing the most beautiful places in America, and writing about the experiences. You can follow the blog at www.mountainlioncycling.com.
Take care my friends, I wish you all the best in life. Thanks for the memories.
Congrats Rob. What a great way to spend your retirement. You’ve worked long enough, now it’s time for some Rob time.
Thanks Wayne, really looking forward to this next phase of my life.
Seems like yesterday I’d come down to visit my grandparents in largo and spend time with you. Congrats on your well earned retirement. I’m just a little envious! Dan
Thanks Dan. Retirement has been interesting so far. Actually I don’t like the word retire, I believe its Latin for “to withdraw”. Its not like there is a decision to make on what to do, more like a process to go through.