Dave - no, it's FWD, which is fine and makes the car lighter. Plenty of grip and performance! When the roof is down I tend to be in cruise mode!

Rod - I should image they they use small dinghies which are moored at the water's edge and then left at the boat/yacht mooring. And if away for sometime probably then towed behind the boat/yacht.

Chris

ChrisF, when the yachts are all anchored off, like that, how does one access their boat?? Here in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) in the Great Lakes, we tye up at finger docks in marinas.

Hi Nick, re Mens' sheds We have them in NZ as well. They have just built a big new one locally. There are 118 around NZ at the moment.

My baby - 1990 Toyota Cressida 3L DOHC 24valve is my weekend old mans' cruiser and tow car for the small boats I restored. Very few originals left in NZ now, probably one of the last good ones. Just repainted the roof and bonnet. 300,000km and still going strong.

You certainly find things to do and enjoy life more in retirement, as you actually have time to live. Can be a curse, as you notice all the jobs you didn't have time to do when working😁

JB

ChrisF,
The Audi TT is a great car too.
If I didn't already have more cars than indoor parking stalls, I'd consider one of those.
Is yours Quadra Trac? I've heard that really makes 'em fun!
Dave B

We like our brightly coloured sports cars! Bought this in 2014 a few years before fully retiring and that year we did a two week tour of Scotland, taking in my wife's birthday in September.

The weather gods certainly smiled on us as we had the roof down every day, rule being it had to be be over 17 degrees. Sometimes if misty it was later in the morning but we never failed. Thought about doing it again but we can't be that lucky with the weather again!

With reference to retirement, if your in the UK, consider if there's one local to you, an organisation called " Men in Sheds" ......best thing I ever did, some sheds are better than others, ours has just about every tool conceivable, if you just want to drink tea and chat that's OK.
There's plenty of guys with varying degrees of experience to give a hand and advice.
Woodwork and Metalwork covered. Best thing I ever did.
I'm sure there might be some in other countries as it all started in Australia.......😊😊😊😊😊😊👍

Toppless you say 😁👍👍👍👍👍Nice ride stay toppless.
Rick

I retired gradually from teaching reducing the number of classes that I taught to half-time my final semester. Retiring fully February 1, 2015.

In April, my wife and I travelled to London, taking in some walking tours before taking the train to Canterbury spending four days, before heading to Seaford on the coast near Brighton. We golfed several times, rented a car to drive and see Sissingham, Arundle Castle, and more. We had a great couple weeks!

Hi river rat, good luck with it if you join a class separate as soon as you can, it will go better that way. Trust me!
I expect the teacher will do a lot of switching around it avoids bringing any 'issues' with you.
Roy

Like I said, so many things to do...ballroom dancing hmmm 🤔 never gave it a thought. She is gonna love it. Thanks Roy!
RR

Hi Neil Topless riding is frowned upon by the Police here in the UK!😀

I was made redundant so it was an early retirement for me, which I never regretted. It took a few months to realise I did not have to respond to other peoples deadlines and I settled in to first learning to play Bridge later was a Tournament Director ( posh words for Referee). I like many of you fixed all the broken items.
Model boats were always being done and a bit later I wanted to be doing something with my daughter and we continued with Ballroom and Latin dancing. There are a surprising number of engineering types who do this!

Being more time free I was able to put more time into being Club Secretary and later resigning from the committee of the Bridge club, but joined another as well. I spent more time with our son then in Germany near Munich and now Australia. I reckon I have spent nearly 4 weeks in aircraft.
I also worked at a local infant school being a Learning Support Assistant (loved that) and other times turned my hand to assisting my self employed Bakery engineering brother more on the electronics side. Between us we designed an automatic steam delivery system for bakeries that sold well into a well known Supermarket, developed from the boiler water level electronics we put together in 1988 for model boats. If you like crusty bread they blow steam over it part way through cooking.

Yes you are all correct working for yourself is very satisfying with money low down in your priorities. Keeping the mind active, which also means looking after the body as well, is the way to go.
Make sure the missus is happy and the children are all kept in touch.

Being retired is the best job in the world do not think back to what you did (unless you have found someone prepared to listen), work on getting the present sorted out and wait to see how the future pans out. The unexpected is always there waiting!
Like in the Scouts, Be Prepared!
Best regards
Roy

We also have different stories; but in the whole 26 years since I " pulled the black and yellow handle" to eject from my stalled Air Force career, I have never ever, met anyone who regretted taking retirement.

Nobody can turn back time and few would deny that time passes all the quicker the older one gets. We must all make the most of the time we have. We can also (through our wonderful hobby) encourage others to do likewise.

With best wishes. Dr John F. -- Model Boat and Home-Made car fanatic. 😀😀😀

Neil,
Yeah, I'm pretty fond of them. My first was a 1990 purchased in 2008, upgraded (? I loved that first Gen car) to a 2008 in 2010, and last year I was able to put my hands on a 2015 25th Anniversary Edition (only 115 sold in the USA).
My wife loves going for topless rides on a nice summer day. (The car, guys, get your mind outta the gutter!)
Last summer we took a 2900 mile road trip to Tennessee to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the famous "Tail of the Dragon" (mountain road with 318 curves in 11 miles).
Dave B
PS I love that yellow! I wish they still had it as an option.

DaveB, great to see another Miata owner, aka MX-5, or in my case a Eunos!

This one got taken off the road a few years ago during COVID and is one of the many projects to have lined up since ‘retiring’ last year. Not a true retirement, just in a fortunate position having sold a company so I’m taking a gap year that may never end.

Hear hear!
So we are a so-called pensioners' club here! Totally awesome!
As my wife is 10 years younger, I had time after my retirement in 2015.
I was allowed to work 50% for 3 years (from 2012) after the regular retirement age. I was happy to enjoy another 7 years of freedom after that. Motorbikes were a passion with my boys.
When the darn pandemic forced us to stay at home, my older son had time to renovate the house roof. Had to pick up some of my craft units from him, because he needed space. And so I found my way back to my old hobby. . .
"Stories that life writes"
Now it has hit me full force, tinkering tinkering tinkering . . . . .fortunately for me, my wife goes along with it. . .
Cheers! Michel -Cl.
Ps: 🙈🙈🙈 I forgot the most important thing in my pensioner history! My own children and my grandchildren, with whom we do handicrafts together (see my Kontiki).

I agree! I retired in mid 2019 with travel plans through Canada, to Costa Rica, and to Scotland all lined up.
Sadly, Covid wiped all that out.
However, we are active in our Miata club, my model boats (of course!), learning about the coin collection I inherited from Dad, and tinkering on my Garden Tractor collection.
I, too, am busier in retirement than when working a job.
And, I love it!
Dave B

When I retired I had a plate full of activities that kept me in touch with a range of people. Illness, hospitalisation and Covid lockdown reduced these activities, but thankfully I am still able to follow my chosen hobby of model boating. This satisfies my needs on a number of levels, practical and cerebral, but importantly keeps me in touch with people. Whatever your chosen activity or hobby I would strongly recommend keeping in touch with people for your entertainment, satisfaction and mental well-being.😉

I am also busier since I left my 7 to 5. It's a freedom I didn't expect. So many things you can do with all that time. I still stop by the shop now and then for a visit but I sure don't miss it.... RR

You're right there Rick. When I was working I bought a sports car and collected a few motorbikes thinking that I'd use them more when I retired. No chance!

I lost over 2 years because of the lockdowns with Covid and now I'm thinking of selling them due to lack of use.