Well that sucks

I’m certain a nearby cafe or restaurant would drool at your cooking skills. Get to meet new people, have fun in the kitchen, get free meals. And you appear to love cooking.

Except cooking for fun and cooking for work are two entirely different things - especially when one is older.

Slammer has done it when he was younger so perhaps he can attest to that.

I suppose some sort of pop-up or a stall selling food at events may be an idea as it wouldn’t involve sixteen hour days in the kitchen.

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I decided to semi-retire earlier, because (a) I had enough of corporate BS and decided it was not worth my mental health and (b) I saw my father (and some other near ones) not being able to really enjoy life- just work their *** off, as they were called to their (hopefully more enjoyable) after life too early. Don’t get me wrong, they DID enjoy working. They did even LOVE their work But that was all there was on their lives.
I don’t think we came to this world JUST to work. There are so many things we enjoy before start our work-focus life, that just vanish on memories… You don’t need to stop, maybe just learn a different trade - and be a “late star” on what you really always wanted to do. :smiley:

Regarding money, get your extra kick with side activities! Like making art deco covers for Izzy’s doors… hwer do we stand on this? :smiley:

Or, for example…did you now, that if you (for example) produce in Germany, within 20Km of the swiss border, your produce, legally speaking can be called "Swiss "? German production costs, Swiss selling prices :wink: just an idea.

I enjoy cooking and I am a good cook, but I was never a good chef.
Actually I did go deep down the rabbit hole of exploring with getting a ex-DDR NVA Gulashkanone amd bring NVA style pea soup to market days.
(NVA peasoup is the best in the world.)
The burocracy was so off putting that I gave up, and recently I was taklimg to the local Döner guy selling out of a converted van who is giving up because it is simply not worth the hassle of permits. You would have to start a chain franchise kind of thing and have more than one truck and a shed load of money to even begin the procedings.

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The adjustment can be confusing - having done something, being active in an area for so long, and then have to give it up. I know of retirees who went back to part time work, consulting, etc in the same area. Most of them tried retirement for a few months and then went back to similar.

While running to do something is tempting, the question of ‘what do i want now?’ can sometimes be a trial and experience thing. staring at the stars in solace may bring clarity to any admission/denial feelings.

Teaching cooking? My father did a cookery course after my mother died. He became very good at it and enjoyed both the learning and the companionship. The focus of the classes was really on basic skills, using local and seasonal produce where possible.

My father reired in '96… He had all sorts of ideas, sone whacky, some may have worked but ultimatly all foundered on the rocky shoals of reality.
He gave up and without a goal he wasted away and died two years later.

Curious what exactly is semi-retirement. You work part-time or something low pay/low stress?

You still go into work but you don’t actually do anything when there…

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RoFL. That sounds like a good plan! Semi-retirement: I am very picky with the projects that I take, and I don’t work full time…I have enough s**t planned between studies, hobbies and these selected projects…

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Who can ever plan?

First time I was early retired I was 54 and got a reasonable.
I was happy to sit at home, reading books, staggering a couple of hundred meters to the local pub from time to time.

Then my wife wanted an expensive Christmas present “divorce”.

Worked freelance to pay the bills and finished up here that had the best rates.

A Swiss company decided I was too expensive as a freelance and persuaded me to take a permanent job by offering a lot of money, management pension plan, etc.
They gave me early retirement at 40 OOOPPPSS, I meant 64.

I went back to freelancing and was at the same company until I was 71 then came a new bos swho decided to blame me for all the things that went wrong in the project so I decided my nose was full and rsigned.
The ober oberchief tried to persuade me to stay on but I had enough.

Now I am married again and living here.

The moral of this story is you can forget planning your life ahead.
Just deal wth situations as they arise.

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Good trick! First time retired at 54. Second time at 40?

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Bugger
I meant 64, not 40

Lost my time machine

Had a very short talk today, the offer is to move to Hamburg.
I very much doubt that I want to do that.
“You have to follow the jobs” my father would say, but I’ve done that for years and us hasnt brought me much so I am not going to up sticks again.

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Cost of living has gone absolutely insane in Hamburg. You would be much better off in Apple Junction.

So from their POV not a layoff but restructuring. I’m surprised they aren’t outsourcing to Poland, Portugal or India, like everyone else. Even SwissPost has outsourced their support to Portugal.

Poland has became more expensive than Germany :open_mouth: I don’t know how’s about labor costs, but salaries always follow the local cost of living

So, a little update.
Officially I can retire middle of next year. Not that I want to, but here we are.
More and more collegues are leaving for greener pastures.
One guy who is a few months older than me can retire in June but was asked to stay on to the end of the project, all agreed and fine, now they turn round and terminate his contract June 1st, it’s not personal. Just business.
He has been with the company for 30 years.
If that is the attitude I am seriously thinking of becoming very ill on October as there are no plans and no comments from the higher echelons and it would be the hight of stupidity to trust these buggers have your interests at heart.
At the very beginning of the project it became very clear that they had no concept on how to handle the printer and scanner issue and dead machines piled up untill there were over 200 on storage, so I took it on myself with the blessing of my superior to deal with it.
And I did, I quickly had a working concept and a template on how to do things in future and two months later the 200+ machines were down to 10
At that point they hire somebody from another project to take over, sombody who was paid 1500€ more to do the exact same job but without the scanner part.
That guy has now left the company and I was informed that I now had to do his job.
“Ok” I said, “but I want a raise” “no can do project is ending” “ok, then a bonus” “yes we can do that” three months in; still no bonus and I was informed that I am not getting a bonus.
And now just half an hour ago I read a reply to my application to the new company…:
A typical form mail from a junior recruiter:
“Dear Mr Slammer, we regret to inform you…”