July 2022 – Growing Up Not Old

Cycling Towards The Future

Dave was ready for a change. He made a decision to change his career which changed his life.

Even before the pandemic hit, Dave Stock knew it was time to change professions. He had been in the printing industry for almost 40 years and everything seemed routine. “It was like playing the same record over and over and over again,” Dave said.

Dave had seen a decline in the printing business over the past five years. More and more people were relying on digital rather than print. Then COVID hit. For a business that relied heavily on printed invitations, programs and other items for in-person events, COVID was devastating. “Printing is never going to go away, but it’s certainly not where it used to be,” Dave said.

“I felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I just didn’t have the same happiness,” Dave said.

However, printing was not Dave’s only job. Six years ago, Dave had taken on a part-time job at his neighborhood bike store, Race Pace. He and his wife, Madeline, had made cycling part of their daily life preferring to run their errands around Baltimore City on their bikes. He spent time at the store getting his bike serviced and buying accessories. When he saw they were hiring, he put in an application and was hired. At first, there wasn’t a position at Race Pace in Federal Hill, so he worked at the one in Ellicott City until a position closer to his home became available. That was about six months later.

While COVID hit the printing business hard, cycling experienced a resurgence. More people wanted to get outside and get exercise while confined during COVID. The bike store saw a huge increase in business and Dave was offered more hours.

In January 2022, Race Pace was bought out by Trek. During this transition, some executives from Trek visited the store and asked Dave if he would be interested in a full-time position “They said, have you ever thought about coming on board full-time. Let’s have a conversation,” Dave said. “We had the conversation and they gave me an opportunity.”

“I was on a sinking ship and saw a life raft and I took it,” Dave said.

But his decision wasn’t final until he discussed it with Madeline. They went away on vacation to discuss the move. “She said, ‘just do it. If it doesn’t work out. it doesn’t work out. I don’t want you to have any regrets,'” Dave said.

So, in April, Dave decided to retire from printing. “I don’t like to call it retiring,” Dave said. “I call it my next chapter.”

“I think of retirement as moving to Florida and doing water aerobics,” Dave said. At 58, he’s not ready for that.

So now, he is the Sales Manager for Trek Bicycle Federal Hill. His responsibilities include selling bikes and accessories, making sure goals are met and training new employees. “I answer to the Store Manager,” Dave said.

His typical day starts with having a cup of coffee with Madeline in their backyard. “I trying to get used to retail hours,” Dave said. He used to have to be to work at 9:00 in the morning and worked 5 days a week. Now, he goes to work around 10:30 a.m. and has off Tuesdays and Saturdays. The store is about half a mile from his house.

So he spends his morning going to the local coffee shop, meeting friends or going for a bike ride.

“The biggest change is the mindset,” Dave said. It’s been a total change in routine.

His work day starts with a “team huddle” where they go over what needs to be accomplished that day.

Dave says there is no typical customer. “We have everyone from advanced cyclists to people who haven’t ridden a bike since they were a kid.” Dave said. “It’s never the same.”

His favorite part of the job is helping customers. “There’s nothing like sending someone on a test drive and they come back with a smile they haven’t had since they were a kid. There’s such a sense of joy.” Dave said.

He feels that his job is guiding customers to the right bike. “Trek has a guide sales process. You are the guide and the customer is the hero.” Dave said. The sales person wants to help the customer have a safe enjoyable experience on a bike.

Ride bikes. Be happy. Have fun. is Trek’s motto.

The most challenging part of his new life is learning a whole new industry. He has always been in sales, but bikes are a whole different product.

The bike business has changed now that people are getting out more. Customers are now looking to upgrade their bikes, service their bikes and buy accessories. He said they don’t see as many people coming in for their first bikes.

However, there is a growing interest in e-bikes, electric bikes. Dave said e-bikes are really making a big surge. “Trek is coming out with some more affordable models,” Dave said. He adds that that Trek is also coming out with a commuter e-bike.

Riding in Baltimore City

Dave says it’s a misconception that the city is a difficult place to ride a bike. “There are many bike friendly roads and bike lanes,” Dave said.”The city is quite easy to navigate on a bike.” In addition, Baltimore City is working on a biking infrastructure, according to Dave.

“I love the freedom of riding my bike,” Dave said. “You see a heck of a lot more from a bike than you do from a car.”

Part of Dave’s job is to lead a Sunday bike ride at 9:00 a.m. through Baltimore City. It’s called the “Causal Shop Ride”. “It’s slow pace. It’s causal. We stop along the way if someone wants to stop,” Dave said. Right now there are only half a dozen people, but he is hoping to grow that number.

Changes in His Relationship

Dave said his relationship with Madeline has changed “exponentially”. “We were both going through some big changes and I wasn’t happy,” Dave said. She would say “Where is the man that I married?”

Now she says, “You’re happy. I have my husband back.”

They have been married for almost 12 years. “She always has my back,” Dave said.

Financially Speaking

Although Dave’s job may sound like all fun and games, he had to consider whether or not this job made sense financially. “I looked at my finances and knew how much I needed to make,” Dave said. He has been able to meet those goals and is even doing better than he did working in printing.

“My wife and I had a big conversation before I left, but it was about so much more than money, it was about happiness,” Dave said.

“We know what we can afford. We don’t live with extravagances. We live a very simple life.”

They have paid off their home in Baltimore and have an investment property in Florida. Due to COVID, they have not been able to rent it out, but now they are hoping to rent it to traveling nurses.

Health Care

For Dave, his health care situation has actually improved. “TREK provides tremendous health care,” Dave said. In his previous job, he carried he and Madeline on his health care plan, since she is a solopreneur, so good health care was important. “TREK health care is very similar to what I had before.”

In addition, he and Madeline make sure to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, since his career change, he has lost 15 pounds. He has more time to eat healthy rather than picking up fast food. “I used to be on the road and it was just easier to pick up a cheeseburger,” Dave said. Now he’s moving more and eating regularly. He has even seen a reduction in his blood pressure.

Future Plans

Dave is not sure what his future holds. “I’ll probably always work doing something. I need that interaction with other people,” Dave said. “I thrive off of that.”

Because TREK is a large organization with stores all over the United States, there is the ability to move to another state and stay with the organization. He keeping all his options open.

Final Words of Advice

Dave’s advice. “Just do it. Don’t be afraid. Fear can be crippling,” However, he also recommends doing your research to make sure it’s the right decision for you.

Even though Dave is no longer involved with printing, he stays on top of what is going on and is proud of the contribution he made. “I feel like a did something good in the industry. Sometimes I thought I didn’t make that much of a difference, but based on the response on Facebook, I obviously did,” Dave said. Dave was flooded with well wishes when he announced his “next chapter.”

“I saw my father work himself to death. I don’t want to just work for the sake of working. I want to work doing something I’m enjoying,” Dave said.

“I enjoy learning something new every day,” Dave said.

If you need a new bike, make sure to stop by and see Dave at the Trek Bicycle Federal Hill store. You’ll make his day.

If you know someone who would make a good subject for this blog, please email me at ksparis15@gmail.com.

I’m Retired! What’s Next?

Now that I am officially retired, it’s time to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

My husband and I started talking about my retirement over two years ago. He left his job and we began to envision what the rest of our lives would look like. Now, we have the freedom to find out.

I never thought I would feel comfortable with the word retirement. Retirement bring about images of water aerobics and 5:00 dinners. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not me. So I decided to embrace the word and give it a refreshed image. I’m in marketing, we’re all about re-imagining.

Two years ago, my husband and I started to prepare for my retirement and the next phase of our lives.

The first thing we did was sell my little Volkswagon Beetle convertible. I had it for over seven years and I loved it, but it was not a car we could travel around the country in. I was surprised how many people were sad when I sold my car. I admit, it was a hoot to drive, but an SUV was more practical. So, we bought a Mazda CX-5 and paid it off before I left.

The added benefit was that since it looks like every other car on the road, I had to learn my license plate.

Then we made sure to max out my 401K contributions. Sure the car payments and 401K contributions significantly cut down our monthly cash flow, but it was worth it. We knew it would help us create the life we wanted in the future.

I started noticing what other people were doing in retirement. That’s when I started my blog. I wanted to find out the path people took and why they made the decisions they made.

I’ve been so much fun telling people’s stories. Each one is so unique and each one helps me to put a piece in my own retirement puzzle. I’m not even sure what the end picture will be.

When people ask me what I was going to do in retirement, I say I going to drink lemonade and read books in the backyard. And I am. But I am also looking at all the opportunities available to me.

For example, I have been creating videos for people and businesses. These have been fun projects. I not only love helping people celebrate special events, but I also love the creative process of combining video, pictures and music.

I also have a podcasting gig. More about that later.

And finally, I am doing all the projects that I have been thinking about doing for years. My husband is already threatening to take away my coffee if I don’t settle down.

And I’m sure I will. It’s strange to think that I don’t have to fit everything I want to do into a weekend or an occasional day off. That I don’t have to sit in traffic worrying that I will be late to work or a meeting. I have time.

The most important thing I have learned from all my interviewees is that to have a successful retirement you have to find your passion. I’m working on that too.

For now, I will continue to find people who are working on their next chapter whether it be through love, work, moving or volunteering. I hope you will continue to join me.

As always, if you know someone who would make a good subject for me blog, email me at ksparis15@gmail.com.

The Wheels on the Bus

Brian is rolling down the highway in retirement, but he’s doing it in a school bus filled with children. Find out why he’s loving his new career.

When Brian Carr retired at 64 from Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs (now Bloomberg Industry Group) in Washington D.C., he had no plans to drive a school bus. Originally, Brian wanted to concentrate on his music. An accomplished guitarist, Brian planned to focus on playing, singing and writing music, but he missed a daily routine and decided it was time to go back to work. “I got antsy and missed structure in my life,” Brian said.

But driving a bus was not his first job after retirement. Instead, he took a sales job at Bill’s Music in Catonsville, MD. Brian was able to talk to other musicians, help them find what they needed and still find time to play the guitar. “After years of playing in bands, I knew a lot about sound systems, microphones and other musical things,” Brian said.

It was a very different job than his one in Washington D.C. where he spent his days writing and editing legal publications, but it was a perfect fit for his retirement. He loved demonstrating the different guitars and working with the customers and the Bill’s team.

Brian worked there for four and a half years until COVID hit. Then, Bill’s music, like many other businesses, shut down and Brian and his wife Dottie, who also worked at Bill’s scheduling lessons, were laid off. When Bill’s began opening again with limited hours, Brian was not one of the employees brought back and he knew he had to find something different. “I didn’t like being unemployed, it was like being retired again,” Brian said.

He started looking at the Woodlawn Motor Coach because it was close to his house and they were always advertising for drivers. He put in an application and was hired.

So why bus driving? “I don’t know. I like to drive. I just thought it was something I would like to try,” Brian said. “For a post retirement part-time job, it pays $22.50 and hour and is going up in September to $25.”

The bus company put Brian through a four-week training program. Before he finished his training, he had to take and pass the permit test at the Department of Motor Vehicles. It was a three-part test. Brian passed and was ready to hit the road.

Brian had a choice between school bus driving and charter driving. He decided to take the school bus driving because it was more consistent, but he will still sometimes pick up charter work such as taking high school athletic teams to events.

Brian begins his day at 5:30 a.m. when he arrives at the bus yard. He isn’t expected until 5:45 a.m., but he likes to get there early to get a jump on the day and to make sure no kids are left standing outside too long.

However, when he first started, he arrived early because he was concerned about getting lost.

“The first time I went to Lansdowne I drove right by the high school,” Brian said. “Then to find a place to turn around you have to go a couple miles. It’s not like driving a car.”

His bus is 35 feet long and weighs over 12 tons. “It’s a very nice bus, with good equipment,” Brian said. There’s power steering, cruise control and a powerful braking system “There are seven very large mirrors so you can not only see behind the bus, in front of the bus, the sides of the bus as well the full interior,” Brian said.

There’s also a PA system. “So, you can tell your passengers to quiet down or not eat on the bus,” Brian said.

He starts the day on the beltway going up to a local high school and transports those students to a magnet school. Then he picks up another group there and transports them to a technical high school.

After the initial “shuttle bus” runs, he begins transporting kids from their neighborhood stops to a middle school and then he delivers children to two separate elementary schools. “Those little kids are so adorable,” Brian said.

He’s back home by 9:30 a.m. and then starts afternoon pick up by reporting back to the bus lot at 1:45 p.m. for his first pick up at 2:20 p.m. Then he’s back at the lot at 4:30 p.m., cleans the bus, completes some paperwork and heads home.

In between his morning and afternoon runs, Brian runs errands and takes care of doctor’s appointments. He also makes sure to walk his dog. “He needs it and so do I,” Brian said.

“I was pleased with my assignment because I know this area very well,” Brian said.

Now that he’s finished his first year, he’s ready to go back for a second year. This summer he volunteered to drive for a local summer camp. He said it’s much different than driving during the school year. One big difference is that during the summer there are counselors on the bus that help with bus management. During the school year, Brian is not only responsible for driving, but also for maintaining discipline on the bus.

Health Care

At 71, Brian has no issues with health care. He is not only covered by Medicare, but also has great supplemental insurance from his previous employer, Bloomberg.

But that doesn’t mean that Brian has been taking his health for granted. Driving the bus has made Brian much more aware of his health. Commercial drivers must pass a Department of Transportation annual physical. There are rigorous standards that drivers have to meet.

For example, if a driver’s neck measurement is more than 17 inches, he/she must be tested for possible sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea then you have to get on a CPAP machine.

Knowing that his neck was larger than that, Brian decided it was time to lose weight and get in better shape. He has lost approximately 50 pounds through intermittent fasting and maintaining a low carb diet. He’s also become more active and is riding his bike to work. “My A1C went down from 7.3 to 5.4,” Brian said.

His bike riding has the added benefit of saving on gas and allowing he and his wife to become a one car family.

Outside work

Brian and his wife Dottie are enjoying spending time together and she has even started working at the bus company as well. She isn’t a driver, but instead works in the front office doing contract work. However, they have always worked at the same company Dottie worked for Bloomberg as well as Bill’s music.

Brian has not given up on his music. Brian practices at least an hour a day. He plays with the band Blues State who has local gigs and also performs at the Catonsville Sunday Farmer’s Market with Marcus Austin.

Future

Brian has found that he really likes driving. “I love it. I wish I had started doing it sooner.”

“I’ll probably drive for the next ten years,” Brian said. However, he may not keep up his current rigorous schedule for that long. The bus company also has options for drivers to choose daily charter trips to offer more flexibility. “Working just makes me feel better,” Brian said.

If you know someone you think would make a good subject for my blog email me at ksparis15@gmail.com.

Checking in With A Few Friends

I’ve met so many interesting people while writing my blog. I just wanted to catch up with a few of them. Here’s a quick update.

When I first started my blog, I spent a great deal of time coaxing and cajoling my friends to be part of my “project”. Now that I have published over 18 blogs, I thought it was a great time to check in with some of my earlier blog participants. I’m happy to say, they are doing great!

A New Start After Walmart

You might remember that Bert decided that staying home during the pandemic was not working for him. He was spending too much time in his basement eating and drinking too much and wasting a lot of time. After a year at Walmart, Bert decided it was time to move on and started a Human Service Counseling Certificate Program at CCBC last fall. With this certificate from the state, Bert can work as a drug and alcohol counselor.

Being over 60, Bert was able to take advantage of the free tuition at CCBC. “I only pay about $200 a class,” Bert said.

So far, Bert has completed 15 credits which allows him to work as a drug and alcohol counselor trainee and is enrolled during the summer session. He proudly states that he has 4.0 GPA.

Through CCBC, he was able to get an interview at Hope’s Horizon in Parkville. After the interview, he was hired on the spot and will be working there part-time while continuing to go to school.

Hope’s Horizon is a treatment facility offering rehab and intensive outpatient therapy. He will be working with groups of men, approximately 80-100 men in all. He will be responsible for creating treatment programs and mediating group sessions. “I’m excited to get started,” Bert said. “Three years ago, I couldn’t imagine being here.”

Now, Bert feels he is on the right track and is looking forward to finishing up his certificate program in about 2 years.

To read Bert’s post: A New Start After Walmart.

To find out more about his program: Human Services Counseling

Staying Positive While Facing Changes

When Janet Streit entered her supervisor’s office in March 2022, she was told she was being let go. Although it was somewhat unexpected, Janet faced this setback with the same positive attitude she faced everything. After determining she would be ok financially, she started on a plan for her new life.

Janet knew that her new life would include helping others live their best life. During the pandemic, she accomplished her goal of losing 70 pounds with Weight Watchers and wanted to help others.

After being retired for a few months, Janet put in her application to become a coach leading meetings. Now, she’s happy to announce, she got the job and is ready to help others on their weight loss journey with her amazing talent to take any recipe and make it “points friendly”.

Janet also shared during her blog post that she wanted to take a trip to the Adirondacks with her brother. Well, as you can see by the pictures, she made it. Being 70 pounds less, Janet is finding it easier to walk and hike the trails, but at the end of the day, it’s still exhausting.

To read Janet’s blog

A Picture Perfect Retirement

Geoff Prior was one of my very first blogs. After a long career in IT, Geoff decided to take to the open road and started traveling around the United States in his van. While traveling, he started taking pictures. His pictures have now won awards and he is getting better every day using his natural talent with new equipment and new techniques.

This summer Geoff wanted to cross something off his bucket list. He is driving to Alaska from Maryland. Along the way, he has had company. His daughter has been his companion for part of the trip. They have been exploring Alaska together since June 17^th.

Geoff’s pictures are amazing and his eye for capturing the perfect moment gets better and better. If you want to see more of his pictures go to GRPImagery.com

To read Geoff’s blog, go to: Picture Perfect Retirement

If you know someone that would make a great subject for my blog, please email me at ksparis15@gmail.com.