For those retired, do you have a support group that you spend your time with? I am thinking of this because I cannot imagine myself staying in the house all the time when I retire. I used to go biking inside our village and I have met some acquaintances there particularly the women's group doing their early morning exercise in the village's park. There's another group that is connected to the church which had tried to recruit me. Although I am not really that active but I can say that I belong to the women's church group for I even had sponsored a pilgrimage to a church in the nearby province.
I'm not retired yet Corie..but when I do, I intend joining the U3A....University of the third age... have a look at this link here...and click on the Culture and Social and also ''Courses'' at the top of the page after you've read the introductory page to get a flavour of all that's on offer http://www.u3ac.org.uk/ It's a self funding organisation for those no longer in employment...( not a University per se ) but somewhere which has many things socially or educationally that one can fill their time enjoying...from photography , to rambling, from art, to cooking... Groups join up and attend the theatre or days out... There's usually a U3A group in every town...and if there isn't then anyone can start one..
I don't have a formal or informal support group. And time does way heavy on me. I think a group would be helpful for me.
I get so busy doing things around our apartment, and on this computer, I really never get bored. However, do look very forward to when my wife comes home from work each night and the weekends when she is home.
I wish I could find one like Holly has mentioned. I tried the senior center in town and didn't care for it. There were old people there, lol.
Yes, if a person is a "younger" Senior, a Senior Center looks old! That's just a fact. A place that doesn't have nearly as may older Seniors is a 55+ Community Living.....but those homes aren't cheap (Dell Webb).
We have a couple of seniors groups here in town, a program that provides low-cost meals for seniors, and another that drives groups of seniors to Bangor for shopping, to the state park, or other places, but I've never considered participating in any of that stuff. When it comes right down to it, I don't really think of myself as a senior, or at least I don't think I'd enjoy doing any of that, probably wouldn't like the food, and I'd much rather drive myself to Bangor when I want to shop.
Yes, the food that I've seen on the menus is pretty bad. Things are different when you live alone, Ken. I'm always looking for places to socialize or meet people my age...if I had my husband I wouldn't be doing that.
My wife and I once ran a cafe here in town. There was a senior citizen center in the same building. We shared the same heating source, and they would never pitch in to pay any of the oil costs yet, because they were old, I suppose, they left the thermostat on very high, and would leave it on high when they left. I didn't want to get into an argument with a group of old people, so we were paying their heating costs. When the building's owner had a business there, I guess he paid their heating costs but he quit doing that when he leased it to us, yet they assumed that the heat was still free. I wouldn't have minded so much if they'd have made an attempt to keep the costs down, or if they'd have at least been polite to us, which they weren't. In the winter, after shoveling the walks to our business, I'd shovel a path to their door. Rather than being appreciative, they'd act like I should have done it earlier. Although it was a senior center, I never saw any senior women there. There were only men, and all they seemed to do was play cards, play pool, or watch television. But you're right, they were doing it together, so I imagine it did provide a service.
That was nice of you to pay but I would have said something....politely. I think it just depends on the area and senior center. Maybe what I'm looking for is a 55 + club not a place that serves cheap crappy meals and smells like people wearing diapers. I don't mean to offend anyone, in the end my husband had to even have those despite all the tubes and bags ....but that's the way the one in Fresno smelled. My neighborhood is mostly young families, don't have much in common with most.