If This Past Week Was A Prelude, I Already Know What One of My First Retirement Goals Will Be

family, happiness, lessons learned, rankings, retirement 2 Minutes

A week ago I tested positive for COVID, and fortunately, it seemed to be a relatively mild case. I didn’t feel well for a couple of days (fever, headache, nausea) but then I started recover nicely. I was blessed to have a wife who took great care of me. We were isolating from each other on different floors of the house since I didn’t want to get her sick. She is a pre-k teacher, and that could have created lots of problems. Fingers crossed she stays healthy.

Today was my last day of isolation/quarantine, and I spent it teaching my five classes using Zoom. While it felt good to be back doing something, I have to admit I was also quite happy doing virtually nothing while essentially stuck in my bedroom.

It seemed like the only things I did were Wordle puzzles (I found a site that does not limit you to just one a day, no downloading or registration required), write my blog, and watch TV.

I did a lot of movie watching; here they are, in no particular order:

  • Pitch Perfect
  • The Campaign
  • Napoleon Dynamite
  • Casablanca
  • North By Northwest
  • 12 Angry Men

I also watched a Sebastian Maniscalco standup comedy special, and we finished watching the excellent, yet depressing, series Dopesick. The series is about the oxycontin crisis and stars Michael Keaton. My wife, son, and I watched the show at the same time, from different locations in the house, with Zoom open for any possible chatting.

We’ve also been watching the final season (I think) of Cobra Kai, the sequel to the Karate Kid movies from the 1980s. It looks like we will finish that series just in time to start watching the final season of Ozark.

So as I was watching those movies, particularly the last three noted, I thought of what one of my first goals as a retiree will be: to spend the first 100 days watching the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Years, 100 Movies, the best American films of all time (through 2007).

I know it will be tough, but I think I can do it…

P.S. Does anyone know what is the number one movie on the list? It’s none of the ones I listed above.

Here’s the link: 100 Years, 100 Movies

*image from Wellesnet

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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95 thoughts on “If This Past Week Was A Prelude, I Already Know What One of My First Retirement Goals Will Be”

  5. So that’s why you weren’t allowing comments, or commenting elsewhere. Being in isolation, I guess you didn’t want to spread Covid to us. Thanks for that social distancing consideration.

    If you can break Cal Ripken’s record, then I think you’ll have the persistence to watch all 100 movies in 100 days. I’m guessing the #1 movie on the list is “Beer Barrel Polka,” starring the Three Stooges.

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      1. I have an idea. Forget about watching those dull, stupid, 100 top films. The Three Stooges made a lot of movies, so I think you can fill the first hundred days of your retirement watching a new Three Stooges movie, every day.

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  9. Glad you’re starting to make retirement plans. Whewā€”as soon as I let those thoughts enter my head, there was no turning back.

    Our son is just getting off the Covid DL (Disabled List)ā€”something Cal Ripken doesn’t know about. Fortunately, he was vaccinated and said it was like a cold to him. We just set the highest Covid number in our county since inceptionā€”fortunately, the deaths aren’t going up at an alarming rate.

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    1. glad your son didn’t have a bad case.

      the numbers seem to be up everywhere. We had more positive COVID cases in our first week back on campus this semester at Nova than we had all last semester. But no hospitalizations at all…

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  10. Very glad you just had a mild case. My nephew is really struggling with it now. His oxygen levels get really low at night when coughing more. Hopefully your family will remain untouched by it! The Pitch Perfect movies are good.
    Have no idea what the Number one movie is, but not shocked at all that it wasn’t Napoleon Dynamite. šŸ˜„

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    1. I am sorry to hear about your nephew; I hope he feels better soon. My son who lives with it has it as well, and my oldest son had it a few weeks ago.

      I liked all the Pitch Perfect movies. And I was surprised that Napoleon didn’t even make the top 100! šŸ™‚

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      1. Thanks!
        Glad your sons have recovered and hope that your wife doesnā€™t get it.

        Oh yes, how “shocking” that ND didn’t make the top 100 list, perhaps it made the opposite top hundred list. Not the best but the …. šŸ˜‚
        Aren’t you glad that you are allowing comments again.

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      2. but there is a certain cachet assocaited with potentially being one of the worst 100 films of all time. they probably all have a cult following.

        and yes, I am glad the comments are back! šŸ™‚

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  13. Hi Jim, I’m glad to know you are on the mend. Omicron is nasty but not as fatal as Delta. I only watched 1/2 of a movie the whole of last year so I have no idea with regards to your question. I had a goal of watching one movie so I am a dismal failure.

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  14. I love the top movie hint you have hidden in your blog. I am glad you are back to your old self. It is never the same without you here. Good to see your are being serious about your retirement planning. Stay well, my friend!

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  15. Good to know youā€™re feeling better now. A suggestion for you: when youā€™ve watched that list, maybe you should spend the second 100 days of your retirement watching movies from around the world, which the AFI by definition ignores. There is plenty of good stuff out there!

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  16. glad you are feeling better and that’s a tough way to be forced to take a retirement test run, but now you have a built in hobby just waiting for you. not totally surprised about citizen kane, it is a classic one studied in all film classes, but i had guessed ‘casablanca.’ glad something positive came out of all this

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  18. Glad things stayed ‘mild’. I found a Wordle knockoff called Wordus and played it the entire time I wasn’t driving on my 16 hour trip to Vermont last weekend. I decided you can play too much Wordle. I wrote a (incredibly harsh) review of Cobra Kai after I watched about five episodes. I’d love for you to read that and let me know your impression after getting (almost) all the way through the show.

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    1. I am reaching that point with Wordle, but it is quite addicting.

      I enjoyed the earlier seasons of Cobra Kai more than the current one, but at this point, I want to see it through to the end. I had thought this season was the last one, but then we watched the final episode last night, and it did not clear things up. So I went online and read that there will be a new season coming out later this yeat.

      I will be sure to read your post on it…

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      2. I just read your post. First comment is that I love your commitment to cycling!

        As to the show, I find it entertaining. Not every character is perfect, they’ve all got their issues, which seems to be pretty realistic. It has been fun to watch the show evolve over the years and introduce twists along the way. I think a general theme could be how the sons of your past can come back to haunt you, but they don’t necessarily define you…

        I have not written about…

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      3. Jim, I think you’ve help me hone in on a personal problem. I don’t like shows that lack a likable character. I stopped watching Schitt’s Creek for the same reason. Probably in time, some of the Cobra Kai characters became the show’s heroes, but when I stopped watching, I hated them all. Unfortunately, I think the ‘all characters are flawed’ theme is firmly entrenched in our current TV writing. I often have the same trouble with books.

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      4. it’s funny that you mention Schitt’s Creek, I just loved that show! It’s hard to say if the characters on Cobra Kai become heroes, but many of them do become more self-aware…

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  19. Oh, by the way, about five years ago, I made a bad job switch and wound up with a super abusive boss. I got really depressed and quit after three months. It took me a few weeks to find a new job. I got really bored being at home for those three weeks (although I was afraid to spend any money). It made me worry about retirement. I’m not sure I will enjoy it unless there’s some place I *need* to be for many hours during the day.

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    1. nice that you were able to find a new job so quickly. is this the library job you now have?

      I guess that is one of the concerns of retirement, what to do with all your time. And even though I don’t have any hobbies, I think I’ll be content reading, traveling (hopefully), and trying new things…

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      1. No, I was hired by an extremely desperate domestic violence nonproft that was going under. They wanted me to “save the company.” The ED wasn’t willing to make the changes I recommended, and they ultimately failed. It was a good (but painful) experience for me. I learned a lot from it.

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  20. So glad you’re on the mend and the rest of your family is so far unaffected.

    Casablanca is one of my favorite films of all time. I watch it several times a year, and it never gets old. Your retirement to-do list sounds like fun.

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  25. Glad you have recovered and hope your wife is okay – we’ve just started in our house – wife and my littlest have it, myself and the eldest have avoided so far.

    I’m going to guess the number one film is either The Good, the bad and the ugly or The Godfather Part II?

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    1. Sorry to hear about your wife and your youngest; I hope they have a speedy recovery. The top movie was Citizen Kane, but the original Godfather is up there pretty high…

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  30. I’m so glad you’re on the mend, Jim. Thank goodness you isolated from your wife, because bringing Covid to a Pre-K class could have been terrible. We have so many classes at school, and going remote is not fun for anyone. You watched great movies, I love North by Northwest. So, what is the #1 movie?

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  33. Aw Jim, so sorry that’s why you weren’t feeling well! But so glad to hear it was a mild case and you’re all better! For some reason, reading about you and your family watching movies together from different locations in your house over zoom warmed my heart lol I hope my family is like that when Charlotte gets to be a bit older (minus the isolation due to covid part)! lol…

    That’s great goal for retirement – I would do that too!!

    My guess… Shashank?? That’s on all the lists all the time! Gone with the Wind!? Can you tell me? lol

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    1. yes, my son and I were both lucky to get mild cases, but it was still an inconvenience to be isolated. But my wife did a wonderful job of taking care of us šŸ™‚

      The number one movie was Citizen Kane. And I agree, Shawshank is a great movie, it’s probably in my top five…

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  34. Glad to hear the Covid cases you and your family had were generally mild. I’m sure that’s most likely due to all of you doing the right thing and being fully vaccinated.

    I’m pretty sure you’ll handle retirement pretty well, especially with all the planning you’ve already done. I can say that with some authority because the activities you’ve listed have also kept me going and retirement allows you to spend/waste as much time as you want on them. I’m especially looking forward to your leisurely reviews of the AFI 100 films to kick off your retirement.

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    1. I think being fully vaccinated certainly helped.

      I think even if retirement is only half as good as I think it will be, I should be ok šŸ™‚

      and what a great idea about reviewing the films – there’s 100 posts right there!

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