Jay Garfinkel:
CLASS OF 1970
Bethpage High SchoolClass of 1970
Bethpage, NY
Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteClass of 1974
Troy, NY
Jay's Story
Here's Our 2008 Valentine's Day Update
Happy Valentine¿s Day 2008! RETIREMENT IS HERE!! Jay's "How Long I've Been Retired" clock is at 210 days. The people at work gave him a very nice send off party -- a Chinese food buffet and 2 hours of memories and roasting. Rob videotaped the event. It's available for viewing should anyone be bored and have 2 hours to kill.
Retirement is good ... lots of golf and travel. Jay was playing 2 to 3 times a week in the summer. His game is better, but his scoring isn¿t. We¿ve had 2 major trips so far. One was to the Central California Wine Country (a.k.a. the Sideways tour). Jay was the designated driver. It was a fabulous vacation with our friends the Steinhardt's and the Cobb's. The highlight for us was our whale watching boat tour out of Santa Barbara. We also did Vegas. Surprisingly, we came home with more cash than we started with (which means we have to go back to lose it so we can keep the universe in harmony). We also celebrated Jay's parents' 60th anniversary with a family weekend in New York City.
Rob has a job with Visual Aids Electronics (VAE). They're a national company that does the media for business meetings and conventions. He works out of the Hyatt in downtown Cincinnati. He seems to be doing well there. They have sent him on trips to help out other facilities around the country and talked to him about management positions. He misses his Southern Illinois friends and would love to manage a VAE facility in Chicago to be near them. He made his first big purchase with his new found wealth ... a new car ... a Hyundai Tiburon. Rob also volunteers at Channel 38, a local independent TV station, to keep his hand in TV production. We'll see where these jobs go ... as long he loves what he's doing.
Steven graduated from Ithaca College with his degree in Business, actually Finance. He started working with Primerica, a division of CitiCorp, shortly after graduation. He quickly came to realize that he didn't like the company or only being paid commission. ...Expand for more
He left Primerica in mid-summer. He's working at Graeter's (a local ice cream shop) while looking for a job in the Financial field. He has had his 2nd interview with the civilian arm of the Navy in DC. He's got a few other irons in the fire, but he really wants this job. We should know soon. (Update -- He got the job and is moving to DC end of March). Steven trained for and competed in a triathlon. He entered the Caesar's Creek triathlon and, no surprise to us, finished 3rd in his age group (67th overall). Not bad for a first timer. He continues to work out like a fiend.
It has been a bit strange having the kids at home again after 4 years of the Empty Nest thing. We love having them here, but it's also nice when they're not so we can do our thing. We've continued our exercise regimen. Nancy still runs and "four-peated" as the winner of the Race for the Cure for survivors in her age group. Jay still does his one hour of exercise biking. Retirement has eliminated all excuses. Nancy is still works in the Loveland Elementary School Media Center 3 days a week. She also works 1 - 2 days a week at Pizzaz, a local retail gift shop, owned by one of her friends. Nancy is still looking for a third job so she won't have to stay home. Jay is clearly retired, although he does the laundry, does the grocery shopping, and runs the vacuum cleaner every now and then.
The biggest activity this winter has been the planning of our 2008 tour of all the Major League baseball parks. This is something Jay has been planning since he began thinking about retirement. The 2008 schedules came out in December. It took several weeks to plan this tour around Nancy's work schedule and several side trips we'd like to take (e.g., Field of Dreams in Iowa, Mt. Rushmore, horse racing in Saratoga). It was more complicated than managing a P&G critical path schedule, but we've got it worked out. I've created a blog that I'll update as we travel. For now, all it has is our schedule. Check it out:
baseballstadiumtrip2008.blogspot.com
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