Are you retired?
In the following thirteen years, I found work in a lot of areas. I began my re-invention as an adjunct instructor (though I ended up never teaching a class), promoting an entrepreneur course at a technical college. I worked part-time as a Spanish-English interpreter in a variety of settings, and then as a director of a Latino community center startup in Green Bay. I later was employed full time as a bilingual staff writer for a dietary supplement company. I was a government case worker in Milwaukee, and I worked as a medical interpreter for a different agency. I found a job as a social media community management at Kimberly-Clark, and I worked short stints at IKEA, Home Depot, Quad Graphics, and at a temp agency, assembling kits for a medical equipment company. All these jobs ended for a variety of reasons; most were self imposed exits, a few endings were beyond my control. During most of this time I've done some freelance work as a writer, translator, and photographer, too. For the past year now, I've been working as a shuttle driver for a car dealership, performing a variety of tasks in addition to moving customers to and from their homes and businesses. It's the longest that I've worked since my re-invention in 2006. The job is stress-free and I have enough time for family and church activities. I've seen and done a lot in the past thirteen years as I tried different jobs. Some of them were fun, and I've certainly learned a lot.
So, am I retired?
Yes, I'm retired, but I continue to work. I suppose our situation is not too different than a lot of people my age. And I'm not complaining. I like to stay busy, and as long as my health is good, I suppose I'll keep inventing ways to keep active and provide that extra income.