Retirement: A Period of Reflection and Continued Engagement

Introduction

At the age of 79 and having entered retirement, I observe that much of the available personal literature on this subject offers only limited engagement, with an extensive emphasis placed on financial aspects. The commercial sector tends to focus heavily on products and services related to retirement—ranging from financial planning to health supplements and specialized housing options. Existing narratives frequently convey highly individualized experiences, which may not be universally applicable or relatable. Recognizing that my own perspective carries similar limitations, I believe it nonetheless valuable to share these insights.

Rethinking Retirement

The term "retirement" itself is one I approach with some reservation, as it commonly implies a withdrawal from professional life and an inclination toward leisure activities. For many, retirement suggests a reduction in activity and an increased focus on pursuits that may not always support optimal well-being. In essence, retirement signifies a distinct transition in both lifestyle and daily routine. Typical depictions include repeated leisure activities such as golfing, television viewing, unrestricted dining, travel, relaxation, pursuit of hobbies, or relocation to retirement communities. My intent is not to critique individual choices or propose alternative ideals, but rather to reconceptualize the meaning of retirement, placing emphasis on its relevance for those who transition into senior citizenship at retirement, as opposed to individuals who exit the workforce earlier in life.

The Quartiles of Life

Life, in my view, can be segmented into four quarters, analogous to the phases of a sine wave. The initial quarter—from birth to age 25—is characterized by rapid growth and resilience. The second quarter, spanning ages 25 to 50, presents stability, maturity, and peak productivity. The third quarter, between 50 and 75, marks a gradual decline from previous levels, as physical and cognitive faculties begin to diminish. The final quarter represents the ultimate stage, culminating in the end of life. Statistical data indicates that by age 75, most individuals have a reasonable expectation of reaching 85, though far fewer attain a centenarian milestone. While mortality is inevitable, the specific circumstances surrounding death vary considerably—ranging from unexpected events to chronic health conditions and progressive decline.

Confronting Decline

It is unrealistic to assert complete control over the factors influencing mortality. The essential challenge lies in determining whether efforts to slow the aging process are justified in order to maximize quality of life in retirement. From my perspective, such endeavors are warranted. Subsequent consideration must be given to selecting strategies that most effectively mitigate age-related deterioration, bearing in mind the finite nature of time.

A Personal Strategy

My own strategy is straightforward and tailored to individual preferences. At present, I am gratified to report that my functional capacity remains comparable to that of previous decades. I am unwilling to acquiesce to the anticipated declines typically associated with aging; thus, I endeavor to continue engaging in activities such as walking, swimming, dancing, weightlifting, reading, writing, social interaction, and travel—with the possible exception of skiing, which has become increasingly challenging.

Maintaining an active lifestyle requires dedication yet does not monopolize all available time. My daily routines also encompass medical appointments, grocery shopping at retailers like Sam’s Club and Costco, scheduled periods of rest, consumption of a primary meal, and the planning of future travel—nine trips are already arranged for 2026 to destinations including Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Norway. Although time constraints persist, my central priority is the sustained preservation of health and well-being.

Summary

This essay examines the realities of aging and retirement, challenging common ideas of leisure and decline. Instead, it emphasizes strategies for maintaining health, vitality, and a sense of purpose into advanced age. Drawing from my personal experience and the insights of Dr. Peter Attia, I advocate for resisting the physical and mental decline that so often accompanies later life, and for adopting an engaged, proactive approach to living well beyond 75.

Perspectives on Longevity

This discussion is not about those with terminal illnesses or untreatable conditions. Rather, it addresses the experience of everyday people who are fortunate enough to have lived for about three-quarters of a century. In a recent podcast, Dr. Peter Attia, author of Outlive, described the period beyond age 75 as facing a universal physical decline. He suggests strategies for optimizing both lifespan and healthspan by delaying or even preventing the inevitable deterioration that comes with aging. This approach closely matches the mindset I have adopted as I approach my 80th year.

Postscript This essay represents an initial draft that was doctored by an AI edit.  While it polishes my writing and helps smooth out the edges, it also replaces much of my quirky style and hyperbole. I decided to publish this essay as an experiment.  In the future, i will note in the text if AI has injected any influence on the final product.  The fact is that, at least in this article, it took away some of the points of emphasis and I don't feel it conveys all of what i was trying to explore and emphasise.  Nevertheless, I wanted to experience what I believe is the common practice of using AI to embellish and polish original essays into something that feels wrong and cheating!

Sept 2016 to Jan 2026! Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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January 2026

Do Women Like a Man with a Hairy Chest or Hairless?

This morning I awoke at 3:30AM with an odd thought and question.  For some reason, and this thought surely came from the recesses of a progressively deteriorating brain, I wondered whether women like men with hair on their chest or no hair on their chest. I clearly already knew the answer but even so, it emerged with enough force to wake me from a relatively decent sleep and send me to the computer to document this moronic episode of foolishness.    

Of course, some women like men with hair on their chest and some women prefer men with no hair on their chest. The old James Bond – Sean Connery had hair on his chest and he was the ultimate symbol of masculinity with no shortage of beautiful girls waiting their turn to fall into his arms and other body parts. But that was a while back, and a more metrosexual look and behavior has taken over the scene - that is until recently when a return to quasi-masculinity has sprouted with seemingly every male on the planet attempting to sport a beard. Who know what women like, hairy chest, hairless chest, smart, not so smart, rich, richer, gentlemanly, assertive, attentive, oblivious, etc, etc.

At one point in my life in my 30-40’s, my body was so totally covered with hair…..legs, back, chest, head, etc., I was frequently embarrassed. Early one morning while attending a National Pediatric Research meeting, I was jogging shirtless past the zoo in Washington DC wearing only running short.  Two teenage girls were sitting on a bench waiting for a bus started hysterically laughing as I passed them on my run.  It took a while for me to decipher why I inspired such laughter, ostensibly because they thought an ape had just escaped confinement. Of course, I blame my middle eastern genes for this hirsute overabundance that presumably allowed my ancestors to weather the desert heat. Over time, that momentary reminder of my hirsute being led me to shave my chest and back (with a little help), which I have continued to do for I don’t remember how long. Added to the beard that I have grown and kept for at least 55 years, instead of hair stubbles felt on an unshaven face, the only hair stubbles owned by me are on my chest and back. They feel course and plentiful, and live on as a painful reminder of that zoo incident a half a life ago. It also leaves me curious how I might look if I left my upper body unshaven for a month. Interestingly the hair on my legs have disappeared with time and declining testosterone leaving a few remaining reminder strands that are placed hither and yon. With almost no testosterone left coursing my veins, it remains a puzzle why by body retains any hair at all, anywhere on this aging relic. 

Thinking back, no one other than yours truly gave a wisp about my body hair. I guess more important human values were likely at play in my relationship successes and failures. In any case, I’m grateful for the good luck in my life. I’ve had only a few painful memories of betrayal. The people I associate with now – friends and family - have been with me during most of my journey, and I have no doubt about their intentions, sincerity, and integrity. We’re all too old to think that elsewhere the grass is greener; we’re just happy that we are still alive and healthy enough to experience another day of life before traveling to the one way trip to the unknown.

Seventy Nine Years Old - Yikes, That's OLD!

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Two days ago, I turned 79 years old. What a blessing it is to be alive and healthy, considering my advanced age. Today I am 79 yrs + 2 days = 28,856 days old. At my age, I must henceforth celebrate every day as an additional gift of life!

With thousands of books and publications written about the quest for a long life, it’s clear that there is widespread interest in the topic of aging and longevity. To be sure, most sentient creatures, probably from the beginning of time, labor to make sense and provide meaning and value to their lives in words, thoughts and/or prayers as an exit strategy for the inevitable. But we should also gain insight into life’s journey, not just from “experts in the field”, but through the words and actions of those who have lived a long life. Luigi Cornaro's The Art of Living Long was first published in 1550. He lived to 103. I have also personally learned from my father who lived to 102, from my maternal grandmother who lived to 105, and from Peter Atia who wants to live to 199. I’ll take 100 as my dream goal! 

Yet, the desire to live a long and healthy life rests on hope rather than the promise of a desired outcome, that sadly many fail to achieve. Staying alive and healthy takes hard work, discipline, and dedication, and even with the best of efforts, there is no guarantee that it will pay off in years of life gained. Too many factors are at play, some under one’s control (environment), others not (genetics). Moreover, it’s been my observation that as people age, many do not want to be reminded about how little time they have left on earth, talk about life and death in general, or dive deep into their medical histories to refine their general approach to health, medications, and/or diet. What cannot be debated is that each subsequent day of life shaves off yet another slice that can never be reclaimed. You cannot regain it with diet, with exercise, with prayer, by being good or bad, and even Elon Musk with his trillion-dollar salary cannot buy back even a second of time of his lived life. And yet it seems that more people dedicate their lives to gaining wealth and status, or more pitifully passing each day bemoaning their half empty cup, than to following a commonsense approach to staying healthy while appreciating their cup as half full. If indeed, you cannot reclaim even a second of life lived, you can potentially extend your life that one second with the right attitude and approach. But the kicker is that there is no such thing as one size fits all in the realm of healthy living, and no guarantee that your efforts will bear fruit. Nevertheless, I am one who is fully invested in the process. 

 

Yes, I am consumed with my desire for a long and healthy life. This has deepened since my retirement with more time to focus on myself without the intrusion of external work pressures and responsibilities. To this end, I consulted a random lifespan calculator that did not factor in blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, renal function, exercise, etc. At 79, my calculated life expectancy is 89 years – that means I have lived 89% of my life with 10 years left to go. Moreover, according to this calculator, I have only a 25% chance of living until 93, a 10% chance of living to 96 and a 2.5% chance of living to 100. Yikes!!!! But I want to live as long as my toothless uneducated laboring father who lived to 102?  He wanted to live forever too. He was very healthy throughout his life, only deteriorating in the last 3 weeks before his death following a broken hip that befell him during an unexpected fall. 

Nevertheless, this conversation glaringly ignores an important dimension, that of quality of life. What matters if I live to 95 after suffering a massive stroke at age 85. Put me to sleep at 85 and I will feel comforted that I had 85 years of a full and functional life. But there is more to this discussion. Let me serve as the example to explain. At this moment in time, at 79-year, I walk at least 4-6+ miles per day by day’s end, swim for about 30 minutes/day 3-4 times a week for 7-8 months of the year, lift weights 3-5 times/week, practice ballroom dancing 3-4 times each week, and ski on at least two separate occasions each year for 3-4 days at Deer Valley, Utah. I keep my mind active reading newspapers, commentaries, listening to podcasts, occasionally reading books, and in writing exercises such as this. I travel once a month to visit my family and friends on the east and west coasts and to visit my favorite countries in Asia (I am presently in Bangkok). To be sure, I’ve been engaged in these activities and to this extent for two decades (since age 59) after going part time at the University. Along the way, I have adjusted my medication regimen and through weight training have improved my mobility and strength. While I have grown more careful and even somewhat risk averse with time, I acknowledge that I have incrementally deteriorated in my physical and mental capacity over these last 20 years. But most days, I feel no different than I felt 10 years ago, some days I feel no different than I felt 20 years ago, and I don’t remember how I felt 30 years ago so I will forgo that comparison.

 

Here is my greatest fear, and it’s not that I may have only 10 years left to live. What really frightens me is that regardless of this calculated death sentence, I cannot for the life of me visualize the loss of my remaining faculties, both mental and physical that I have depended upon for so long to fill my daily life. I do NOT want to age gracefully. I do not want to stop walking 4-6 miles, I do not want to stop swimming or dancing or skiing, I do not want to stop lifting weights, I do not want to stop traveling the world. But the real question is how will I greet these categorical moments that will indubitably emerge sooner or later? What do I do when I can’t do any of these activities? Will I be too demented to care? Will I somehow be able to adjust to the new reality? Will I be bitter and spiteful? Will I see the cup half full or half empty? Too many questions and very few answers. Maybe I should join the ranks of those who would rather not ask these questions or engage in lengthy discussions about death and dying and live each day with a positive spirit and gratitude that I can do the things I love for yet another day. Apropos, I think its time to start planning my 80th birthday celebration for next year in Singapore, Bali, and Chiang Mai. 

Hokkaido –Second Impressions - 2025. Where can I put my garbage?

Having been in Hokkaido earlier this year for the Snow Festival made me want to return this fall.  And so here we are and for the most part, so are the beautiful vibrant array of fall colors!  It’s a much different vibe; the weather is perfect; people are walking everywhere both at street level and below in the labyrinth of underground pathways.  It feels safe, it IS safe, children, adolescents, mature adults and senior citizens all make for a visually pleasant menagerie for people gazing.  It makes me feel old to see so many vibrant youths, but I’m out there with them which beats the alternative.  Many things are the same; some are different.  Thank God for Daiso, thank God for Donkey (Don Quixote).

Still only a smattering of westerners, mostly Japanese found living the life.  Hokkaido Food Festival provides hundreds of stalls to taste an immense variety of Japanese culinary choices, plus a few from other worlds – Indian, Italian, etc.  The food in Japan is of course typically outstanding and if we needed to, we could live on the food sold at any 7 11 for the rest of eternity.

When I first travelled to mainland Japan (Yokohama), everyone on the street was in tailored suits and ties, the women were dressed impeccably, and the formality and the does and don’t were firmly imbedded and palpable. Fast forward to the present, at least in Sapporo, individuality and comfort rule the day.  Even those wearing suits may not include ties. But many wear t-shirts or loose-fitting shirts and pants, baggy low-lying shorts, and nondescript sweatshirts and hoodies.  The women are also dressed casually.  Loose fitting garments, dark or dowdy colors, dresses that reach the ankles or even lower, pants and t-shirts, etc, etc.  There are still some fashionably dressed and then there are the teenage girls dressed in whatever is acceptable for their peers, some fancy, some fanciful, some a little outrageous!  

While Gerri loves to explore every item in every aisle in every Diaso and the impossible task of repeating this routine in the Mega Don Quijote, I really enjoy walking the streets, looking for the fall colors, exploring the architecture and landscapes, and people watching.  We also visited some beautiful sites in the Daisetsuzan National Park, Biei and Furano. But this time I also wanted to know how Japan can keep so clean and orderly.  Indeed, I believe you can even perform heart surgery on any street in Japan and not worry about contamination or secondary infection….

In the US, it is axiomatic that if you wanted to encourage the proper disposal of waste in public spaces, you would place garbage bins in enough locations to discourage those likely to default to littering anywhere and everywhere.  It works for the most part but never completely and even in Hawaii, litter can sometimes be found but nothing compared with where littering is King in places like New York City.  Japan has a unique solution to littering – eliminate garbage bins altogether and place the burden on the individual to collect and dispose of litter after returning home.  So there are virtually no garbage bins anywhere out in the open….if you had a wrapper that you wanted to discard at 7-11, the attendants will willingly accept it assuming it was generated from a prior sale.

And it’s remarkable that even in Haneda Airport, thousands of travelers from all over the world contribute to keeping it the cleanest airport in the world!  Enough signs and individual expectations placed on those transiting the airport as well as a dedicated staff of housecleaners patrolling the common areas looking to correct the occasional refuse infraction and scouring areas on the carpet or tile that look stained.  Even in the Food Festival that we attended, where tons of refuse would be expected to be generated, instead of garbage bins, there were Garbage Stations!  You would surrender your garbage at these stations, and the small army of volunteers would process them into the proper category for disposal or recycle, etc. 

Not everything in Japan is hunky dory.  I’m still miffed at the requirement that requesting for a one-hour extension on check out of your hotel will generate a cost.  And even if your room is ready at 2pm, you won’t be able to access it until 3 or 4 pm depending upon the hotel.  This aspect is not as friendly or inviting as hotels in the US or elsewhere.  It’s still a small price to being in one of the most inviting places on earth to visit, filled with an endless landscape of sites and activities, safe and respectful, with a homogenous, kind and considerate populace that prides themselves on proper human interaction and helping others.  More on Japan in the next chapter – next may when we venture on the Japanese cruise ship, the Mitsui Ocean Fuji.  

One last item.  Yesterday we went to a famous Ramen Shop - Sapporo Ramen Haruka.  It was quite an experience. Always a line to wait before entering this tiny enclosure with only counter seating for about 10 people. We had to wait about 30 minutes to allow three others in front of us to gain entrance.  A nice gent from Singapore added to the entertainment until entering.  The room was very cozy, half the size of my hotel room, and there were tiny stools that were meant to fit the average Japanese derriere, and not the plus sizes of many American tourists. Everyone was crowded in like sardines waiting patiently for the hot bowel of ramen to be served.  You witnessed the process as the three working there were busy mixing the various ingredients into each bowel, vats of smoldering soup waiting for the ramen to cook to complete the process and then the fun began.  My selection was a cheese ramen dish that I had never heard of before, but it was truly delicious and satisfying.  Gerri ordered the miso butter corn selection that was also excellent.  The experience was a memorable one that I enjoyed immensely!  

Surviving Haneda Airport T3 to T1 International to Domestic Flight Connection on JAL

October 2025: If it wasn’t for my good friend and fellow Japanophile Ken, with only a 90-minute layover, I would not have made my connecting flight from Haneda Airport Terminal 3 (T3) to Asahikawa departing from Terminal 1 (T1). The information below represents my experience on Japan Airlines connecting from an international flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Haneda at Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 (approx. 4 km away) where I made my connection to Asahikawa within a 90-minute window. I will forgo any discussion of the free airport bus, the Keikyu line, or the Monorail that connect the three terminals until after the essentials.

Here are the essentials:

• Make sure you logon to Visit Japan Web, fill out the necessary info, and receive a QR code for each traveler in your party.  This will save tons of time when passing through Japan’s customs and immigration.  Best to take a screen shot on your phone, a paper printout image is a bit more difficult to capture on their monitoring screens.

• After completing the arduous task of navigating hundreds/thousands of tourists at customs and immigration (only took about 20 min thanks to our QR codes and specially directed queues) with all of your luggage in tow, exit into the arrivals lobby where an information desk can easily be seen, bypass this for now into the heart of the terminal and stay focused. TURN Right and walk to nearly the end of the terminal.  

• On your left side you will see the Domestic Check in counter…..maybe 50-75 yards…just guessing….only took 3-4 minutes when walking briskly. Assuming you have domestic boarding passes already in hand, you can drop off your luggage and free yourself of having to lug them to T1. Hooray!!!  One caveat!  Presumably you need to arrive at the Check In counter one hour prior to your departure time or they will tell you to skedaddle to Terminal 1 on your own on one of three options….free bus, Keikyu Line, Monorail.  Obviously, I did not test this limitation, but Japan is not known for its lax regulations. 

• After completing your business at the Domestic Check In counter, turn to the right (between a quarter and a half turn) and you will see a security check point on the opposite side at the far catty-corner of T3 – Security Check point for Domestic Flights….only about 150 feet from the domestic check in counter.  Navigate through this security check point and an escalator will take you down to the ground floor to catch a dedicated, free bus that takes you directly to either terminal 1 or 2. Buses come every few minutes to shuffle you directly to your gate without having to navigate through any further checkpoints or security.  Wow, this last feature is what is missing from most of the previous descriptions of how to get from T3 to T1.  You only need to get to your gate - the latest 10 minutes prior to departure. 

•        Refer to this excellent map of T3 shared with me from Ken.  https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://tokyo-haneda.com/en/floor/terminal3/2nd_floor.html__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!StstouITJdUovGbTifST2Q55vA_ujvzu36NBOer8uOHP0lETVnFHO9J30g-pwoBQjS-MuWWEf4p6nRm1rw$

The Saga:

When I booked my flight to Hokkaido, I jumped at a business class fare that included a legal 90-minute transit time to catch my domestic flight from Tokyo to Asahikawa. I did not fully comprehend what was needed to accomplish during that 90-minute period until after the fact….exit the plane, find your way to immigration and customs, navigate the long queues, present your QR code, get through to the maze of confusion, find your luggage at baggage claim, one final checkpoint, pass into the arrival area, decide how best to navigate to T1 – by free bus, Keikyu Line or Monorail, check in your baggage at T1’s JAL check in counter if outside the one hour window prior to departure, go through security, find your gate, and pray that you have made it in time before the doors close and you are left hopelessly defeated in this marathon endeavor.  This caused me unnecessary anguish during the preceding months prior to my journey. I won’t reveal the extent of my musings or actions, but they were considerable including trying to change my connecting flight on several occasions, informing the JR Inn in Asahikawa that I might not make my first night’s booking, etc. 

Looking for help on the internet was no help!  The pros and cons of the different methods to transit from T3 to T1, how to get a free shuttle bus ride (often long queues and longer transit time than other options) on the Monorail (need to change trains) or Keikyu line to T1 and T2 (lets you off between 1&2, need to walk a few hundred yards to either terminal), rushing to the Domestic check in counter to deliver your luggage prior to the one-hour deadline, and ruminations on Reddit from others with short layover times resembling my dilemma. It all seemed at best a crap shoot.  There were just too many options.  But none of them made any sense in terms of coordination until JAL had the good sense to make it easy on those transiting from T3 to T1 with their short, but legal layover times that they offered.  This new sequence is a welcomed improvement, one that should have been available in the past, but one that will make life more pleasant for countless others in the future.

The Lesson Learned

• Don’t worry about things that you don’t have any control over! Easier said than done!!!

• Do your homework regarding connecting flights and terminal changes and distances between terminals and security clearance and preparing for immigration and customs before booking flights with complex or domestic connections.  As a default allow 2 hours between connections. 

• Review the layout of terminals that you will be travelling through – For example, You Tube is replete with videos of Haneda Airport terminals.  The map referred to above is the best one to refer to.

Postscript

Why am I publishing this in my blog that only a handful of friends read?  I could answer some Reddit post or find some other widely read forum to use to get through to the largest audience.  I do want to help people but I’m also curious about how many hits I will get from this post. 

How to Clean Your Eyeglasses!

It’s taken me 60 years to figure out how to clean my prescription eyeglasses without scratching the increasingly fragile, scratchable lenses that seem to invite a progressive infiltration of vision upending damage characterized by a progressive erosion and distortion of ones excessively priced prescription lenses without meaningful recourse.  How about this for a run-on sentence!!!

Using microfiber cloths to clean with or without some commercial concoction of water and isopropyl alcohol misses the point as much as using your t-shirt, towel, or any other garment available at the moment to wipe the current smudge clean.  A little scratch appears which invites you to rub harder to no avail other than to continue to aggravate and perpetuate the failure of the last cleaning while deepening the scratches and smudges.

The problem is that any residue, any dust, face or hair lotion, or foreign microparticles of unknown origin that reside on your lenses may serve as a nidus of injury when rubbed firmly, even if performed by a clean microfiber cloth.  Microfiber has all sorts of attributes that presumably make it ideal for cleaning glasses but, even when I wash the microfiber clothes and rotate a stack of 20 of them each day to clean my lenses, scratches appear and progress over time.  Over the last 3 years I have had to replace my favorite glasses twice after they have become so scratched up that my already failing vision seemed even worse when they were perched on the bridge of my nose.  Microfiber may indeed forestall the progression to some extent, but it has no magical attributes to completely prevent the process of deterioration.

What we are told to do and what makes common sense may be two different things.  With my new pair of lenses just purchased, my goal is to totally avoid any wiping of my lenses during the cleaning process. How do I do that?

I wash the glasses in any sink and after a thorough rinsing of any prevailing residue and discrete particulate matter, I use a gentle soap to coat the lenses while continuing the running water routine.  Naturally my hands have been washed prior to this procedure and I avoid using any rough spots on my fingers to do the rubbing.  This only takes a few seconds.  Then I rinse the soapy water off of the lenses, dry my hands and then instead of wiping my glasses, I resort to a WOLFBOX MF50 Electric Air Duster-110000RPM Super Power Cordless Air Duster, 3-Gear Adjustable Mini Blower to blow the water beads and other micro residue particles off of the lenses. This takes about 5 seconds and does a marvelous job.  

So far, NO scratches!!! It’s been about a month since starting this routine. Only time will tell whether this approach weathers the test of time.  If it doesn’t, I’m not likely to confess this in a future blog.  On the other hand, I feel quite certain that if I can keep to this routine, I will be happily rewarded.  To this extent, it is notable that I have just purchased a second mini blower for travel purposes so that I can continue my routine whether by land, by sea, or up somewhere 30,000 above our planet.