George Elliott in the webcast booth prior to a recent Princeton Posse KIJHL ice hockey game.
I find myself correcting people when they ask me how retirement is. I have to point out that I have not retired at all and that my career path has taken a turn. Then I start to list some of the things I’ve been doing since we closed the doors to our newspaper business. It’s at about this time whoever I’ve talking to looks a bit amazed and even I start to hear myself and come to the realization that I am almost as busy now as I was then.
JamBusters!
I don’t normally include this in my list of activities but Brenda and I have spent Sundays all summer vending out of town. We have a number of events booked now for the Christmas Craft Fair season and have already attended one. The vending activities have been a lot of fun as I truly enjoy being the ‘pitch man’ making contact with people walking by our booth or table. Brenda and I work extremely well together at these events and enjoy being with each other and doing something both of us enjoy so much.
Freelance Writing
This is the bulk of my work-from-home activity. What I like most about it is that it is never the same. I have a total of seven regular clients with another three semi-regular clients and the jobs I get from them are across the complete spectrum. Recently I finished a small eBook guide on how to use a buyers agent to purchase property in Australia. Another recent job was an article for a magazine on how drinking alcohol warms us in winter.
Other jobs completed in the past few days include articles on how decks and patios along with kitchen flooring benefit your home in staging it for a sale and a set of articles on camping and tenting products. Once I get caught up more work shows up and I love that it just keeps coming and that my regular clients are so reliable in that way. I also like that I can take time off whenever I want provided I’m caught up on current writing jobs.
My New eBook
I have just recently completed my 5th eBook. I started writing it only a few weeks ago once I had the proper concept in mind as to how I wanted to approach the subject matter. It is titled “Surviving Midlife Career Changes” and deals with how Brenda and I made it through our new career change and provides many tips and ideas on how to do it yourself. It is targeted at the 50+ crowd and includes job interview tips for mature workers and more. It will be launched in November 2016 but the idea for it has been percolating since this past May. I knew I was going to draw on our experience for some of the content so I needed to wait until we had nearly completed our shift before I could start writing.
Podcasts
My podcast channel “Ninja on the Loose” was launched in July 2016 and I upload a new episode each week. I try to keep them informative sharing basic life skills or helpful tips with a Top 5 List as the foundation and me explaining why these items are listed and how they relate to the subject of that specific episode. So far I have been listed on all the major podcast directories except one so I’m happy with that. Currently I see an average of 30 downloads per day. I have no idea if that is good or not but I’m happy with it.
Webcasts
The Princeton Posse home game hockey webcasts are roughly four times a month, mostly on weekends. I am really enjoying being back in the webcast booth although it is a new facility to me with all the same equipment I was using before. I was the first webcaster for the team and did the first six seasons of home games. I took a two season break and the team requested I come back and it has been a wonderful experience. The games are good, the view is great and I love how it allows me in some strange way to reconnect with my broadcasting roots.
Similkameen Gazette
I have been a sporadic but regular contributor to the online newspaper the Similkameen Gazette. It was launched just as I was closing our printed paper by a guy who was working for me. Spencer has worked hard at getting his product to where it is now and I love that I can send him stuff that he finds useful. It’s been a great partnership and I sometimes chuckle when I think about the ways the roles have changed between us. I also appreciate the outlet that gives me a way to keep connected to the newspaper reporter inside me.
Volunteer Activities
I continue to sit as the Chairman of the Granite Creek Preservation Society and Vice President of the Princeton & District Chamber of Commerce. Both have been rewarding and both have been quietly rebuilding themselves in order to take on bigger and better projects. So as you can see, I have most certainly not retired. If anything I have started to find better use of my time and have been working on finding the right balance so everything moves smoothly. I think I’m getting pretty close to that point.
JamBusters!
I don’t normally include this in my list of activities but Brenda and I have spent Sundays all summer vending out of town. We have a number of events booked now for the Christmas Craft Fair season and have already attended one. The vending activities have been a lot of fun as I truly enjoy being the ‘pitch man’ making contact with people walking by our booth or table. Brenda and I work extremely well together at these events and enjoy being with each other and doing something both of us enjoy so much.
Freelance Writing
This is the bulk of my work-from-home activity. What I like most about it is that it is never the same. I have a total of seven regular clients with another three semi-regular clients and the jobs I get from them are across the complete spectrum. Recently I finished a small eBook guide on how to use a buyers agent to purchase property in Australia. Another recent job was an article for a magazine on how drinking alcohol warms us in winter.
Other jobs completed in the past few days include articles on how decks and patios along with kitchen flooring benefit your home in staging it for a sale and a set of articles on camping and tenting products. Once I get caught up more work shows up and I love that it just keeps coming and that my regular clients are so reliable in that way. I also like that I can take time off whenever I want provided I’m caught up on current writing jobs.
My New eBook
I have just recently completed my 5th eBook. I started writing it only a few weeks ago once I had the proper concept in mind as to how I wanted to approach the subject matter. It is titled “Surviving Midlife Career Changes” and deals with how Brenda and I made it through our new career change and provides many tips and ideas on how to do it yourself. It is targeted at the 50+ crowd and includes job interview tips for mature workers and more. It will be launched in November 2016 but the idea for it has been percolating since this past May. I knew I was going to draw on our experience for some of the content so I needed to wait until we had nearly completed our shift before I could start writing.
Podcasts
My podcast channel “Ninja on the Loose” was launched in July 2016 and I upload a new episode each week. I try to keep them informative sharing basic life skills or helpful tips with a Top 5 List as the foundation and me explaining why these items are listed and how they relate to the subject of that specific episode. So far I have been listed on all the major podcast directories except one so I’m happy with that. Currently I see an average of 30 downloads per day. I have no idea if that is good or not but I’m happy with it.
Webcasts
The Princeton Posse home game hockey webcasts are roughly four times a month, mostly on weekends. I am really enjoying being back in the webcast booth although it is a new facility to me with all the same equipment I was using before. I was the first webcaster for the team and did the first six seasons of home games. I took a two season break and the team requested I come back and it has been a wonderful experience. The games are good, the view is great and I love how it allows me in some strange way to reconnect with my broadcasting roots.
Similkameen Gazette
I have been a sporadic but regular contributor to the online newspaper the Similkameen Gazette. It was launched just as I was closing our printed paper by a guy who was working for me. Spencer has worked hard at getting his product to where it is now and I love that I can send him stuff that he finds useful. It’s been a great partnership and I sometimes chuckle when I think about the ways the roles have changed between us. I also appreciate the outlet that gives me a way to keep connected to the newspaper reporter inside me.
Volunteer Activities
I continue to sit as the Chairman of the Granite Creek Preservation Society and Vice President of the Princeton & District Chamber of Commerce. Both have been rewarding and both have been quietly rebuilding themselves in order to take on bigger and better projects. So as you can see, I have most certainly not retired. If anything I have started to find better use of my time and have been working on finding the right balance so everything moves smoothly. I think I’m getting pretty close to that point.
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