8 August 2018
It’s been a quiet summer at the TreeHouse so far. Not a lot of exciting info to report. Gene’s retirement date has been announced at MITRE: late January 2019. Lynn and I have been working with that date in mind for a while; work has begun on cleaning out the TreeHouse – no small feat with 30+ years of clutter accumulated – and arranging needed repairs and maintenance in advance of putting the house on the market (we’re relocating to Maine in our retirement). There was no need to announce the retirement at work way in advance. My management position replacement has to be advertised for internally early enough to be able to select the replacement and have enough overlap to let the new stuckee come up to speed, so now is about the right time. Informally I gave my boss about a year’s notice so she could start planning out a strategy, but the next level up and the people who work for me will be informed now so planning can proceed. My Excel retirement countdown spreadsheet tells me I have 5 months and 16 days left as of today, which is 169 days or 24.1 weeks or 0.461 years. It’s also 122 weekdays or 118 days after deducting holidays or 106 days after deducting holidays and vacation days… but who’s counting!
We hosted a cookout for the VOGT side of the family to meet the newest member of the family – grandson Alexander. Had a good turnout; my two local sisters and their spouses, and most of their kids and grandkids, and a few long-time family friends. Burgers and hot dogs; the usual cookout fare. Alexander turns six months old in a few days… time flies.
Lynn’s spent most of July and some of August up at the Ballot Box by herself, enjoying the peace and quiet. She may also spend most of September and October up there as well (as long as the renovations don’t get in the way), her favorite time of year to be up in Maine. I invade for occasional weekends, traveling up and back on the Amtrak DownEaster train that picks me up at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn and drops me off at the Brunswick ME train station (the end of the Amtrak line) about 26 miles from the Ballot Box . We’ve planned a sweeping renovation for the Ballot Box to accommodate full-time residence by two folks that have more (and larger) toys than most. Now we’re in a holding pattern until the excavators show up to start prepping the lot for a new garage slab and house foundation expansions.
The Vogt Family TreeHouse Blog 