(#1) Disco Sally: The Retired Laywer and Disco Queen of NYC Nightlife
Whoever thought getting old was boring must not have heard of Sally Lippmann. Lippmann was a retired lawyer who earned her fame as "Disco Sally" from her moves on the dance floor of New York City's Studio 54. After her husband's death, the 77-year-old, ex-lawyer lived up the rest of her life in style, becoming the cougar of disco in new York in the late '70s. Lippmann even had plans on traveling to Hollywood to make a movie about her wild life.
(#2) A Retired Aerospace Engineer Lives Life as a Rockstar
Everyone dreams of being a rockstar. And really, what better way is there for an 82-year-old retired aerospace engineer to spend their time off? Wait, what? John Hetlinger is seriously the coolest heavy-metal grandpa. He made it to the "Judge Cuts" round on Season 11 of America's Got Talent, performing both Drowning Pool's "Bodies" and Rob Zombie's "Dragula". Even though he was eventually cut from the show's cast, he still gets to perform live on stage with Drowning Pool at some of their festivals.
(#3) Retired Mathematician's Hand-Built Castle
This retired mathematician built his own castle... completely by hand. Reddit user kaiklops shows off their badass grandpa who built a stone castle by digging up stones from another property, hand-mixing the mortar, and setting it all into place piece by piece. With the help of his wife, the modern day mini-castle took only five years to build. The best part about it? There are no bedrooms, but there is a giant dance floor.
Take a look at the castle's progress pictures!
(#4) Retired Insurance Executive Turned BBQ Master
Johnny Trigg had a major career change when he retired from being an insurance executive and became a traveling barbeque master. Three years after his retirement, he took his competitive spirit for BBQ out of Texas and on the road, where the prize money was better.
He has definitely made a name for himself since then, becoming the first person to win first place twice at Jack Daniel's World Championship BBQ Invitational, and having three appearances in TLC's reality TV show, BBQ Pitmasters.
(#5) The Balloon Babe of Slab City
Retired social worker turned latex origami engineer- er, balloon artist - Karen Webb, leaves her city of Cincinnati, OH, every winter to warm up in what's considered to be one of America's last "free places," Slab City, outside the Salton Sea in California. The residents call her the "Balloon Babe," which is a title well earned seeing that she spends her time hanging out and making whatever she feels like for herself, as well as the residents, out of balloons.
(#6) Quit His Job at 25 and Sailed to Chili in Hurricane Season
Dwyer Haney, a 25 year old, gave up his day job and sold all of his belongings to sail to to the fjords of Chile in a 30-foot-long sail boat, that he affectionately named "Rascal"- in hurricane season, where he almost lost both his boat and his friend. He kept a blog full of pictures and journals of his epic voyage from Bellingham, Washington to Chilean Patagonia, and plans to keep finding challenges to conquer throughout the rest of his very early retirement.
(#7) First Person to Circumnavigate the World in a Hot Air Balloon
While working as a Stock Broker, Steven Fossett still had a thirst for adventure. As he slipped into retirement, he had more time to quench that thirst and began his attempts at conquering one of the remaining things yet to be accomplished by man, traveling the world alone, nonstop, in a hot air balloon. After five failed attempts, he finally accomplished that goal in 2002 in a ten story high balloon, Spirit of Freedom, earning him a spot in The National Aviation Hall of Fame.
(#8) Retired Civil Engineer Creates Artificial Glaciers to Aid Ladakh
This retired civil engineer still puts his field experience to work by helping the people of Ladakh, India with their water needs. At 79 years old, Chewang Norphel, aka the "Ice Man of India" has found a solution to Ladakh's troubles through artificial glaciers. Since then, Ladakh's agricultural production has increased and many residents no longer feel the need to move into cities. He plans to continue making glaciers and hopes to extend this aid to other places across the globe that are experiencing backlashes from global warming.
(#9) This Guy Quit His Job to Become a Pro Golfer
This is Dan McLaughlin. Dan was once a commercial photographer, but he completely quit that job to become a pro golfer. Except Dan had never played an entire 18 holes golf before - ever. Dan has a plan, though. He wants to rack up 10,000 hours of practice, he's traveling the world and dedicating himself to becoming a pro golfer.
Dan keeps everyone updated on his progress through his blog, which includes videos and a map that marks courses he has played all over the world.
(#10) A Belgian Man Made His Dream Car Out of Wood
At 72, Momir Bojic built his dream car, a Volkswagen Beetle, completely out of wood. And yes, it drives. After Retirement, he crafted the car using over 50,000 pieces of Oak wood in his garden workshop in Bosnia. Not only is the car beautiful, but the detailing is absolutely incredible. Now he cruises around Bosnia turning heads wherever he goes.
(#11) This Whole Family Quit Their Jobs to Play Pro Poker
Michelle and Matthew Shiels have both retired from their day jobs to become pro poker players... along with their sons Richard and Brandon. They're all poker experts at their "House of Cards" in Birmingham, AL, and the family spends at least three days out of the week competing in poker tournaments and making a few television appearances.
Before going pro, Michelle owned a nursery business, which she sold to focus on poker, and her husband, Matthew, was an accountant.
(#12) Retired Contractor Settles into Slab City and Operates its Infamous Outdoor Music Venue
William Ammon, aka Builder Bill, is a retired construction worker who now runs "The Range" - Slab City's outdoor music venue. He faced unemployment 17 years ago when his field's job market ran dry, so he moved on to California's Slab City, where he now rocks out with the residents during the venue's weekly outdoor music concerts under the stars.
(#13) Former Engineer Creates Armies of Kinetic Sculptures
Seth R. Goldstein retired quite some time ago from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Since then, he has earned the title and reputation of "kinetic sculptor" from his artistically engineered machines that he makes in his basement workshop - like "Why Knot? (above)," "Cram Guy," and "RO-BOW."
(#14) Right Before His Retirement, This Guy Took Up Painting - Using Spreadsheets
Digital design hardware and software can become expensive, but this retired man found a way around that by creating intricate digital art with Microsoft Excel, Microsoft's spreadsheet software. The 73-yearyold artist, Tatsuo Horiuchi, even went above and beyond with his talents, winning the Excel Autoshape Art Contest (yes, that exists) in 2006, and it's not as easy as it seems.
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About This Tool
To be honest, retirement is not a natural part of the human life cycle. Retirement was only a social engineering experiment in the past, aimed at getting older, deemed useless workers to leave their jobs and make room for young people. On the positive side, retirees finally have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Choose a job that fits your personal values, professional skills, and ideas, and you will get a lasting sense of satisfaction and self-worth.
Each age provides things that you have not been experienced before, you have the opportunity to start your own adventure at any age. You can decide whether life is an adventure or full of trivial matters. The random tool shares 14 stories of people who make their dreams come true after their retirements.
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