Ken King
05-21-2007, 07:54 AM
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As is obvious by the amount of time it has been since I last offered up a column I have been more than just a little pre-occupied as I have been consumed with the most serious of issues in my personal life. I therefore apologize for my dereliction and since I have made firm plans in how I will continue to deal with these problems of mine I find that I can now once again focus on other activities, like completing a column. And I suspect that for many of you this will not only be somewhat of a surprise but this might be my final offering as I will explain below. At this time it is my intent to keep my options open as events unfold and communicate with Dee Jay and David about whether or not they want me to continue with my offerings.
Some of those here in the forums that are close to me and know me in real life are aware of what has been going on and what I have been dealing with. At this time I opt for privacy as to the reasons for my pending departure, suffice it to say that it is the results of long term domestic chaos that I have been enduring that has driven me to make drastic changes in my life. I am at the point that I can no longer be anywhere near the cause of my suffering, therefore my only recourse is to get as far away as I can and into a trusting and loving environment.
Rest assured my departure from southern Maryland has nothing to do with any of you and this fine instrument of connectivity that I have come to love. You diverse and demented people will always be fondly remembered and cherished by me. For many years you guys and gals have been my friends, my social life, my entertainment and you will always be a part of who it is that I am. I have never before obtained so much companionship and joy as I have from simply belonging to and participating in what I define as our cyber-society where real life interaction is mingled with the digital domain. It has been a thrill and, more correctly for me, an obsession like nothing I have ever experienced before. So while I might be geographically displaced in the future I plan on checking in regularly but obviously it will be nowhere near what has been my typical routine as I work to re-establish my life and become a part of my new surroundings.
For me things are really moving very quickly towards this transition as I have requested and been approved for early retirement that is scheduled to commence on June 29th. They are even paying me a bonus to retire early; you can’t beat that now can you? This will bring to an end a 30 year, five month, and two day career working directly for the government. There was also a period of 23 months where I was a contractor perfuming duties for the government between my active military duty and my becoming a civil servant. This portion of my life has been challenging and rewarding like nothing anyone could have ever dreamed of. It was a fascinating job and one where in my entire time I never once dreaded going to work.
During my career I was also fortunate to have been able to travel the globe; I am missing only Australia amongst the continents. I was able to spend time in numerous foreign nations and sampled their offerings and saw many wonders up close and in person, I think the last time I tallied it up I had been to somewhere around 60 nation’s total. And I have had the opportunity to experience all 50 states and am loaded down with adventures and tales that I one day might share with you guys. One thing that I always found true was that there are quite a few places with life as good as it is here, but I found none that I would consider better and many that were a heck of a lot worse.
I also had a job that I loved beyond belief and took to it like I had no other calling in life. I participated in wars with brother and sister servicemen, assisted in humanitarian relief following significant disasters, made significant intelligence discoveries impacting the order of battle for nations we view as potentially hostile during my active duty days and then I spent my last 20 years conducting tests upon the newest aviation tools being created for our nation’s warriors. Tools that advanced their superiority and survivability against any adversary that they might face. This job had significant purpose and I was always provided state or the art equipment to accomplish the demanding tasks involved with aviation research, development, test and evaluation. Hey, are you guys catching on that I really loved my work?
Well enough of my reminiscing and on to my upcoming retirement and what I will be doing. Within days after I retire I have to head out to Ohio to attend the wedding of my niece. She is a little firecracker and is hitching up with her longtime beau. From everything I know so far this could be a wild time and I look forward to a little craziness and festivity. From there I will be venturing south, way south, the Deep South to a community called Nahunta, Georgia. It is about 25 miles west of Brunswick down near the Florida line. Compared to here it is the sticks that make this area look metropolitan in comparison. But I look forward to that solitude and the reduced activity.
I will initially be residing with my mother as she is getting along in the years and my baby sister lives next door. I plan on spending most of my time just being there to provide assistance when needed. My sister has been looking out for Mom ever since Dad passed away a couple of years ago and with her dealing with her own medical issues I will be a much needed relief for both of them. Additionally, for those of you that remember my mentioning of my dog Taz, a 70 pound Chow, he will be accompanying me on this adventure. Hopefully he can acclimate to the different climate without too much difficulty. Mom has met him and like everyone that has met him fell in love with him and his massive fuzziness.
I have no immediate plans to return to the working world anytime soon as I am in dire need of a lengthy sabbatical comprised of only leisure and the things I want to do as well as being void of the stresses that have consumed me for better than three years. Hell, I have even toyed with the idea of taking up the clubs and working on developing a golf game. The last time I played a full round was when I was a teenager, but I have always had the urge to get back into it. I mean really, if Pete, Otter and Larry can do it, it truly has to be JPC proof, if you know what I mean. I also am contemplating taking a look at writing a book or two. With some of my experiences and ordeals I could easily fill a few hundred pages, whether or not it would interest anyone but me is another question that I have no clue to the answer, but it would kill time. And then there is furthering my education as many of you know I have always wanted to get a law degree and practice law. And of course there is always politics. Who knows, maybe I’ll get in to Congress and do battle with our own political wannabe should Hell happen to freeze over. As you can probably tell I really haven’t decided what I will do or where I will end up in my life, but I know that it can’t be here as things stand now.
The only drawback to any of this is that I will miss southern Maryland, its beauties, and I will miss the people; especially you guys here on the forums. While many that come here find the typical residents lacking in many aspects I have found them to be the greatest people in the world and I am proud to have called southern Maryland my home for more than 45 years. I truly wish things had worked out differently for me and that I could live out my years here, but that simply is not the case and for my sanity and wellbeing I must take the path I have laid out. I will miss you more than any of you will know and it is my hope that on occasion I will get back up here and do so as frequently as possible.
So at this time its one big goodbye from me. May all things you wish for come true and may you all have wonderful and joyous lives. You will be forever in my thoughts.
As a note my employer will be throwing a retirement party for me sometime in early to mid-June (tentative date is 14 June, tentative location is the Brass Rail). Naturally, any of you that want to show up are more than welcome and appreciated. I will post any changes or updates as to the date, location, and time as soon as it has been firmed up. I truly would love to see all of you that I have met make it and would be more than willing to become acquainted with any of you that I have not yet met.
As is obvious by the amount of time it has been since I last offered up a column I have been more than just a little pre-occupied as I have been consumed with the most serious of issues in my personal life. I therefore apologize for my dereliction and since I have made firm plans in how I will continue to deal with these problems of mine I find that I can now once again focus on other activities, like completing a column. And I suspect that for many of you this will not only be somewhat of a surprise but this might be my final offering as I will explain below. At this time it is my intent to keep my options open as events unfold and communicate with Dee Jay and David about whether or not they want me to continue with my offerings.
Some of those here in the forums that are close to me and know me in real life are aware of what has been going on and what I have been dealing with. At this time I opt for privacy as to the reasons for my pending departure, suffice it to say that it is the results of long term domestic chaos that I have been enduring that has driven me to make drastic changes in my life. I am at the point that I can no longer be anywhere near the cause of my suffering, therefore my only recourse is to get as far away as I can and into a trusting and loving environment.
Rest assured my departure from southern Maryland has nothing to do with any of you and this fine instrument of connectivity that I have come to love. You diverse and demented people will always be fondly remembered and cherished by me. For many years you guys and gals have been my friends, my social life, my entertainment and you will always be a part of who it is that I am. I have never before obtained so much companionship and joy as I have from simply belonging to and participating in what I define as our cyber-society where real life interaction is mingled with the digital domain. It has been a thrill and, more correctly for me, an obsession like nothing I have ever experienced before. So while I might be geographically displaced in the future I plan on checking in regularly but obviously it will be nowhere near what has been my typical routine as I work to re-establish my life and become a part of my new surroundings.
For me things are really moving very quickly towards this transition as I have requested and been approved for early retirement that is scheduled to commence on June 29th. They are even paying me a bonus to retire early; you can’t beat that now can you? This will bring to an end a 30 year, five month, and two day career working directly for the government. There was also a period of 23 months where I was a contractor perfuming duties for the government between my active military duty and my becoming a civil servant. This portion of my life has been challenging and rewarding like nothing anyone could have ever dreamed of. It was a fascinating job and one where in my entire time I never once dreaded going to work.
During my career I was also fortunate to have been able to travel the globe; I am missing only Australia amongst the continents. I was able to spend time in numerous foreign nations and sampled their offerings and saw many wonders up close and in person, I think the last time I tallied it up I had been to somewhere around 60 nation’s total. And I have had the opportunity to experience all 50 states and am loaded down with adventures and tales that I one day might share with you guys. One thing that I always found true was that there are quite a few places with life as good as it is here, but I found none that I would consider better and many that were a heck of a lot worse.
I also had a job that I loved beyond belief and took to it like I had no other calling in life. I participated in wars with brother and sister servicemen, assisted in humanitarian relief following significant disasters, made significant intelligence discoveries impacting the order of battle for nations we view as potentially hostile during my active duty days and then I spent my last 20 years conducting tests upon the newest aviation tools being created for our nation’s warriors. Tools that advanced their superiority and survivability against any adversary that they might face. This job had significant purpose and I was always provided state or the art equipment to accomplish the demanding tasks involved with aviation research, development, test and evaluation. Hey, are you guys catching on that I really loved my work?
Well enough of my reminiscing and on to my upcoming retirement and what I will be doing. Within days after I retire I have to head out to Ohio to attend the wedding of my niece. She is a little firecracker and is hitching up with her longtime beau. From everything I know so far this could be a wild time and I look forward to a little craziness and festivity. From there I will be venturing south, way south, the Deep South to a community called Nahunta, Georgia. It is about 25 miles west of Brunswick down near the Florida line. Compared to here it is the sticks that make this area look metropolitan in comparison. But I look forward to that solitude and the reduced activity.
I will initially be residing with my mother as she is getting along in the years and my baby sister lives next door. I plan on spending most of my time just being there to provide assistance when needed. My sister has been looking out for Mom ever since Dad passed away a couple of years ago and with her dealing with her own medical issues I will be a much needed relief for both of them. Additionally, for those of you that remember my mentioning of my dog Taz, a 70 pound Chow, he will be accompanying me on this adventure. Hopefully he can acclimate to the different climate without too much difficulty. Mom has met him and like everyone that has met him fell in love with him and his massive fuzziness.
I have no immediate plans to return to the working world anytime soon as I am in dire need of a lengthy sabbatical comprised of only leisure and the things I want to do as well as being void of the stresses that have consumed me for better than three years. Hell, I have even toyed with the idea of taking up the clubs and working on developing a golf game. The last time I played a full round was when I was a teenager, but I have always had the urge to get back into it. I mean really, if Pete, Otter and Larry can do it, it truly has to be JPC proof, if you know what I mean. I also am contemplating taking a look at writing a book or two. With some of my experiences and ordeals I could easily fill a few hundred pages, whether or not it would interest anyone but me is another question that I have no clue to the answer, but it would kill time. And then there is furthering my education as many of you know I have always wanted to get a law degree and practice law. And of course there is always politics. Who knows, maybe I’ll get in to Congress and do battle with our own political wannabe should Hell happen to freeze over. As you can probably tell I really haven’t decided what I will do or where I will end up in my life, but I know that it can’t be here as things stand now.
The only drawback to any of this is that I will miss southern Maryland, its beauties, and I will miss the people; especially you guys here on the forums. While many that come here find the typical residents lacking in many aspects I have found them to be the greatest people in the world and I am proud to have called southern Maryland my home for more than 45 years. I truly wish things had worked out differently for me and that I could live out my years here, but that simply is not the case and for my sanity and wellbeing I must take the path I have laid out. I will miss you more than any of you will know and it is my hope that on occasion I will get back up here and do so as frequently as possible.
So at this time its one big goodbye from me. May all things you wish for come true and may you all have wonderful and joyous lives. You will be forever in my thoughts.
As a note my employer will be throwing a retirement party for me sometime in early to mid-June (tentative date is 14 June, tentative location is the Brass Rail). Naturally, any of you that want to show up are more than welcome and appreciated. I will post any changes or updates as to the date, location, and time as soon as it has been firmed up. I truly would love to see all of you that I have met make it and would be more than willing to become acquainted with any of you that I have not yet met.