The hobby should not take on the aspects of a job, although it’s not unusual for it to turn into a real job that actually pays real money. And the reverse can occur as well.

To some extent that is what has happened to me; various bits of knowledge I have acquired over the years, usually incidental to what my “real” job was at the time, are the reason the company values me. But while I am one of the foremost experts in that arcane area in the world, it does not pay much and lately has paid less than not much.

Meanwhile, my first job out of college was fixing airplanes and now I do that as a hobby. True, it’s a money-saving hobby, since otherwise I would have to hire someone to do some of that work, but I have put a lot of effort into helping other people as well.

Here in Florida I note that retirees fall into two groups. The people who came here in their youth, or even relative youth, never seem to retire completely, even if just to support their hobbies. Then there are the ones who came here to retire and are often are of a mindset they should never have to lift a finger again.

Of course, there is negative aspect to those who do not get into a retirement mindset as well. A couple of years back I resigned from one local organization after I realized what was really going on. The man who started it clearly considered it as a form of recreation. Any month that he could not come up with something on which to send angry letters or hold meetings on was terrible to him. He was in heaven when I came in and wrote coherent letters and minutes of the meetings. When I finally realized that he was doing far more damage than good by his complaints and got tired of his incessant nagging, I quit. He realizes now how badly he screwed up and is still trying to get me involved, but I’m not accepting.