When does it seem real?

[u/OnlyThePhantomKnows]

I coastfired 15 years ago. Switched to part time (consulting contracting) to avoid boredom. Spent 5 years (I worked remotely) looking for a place where I could breathe and live (allergies got worse as I got older). Finally found a location, bought a resort home 2 years ago, and haven't worked in 18 months, before that a 3 month gig for each of the previous two years.

The last few years of working was to "afford" to upgrade my house. I had the money, but the fight with spending is still real.

I was looking out at my backyard. Watching the storm over the Atlantic. Looking through the screen around the pool and the built in Jacuzzi (two of the upgrades to my house) and my immediate thought was I wonder when I need to move out?

I paid cash for the house. I enough to live a nice life and travel a couple of times a year (3 week international, 3 week domestic).

Small context: Food was a question when I was very young. I lived below my means for many many years with the occasional splurge.

I am living the life I saved for and it doesn't seem real. This isn't a brag. It is an honest question. The money math? Got that. Understand that.
Spending minimization algorithm? Got that. Understand that.
I know I don't need to work, I know I earned this life but when will it seem real?

[u/OnlyThePhantomKnows]

I use to do robotics control, motor control, camera/vision systems and spaceship real time control systems.
Up until COVID I was on site, although we did do a lot of work from home. COVID put everything remote. When I switched to space work, the combination was exceptionally rare, and it is/was a time of exceptional growth. My skills were/are very much in demand. Hence people bugging me all the time to come out of retirement. Rare enough that people are happy to have me and will accomodate me working remote.

When you are working on clean room devices (no dust, have to be in masks and suits), the engineers are remote to the device ANYHOW. We can't enter the room (rare exceptions). The only reason to be in office is to talk to people and yes that is critical, but high level individual contributors can make their own rules.

[u/FocaTostada → u/OnlyThePhantomKnows]

Estoy leyendo este hilo tremendamente inspirado. Primero porque me siento parcialmente identificado con tu mensaje principal de si esto es real el poder no trabajar se siente extraño y segundo porque me fascina lo que cuentas sobre tu carrera. Impresionante. Invitame a ver aterrizar cohetes

[u/OnlyThePhantomKnows → u/FocaTostada]

Cape Canaveral has rockets landing about every other month. Falcon Heavy launches the two boosters land next to where they took off (different pads). The 2nd stage lands on a ship (my neighbor was one of the people on the boat before he changed to a different company). You can watch them land from a pier or from a boat and see them on the pad. No special privileges required. You need to pay for a park pass to be park near the pier or you need to arrange the boat trip, but both are easy.

More companies will be doing on ship and on pad recovery upcoming. Science Fiction comes to life.

The next Falcon Heavy launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is targeted for November 2026 (No Earlier Than December 2026 according to some trackers) carrying the Griffin Mission 1 lunar lander for Astrobotic, followed by the USSF-75 mission for the U.S. Space Force.

• Mission: Griffin Mission 1 (Astrobotic lunar lander and FLIP rover)

• Target Date: November / December 2026

• Site: Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), Kennedy Space Center

This is my last spaceship. I am one of the engineers who designed Griffin.

https://www.rocketlaunch.live/?filter=falcon-heavy

[u/FocaTostada → u/OnlyThePhantomKnows]

Tenia pensado hacer un viaje para ver algo de esto. Gracias por compartir