New Name - Same Blog

Last week I wrote about the need to rationalize my dual identities. I’m retired (from corporate life) and now also a part-time consultant. Friends gave me some great ideas for new names for this blog, so I could minimize the focus on being retired and still talk about my post-corporate freedom. I ran a bunch through Blogger to check availability. The suggestion that resonated with me the most (and was also available for use) came from my creative husband, Ron. Thus “Runaway Boomer” came to be.

I was born in 1955, smack in the middle of the Baby Boomer period, and bear many of the standard characteristics of my generation. And I finally discarded the life I for so long felt I SHOULD lead – important job, good salary, big house in the suburbs, nice clothes, self-propelled lawnmower, two cars, blah, blah, blah. To be honest, all that was great and served us well. But it also burned us out badly. Fortunately, we had planned and saved, and Ron and I found that our dream was the same – to change our lives to be simpler and less stressful. So we ran away. We still have everything that is really important to us.

It all seemed meant to be. We already owned the condo in Chicago. Blackstone bought Hilton and our stock cashed out. Hilton “eliminated” our jobs (wink, wink) and paid us severance. Our house in Memphis sold in three days. Most of our furniture was purchased out from under us. The moving sale was a smash success. Ron’s brother bought one of our cars for his 16 year-old. Before we knew it, the moving van was on its way to Chicago. We felt lighter than air!

It’s been one year, eight months, and eighteen days since we arrived in our new urban home. So much has changed. We are relaxed, healthier, happier, and so thankful for it all. I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

Part-time consulting is appealing to us. Through Haropulos Bailey Consulting, we will use our combined experience and skill to take on the occasional project assignment. We’ll hook up with people we like and admire, on challenges were we know we can add value. There is no desire for fame and fortune – just the gratification that will come from using our minds and helping someone who needs our expertise. Opportunities may be somewhat sparse, because we don’t plan to hunt them very hard. So far, they are finding us.

So, Runaway Boomer is a better expression of how I feel – emancipated! I hope you continue to enjoy my postings, about how life has changed since we changed the rules.