The last mega Peak Oil conference in the UK was in 2011!

[Default0ptions]

Lol yes. Especially for those who troll with sophistry and obfuscation

[johnny]

Lol yes. Especially for those who troll with sophistry and obfuscation

Ask Vortex whether or not he believes the necessary resources, understanding and expertise in the field are something trolls have available to solve this particular issue. Or I do.

[Vortex2]

johnny, just wondering : are you still working at you-know-where?

[johnny]

johnny, just wondering : are you still working at you-know-where?

No. Awhile after the 2011 conference you referenced I...upgraded.

[Vortex2]

I...upgraded.

I suppose that you are in or approaching the retirement zone by now.
Will you walk away from all this energy stuff and take up fishing?

[johnny]

I...upgraded.

I suppose that you are in or approaching the retirement zone by now.

Eligible as we speak. But not in any hurry.

Will you walk away from all this energy stuff and take up fishing?

Not much for fishing. Traveling perhaps, primarily North America. But I get to do that while employed, enough to be satisfied with my time off on walk about. My work environment is optimal, and has been for awhile now. Upon retirement I certainly would lose access to the above and beyond substantial commercial and proprietary data available as part of my employment. It would be like one of folks who participate in those global circumnavigation sailing races suddenly restricted to a canoe in the local fishing pond.

I thought about writing a book on peak oil shenanigans, I've accumulated enough insider research material and been involved personally long enough to tell all sorts of good stories. The time for that has probably come and gone though. It was a great research topic for awhile, and figuring it all out taught me a tremendous amount about far more than just the geosciences but also about psychology and belief systems and the sub categories inside the idea.

[Default0ptions]

* I thought about writing a book on peak oil shenanigans, I've accumulated enough insider research material and been involved personally long enough to tell all sorts of good stories. *

Oh you should! I’d probably buy it

[Vortex2]

It would be like one of folks who participate in those global circumnavigation sailing races suddenly restricted to a canoe in the local fishing pond.

Yep.

I climbed the greasy pole over decade to become the software lead as part of the CEO's team at a Smartphone manufacturer.
Lots of status, endless international travel etc. All hokum really.

I then used my ill gotten gains to finance a move into a medical field in my 40s.

A year ago I sold my practice and retired.

We now live quietly ... TOO quietly .. in our eco-house on our smallholding.

I'm taking a deep look at AI .. but TBH I'm not sure what to do next.

[johnny]

A year ago I sold my practice and retired.
We now live quietly ... TOO quietly .. in our eco-house on our smallholding.
I'm taking a deep look at AI .. but TBH I'm not sure what to do next.

I've worked in a place where people are so involved with what they love and do that they tend to die at their desk. Seriously. Some I know who had retired changed their minds and came back within a month or two. They were assigned an emeritus office and computer (and access to all the info and resources they had when employed), weren't paid a dime for their time, and often it seemed they were far more productive. Maybe they realized once again how much they loved doing what they do? Crazy scientists.

From racing to circumnavigate the planet on a sailboat to a canoe in a pond. I can see wanting to stay in the game right up until a hurricane sinks you in the middle of the Pacific and you die doing what you love up to the end. Go out at the top of one's game...keel over on the desk...or....live quietly? You can see both sides of that better than I can. I figure health and finances and kids and hobbies and ego to stay on top of the game are all factors in any such decision. Reminds me of a quote.

"And Alexander wept, seeing he had no more worlds to conquer."

[Vortex2]

Hmmm ... I'm now really boring.
I've lived & worked in several countries, and TBH I haven't come across any which are sufficiently attractive for me to retire to - or visit/revisit.
I now live in the English Cotswolds - in a location which I find very pleasant and which many outsiders visit on vacation.
As for pining to do more medical work ... err, no.
I do still find software and tech fascinating .. but it's a young person's field, and also about to be swept away by AI.
I suppose I need to take up bridge, lawn bowling and gardening.

[johnny]

Hmmm ... I'm now really boring.

My parents are long retired. And they like their really boring. The only thing I see in their retirement that I long for is the concept that timing and schedules just don't matter. Plane delayed a day? Let's explore the town we are in until then. Winter storm in the way coming back from seeing the grandkids? Stay longer. Drive south around it and see other grandkids. Drive south around it and go to the GOM. A museum. A historical site. Lets take a month to drive to Alaska. Or Newfoundland. Don't need much of a plan when the timing of leaving or arriving elsewhere is mostly irrelevant. When I travel, or vacation, time matters. Not for them. That is the one thing of value in retirement I can see at this moment. And I don't know if it is of enough value to counterbalance being in that canoe on a pond.

I now live in the English Cotswolds - in a location which I find very pleasant and which many outsiders visit on vacation.

Where I live doesn't need to be pleasant, but it does need to make the wife happy. Give me 2 wheels or 4 and I can find pleasant between Key West Florida and Prudhoe Bay, or San Diego and Goose Bay in Canada.

I suppose I need to take up bridge, lawn bowling and gardening.

My eyesight is beginning to cause me issues in mixed lighting conditions, and I worry that it will constrict motoring time to daylight hours only. And I don't sleep in the car much anymore, I've gotten lazy and seek comfort at hotels along the way. When the ability to drive around randomly goes away, I don't have a clue what I might do with myself. Write the book out of boredom maybe?

[Vortex2]

Where I live doesn't need to be pleasant, but it does need to make the wife happy.

TBH whilst your area has a fairly amenable climate, the landscape whilst beautiful, isn't for me. Each to their own, I suppose.
If I had emigrated to the US, I suspect that the older towns in New Hampshire might have been of interest.
Or maybe somewhere like Coupeville, WA. Or Beaumont, NC ... if we could tolerate the summer humidity. Or even a quiet mid-Western city.

[johnny]

Where I live doesn't need to be pleasant, but it does need to make the wife happy.

TBH whilst your area has a fairly amenable climate, the landscape whilst beautiful, isn't for me. Each to their own, I suppose.
If I had emigrated to the US, I suspect that the older towns in New Hampshire might have been of interest.

I've been to New Hampshire and Vermont recently, both are perfectly nice places, the daughter is insisting that we retire ("we" as in the whole family) to a hobby farm in Vermont for some tax reasons. I object on the grounds that I'll somehow be involved doing work caring for whatever random animals her and mother decide to populate the place with. Fluffy cows, pygmy goats and a cadre of dogs are currently hypothesized. They don't want to move to the old place where I grew up elsewhere in Appalachia, selling it and moving to Vermont is their current plan.

Don't ask me why, I'll just do as the women tell me.

Or maybe somewhere like Coupeville, WA. Or Beaumont, NC ... if we could tolerate the summer humidity. Or even a quiet mid-Western city.

I could find more than a few places in Washington, west of Puget sound, near the Cascades or close to the Idaho border. Western North Carolina is quite nice, did some of my first motorcycle camping there along the Blueridge while in college.

[Vortex2]

I object on the grounds that I'll somehow be involved doing work caring for whatever random animals

Hmm ... I spend a fair deal of time each day feeding chickens, ducks and goats .. which are TBH pets.
These are the survivors of our past commercial operations : we used to have 100s of chickens for eggs, lots of sheep and goats which went off for meat.
At least the animals ensure that I don't stay huddled over a screen all day.

[Vortex2]

to a hobby farm in Vermont

You are aware that Vermont is a very blue state?
Just sayin ...