reality check

Friends,
 
Don’t want to clog up the respected forum with thread worn topics, but just to share a progressive change in perspective.
 
Was making an easy six figure income as a clinical pharmacist. Anything to buy, upgrade was pocket change, so was always seeking the latest and greatest. Upgrade, buy, use the toy for a couple days and then have the temporary thrill drop off into oblivion. Forgot everything I was buying and even tried to buy duplicate licenses for what I forgot I already purchased.
 
Chose to retire from the rat race in good grace. Now living in old age on a vegetable social security check, me and the wife. All is too much well, even if the norm says we are living below the poverty level and should be suffering without the ability to do an E. coli Bahama cruise.
 
But then the real thing hit. Have to be more restrained on vst and vsti purchases. Can always go back to work if the fever sets in again, but getting more comfortable into the retirement identity. Have to thus be more careful in the face of the GAS disease.
 
Three months out and have upgraded Revalver for $49 which I had planned since it first came out once I secured the warez crack. Got two of the fire sale one dollar libraries, Air something and a Sonivox something else dragging down hard drive real estate.. Makes the total credit card drain at $51 for 3 months, and even this too much in retrospect.
 
This may sound obscene, but receding from the newest latest and greatest, the ultimate fire sales if you act now, the once in a lifetime 20% off upgrades. New to die for reverb or echo. Starting to lose interest. Already got the effects, and in retrospect, too many of them that only obscure the primordial goal of making music.
 
Got all the synths and vst effects any human deserves or can use in a lifetime.
 
Crossed some maybe intellectual or practical brink. Realized that I don’t need nothing else and even the sense of needing something else is a defective mask obscuring native creativity. That latest real vintage accurate modeling compressor of some iconic hardware thing that will make your creativity soar to new heights for a mere $100. …Meh… So much Maya as the ancient Hindus advised.
 
Love to all of you,
John

Dave, regarding Rhodes, sometimes upgrading or crossgrading is not really that. Last year's (UVI) version of NSK was just fine, more or less covering the same instruments, but thanks to UVI's lossless compression you only needed 2 GB of disk size, while the new studio version needs ten times as much. And a few years back, there was that Kontakt version George Duke was so happy with. So you see ...

Great words on reusing instead of recycling. And on uncertainty. In the end, no amount of money will be enough to withhold or surpass the inevitable. Come to think of it, this capitalist system isn't so bad sometimes, as long as you're not a capitalist yourself. Just let most of them spend their money on things that aren't essential for a good life, and you'll be fine. As such, most things that are essential for a good life aren't really expensive. You have to eat, drink, love and make music. Everything else is either too expensive or not worth it. Just don't get caught into thinking you need stuff you don't. 

I'm retiring at the end of this year. The first thing I'm doing is throwing away all my clocks.

I just celebrated (and I *do* mean "celebrate" in the sense of "joyous observation") the 3-year anniversary of my retirement on March 1.  The strange thing is that it actually seems like no more than about three months have elapsed, not three years.  Make no mistake, being retired *so* doesn't suck!  But at this perceived rate, I'll be at death's doorstep in seemingly no time at all, even if I mange to make it through another couple of decades.

not that i am retired as such, but due to some fortunate circumstances, some of my doing and some just pure luck, i haven't had to 'work' for quite some years, and won't have to again this side of the grave. i'm lucky enough that i can do what i want when i want, if i want something i can buy it, and 100% of my time is my own, (well apart from when i have to sleep, haven't conquered that yet) even so, at the end of last year i decided i have enough plugins and instruments, i have almost all drum vst's, including everything for everything (at that time) but i'm not buying anymore (except bfd expansions as the are released) i wont purchase another non bfd pack, and will only purchase another drum vst when there is something that i consider better than bfd3, been doing well, passed up on the new ezd2 releases. same with amp sims, i pretty much have everything software wise, and everything of everything, but until something comes along that i consider better that BIAS, the only amp sim type product i will purchase is expansions for bias etc.
 
same with daw's, got all i need, until something comes along that i consider better than studio one 3 pro, i'll only be upgrading to it's next gen. (already have sonar platinum lifetime, so that's covered for a while, i will keep up with reaper as well even though i rarely use it)
 
plugins, i got enough, more than enough, only if something is outstanding will i consider purchasing it, will keep updating to newer versions of what i have like all the izotope stuff etc, but new purchases have and will slow right down, just don't need anything.
 
hardware though, well that's a different matter, just ordered bias head and bias rack, i'll keep buying guitars and basses periodically, maybe upgrade my e drum kit at some stage, and computers and computer hardware is on going by nature, but time to get off the software/plugin round about. it's been fun, but when you go looking through thousands of plugins and you come across stuff you didn't even remember you had, and even worse purchase stuff you already own because you forgot you already brought it, well it's time to slow down or stop.

Lots of cool comments. Luck to all.

Comment on Dave’s comment about the necessity to keep doing something. Critical truth.
 
Got into pharmacy late in life, oldest student in the class. Had retired as an aircraft mechanic. Too many layoffs in a volatile industry to support a family, busted knuckles and toxic chemical exposure. I had to strip about naked before coming in the door at home after work to not poison the wife and kid with all the carcinogens I had been soaking in for ten to twelve hours.
 
Forgive me if I ramble, but got plenty of time to ramble now…
 
A couple things to share…  One was a conversation between two mechanics about to retire at Boeing in Everett, WA. They were ready to go out on the last of the “golden parachutes” anywhere left.  Free healthcare for life and 75% of their last wage for life. Material security unto their grave.
 
They were congratulating each other on the good life ahead, how they had played by the rules, avoided getting fired on multiple occasions and finally achieved the American dream. The festive mood went silent for a couple minutes. One guy said “What happened. 35 years went like it was yesterday”
 
The other guy said “When I was young, I wanted money. Now I have money but I don’t have youth and don’t have health. What happened to us”
 
Second observation about the Boeing plant and how it kinda relates to the passage of life...
The environment was one where in good times you could work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Big bucks for us blue collar grease monkeys. Time and a half, double time pay, triple time on holidays. In spite of the riches we used to try and hide out around Thursday late when the big boss man would come through and get forced “volunteers” to work the weekend shift. Crap, sleep was more important than money. I’ve already been here for two months without a day off.
 
Result was that you had a secure environment for workaholic prisoners. You did your thing, kept the planes in the sky but had no life outside the killing floor. They used to say, have all the money to buy any toys you want, but no time to play with them.
 
Problem was in the self identity of the individual and what happened when they were no longer in the only world they knew. They received retirement pensions and perks we can’t dream of having anymore. Majority dropped dead within 2 years of retirement. The local newspapers quit putting obituaries for Boeing employees because of the grim news. Quit Boeing and drop dead. No money, no doctor can save you.
 
I think we as a group of struggling musicians here are fortunate and maybe even blessed. Transition out of working for da man will not leave any of us stranded without hobby or purpose. Last note on purpose, IMHO only. Got to be something in our life, a burning flame to do something outside ourselves. Something service minded. Something to help and uplift humanity, plants, animals, the inert environment. Use of our artistic potential to heal and serve. Only in this sense can there be any golden years ahead.
 
John

> You guys need to buy a <XXXXX> and live a little.

That was my late cousin's attitude about AA.