[torqueit]

Do you ever find yourself just sitting in your R8? This weekend has literally been a wash out with several inches of rain and high winds. Other things had me go down to the garage, but when all was done, there I was just sitting in the R8. Snick snick, shifting through the gears. Then messing around with the radio enjoying some good tunes from my local station. Not quite sure how long I was there, but I could have stayed longer. So, am I the only one who just finds themselves sitting and smiling and enjoying the ride, even when parked in the garage?

 

[V10MANUAL]

Do you ever find yourself just sitting in your R8? This weekend has literally been a wash out with several inches of rain and high winds. Other things had me go down to the garage, but when all was done, there I was just sitting in the R8. Snick snick, shifting through the gears. Then messing around with the radio enjoying some good tunes from my local station. Not quite sure how long I was there, but I could have stayed longer. So, am I the only one who just finds themselves sitting and smiling and enjoying the ride, even when parked in the garage?

I sometimes do this when I come home late at night, or If i'm away and haven't driven it for a while. Once I park up at home i'll sit on the drive for about an hour sometimes just on my phone or doing nothing sat inside it. I think we all have issues

 

[dookie78]

Lol... I'll sit in mine and still be amazed on how rich the leather smells, then my wife will open the garage door and sarcastically say "omg what are you doing in there!"

I often get comments of how nice and deep the leather smells

 

[JuddS]

What is so great about this thread is that I am imagining all of our 6 year old selves with their favorite toy. The r8 is a toy and it's cool to enjoy it however one possibly can.

I can't say I've ever just gone to the car to sit in it, but I do enjoy my time in it when I'm just sitting waiting for someone to meet me.

 

[kgruen2]

Yes I do. One of the things that impressed me most when I first looked at it over three years ago was the smell of the leather was like a new car (and mine is an '08). I even go out there just to stare at it for a while. Definitely makes you feel like a kid again, and I'm in my mid-70's.

 

[JuddS]

@kruen2 I've always been a voracious reader and I vividly recall being 16 years old trying to figure out which direction was up and what the hell life is all about. I read about it meant to be a Renaissance Man and thought to myself that's what I'd strive for. To me it means, crushing my work and making more cash than I need, being a great partner, lover, friend, joke teller, integrity, having tons of hobbies and interests, raconteur, and always keeping a childlike quality to how I love life without taking it too seriously. I often wonder if when I'm in my 79s if I'll look back and say I did ok or if I'll say I went too hard and too fast and missed out on the important things like being a good father and taking time to smell the roses. I hear that people's biggest regret on their death bed is having worked too much and not spending enough time with family.

 

[ezmaass]

I hear that people's biggest regret on their death bed is having worked too much and not spending enough time with family.

While I've not done any formal surveys, I expect this is probably true.

I've been fortunate in life, and I'm in my early 40's now - I could probably retire by my mid to late 40's and live a similar life to the one I have now... which is a pretty nice upper middle class lifestyle. I live substantially below my means and save fairly aggressively, but I still live a very nice lifestyle with nice luxury vacations, nice cars, a nice house, etc. But I do the math, and if I worked until my mid to late 50's, or God forbid until early 60's, I'd be in a position to live a truly exceptional lifestyle - like truly silly lavishness.

But is it worth it? How much stress does that extra work take off your lifespan? Boy it would stink to reach that point only to drop dead, or have some terrible disease, only a few years into reaching that point of retirement. All the money in the world couldn't make up for it.

As it stands, my plan is for early retirement for exactly these reasons. I'd rather spend the time exploring and enjoying life, even if more modestly, than slaving away to amass an unnecessarily large fortune, only to risk limited enjoyment of it. Freedom will be waking up each day and deciding exactly how I'll spend it, not my Outlook calendar. If whatever I do makes more money, so be it - but it won't be the primarily motivation.

 

[AreAte]

I sit in my car for a few minutes as motivation…to complete whatever work I have planned. Motivation to finish and get back to driving!

 

[JuddS]

EZ, I think totally differently than you. I literally don't do a God **** thing that I don't want to do. I just don't. I never understood why anyone would do a job they didn't absolutely love as that is like 80% of my life. Like a lot of men, I just want to work, screw, eat and sleep. That's really my focus every day and all day. I'm exploring as I go and enjoying every single day of it. And when I feel like it's controlling me or my calendar is running my life, I'll do something else. I really think that's the key, to just do whatever the hell I want to do every single day. I succeed when I'm loving what I do. I fail, which I have more than most, when I do things I don't love.

I've spend the last 30 days managing 25 hard core ex convicts in a dangerous environment (my project manager tried to basically blackmail me by demanding an extra 10k a week for this job as its the worst one my comoany has ever done and I fired him on the spot so got stuck with my pants down and needed to actually manage employees which I suck at). My other replacements for him are on other jobs and my secondary replacement back up plan took maternity leave. My point is, I've been in hell for 30 days but I WANT to be here because it gets me to my goal.

Sorry to get this thread off track.

 

[crgreg]

While I've not done any formal surveys, I expect this is probably true.

I've been fortunate in life, and I'm in my early 40's now - I could probably retire by my mid to late 40's and live a similar life to the one I have now... which is a pretty nice upper middle class lifestyle. I live substantially below my means and save fairly aggressively, but I still live a very nice lifestyle with nice luxury vacations, nice cars, a nice house, etc. But I do the math, and if I worked until my mid to late 50's, or God forbid until early 60's, I'd be in a position to live a truly exceptional lifestyle - like truly silly lavishness.

But is it worth it? How much stress does that extra work take off your lifespan? Boy it would stink to reach that point only to drop dead, or have some terrible disease, only a few years into reaching that point of retirement. All the money in the world couldn't make up for it.

As it stands, my plan is for early retirement for exactly these reasons. I'd rather spend the time exploring and enjoying life, even if more modestly, than slaving away to amass an unnecessarily large fortune, only to risk limited enjoyment of it. Freedom will be waking up each day and deciding exactly how I'll spend it, not my Outlook calendar. If whatever I do makes more money, so be it - but it won't be the primarily motivation.

While I've not done any formal surveys, I expect this is probably true.

I've been fortunate in life, and I'm in my early 40's now - I could probably retire by my mid to late 40's and live a similar life to the one I have now... which is a pretty nice upper middle class lifestyle. I live substantially below my means and save fairly aggressively, but I still live a very nice lifestyle with nice luxury vacations, nice cars, a nice house, etc. But I do the math, and if I worked until my mid to late 50's, or God forbid until early 60's, I'd be in a position to live a truly exceptional lifestyle - like truly silly lavishness.

But is it worth it? How much stress does that extra work take off your lifespan? Boy it would stink to reach that point only to drop dead, or have some terrible disease, only a few years into reaching that point of retirement. All the money in the world couldn't make up for it.

As it stands, my plan is for early retirement for exactly these reasons. I'd rather spend the time exploring and enjoying life, even if more modestly, than slaving away to amass an unnecessarily large fortune, only to risk limited enjoyment of it. Freedom will be waking up each day and deciding exactly how I'll spend it, not my Outlook calendar. If whatever I do makes more money, so be it - but it won't be the primarily motivation.

This!! Exactly how I feel. I am 38, turning 39 in a few months and have done well- but comes an honest price- I don’t remember my 20's(sad right).. started a business and invested in real estate, kept my head down, worked 100 plus hours every week no vacations, nothing. Im single with no kids and the world is my oyster currently. Just these last hand full of years I've started to enjoy life and buy supercars, travel, laugh a bit. I'm calling it quits at 40!(hopefully as this economy etc etc is questionable).Life goes by fast, real fast. Currently I'm trying to find new groups to form relationships with(like minded individuals, socialize, talk to as many people as i can(and yes spinning plates with women every now and then not much out there haha). Enjoy it fellas.

 

[dinkman]

I'm in my early 40's now

dont ask me why as i couldnt put my finger in it but i did not think we were in the same age group

 

[ezmaass]

EZ, I think totally differently than you. I literally don't do a God **** thing that I don't want to do. I just don't. I never understood why anyone would do a job they didn't absolutely love as that is like 80% of my life. Like a lot of men, I just want to work, screw, eat and sleep. That's really my focus every day and all day. I'm exploring as I go and enjoying every single day of it. And when I feel like it's controlling me or my calendar is running my life, I'll do something else. I really think that's the key, to just do whatever the hell I want to do every single day. I succeed when I'm loving what I do. I fail, which I have more than most, when I do things I don't love.

I've spend the last 30 days managing 25 hard core ex convicts in a dangerous environment (my project manager tried to basically blackmail me by demanding an extra 10k a week for this job as its the worst one my comoany has ever done and I fired him on the spot so got stuck with my pants down and needed to actually manage employees which I suck at). My other replacements for him are on other jobs and my secondary replacement back up plan took maternity leave. My point is, I've been in hell for 30 days but I WANT to be here because it gets me to my goal.

Sorry to get this thread off track.

While I'd love to say, "hey, I don't do anything I don't want to!" in a professional capacity, it's just not feasible in my line of work. I work in technology, and nothing gets done without teamwork... lots and lots of teamwork. I've worked at large companies and small, and ran my own start-up for 6+ years (until selling it)... but the story is always the same - there are just things that won't be pleasant, but they're required. It could be a client that just becomes a real pain, but "firing" a client comes with real world ramifications. It could be a senior executive at a big corporation... or just a project that's lame, even if nestled amongst an otherwise fantastic set of work. In my experience, there's no such thing as a "perfect" work life. I think I have it VERY good, though - an interesting, exciting field of work, lots of smart people, interesting challenges, working from home - in the large scheme of things, I would never complain.

BUT, there are other things I want to do with my time. If I wake up, it's exceptionally sunny, and feel like just taking a day trip to the beach... well, I want that freedom. If I wake up and decide I'd like to build a new little start-up that will require my attention non-stop for the next year, well I'd like that freedom, too. Said another way, working for income is restrictive... and I'd like to "free" myself from that situation while I'm still young enough to enjoy all of the other alternatives.

As I said, I'm in good shape now. If I worked another 20 years, I'd theoretically reach the point where the money would go to waste unless I started living a very lavish lifestyle - which, I'm SURE I could accommodate, but I just question whether the trade-off of TIME would have been worth it. Time is the one thing you can't buy... and you can't rewind the clock on your health... so, for me, it seems like a big gamble to keep spending SO much time fixated on work if the only reward is amassing wealth that's far beyond what I'd need to be more than comfortable. Difficult choices.

 

[ezmaass]

dont ask me why as i couldnt put my finger in it but i did not think we were in the same age group

Same age group, and same state!

 

[crgreg]

While I'd love to say, "hey, I don't do anything I don't want to!" in a professional capacity, it's just not feasible in my line of work. I work in technology, and nothing gets done without teamwork... lots and lots of teamwork. I've worked at large companies and small, and ran my own start-up for 6+ years (until selling it)... but the story is always the same - there are just things that won't be pleasant, but they're required. It could be a client that just becomes a real pain, but "firing" a client comes with real world ramifications. It could be a senior executive at a big corporation... or just a project that's lame, even if nestled amongst an otherwise fantastic set of work. In my experience, there's no such thing as a "perfect" work life. I think I have it VERY good, though - an interesting, exciting field of work, lots of smart people, interesting challenges, working from home - in the large scheme of things, I would never complain.

BUT, there are other things I want to do with my time. If I wake up, it's exceptionally sunny, and feel like just taking a day trip to the beach... well, I want that freedom. If I wake up and decide I'd like to build a new little start-up that will require my attention non-stop for the next year, well I'd like that freedom, too. Said another way, working for income is restrictive... and I'd like to "free" myself from that situation while I'm still young enough to enjoy all of the other alternatives.

As I said, I'm in good shape now. If I worked another 20 years, I'd theoretically reach the point where the money would go to waste unless I started living a very lavish lifestyle - which, I'm SURE I could accommodate, but I just question whether the trade-off of TIME would have been worth it. Time is the one thing you can't buy... and you can't rewind the clock on your health... so, for me, it seems like a big gamble to keep spending SO much time fixated on work if the only reward is amassing wealth that's far beyond what I'd need to be more than comfortable. Difficult choices.

You know I can relate to this. How much is enough? For me- money is like crack, Been repetitive for about 15 years now(habit and in my own little world and not healthy in the end), just want more and more and for what? I never bought anything until 2018 supercar wise and toys. I've learned how to use money properly and being free is sweet. To me though, being single- you get bored... only so much ass you can get before it gets boring.. it really does lol I'd rather be with my friends and talk about life, Intellectual conversations.. you can't get that with a modern day female.. I digress.
Time! You can't buy it, enjoy it... anyone close to maryland??

 

[kgruen2]

@kruen2 I've always been a voracious reader and I vividly recall being 16 years old trying to figure out which direction was up and what the hell life is all about. I read about it meant to be a Renaissance Man and thought to myself that's what I'd strive for. To me it means, crushing my work and making more cash than I need, being a great partner, lover, friend, joke teller, integrity, having tons of hobbies and interests, raconteur, and always keeping a childlike quality to how I love life without taking it too seriously. I often wonder if when I'm in my 79s if I'll look back and say I did ok or if I'll say I went too hard and too fast and missed out on the important things like being a good father and taking time to smell the roses. I hear that people's biggest regret on their death bed is having worked too much and not spending enough time with family.

I've always liked, and concur with the comment "don't take life too seriously, because you will never get out alive". Also, don't dwell on the negative, always look for the positive. It's worked for me, even when I got a speeding ticket while having fun with the R8.

 

[kgruen2]

This thread is getting too philosophical. See my comment above.

 

[JuddS]

Don't do Crack. Crack is Wack. And my cure for never having enough is to spend 30% of my year in the third world. It truly has changed my compass to see how the world lives. I can't recommend it enough. I saw all the highlights of fancy travel and now am seeing the lowlights and enjoying it much more. It really impacts how I feel and what I want. Then getting back to work for a few months and then getting back to the third world. I'm talking about places without airports and need for a 4x4 at a minimum to get to. Next year I'm doing a tour of the oldest refugee camps in the world. Some of those people are third generation in a refugee camp. Imagine that. Then I come back to the usa and start seeing us all, including me, spend absurd amounts of money on stupid **** like a supercar and it really makes me realize how brutal we all are. I literally know starving kids and I choose to buy an r8 and eat steak. It's also made me more ruthless in business. Honest but ruthless.

 

[crgreg]

^^^ wise advice sir. I may look into this now! I need more culture in my life.

 

[Pablito]

And I thought that trying to find an excuse like going to Nordstrom to buy a shirt or tie just to drive my R8 it was crazy enough.....some of you guys put "being in love with a car" at a whole different perspective 😆😆😆
I feel a lot better now!!😅😅😅

 

[Pablito]

Don't do Crack. Crack is Wack. And my cure for never having enough is to spend 30% of my year in the third world. It truly has changed my compass to see how the world lives. I can't recommend it enough. I saw all the highlights of fancy travel and now am seeing the lowlights and enjoying it much more. It really impacts how I feel and what I want. Then getting back to work for a few months and then getting back to the third world. I'm talking about places without airports and need for a 4x4 at a minimum to get to. Next year I'm doing a tour of the oldest refugee camps in the world. Some of those people are third generation in a refugee camp. Imagine that. Then I come back to the usa and start seeing us all, including me, spend absurd amounts of money on stupid **** like a supercar and it really makes me realize how brutal we all are. I literally know starving kids and I choose to buy an r8 and eat steak. It's also made me more ruthless in business. Honest but ruthless.

I am going to write something that I learned a long time ago......."Never forget where you came from" (take it from someone that came from a Third World country, almost)