Congratulations! We were once going to meet in Barcelona during the World Swimming Championships, but somehow I did not make it, unfortunately. All the best :).

Where do I start.....

Thankyou for the warm wishes (not that I'm counting the days...or hours...or minutes...or number of 911 calls I still have to answer) :D

Friday morning at 0600 I'm out the door and no longer a supervisor in the Comm Center. We do have a per diem program and I'll pick up a couple hours a month around my travel schedule in years ahead, but I've served enough time working 40 hour weeks (almost 32 years among two police agencies), that it just makes sense to go while I still have my sanity (and more importantly, good health and good friends, many here on FT). You don't see a lot of police dispatchers make it to retirement. Burnout usually kicks in and people give it 5-10 years and bail out. I'm only the second person to retire in our 27 person center over the last dozen or more years.

I really do want to travel more, and even though the City had a pretty liberal vacation policy (I was able to schedule 10 weeks this year), it's just never been enough to hit all the places I want to go. My very tentative plan is to do one international trip a month, starting with Ireland in September for 10 days, and working out from there. I'm planning on making my first time SIN-DO in January, and the first ever Wellington Do in March. Hey...I'll be retired...I can try to make them all now :)

I also expect to get to a number of Natalie's upcoming swimming events, including World Championships in Montreal this month, and Duel in the Pool in Irvine in August (background for newbies: I've known her parents for 30 years, and have been to a lot of her major swimming events, including the Olympics in Athens).

It's going to be one fun year ahead, that's for sure, and I'm looking forward to every minute. :cool:

Congratulations Tom! At least you will now get to sleep in when most of us do :)

All the best from the nocternal YAZ & EDDIE... and ME-OW!

Tom:

While we've only met once (at Max's), I'm glad to know you - you've contributed a lot to FlyerTalk, and helped people you don't even know.

Thanks for everything, and enjoy the long toboggan ride down now that you're over the hill ...

oldandslow

:-: :-: :-: Congratulations Tom! :-: :-: :-:

Congratulations, Tom... ^

From another who has only spent a very small amount of time with you (Vancouver Do), you really are a class act.

Best wishes on your retirement and travel opportunities (he says green with envy). Enjoy!!!!!

Congratulations!!!

Congrats Tom from another local who has had the pleasure of meeting you at more than one DO!

Congratulations Tom! Though we've never met, I hear you're a great guy. ;)

Tom, I'm extremely jealous!! Here's a congrats and well-wishes from a local FT-er 10-15 miles away from Benicia. Enjoy your retirement! (I did for a few months, then had to go find a job).

Jamester

Our heartiest congratulations to you, tom911! :D Here is a picture of the retirees, magic111 (far left) and tom911 (far right), together with the poor working slobs, Jerrie, Punki and Hunki (from left to right in the middle), during a fun jaunt around Manhattan last year--lots of walking and lots of interesting experiences.

Hopefully, in four years, eleven months and three days, we will be able to join you in this most enviable state of "doing what you darn well please". :D I must admit, however, that our employees say that they can't even imagine us retiring completly, and they might be right. Maybe we will become part-time bosses who show up now and again and still get health insurance. ;)

By the grace of God, we found FlyerTalk early on, which will have provided us (by the time we retire) 12 years worth of hard core earning of miles and points, which should last us the rest of our lives--even if we can avoid the Big "C" and/or catastrophic accident--which are predicted at 104 for me and 94 for Hunki. I wonder, with whom will I dance with during those last 12 years? I have to dance. :D

I think Tom was the first FT'er I ever met in person - many years ago in SYD. (We both still drive the exact same cars!) We've caught up a dozen or more times since - here, in SFO, and elsewhere. One of the true gentlemen on FT.

We once had a spare day in SFO, so he kindly offered to drive us to Reno and Lake Tahoe and back. And another visit drove seemingly half way across CA to find a cinema screening a foreign movie we were keen to see. ^

I am sure 'retirement' will simply mean even more mileage runs and more bump vouchers. He could write a book on both. :)

And I am sure Tom would appreciate folks reading this to take the moment to cast a vote(s!) for his good family friend Natalie Coughlin, for US Female Athlete Of The Year:

http://espn.go.com/espy2005/s/05fema...enominees.html

Congratulations Tom and here's to many more travel adventures.

:-: :-: :-: Congratulations Tom :-: :-: :-:



Jay

Right on Tom ^ . All the best.