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Rich Z's Blatherings Since Connie and I have retired the SerpenCo business, topics here will focus on topics of a more personal and general nature.

Retirement........
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Old 05-27-2009, 10:01 AM   #71
Pasodama
It leaves a feeling, of "loss", to learn that you are leaving the breeding business, but, ... after all the time, hard work, and then some, ... you & Connie really do deserve to have a great retirement.

All my best wishes, on your retirement and for your future.

BTW Glad to see that, although retiring, you are not leaving the reptile community altogether.
 
Old 05-27-2009, 10:33 AM   #72
Caryl
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Z View Post

Heck, I still remember one year doing that show when I used to......

...Sheesh, you all are going to just HATE it when I'm retired and have time to run on like this in posts..........
Stories like the one in that post are why you need to write a book. Please consider a book that's heavy on anecdotes. Sure, advice for breeding and business management would be fantastic - but the reptile world would be a poorer place if your stories disappeared! You might even attract some non-reptile readers to a book like that. Just a thought....
 
Old 05-27-2009, 10:51 AM   #73
zeewhiz
Good luck in the future, Rich, whatever it may hold for you... I've been putting off getting some Serpenco stock in my collection for a few years now, but this is my last chance... I'll definitely be buying from you this year.
 
Old 05-27-2009, 12:00 PM   #74
kathylove
"Stories like the one in that post are why you need to write a book. Please consider a book that's heavy on anecdotes. Sure, advice for breeding and business management would be fantastic - but the reptile world would be a poorer place if your stories disappeared! You might even attract some non-reptile readers to a book like that. Just a thought...."

That could be a great idea, and something different than what is already out there. A book about running an animal business - the good, bad, and the ugly, lol!

So many memories! Do you remember the summer (I think it was the July 4th weekend, but can't remember the year) when you had just bought your land in Florida, had no house yet, and the 4 of us all camped out on it? It was hot and rainy, and little ants got into our tent. We actually went into town looking for a motel, but they were all full. Didn't get much sleep, lol! Long time ago...

Even before that, I remember you were down here (in north Florida) looking for land, and we all met and ate dinner with somebody up there (Jack Tanner, maybe?). It was the first time we ever had dinner with you, and you were suspiciously poking around the casserole dish they had prepared, trying to figure out what was in it. Connie said you didn't like to eat stuff you couldn't see! Yes, a business and anecdote book is definitely in order!

You know, a couple of the biggest expos each year could be fun and productive if you came without any animals, and just had a table or two to promote your sites, like Jeff does for KS. And then you could promote any books you write, too, lol! Just think how enjoyable it would be just to hang out, stroll around, and promote whatever you are working on! And all tax deductible! You could even choose expos where you would like to hang out a while for vacation afterwards, since you wouldn't have animals.

Oh well - enough dreaming! Back to work!!
 
Old 05-27-2009, 01:28 PM   #75
El Jefe
Quote:
Originally Posted by kathylove View Post
Just think how enjoyable it would be just to hang out, stroll around, and promote whatever you are working on! And all tax deductible! You could even choose expos where you would like to hang out a while for vacation afterwards, since you wouldn't have animals.

Oh well - enough dreaming! Back to work!!
Don't dream too much Kathy....don't want to see a post from you with Retirement on it! Can't lose all the big names at the same time!!!
 
Old 05-27-2009, 03:06 PM   #76
PJ@PJCReptiles
This post is like reading a book...I love it! You make me cry Rich! The bonds here on CS.com run deep! Your devotion to Connie and your passion for this hobby is so incredible to me. You are a good man Rich!! Give Connie a hug for me, from a total stranger, well you?

If you ever get up to Maine, let us know. We would love to sit down with you two and have a lobster dinner!! On a floating restaurant!!

I completely agree about the toll these shows take on us vendors. More than the people walking around could ever imagine and we have never done anything bigger than Manchester, New Hampshire!

Smiles
PJ
 
Old 05-27-2009, 03:13 PM   #77
El Jefe
Quote:
Originally Posted by PJ@PJCReptiles View Post
If you ever get up to Maine, let us know. We would love to sit down with you two and have a lobster dinner!! On a floating restaurant!!
On a side note, can I come?
 
Old 05-27-2009, 03:29 PM   #78
kathylove
Heck, we have been talking about retirement for years...

I am about the same age as Rich. But since I never tried to produce 5,000 - 7, 000 babies per year, my idea of retirement will probably be to scale back to my favorite few dozen herps, and just breed those, along with selling some drygoods and Bill continuing to write and photograph, etc. I think as long as I am physically and mentally able to, I will keep and breed A FEW favorites, the key word being "few"!.

No matter how much you like something, once it becomes your source of income, it does become work. Doing it on a smaller scale as only part of your income has got to make it a lot more fun. But Rich is more burned out than I am, I think, because he produced SO MANY that it restricted his ability to go places and do things all of these years. With less animals, and Bill doing other things, I haven't been quite as restricted as Rich and Connie have been.
 
Old 05-27-2009, 04:56 PM   #79
Rich Z
Yeah, I know I was doing too much, but I can't ever remember being any different with anything I do. When I do something, I focus on it to the exclusion of just about everything else. I guess it's because I just don't believe you can do anything well unless you give it your fullest commitment. The most difficult times was when I had a full time job along with doing this SerpenCo stuff. I guess more difficult and easier all at the same time. With a full time job, I COULDN'T expand to the point that I did after I decided to go full time with it. I'm not really sure which is best and quite likely either path would have come to the same result.

**** As a quick side note, I'm looking at a google ad in the right hand margin selling something that is supposed to help prolong your life so you can live to be 125 years old. Sheesh! Who the heck would want to do that? If I could have a 25 year old body, sure, count me in! But I'm way beyond that now, so NO thanks..... ****

But in any event, after doing this since 1978, although there are going to be tons of unfinished projects I have started or been working towards via preparatory projects, really when it all gets boiled down to the gristle at the bottom of the pan, it's really just more of the same after all this time. What new cultivar could I produce that would really and truly get me excited? What look could a cornsnake have that would get me to feeling like that day when I hatched out my first Blizzard corn (which was only the second or third one in the world at that time). Even though it wasn't a new gene, it was something very new and totally different from anything ever seen before. I haven't really had that feeling for a very long time. Yeah, some things have been interesting, or surprising, or puzzling, but nothing has really got me boiling over excited since then. So in effect, I believe I have accomplished everything I need to do with this. Everything else will just be a rerun with a slightly different cast for me. Interesting, but nothing to get the eyes popping out of my head any longer.

So is that burnout, or boredom, or just having enough and wanting to move on? Especially when I know I just can't do the physical demands much longer, and certainly know that Connie cannot either. Maybe it's just a combination of all those things gelling to produce my opinion that nothing in this is worth killing myself nor my wife over. Hell, I've been expecting to die from a heart attack every August now for the last several years. Seriously. The scary part is that I would just tell myself to ignore the chest pains because I just don't have time for that crap. I've just been too darn busy to die. Boy what a kick in the teeth that will be that when I become NOT too busy to die, that this is exactly what will happen....... Trust me, Mr. Murphy, I WILL take you down when I finally meet you....

Anyway, don't get me wrong. I still love the cornsnakes and appreciate the beauty in every one of them. But the fire can only burn so long to devote your life to something.
 
Old 05-27-2009, 09:13 PM   #80
TandJ
Thanks for helping the addiction ole friend.. You might not be breeding anymore, but I fair well know, you are a big part of the hobby.. You know yourself, what is the best for you and Connie..

Like others.. I am hoping to see a book or two...

Many thanks.. *sniffles a bit *

Regards ... Tim of T and J
 

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