Dave, sitting around and doing absolutely nothing would put me in a rubber room in about three days. I know folks that did this, and for the most part, they didn't live very long. I go absolutely nuts when we get a heavy snow and I cannot get out of the house to do my performances.

As for hobbies, well, that 33-foot Morgan is a great way to piss away your hard earned money and spend lots of leisure time either sailing, or just maintaining the boat. One of the things I really enjoy this time of year is spending the weekend sailing down Chesapeake Bay, finding a sheltered cove and anchoring up for the night. After dropping the anchor, I usually fire up the boat's gas grill, cook supper, mix a tall Margaretta and enjoy the sunset. It's one of the most relaxing things anyone can do, at least from my perspective. However, running the sailboat is a fair amount of exercise in itself. Anyone that has ever been aboard a sailboat will tell you it's not like driving a car.



Financially, I'm one of the few, that I know of, full-time musician/entertainers that actually created their own retirement program. I started this program 20 years ago, knowing that no one could possibly survive on Social Security alone. And, even though I have mandatory withdraws because of my age, I continue to contribute to the retirement program, all I can legally contribute, which usually offsets the withdraws. I have so many friends in this business that have never put a dime in the bank for retirement, many of which whom have passed away and left their spouses deeply in debt.

Additionally, I fully intend to cheat the funeral industry. I'm making arrangements to have my body donated to the University of Maryland School Of Medicine when I kick the bucket. If some 1st year resident can learn how to properly open a chest, brain, stomach, etc... using my old carcass I will be happy about it. From my perspective, the entire funeral industry is a massive rip off and they take advantage of grieving spouses - even for cremations. With the medical school donation, after one year, they cremate the remains and bring them to the surviving spouse in a container. So, old Gary can be put in the closet, sat upon the fireplace mantel, or just dumped into Chesapeake Bay. Of course, you have to get a hazardous waste permit from the feds to dump the ashes in the bay, which is ridiculous. Carol could also use my ashes for garden mulch. Forget the viewings, caskets, grave opening and closing expenses, etc... I told Carol to take a couple grand out of the retirement account and throw the biggest damned wake she wants. If she wishes, she can have a memorial service at the same time.

Now, a few years ago, I was hoping that I would be able to perform till the day I died, but obviously, that's not gonna happen. Long before then, I was hoping to be shot in the back of the head by a jealous husband while I was climbing out a second story window with my pants down around my ankles and a 19-year-old drop-dead gorgeous gal screaming "Don't leave me, Gary - Don't leave me." That ain't gonna work out either.

When I get around to retiring, there will be a fair amount of musical equipment up for sale. As for the boat, I've already told my children to take care of selling it so Carol will not have that burden.

Thanks again for the comments and recommendations, everyone,

Gary