Notes, you hit on several extreme differences in our personalities. You like the intimacy of the audience. That makes me anxious and nervous. I don't surf the crowd during breaks, I don't mingle.... None of that. I am so extremely introverted that people exhaust me. I am just an extreme loner. I have been in my house 15 years and I think in total I have not had 35 different people here. Some come and go from time to time, but anything like cookouts, dinner parties, poker games.... nope. Nobody is allowed on the ground of Came Eastside, and there are signs posted telling them what happens if they enter without having been invited. Last fall a salesman had to learn the hard way. I walked him to the "No Solicitation" sign, asked him if he could read, and when he said yes, lifted my short to show him what was gong to happen to him if he was not off my property in 5 seconds, and started counting. Fortunately for everybody, he left. That's just how I am.

Funny you mentioned cruise ships. I worked one 7 days cruise and it was the worst week of hell I have experienced in my life, and I was in a war. We had to play an hour at 8. 10, 12, 2 and 4. Our rooms, because we were "employees", were not on the "Promenade Deck". Oh no no no. We were down in the bowels next to the engine, and this is back before the cruise ships of today with impellers or whatever they call them now. This is when there were 2 big engines the size of a small high school. We would work, eat, sleep, and work again. There was no "cruising" for us, ironically in a band called "Cruisin'." I was against taking the gig saying "What if it sucks? Then we are trapped on a ship for 7 days with no escape." I got outvoted 4-1, so we did it, and I got to say "I told you so" because everybody hated it.

Auditorium shows would really fit me well, because we are "up here" and the people are "down there". Unfortunately I fell WAY WAY short of the talent level necessary to do that. I mean like WAY short. I was just always pulled in way too many directions to excel at one. Academics, computer work, sports. music.... and with the glorious naivete of youth I thought I could pull them all off. Then many wives and kids started coming....

Make sure you understand I am not putting anybody down for their choice. I just don't know where the line is that people have enough money. When I have more than I can ever spend it's time to let the young bucks have it. I had a contractor in here 4 or 5 years ago who was at the time 66. He said that they had $875,000 in the bank and they would not retire until they had 1 million. And I had to ask. "Why? So you can die and Ohio can steal it in probate?" I am far from wealthy but I have enough money to pay bills, buy toys, and live quite comfortably. All the things that people say they find boring are the exact things that I enjoy.