2025 New Year Resolutions

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Just Chuck

Once again it’s time to put forth my resolutions or goals for 2025. I’m a bit late this year but better late than never. As a former Project Manager, I find that setting goals is essential for my self worth and need for accomplishment. I have to have something to strive for. Now that I’m. retired, I find myself treating retirement like a project.

You plan the project (retirement budget, retirement start dates, etc.) and then you have a kickoff for the project (date of retirement date) and you check status weekly or monthly. This gives me and idea to I to create the Project Management for Retirement Process and post it here and create a YouTube video.

For now, here are my 2025 Goals for the year:

Write, record and distribute 6 songs for public consumption

Once again I hope to write, record and release songs.  Last year I only released four songs to the public. This year, 2025, I want to release at least six.  I need to get started on this ASAP. Look for my music on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music.

Lose Weight – a continuous goal – get to 200 lbs

This is an ongoing resolution/goal.  Although I’ve lost quite a bit of weight in 2023, I did not lose any in 2024, in fact I gained 15lbs back after losing 65lbs..  So I need to lose about 30lbs to get to a healthy weight of 200lbs.

YouTube Goal – 4 videos per month

I want to continue to document my Retirement Journey through blogging and video. I want to break down the YouTube Goal into at least one retirement related video and one Vinyl related video and one music related video.  The fourth video could be retirement related or vinyl related.  I think this is possible.

Blog goal – 2 blogs per month

This resolution goes hand in hand with the YouTube goal because it is very easy to record a YouTube video and then just post it on the blog, or vice versus.  So this should be easy enough to accomplish.  Probably post more Toy Photography related stuff on the blog though.

Downsize – sell toys, comic books and music equipment

I really need to get into this resolution.  I had this last year as a “side hustle”. I’ve got way too many toys and comics and need to downsize. This would also make me some spending money.  Our future goal is to sell this big house we live in and move to a smaller, one floor house on some land, or on a lake. To do that I need to purge a lot of stuff that I’ve collected over the years. This goal is easy if I am willing to sell my stuff t pennies on the dollar. But I’m not willing to do that. Many of these items can be sold on an Ebay but Facebook marketplace would be ideal for local sales.

Goodreads goal – 25 books/ebooks

I don’t see a problem meeting this resolution.  I usually finish two books a month.  This goal does not include reading comic books and magazines.  On any given day I am usually reading an e-book on my iPad and a hard book.  At this posting, I’ve already completed three books.  Although one of those books I started in 2024.

Draft a memoir

I have the writing bug again. It comes and goes. The easiest thing to do is to draft a 45K-60K word Memoir.  Pick a quest from my life and document it with a meaningful, interesting story. I’ve read another helper book about writing a memoir so the idea I there and knowledge, just need to get my butt in front of the laptop and type.

Enjoy Retirement

Any time I find myself stressed or feeling anxious, I stop and analyze what the feeling is. I then tell myself, “you’re retired, you’ve got money, you’ve got a solid plan, there is nothing that has to be done unless you want it done.”  It’s my retirement life. Everyday is a Saturday. There should be no stress in retirement, only relaxing.

Below is the video posted on my companion YouTube site for this post.

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10 Albums From My High School Graduation Year-1979

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Just Chuck

A month or so ago I saw a YouTube post from a Mike at Hubtunes who posted a few videos with the theme called Rock & Roll High School – 5 Records From My High School Years.  I liked the theme but decided to limit myself to 10 records from the year I graduated from high school.  I graduated from high school in June 1979.  So here are just 10 albums (sticking to vinyl only) that were released during 1979.  And maybe a little story with each of them. You can watch my YouTube video following this list.

AC/DC – Highway to Hell – I don’t recall where or when I bought this but it was released on July 27, 1979.

The B-52s – B-52s – the album was released on July 6, 1979 and we partied quite a lot to this album. We would park out by a secluded pond or on some farmland in the middle of nowhere and put this cassette on and jump around. Rock Lobster, Planet Claire and more to pogo to.

Billy Thorpe – Children of the Sun – Released in 1979, I remember buying this album on a day trip to San Antonio from the church resort, Mo Ranch, I was working at the summer of 1979. I had heard the song Children of the Sun on the radio.

The Knack – Get the Knack – Released June 11, 1979. I don’t have any story about this one. I might’ve bought it from a store or I might’ve got it from Columbia House Record Club. It’s a good album with My Sharona and Good Girls Don’t.

Mother’s Finest – Mother’s Finest Live – released in 1979, I bought this album for my best friend’s birthday and he was not happy. He had bought me Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland for my birthday, or maybe Christmas, and he felt that Mother’s Finest was not in the same league as what he bought me. His loss. I think MF is pretty damn good mister of funk and rock.

The Offenders – We Must Rebel – The Offenders were a local band from Killeen Texas formed in 1978. We, my band at the time, hung out with the bass player Mikey and the drummer Pat and sometimes the guitar player Tony. They were cool dudes and we were in awe the they had released an album. This album came out in 1979, I don’t care what Discogs says, and I bought it at a local record store, Renaissance Records. Drummer Pat Doyle went on to play in metal band Ignitor and open for big name acts.  Ignitor is still a band releasing albums.

Pink Floyd – The Wall – Released on November 20, 1979, I don’t recall when or where I got this album but I do remember seeing this movie stoned. I lived on Fort Hood and it cost $1.25 I believe to see this. A late night showing if I recall.

Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones – released February 28, 1979, I love this album. I bought it because of Chuck E.’s In Love but I love the whole album. I recently read her biography and it explains the meaning of a lot of the lyrics and songs on this album.

Sammy Hagar – Street Machine – released in September 1979, I listened to this album a lot.  I mean a lot. I know the lyrics of every song on this album and can play many on the guitar. Songs like Growing Pains, Trans Am, Feels Like Love and Wounded in Love are just as good today as they were back in 1979.

Scorpions – Lovedrive – released in February of 1979, another great album that I listened to constantly. What a great cover and a great album.  The Scorpions were notorious for having risqué album covers – see Virgin Killer.

If you want to see me actually talk a bit more about these albums, watch the video below or head over to my YouTube channel for more content – @retirementainteasy

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My Music Results for 2024

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Just Chuck

In 2024 I released four songs to the public. I am, for better or worse, a music artist with an EP released. I am a BMI songwriter.  My songs are registered through BMI.  I distribute my music through Distrokid.

This post, and video following, are my 2024 results from releasing music. With Distrokid as my distributor, I am placed in Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes Store, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio and a whole bunch more.

Distrokid then collects the data and pays me. As you will see, unless you are streaming in the millions, you don’t get much. So here is my data. If you want to see me talk more about the data, watch the YouTube video from my YouTube Music Channel. 

Streams – Total 2,702

Happy Song – 1048

  • Apple Music – 51
  • Facebook – 42
  • Spotify 930
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 20

I Want You To Know – 34

  • Apple Music – 8
  • Pandora – 1
  • TikTok – 1
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 24

My Retirement Song – 234

  • Amazon Unlimited – 58
  • Amazon Prime – 10
  • Apple Music – 79
  • Spotify – 22
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 62

Love Like That – 1386

  • Apple Music – 21
  • Facebook – 44
  • Spotify – 1295
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 22

MONEY Made $6.38

Money made by Song

  • My Retirement Song – $2.94
  • Love Like That – $1.64
  • Happy Song – $1.62
  • I Want You to Know – $0.18

Money Made By Service

  • Apple Music – $0.74
  • iTunes Songs – $1.40
  • Spotify – $1.98
  • YouTube (ads) – $0.77
  • YouTube (Red) – $0.15
  • Amazon (downloads) – $0.71
  • Amazon Prime (streaming) – $0.03
  • Amazon Unlimited (streaming) – $0.57
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Vinyl Community Thread – #Winter

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Just Chuck

So, on YouTube there are a number of vinyl and CD “Tags” or “Threads”. These Tags/Threads are lists or questions put forth to the vinyl/CD community that you answer with items from your vinyl or CD collection.

I participate in a number of these. They’re fun, and you learn a lot about people’s passions and collections. It’s a brief look into their collections and many times their music listening room. So I have decided to participate in this recent thread that revolves around WINTER. Show an album or CD that has the word WINTER in it or has to do with WINTER. I picked out 10 albums/CDs from my collection to respond to the thread. Below is my YouTube response.

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1 Year of Retirement – How Was It?

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Just Chuck

After 38 years, 10 months and 20 days, I retired on December 31, 2023 at 62 years of age.  I have now completed full year of retirement and wanted to share how things played out and how I’m filling my time in retirement. I made a YouTube posting for this topic. Enjoy.

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2024 New Year’s Resolutions Report Card

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Just Chuck

Its time to review my 2024 New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve been doing this for a number of years now. I always set some goals for myself that have to do with my personal creative side. These goals are self improvements or creative advancements. I set 5 goals that I hope to achieve. Normally, I’d put out a quarterly review, but I’ve been negligent in that task. So here is my end of the year review and grading.

Resolution #1 CREATE – Write, record and distribute my own song(s) or write my Memoir


SUCCESS! In 2024 I wrote, recorded and released four songs to various streaming platforms and iTunes via Distrokid. I’m happy to say that people, besides my family, have heard my music. People on the other side of the world. I know, I’ve seen the data that is collected by Distrokid. People from Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, France and Italy. It’s just amazing that people elsewhere have listened to my music. I have 2699 streams based on data reported by Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes Music and YouTube Music. That equates to a whopping $6.29. But, hey, I made music, people listened, and I made some pocket change. I have pages on all these Music services and also sell my music on Bandcamp. I have a Facebook page and a YouTube Artist Channel. I should’ve done more songs in 2024. I’m looking forward to doing more in 2025. GRADE A

Resolution #2 Continue to lose weight, another 25 lbs

FAIL. I’m stuck. After getting down to 215 near the end of 2023, I’ve not been able to go lower and have gained 15lbs back, I hover around 230lbs, not a good weight for me. My BMI is still considered obese. So will this be a 2025 goal? It has to be. I need to lose more weight so I can recover from and benefit from possible hip surgery. GRADE F

Resolution #3 One YouTube video per week

PARTIAL FAIL. I started off great. Really into the whole YouTube channel thing, then it started feeling like a job. Every week I was trying to come up with new things to say on camera, and to be honest, retirement life is not that exciting. At least my retirement life. I have hobbies that I’ve blogged about and video taped, but there is only so much you can talk about before you start repeating yourself. It’s the same logic I’ve applied to Twitter. Why would I tweet every day what I’m doing? Who really cares. I recorded and uploaded 34 videos during 2024. Those 34 videos garnered 6,847 views. Two videos had over 1000 views. I ended the year with 116 subscribers. I plan to blog and YouTube post at least once per month. The blog and Youtube postings will probably go hand in hand. Create a YouTube video and post it on the blog as well. That is what I have fallen back to. GRADE D

Resolution #4 Start a side hustle – photography, music, recording, eBay store

PARTIAL SUCCESS. I had high hopes of a photography business doing portraits, senior, baby etc. but that has fallen by the wayside. I have not offered up my recording abilities to any artist or band so no traction on that. I did not open an eBay store but I did create and post Retirement Ain’t Easy merchandise and have tried selling on the YouTube and Blog, so there is that attempt. In the end I released music to Spotify, YouTube music, Apple Music, etc. and people have listened to my music and I have made money $6.29 for the four songs I released. Most of that coming from Spotify streams and iTunes Songs. I’m just happy other people, beside my family, have been listening to my music and liking it. GRADE C

Resolution #5 Blog once per week

PARTIAL FAIL. See Resolution #3 comment. GRADE D

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Album of the Month – Commodores Live! by The Commodores

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Just Chuck

If you had asked me before the summer of 1979 if I was a Commodore fan I would’ve adamantly declared “Hell No! I only listen to rock”. I have since expanded my horizons and enjoy all types of music, rap, country, funk, etc., In the summer of 1979 I was a staunch rock and roller.

So it was somewhat out of character that I took a liking to The Commodores during the summer I spent working at a church resort ranch called Mo Ranch is South Texas. I was working at the ranch as part of a summer youth staff that were appointed from various churches around Texas. I was best friends with Bill who happened to be a member of a protestant church youth group. Somehow I was part of that youth group as well and we were volunteered/nominated for summer jobs by the church preacher, having no idea what we had volunteered for.

We arrived at the ranch in early June 1978 and quickly met the rest of the youth staff and were assigned our jobs. I somehow pulled housekeeper duty (a story for another time). Bill and I had no idea we could bring music but one of the other youth staff, Rick, brought his stereo complete with a turntable and records. He had quite a mix of music. Here is where I first heard the Commodores Live! album and I took a liking to it, so much so that I went out and bought it when I returned home from that summer job.

Commodores Live! Was released in October 1977 and featured some of the group’s hits at the time, Just to be Close to You, Easy and of course Brick House. All great songs that I enjoy listening to anytime. Many times that summer Mo Ranch staff would put on this album and dance around wherever we had set up to party. Yes, we partied at the church resort. We bonded. It was a summer of learning and maturity. I had never been away from home so this was an experience that prepared me for going off to college the Fall of 1979.

Many memories of that summer surface every time I put this album on. For that reason I decided to make it the first Album of the Month for 2025. January 2025 Album of the Month – Commodores Live! By The Commodores.

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2025 CD Tag

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Just Chuck

As a 5th grader (1971) I started buying 45s, you know, the singles, which I still have.

As a teen I started buying vinyl (record clubs anyone?) and cassettes. Cassettes I mainly listened to in my car. I had installed a cassette player under the dash of my Chevy Monza and ran wires to two 9 inch Jensen speakers (bought from Sears) mounted in speaker boxes. I was able to take the speaker boxes out of my hatchback and place on the roof of my Monza for those lake parties us kids participated in.

As an adult I continued to buy vinyl, but when Compact Discs came out, I stopped buying vinyl and switched exclusively to CDs, and sold about half my vinyl collection in garage sales.

Around 2018, I started buying vinyl again but also getting the occasional CD. The last couple of years (2022-2023) it was strictly vinyl. This year, 2024, it has been a mix because vinyl prices have gotten ridiculously high. So I’ve bought a number CDs lately. Some stats – 2021-2024 Vinyl = 103, CDs = 47

So this video is my answer to a YouTube CD tag – a list of questions regarding your CD collection. So, I’m part of a vinyl YouTube community and a CD YouTube community. In most cases that is the same people in both.

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2025 Vinyl Soundtrack Tag for 2025

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Just Chuck

Another Vinyl Tag that lists 13 questions you answer using your vinyl record collection. Here is my response.

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2025 Vinyl Tag

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Just Chuck

It’s time for the 2025 Vinyl Tag, a little early. This video answers 20 questions put forth to the Vinyl Community with regards to their vinyl collection. Enjoy.

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