Rediscovery

but I also have a multi CD player (Onkyo) which I load with a lot of music which I enjoy...

Same here.  I picked up a Pioneer 300 disc "jukebox" CD/DVD carousel to insert into my office system.  I drew up an Excel spreadsheet with the CD names, artist, slot # and printed it off for easy reference.  I even typed in the disc names and artists into the player itself (somewhat tedious, but a dreary Sunday afternoon and bottle of Aberfeldy to take the sting off made it bearable).

I had recently scored a good-sized CD collection off ebay that I couldn't pass up (described as an estate sale of sorts, "my dad's CDs").  I got about 150 CDs of some GREAT jazz and classical (lots of Solti/Chicago SO, Mahler, several Mingus, some Coltrane, Kenny Barron, Dave Holland, Carla Bley, Gary Burton, Steve Swallow - some real gems  and lots of great players) for a whopping $50.  How do you pass that up?  I had already amassed a good-sized CD collection but wanted something to put this great, new music in that would be convenient.  The Pioneer DV-F727 has worked out really well.  

Streaming certainly has its place in my world, and I do it often, but I'm probably about 35-40% CD content.

I’ve abandoned CDs for years mostly because most of my collection was ripped to HDD and streaming is so convenient. However, recently I’ve been bringing some of my CDs back from storage (trying a CD transport) and even purchased few new ones. Some of the music I have on CD isn’t even available on Tidal or Qobuz and I missed listening to those albums. 

I retired a few months back.  I have been having great fun listening to CDs that haven’t been spun for years.  Many were impulse purchases based upon favorable reviews in Classical Music review magazines and after one or two playing were shelved and forgotten.  Now I stream those recordings and only buy the ones that I deem truly exceptional, which means that I probably will miss out on having the rediscovery process that I am currently enjoying.

Congratulations to you newly retired folks!

I think I have passed the five year mark… now what was I saying?

Oh, yes. Life is getting even better… although I really have enjoyed the time since I retired. I have always had more interests than I could ever pursue. I took off a year or more four times during my career to pursue my interests… hiking, bicycling, reading, music, mountaineering… etc.

From experience with others that have retired, it takes five years to adjust… yes… five years. We were trained to achieve… get through kindergarten… then sixth grade, college, graduate school, first job, family second job… etc. relentless achievement. Which many of us loved. Then retirement… no goal… or at least, not one we are in a hurry to achieve. So, the re-orientation / slow down takes a long time.

I love each day. I have gotten rid of every tiny interruption to “my time”. I enjoy coffee and a fire in the morning and listen to music on my headphone system while painting. I listen to lectures on philosophy while walking the dogs and riding my bicycle. Anyway, it just gets better. My three hours with my main audio system is the apex every day.

Congrats @ghdprentice  It is surely a transition even tho 7 years in i still have my toe in the bleeding edge world if just for a few hours a week. Peace and Happiness to you and yours !