Australia 2000 Retirement Retirement. The word is sobering, a little sad, alittle ominous. After all, what comes after it? A lot of us can't wait to get there, but then what? Idleness is not kind to me. The only life in the fast lane for me these days is the "eight items or less" check-out at Woolworths. When I was young I fervently believed that the answer to life's mysteries would be revealed to me when I grew up. This has not been the case. Our local newspaper is so boring, the dog falls asleep bringing it in. Some of the people living here have been on the dole for so long, they've forgotten what kind of work they were out of. The place is very biblical: it is full of the multitude that loafs and fishes.