Ah the joys of being GenX!! Lumped in with the Boomers, but with none of their benefits. My dad (a school teacher) retired in his 50s too, whereas for me, retirement is a 4-letter word. I'm not expecting to ever be able to do so.

I get what you're saying about residual trauma. After having gone through the 1998 ice storm in Montreal, I still get panicky when I read "freezing rain" as part of a weather forecast.