As for what he plans to do, well: "Anything I want," he says, before quickly realizing the error of his ways and returning to earth.
"Anything the wife tells me," he corrects, with a smile and a chuckle.
Smith is currently the head of maintenance at the Home Hardware distribution centre in Debert, where he has worked for the past 29 years. His last working day is set for Dec. 24 and while Smith said he will miss his extended family, he does not anticipate having difficulty keeping busy.
"To be honest with you, I've got all kinds of stuff (to do)," he said, during a recent chat.
A lot has changed since Smith began work at Home Hardware in October 1985, including two major expansions at the centre itself, a growth in staff and vastly increased merchandise lines.
"When I started, 10,000 lines (of product) was a big day and we grew quite a bit since that," the Truro resident said, of the approximately 35,000 lines per day now being put through the distribution centre.
That growth has also translated into a busier schedule for Smith and the rest of the maintenance crew.
"Back then, when we only had two shifts, there was only a handful on in the afternoon shift, putting things away. So the equipment was more available to do maintenance on. And now we're running three shifts and the equipment is constantly in use. So maintenance is a big issue ... you've got to be doing maintenance all the time," he said. "So that's the big change."
Company CEO Terry Davis, visiting from Ontario, said Smith's talents and dedication are well known within the plant. And while he and others at the centre will hate to see Smith go, they know too that he will enter a well-deserved retirement.
"We're losing a lot with Richard leaving," Davis said. "I know of his talents and the thing is, Richard knows every inch of our building inside and out. Nobody knows the Debert distribution centre like him ... no matter what piece of equipment they're having a problem with, everybody says, ‘he's the guy, he's the guy,'" Davis added.
"That's one of the things when you have somebody that has that amount of experience and they leave and they retire. First of all you wish them well: ‘that's fantastic, glad, you deserve it.' But on the other hand, you think about how much you lose, that experience.
"The fact is, that distribution centre wouldn't be running the way it was without Richard there to make things work."
Smith said he will also miss his extended family but the time has simply come for his to turn over his duties to someone else.
"It wasn't an easy decision to come to," he said. "I've been thinking about it for awhile and I've had some health issues in the past and this is just a good time for me."
Of the centre, however, Smith described it as a "great place to work," where his colleagues were more like family and friends than simply co-workers.
"You get up to go to work and you're going to go hang out with your friends," he said. "I've worked in other places and you don't have that at all."
Twitter: @tdnharry
