For those who struggle through their work week, with 5 p.m. on Friday the light at the end of the tunnel, it might be difficult to understand people choosing to work well into their 80s. But for those doing it, it's hard to imagine anything else.

"It seems like life is so much more interesting when you have lots of things going on," says Fred Ohlund. "I can't imagine just sitting around and watching TV; there are so many better things to do."

Ohlund works one day a week for his son's company, C&O Painting; works one day a week for Therma corporation, a mechanical contracting company; does volunteer work at Community Hospital of Los Gatos; and keeps up his hobbies of oil painting and wood carving. Oh, and did we mention he's 90 years old?

"Sometimes it seems like there's not enough hours in the day," says Ohlund of his busy lifestyle.

He is certainly not the only one keeping mind and body active by holding a position in the workforce. From Jimmie "Mose" Dawson's restaurant work to NASA engineer John Boyd, from Ouilda Stephens' work at a dry cleaners to Lillian Benson's antique jewelry shop--and to others like them--seniors are doing it all. They continue to do what they do after the age of 80, and they do it because they like to work.

Ohlund especially enjoys working for his son. He travels to the different work sites, picking up and delivering plans. "It's great working for Rick. I work for him one day a week, and we always have lunch together," Ohlund says. "He's my son, and he's also my best friend."

At Therma Corporation, Ohlund helps with sign-making. "I used to have my own sign business in San Jose," he says.

And at the hospital, Ohlund volunteers in outpatient surgery. "I do whatever the nurses want done to help them do their jobs better. I make sure there's plenty of blankets in the warming oven and plenty of pillows. I also do a lot of paperwork."

Even at 90, Ohlund doesn't see himself slowing down any time soon. "As long as I have my health I'll be working. And that depends on what the Lord has to say about it," he says.

To Mars and back

John Boyd thinks along the same lines as Ohlund--he works because it's more interesting than not working. Boyd, an 80-year-old Saratogan, is still working a full 40- to 50-hour week at NASA Ames Research Center.

"It's fascinating and interesting," Boyd says of his job. "Nothing can be more fascinating than space exploration. It's very satisfying working with all the different people, and they're all brilliant."

Boyd is a senior adviser for history and an ombudsman at NASA Ames Research Center. He graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in aeronautical engineering and started his career at NASA as an aeronautical research scientist in 1947.

Boyd has held a range of positions with NASA throughout his 59-year career. For the first 10 to 15 years he worked on making planes more efficient--maximizing the lift and minimizing friction. He also did research on supersonic aircraft, helping jets and missiles reach MACH 3, which is three times the speed of sound.

In 1958, when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) became NASA, and ventured from airplane design to space exploration, Boyd began researching travel to other planets. His research was focused on the shape of the craft and designing a shape that would allow the craft to enter another planet's atmosphere without burning up. His work led to the design of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts.

Not only has Boyd held a number of positions with NASA, his positions have taken him across the country, with stints in Texas, Washington, D.C. and California.

Aside from the fascinating work itself, Boyd says he has been fortunate to meet many amazing people, such as Charles Lindbergh and Orville Wright. "As a young engineer you didn't realize you were meeting a legend," he says.

His career also took him down the path of stardom, meeting the likes of Shirley Temple Black, John Denver and Prince Andrew. And it's this part of his job that he believes has helped keep his wife around for 55 years.

In 2003 Boyd became a historian for NASA. "I just made up what I didn't know," he jokes. He is also an ombudsman, working with employees on job satisfaction, and he spends about a third of his time as a senior adviser to the director.

From space to the Queen

"I'm the old broad," says Lillian Benson, 83, of M.E. Benson's antique jewelry store in Saratoga. "Actually, I'm the queen," she retracts, "and I can prove it."

Recounting a story about how a hospital visit elicited get-well cards addressed to the Queen of Saratoga, Benson said it must be official since the U.S. Postal Service knew to deliver them to her.

Benson, who has had her Saratoga shop for 24 years, recently sold it to her daughter but continues to work Thursdays through Sundays.

Benson came to Saratoga in 1975, from Flint, Mich., where she was a party planner for General Motors. After her husband's death, Benson opened her Saratoga store in 1982, working out of several locations, including a garage, before settling into her current location just off Big Basin Way.

Over the years Benson has established herself in the community, and people often call her with questions about family heirlooms. She said she has saved many people from selling valuable items at a garage sale for next to nothing.

And it is from people's homes that Benson buys most of her antiques. "Our items all have a story behind them and lots of history," she says. She's adamant about not buying from dealers, but says that dealers often buy from her.

Benson recalls one of her most memorable moments in Saratoga was lying down in the middle of Big Basin Way. A week before Christmas, CalTrans started digging up the street for construction. Benson was outraged that the city would pick the busiest shopping time of the year to close the street for construction. And not being one to sit idly by, she lay down in the street in front of her store as construction approached.

"You'll have to do it over my dead body," she remembers saying. She caused such a stir that then-Mayor Marty Clevenger had to mediate.

Benson's efforts produced the desired results--construction was halted until after the first of the year. "Well, they weren't going to go over my body," Benson says.

Not looking to retire anytime soon, Benson says she enjoys working with her daughter. Believing that there must be other people who are still working at her age, she tried to come up with a few names. Stumped, she exclaims, "I think I'm the oldest one in town."

Out of retirement

Jimmie "Mose" Dawson did retire from her career in the public relations industry, only to be summoned back by her son, Chris Benson, co-owner of C.B. Hannegan's in Los Gatos.

Dawson started helping out her son when his restaurant first opened 25 years ago and has just kept with it. "Chris needed help when they first opened, and it's fun to do," Dawson says.

She volunteers every Friday during the lunch hour, helping out the busboys. "I've been working one day a week since the day they opened," she says. But there is a strict rule that Dawson, now 82, is not allowed to carry the heavy trays.

"It's a kick," Dawson says. "My husband calls it my brilliant career."

Dawson compares her shift to the opening of a play, saying she gets in around 11:30 a.m. to set up, which is like rehearsal. And the curtain comes up at noon, when lunch starts and customers begin coming in.

Dawson enjoys helping her son's business, but just because she's the owner's mother, don't think he plays favorites. "When I sit down, Chris frowns at me because he knows there's always something to do," she says.

However, it is apparent from the twinkle in her eye that the "frowns" are clearly far from a reprimand. And it is this family community philosophy of C.B. Hannegan's that makes Dawson's experience so enjoyable.

"We have 25 years' worth of friends who come in every Friday," Dawson says. "It's a lovely combination between caring for the community and a love of serving," she says about the restaurant.

So is a second retirement in Dawson's near future? "Judge Taylor [one of the Friday regulars] thinks I should retire at 90," she says with a laugh.

A perfect record

What's more impressive than continuing to work well past the typical retirement age? How about not missing a day of work in 38 years?

Ouilda Stephens, who celebrated her 80th birthday last November, started working at Blossom Hill Cleaners 38 years ago and has never missed a scheduled day of work.

"I just work when I don't feel well," she says, shrugging nonchalantly.

An early riser, Stephens starts her day at the cleaners at 5:30 a.m. and is usually on her way home by 9 a.m. "It's more of a pastime now," Stephens says. "I do it to stay alive and be healthy," adding that she walks to and from the bus stop, which is about seven blocks from her house.

Stephens says her jobs at the cleaners vary. "I'm an all-around girl. I help out with the cleaning and I work in the front of the store at the register."

Stephens has a brother in Chico and a niece in Modesto, but no relatives in the area, so her coworkers are like family. "Debbie [Schuster, the manager] treats me like her mother," she says.

Stephens has no plans to retire and cites being a little hard of hearing as her only significant problem. "But I guess that comes with the age," she adds. "You can't expect too much after 80. I think I do pretty well for my age. I don't have any pains or anything."

While Ohlund, Boyd, Benson, Dawson and Stephens all have very different backgrounds and careers, it is their desire to stay active that has led them to continue working.

"It's a reason to get up and get going in the morning," Ohlund says. These seniors, and others like them, are redefining the term golden years.