Your post caught my eye. I am also "on it pretty much 24/7. When I’m a wake I’m steeming."
I am also retired, but I kicked in a bit more in order to get more SP and a bit more income. If I have a profession, it's Steemit and alt-coin trading.
I joined in August, but I didn't have a lot of luck with votes from my posts. It's not my thing, I guess.
I do however study when and how others vote using steemstats.com - you can put in @recursive and watched him vote live. I tracked how people vote and what I can make by following them (put in your own name and you will see your possible returns live while voting) I would say it's best not to follow a whale like my example above because you would get more money if you vote right before a whale does. But there, my friend is the trick to be mastered.
Feel free to take a stab at my contest which is running till tomorrow night. I am paying Steem for a guess at what that picture might be! See my blog.
Thank you.
My goal is to get enough Steem such that I can supplement my fixed income substantially by the interest alone. Since i have ZERO discretionary income at the moment the only way to increase my steem is to earn it.