While some might spend their retirement lounging around and watching television, Bernard Marshall decided he wanted none of that.Instead the 67-year-old has resigned many of his days to collecting business cards from people he meets, wherever he goes.A barber by trade, Mr Marshall has collected more than 10,225 cards since he started suffering from heart attacks and stopped working full time 20 years ago.“I wanted something else to do rather than just sitting around watching television,” he said. “I have no love of TV, to me it’s just a waste of time to just sit there and watch TV all day.“I still go to old folks homes and give shaves and haircuts to the elderly and try to help them, but I needed something here when I was at home at night time and when I wanted to take my mind off the pain in the legs.”The collection is something for me to do to keep me occupied and my hands out of trouble.”Mr Marshall has collected most of his cards from ordinary people — from garage workers, to taxi operators and lawyers. But he said his most prized business card is from famed entertainer Michael Jackson, received approximately six months before the pop star’s death.The avid collector said: “A friend of mine went to the States for a concert and [Mr Jackson] was singing and he met him and he gave him his card.“Soon after he died from [health complications caused by] an overdose of [medicinal] drugs.”He said the cards came in handy sometimes when he was looking for someone specific to contact.Instead of flipping open the phone book, he can just refer to his collection, which is alphabetised and organised according to subject.The hobby also forces Mr Marshall to stay active and consistently get out of the house. He said: “I sometimes go down to Front Street and go for a walk and I stop and ask the taxi drivers if they have a business card.“I have some who say ‘Bernie, I gave you one already’ because I can’t remember if I got one from that person or not.“Sometimes I decide when I go for my walk that I will go to each shop and ask them for business cards. Sometimes I walk into shops that I shouldn’t, like when I was in Texas with a friend I went into a ladies shop looking for business cards.”Mr Marshall said he didn’t bother engaging with the female clientele, he just kept his eyes forward and asked the sales person for a card.His friend was surprised at his determination, but the senior said: “If they have a card, I am willing to go and get it.”“Sometimes you go into the ladies hair salons and sometimes it can be quite awkward,” he said, with a laugh.It also keeps his mind off of his numerous health problems. Mr Marshall said he has been put on a critical condition list seven times in his life and suffers from blot clots and circulation problems in his legs.He said: “It’s only through God’s grace that I have gone this far. He has let me live and let me keep my legs and I plan to keep going for as long as I can because it keeps the mind occupied and keeps the body moving.“If you sit around all day you are going to seize up, but this is a hobby that I can do.“That is why I tell people all the time when someone wants to do something when they are handicapped or sick don’t try to do things for them.“Let them do their own thing because it takes their mind off the sickness.”Mr Marshall recounts and organises his card collection annually in July.During these times he devotes eight or nine hours a week to his collection, but during the rest of the year he only spends an hour or so each week flipping through the collection.In addition to scores of cards from Bermuda, he has gathered some from Boston, New York and Texas. He used to have a few cards from people in the Azores, but those were lost in a previous collection of 4,000 business cards that he started as a teenager.On one trip to Texas he was able to collect nearly 450 cards over a five day time span.He said he gets enjoyment from the past-time; it also keeps him going at times when his health and spirits are low.He has enlisted friends, as well as fellow worshippers at Church of Christ in Devonshire, to collect cards on his behalf. A church minister event brought him back six cards from a recent trip abroad, Mr Marshall said.More important than the cards is often the brief connection he makes with new people. He said: “Sometimes you meet some nice people when you are asking for cards because they are very genuine and you can’t help but notice how warm they are when you stop and talk to them.“When you ask them for a card they have no qualms about it.”He has no immediate plans to stop and said he aims to collect as many cards as he can while his health allows.