Double
Digit Dance
I promised myself that I
wouldn't write a blog about this subject until a bit later down the
road, but have realized something that makes broaching the topic a
little more appropriate now. It's kind of a matter of timing and of
days.
Let me explain. I won't
keep ya but a couple minutes.
Let's start approaching
this subject a bit circuitously by saying this: there's a site out
on the web that has lots and lots to do about cruising. You know,
getting on one of those big boats and going somewhere generally
exotic. Cruising. And on this particular website there is a
gigantic forum where people can talk to other people about cruising
in its various aspects – cruise lines, ports, getting to the port,
new cruisers, cruise photography, special interests, home ports and
other sub-topics. Trust me when I say there is a LOT of information
out there. Sometime before my wife and I had our first cruise I
happened upon this website and began doing my due diligence by
devouring all my head could contain on cruising. While doing this I
ran across a term which I had to research a bit to understand. Some
of the forum posters would talk about doing their
“single-digit-dance”. When I read further I realized that they
were talking about being less than 10 days away from sailing. They
were so happy their vacation was about to begin that they were
dancing!
I thought it was kind of a
cute way to say “our cruise is just around the corner.”
Single-digit-dance!
Some others, having booked
a long way in advance, were also getting excited when they got to the
time where they could do the “Double-Digit-Dance.” Those
cruisers had just dropped below 100 days before sailing. About three
months and a week, give or take, and it made them happy also.
And so that brings us to
my particular situation.
Today marks 100 days
before I retire. Three months and a week, give or take.
Tomorrow I start my
Double-Digit-Dance!
I didn't really want to
write anything about my retirement until the day was a bit closer,
but when I saw my countdown clock at work today and it displayed
“100”, the numbers just pulled me in. It's actually quite
mesmerizing. 99 days to go. Like the middle of March when you're in
school and waiting for summer break. Or waiting for a loved one to
return from an overseas military assignment. Or being that loved one
waiting for the flight taking you back home to “the world.” And
only having 99 days to go!
Or, to bring it back to
where we started a few paragraphs ago, three months and a week until
you sail.
I've been there. I've
been there three times where I was counting the days before going on
a cruise. I've done the Double-Digit-Dance then.
But I've never did “the
dance” for retirement.
One obviously only does
this one time. Usually, I guess. There are those who retire a few
times, but for the vast majority of us there is only the one time.
99 days. Wow!
But wait a minute. I
always thought it was OLD people who retired. I remember seeing
folks retire from previous jobs I had held and they were... well,
dammit, they were old! But me? I guess maybe those ol' fogies who
retired back in the day weren't really all that old. Not really.
Were they?
I guess my generation's
definition of what's old is anyone who's about 20 years older than
us. Sounds about right.
So here I sit at my
work-site, plugging away at my job and occasionally glancing at the
calendar. Only have to turn 3 more pages and I'm done! I
think. Only have to get in the car and drive to work about 62
more times, then all my driving from that day forward will
be for ME!
How do I feel about all
this? What are my thoughts as I approach this significant milestone
in my life? What am I going to do afterward?
Tell ya what. Why don't
we leave that for another blog, shall we?
Just suffice it to say,
it's Double-Digit-Dance time for lil' ol' me and I, for one, am
countin' the days! And it's easy. There's only TWO digits!
