One Year In
When I logged on and checked my calendar for today I noticed that it said “Bill’s Retirement Anniversary”. I had realized over the past few weeks that this day was approaching, as it was again November and it was again fast approaching Thanksgiving as it was last year. When I retired. I remembered I retired not long before Thanksgiving. Last year. Just about 12 months ago.
I’m pretty quick that way…
Anyhow, here it is, one year later and yes, I’m still retired. I just gave myself a quick pat down and am happy to report that yes, I’m still here and yes, nothing seems to be out of order. Not working hasn’t made me disappear in any way, shape or form. Still here and still me. For better or worse I should add.
I asked myself some questions this morning in commemoration of this momentous anniversary. “Hey Willie” I said. “You ready to go back to work? You ready to go back to saying ‘yessir’ when you didn’t want to say ‘yessir’? You ready to go back to ‘playing the game’ for the paycheck? Are you tired yet of being a retiree?”
I think you can probably guess my answers to the above questions.
Do I still miss some of the folks at the old shop? Of course. Do I miss the socialization, the give-and-take between people, the friends I had to stop seeing every day? Of course.
But damn I SURE like being retired! Want to go on a walk on a Wednesday afternoon? Or go grocery shopping at 11 am on a Tuesday? Or go to a movie on a weekday afternoon? Or sleep to the crack of nine tomorrow morning?
Bet your patootie I do!
So I nodded a wry hello to the anniversary that popped up today, smiled at another milepost in the quickly zipping-by calendar and breathed a sigh of relief at my incredible fortune of being semi-healthy, getting along monetarily and enjoying life on my terms.
Hallelujah!
So, on to another topic if you don’t mind.
Damn if I don’t absolutely despise the political crap being posted on social media nowadays. Yes I know we’re doing a run-up to a presidential campaign and yes I know there are very strong feelings out there, but please, in the name of everything holy, do NOT presume that I am in agreement with your political leanings. Do NOT assume that I hate the people you hate and do NOT belittle my intelligence by assuming that if I don’t share your beliefs and see things your way that I’m a lesser person for it. It is NOT obvious that so-and-so is an idiot, a buffoon, a criminal, a member of a sect you hate, a liar, a thief or a nincompoop. I may hold a completely opposite view and probably do! Imagine that! I might just adore the scoundrel!
Or, then again, maybe not. Politicians are generally not very likeable.
But believe me when I say that I’m soooooo tired of seeing your rants and mean-spirited postings. From both sides of the political spectrum. Sooooo very tired…
And also believe me when I say that I used to let those postings bother me. I used to get angry and pissed off at them, to let them color my day and to color my view of the person who posted them. But now I just sigh and either ignore them or if they’re particularly vile, block that rant initiator.
Adios. Be gone. Vamoose.
And try to continue loving the poster. But sometimes it’s so very, very hard.
And in counterpoint, I surely hope I’m not in the minority in my OWN viewpoints (which I’m unlikely to share with the public). I really hope that most voters will take a measured approach to their franchise, that they will dispassionately (double-check the meaning of that word if you’re not real sure what it means) view all sides of an issue or a candidate before making an informed decision. I’d like to believe that is the case; that the ignorant will become educated, that the misguided will see the error of their ways, that the blind will come to see the light and that the emotional will calm down and become rational.
I’m the eternal optimist, but sadly I’d be surprised if that’s the case.
As much as I hate the speed at which time seems to be zipping by, I’d still love to get through this silly season as quickly as possible and to get back to the “normalcy” of a non-political time period.
Of course on social media “normalcy” is definitely in the eyes of the beholder.
On another vein…
I was at my family doctor’s office recently, taking care of some routine health matters when I was asked how long it had been since my latest colonoscopy. I gulped and said, “about a decade.”
“Ahhh”, was the response. “About time for another one, eh?”
I nodded and resigned myself. Been there and done that. So I scheduled the procedure and stiffened my spine for the upcoming trial. I was glad to note that the prep for the procedure, a day full of flushing your lower GI tract, had become a bit more tolerable as of late. Clear liquids the day before with a couple stiff shots of laxatives, making sure you didn’t get dehydrated and that was pretty much the worst of it. You got hungry, yes, but that’s understandable. Ya gotta clean the pipes, ya know!
The procedure was actually very anti-climatic when it rolled around. Answer some questions from the intake nurse, get an IV started, get wheeled into the procedure room, watch the “happy juice” start to flow into you veins and then wake up a hour or so later in the recovery area feeling lazy and mellow and so, so very comfortable! Easy as pie!
And now comes the joy of counting the days until my next one in three years!
Another subject, a bit less icky if you’d be so kind…
I’ve been in the midst of a flurry of eBaying recently. A good friend of mine’s mother had moved into assisted living quarters and had sold her house. She had a number of “things” that she thought might have some value, so I volunteered to help her sell them on eBay - for a small stipend of course. After a long afternoon of picking and choosing what I thought might sell from a large pile of possibles, I ended up with about 80 pounds of “stuff” that I thought might make her a buck or two. About 60-70 items perhaps. So a couple weeks ago I started taking pictures and placing the ads on eBay. I’d done some selling out there before, so I wasn’t a complete newbie. And, to be honest, it has been mostly fun. I enjoy the give and take of the auction site and trying to price items correctly as to entice a bid or two. Sometimes I do a good job and sometimes not. I wonder at why something sells fairly quickly and other things that look much more valuable can’t get a single bid. Such, I guess, is the lot of the salesman. Win some, lose some and the rest goes to Goodwill. I’m glad to say that a good chunk of what I put out there did sell, but there were no fortunes being made. By the time the fees and expenses were subtracted (and I got my cut) there wasn’t much meat left on the bone. But this whole exercise was more a favor to the old friend of mine and not so much for the older lady who moved. She was more interested in where this and that ended up than what they brought monetarily. It has been a fun few weeks though!
Hope you’re all looking forward to the upcoming holidays as much as I am. I’ll give you a holler the next time I get the urge to share.
