January 1, 2018 - When I woke up this morning I was officially RETIRED. After working at the same place for more than 43-years it is going to be an adjustment not having a daily schedule. I haven't worked since October 12, 2017, as I had 10-weeks of leave that I had to take before the end of the year or lose. So really have I been adjusting to retirement for the better part of two and a half months.
In those two and a half months I have found that I really don't miss the job all that much. I certainly don't miss the pain of doing the employee schedule, nor do I miss the never relenting demand of the public. I must say that in the last 40 plus years, the people of today are just plain rude and in some cases stupid. Use to be you could at least try and reason with people and have a discussion. But now days there is not reasoning with them and more often than not a discussion is out of the question. More than ever I realize just how right the person was who said "You can't fix stupid." And there are more stupid people out there than ever before. I don't miss listening to their whining when they don't get their way.
But the biggest thing that I won't miss is the fact that nobody want to accept any responsibility. No matter what the situation is, it is always other peoples fault. People are not willing to look themselves in the mirror and say "it's my fault and I have make a change." They have absolutely no respect for themselves, much less respect for anyone else.
I do miss the daily interactions with the people in the Communications Center. These people are some of the most dedicated and professional people that I have ever met . They have been a very big part of my life and I truly miss them.
Since being unofficially retired, I have found that my stress level has been greatly reduced. I am sleeping better and I am waking up refreshed and my day is much more relaxed. I have also found that it is a big adjustment noting having to make time for yourself. When I was working, it was difficult trying to find an hour or so just for me. Whether it was just finding time to kick back and read a book or hitting the rec center for a little exercise, it was stressful just trying to find that time.
Now I have the time and have rediscovered the joy of reading, and just how much I enjoy my daily walks either at the Rec Center, on the Huckleberry or on one of the other trails that we have here in the New River Valley.
While nobody knows what the future holds, I do hope to travel some. I have a trip schedule in March out to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Dallas and hope to spend the better part of the Month piddlin around the Lone Star State.
In the early planning stages, is a trip this summer up to the the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan and I am also looking at a weekend through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.
One of my bucket list items is to Ride Amtrak across country. Right now I am looking at Riding the Texas Eagle out to Phoenix in October and spending a few days with Chuck and Sharon Shinall at their time share before re-boarding the Texas Eagle and continuing on to Los Angles. While in L. A. I want to rent a car and play tourist before heading up the Coast on the Coast Starlight to San Francisco. After spend a few days in the Bay Area, I want to board the California Zephyr for the return trip across the country.
In the mean time, I am going to dust off the golf clubs and when the weather breaks hit the course and hone my skills at cow pasture pool. I am also going to keep the camera handy as you never know when a photo opportunity may come up.
So, after 43-years of work, and several months of planning....RETIREMENT is here and I am RETIRED.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!
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