Now you might think that the above is self-evident if
you are retired as I now am. But I would like to take you through that
statement in more detail to show how my life has been turned upside down by
retirement.
Friday
Evening
The disadvantage of being retired is that Friday
evening is the same as every other. It is no longer the gateway to the weekend,
but the same as any other evening. The pleasure of sinking into the chair with
a cool beer with the weekend ahead. I can do that any evening of the week.
However the advantage is that with no work Friday evening can start earlier.
This Friday we took advantage by going to the theatre to see the Glass Menagerie;
previously we would not have been able to start early enough. The play though
divided opinion, it was well acted, but I felt that the play had dated.
Saturday
This becomes a catching up with what you have not
done during the week. This week I had shopping to do, to get a haircut, sort
out some insurance details, pay the months bill and do the finances. There was
something else but I forgot. Amidst this it was great to see our friends
Barbara and Iain.
Saturday
Evening
So Saturday evening now becomes chill out time. We
cracked a great bottle of French red wine, had a fantastic meal and sat down
for some fairly mindless television. It was then that I made a mistake; I
decided to sample the bourbon that my son had given me for birthday. It was
delicious, but I probably over-indulged!!
Sunday
So on Sunday I had to work on my university course to
get a jump on the week ahead as we are travelling to Stratford-on-Avon to see
Henry V. (Really looking forward to it has received tremendous reviews). So it
was an early start (for a Sunday at least) at 8am and down to work in my
dressing gown. The work is challenging, but interesting. Getting things like
the referencing correct is really difficult. Hanging over it all is the end of
term assessment; I already feel the weeks ticking away. Fortunately half way
through the day Marion dragged me out to do some exercise. But I was finished
by 6pm and felt a sense of achievement.
Sunday
Evening
Phew, an evening of conversation and planning. And
now next week……
Yes, academia is challenging after a long break in industry! I remember my first education class when I left my engineering career. The first assignment was a "journal entry" about our own early education. I wrote 9 meandering pages (single spaced, wide margins). The professor was very kind as she reassured me that the 2-3 page, double spaced requirement was really quite sufficient to express a single, focused and coherent idea... Hang in there - the thinking and writing gets easier with practice! Taking on this study is admirable. Just reading Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth now..."Most people... wish above all else to be comfortable, and thought is a preeminently uncomfortable process..." Taken out of context, but it might hearten the soul:).
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