retired

SoCS — Going Postal

Fandango10 Comments

For today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has asked us to write about “the last piece of mail you received.” She goes further by instructing us to “talk about the subject of the last piece of physical mail you received.” In other words, if it’s a gas bill, for example, she wants us to write about gas, not about the bill.

My daily snail-mail delivery consists mostly of bills, catalogs, and promotions or solicitations. When I checked my mail late yesterday afternoon, one of the pieces of mail I received was a job solicitation from the U.S. Postal Service.904290FA-B733-4D8C-8215-EED2CE232866It asked whether I might be “looking for a fast-paced, challenging, and rewarding job with career advancement opportunities.” Woo hoo!

How exciting. I could be a mail carrier, a mail handler assistant, an auto mechanic, a tractor-trailer operator, a motor vehicle operator, a clerk, and, best of all, “more!”

Now I have nothing against the U.S. Postal Service. I don’t know my mailman (or mailwoman), but I appreciate what they and their fellow postal workers do. That “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” motto is really inspiring.

The thing is, I’m retired. And I kind of like being retired. And I was able to put enough away during my working years that, unless I live as long as Methuselah, I should have enough money to survive on so that I won’t ever have to work again.

So I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass on this kind invitation to join the ranks of the U.S. Postal Service. But if any of you out there are interested in going postal, I’m sure your local postmaster would be happy to chat with you.

Sunday Photo Fiction — Paradise

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904A674F-6768-4A29-92C8-7128BCB03D49.jpegIt was picture perfect. As close to ideal as any place could possibly be. The weather all year long was wonderful, with mild days and cool, crisp nights. There were typically around 300 days of bright, sparkling sunshine a year, and when it did rain, it was almost alway at night. The ocean’s warm blue waters surrounded the peninsula on three sides.

They had promised themselves that they would sell their home in the city and move to paradise once Eric retired. They had scrimped and save and had accumulated enough money to finally fulfill their promise. And so, when they found what seemed to precisely meet their needs, they took the leap.

Sure, it was a little more than they planned on spending, but they decided to splurge. They bought a lovely three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath beachfront bungalow. There was room enough for the two of them plus for their grown kids for when they wanted to come by and stay over for a weekend or longer.

They moved in and got settled and were enjoying the good life.

A thousand miles away, an earthquake.

A few days later, the tsunami.

That was the end of paradise.

(198 words)

Written for Susan Spaulding’s Sunday Photo Fiction prompt. Photo credit: Anurag Bakhshi.

One-Liner Wednesday — The Early Bird

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577723F2-FCA1-4FA1-9E7B-0D2E0CA0A726“Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not.”

Ursula K. Le Guin, American novelist.

Now that I’m retired and don’t have anywhere in particular to be first thing in the morning, I rarely set my alarm.

And yet, I usually wake up every morning between 6 and 6:30 regardless of what time I go to sleep. And that kinda pisses me off. Because I’d love to be able to sleep later.

So Ursula is right. My mornings still arrive — way too early, I might add — even though I don’t set my alarm.

Written for today’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

J is for Juggling

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I’ve spent most of my life juggling stuff. I don’t mean literally juggling objects, as in throwing three or more plates, bowling pins, or flaming batons up into the air and catching them. I mean juggling everyday activities of daily living like school, sports, work, family, social life, reading, writing, and the like.

I had to work my way through college. So for most of the time during my undergraduate school, I was working at least part-time and going to school full-time. Once I got into graduate school, my time was spent working a full-time job during the day and going to classes at nights and on weekends. And for my own sanity and well being, I also tried to squeeze in some kind of social life.

After I got married and had kids, I found myself juggling my time between my job, my wife, and my kids. After my kids grew up and moved out of the house, I was still doing that delicate balancing act between keeping my wife happy and my boss happy.

(Actually, upon review, that last sentence seems kinda kinky. What I meant was keeping my wife happy with respect to my duties as her husband and my boss happy with respect to my job duties. There was funny business going on at work.)

And now that I’m retired and have taken up blogging, it’s a matter of juggling my waking hours between spending quality time with my wife, walking our dog, reading books, watching TV, and writing and reading blog posts.

I suppose that juggling is something that all of us do most of our lives and will continue to do until that inevitable time when there is no longer a need to juggle.

SoCS — So Far, So Good

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7208460D-D05A-45AA-9D03-8342E099803E.jpegWhen I first read Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “so far,” I was simply going to post two music videos, both with songs titled “So Far Away.” One by Carole King and the other by Dire Straits.

But then I thought that posting two music videos is not exactly a stream of consciousness post, is it? Besides, the prompt is “so far,” not “so far away.”

So getting back on point, I’m a senior citizen who has many more years behind me than I have ahead of me. Some might say I’m in my twilight years, but there are times when it feels more like I’m in the Twilight Zone.

But I digress. Sometimes I think about how my life has been going so far. I’m retired now and I have somehow managed to squirrel away enough to not have to worry that much about outliving my retirement nest egg. Well, as long as I don’t live as long as Methuselah, that is.

My wife and I have no debt. Our house is all paid off, so there are no mortgage payments. No car payments either, and I’m not in the market for a new car. I think I can say with a fair degree of confidence that my wife and I still love one another. Or at least that we’re willing to put up with each other. So far, anyway.

And both of us are healthy. No major maladies or worrisome health issues so far. So that’s good.

We have two grown kids who are great and are doing well for themselves. So far we don’t have any grandkids, but we’re hoping that before too long we’ll have a few.

All things considered, life has been good so far. Sure, there have been ups and downs and bumps in the road. But who hasn’t experienced such things?

Bottom line, then, I’d say so far, so good.

And just for fun, here are those two aforementioned music videos.