Group Writing. A Day in the Life of a Reluctant Retiree, Before and After

 

My original goal in life was to never retire.  I wanted to remain a productive member of society until they carried me out feet-first.  Well, the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic restrictions put paid to that idea, when they decimated the aerospace industry.  I was offered, and took, a generous retirement package from my job as an aerospace electronics buyer, and retired at the end of August of 2020.

Before:

With no alarm-clock to wake me from my beauty-sleep, I adopted a brand new sleep-wake schedule, closer to Hubby’s.  I’d roll out of bed around 10:00AM, do my personal maintenance, and tiptoe out of the bedroom so as not to wake Ray.  Head downstairs to feed Kikyo her crunchies for breakfast, then make my own breakfast.  Nothing fancy, just toast and orange juice.

Then, back upstairs to my computer, to read comics, news, and Ricochet.  We have enough local news to make a plethora of blog posts, both here and on my own blog at RushBabe49.com.    Sometimes I post more than once a day, depending on how angry I am with whatever is happening.  Every weekend, I try to do a Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, run by a bunch of WordPress professional photographers.  This past weekend was Number 163.  They publish a theme each week, and anyone who wants to, does a photo post on that theme.  They are great fun, and I get compliments from the pros, which is great for my ego.

Next, I head downstairs for my favorite retirement activity, reading.  I still subscribe to the print Wall Street Journal, which I read in its entirety.  That can take hours.  When I finish with the paper, I read whatever book I have going at the moment.  For Christmas, Ray gave me a boxed set of all the Hunger Games novels, and I just started reading them.  They are very good reading, and, somehow, quite pertinent right at the moment.  I will read, and neglect stuff that has to be done around the house, since reading’s way more fun.

Once Ray is up, we do whatever we need to do together, which is usually grocery shopping.  We can do this during the day now, and it’s actually fun.  We can also take the cat to the vet together, which I always used to do alone.  After dinner, it’s back to reading, and I don’t turn off the light until 1:00-2:00 AM.

At the end of July, I received an unsolicited email from a recruiter who saw my profile on LinkedIn.  I actually get a fair number of those, and until last year, I’d always say I wasn’t interested in changing jobs.  Now that I’m retired, I don’t have to worry about that.  This query, however, was about a short-term assignment (one month) at a company a short distance from my house.  I replied to the email and invited the recruiter to give me a call, so we could discuss what the job entailed.  This led to…

After:

We spoke on the phone, she told me what the job entailed, and that it was only for a month.  The company turned out to be in the aerospace industry and was where a friend of mine had worked some years ago.  So she submitted my resume.  She called back the next day, and said the company wanted to interview me, and we set up an interview for the next day, a Friday.  It was a successful interview, and the following Monday the recruiter called me and asked me when I could start.  I said “Wednesday”, since I wanted a day to get used to the idea and a new schedule.  Well, she called back again a couple of hours later and said they really wanted me to start the next day.  So I did.

As anyone who has worked temp will know, those “short-term” assignments often go longer than originally specified, and that is what happened with this one.  The boss called me into his office last week, and asked me how long I could stay (grin).  I said, for as long as he needs me, so I’ll be working until early October.  Here’s my new schedule:

6:00AM, roll out of bed.  Dress, feed kitty, eat breakfast and make lunch.  6:45AM, drive to work.  7:00AM, start work.  11:00AM, break for lunch.  3:30PM, leave for home.  I’m receiving a fair hourly rate, working in a factory that makes heavy aerospace components, with as nice a group of coworkers as you will ever find.  It took me about two days to get the hang of their ERP system, and I am handling POs for outside processing.  The parts they make are industrial art, and just today I discovered that even their scrap is beautiful!  Too bad it’s military use, so I can’t take pictures.

Anyway, this reluctant retiree is happy to be back in the saddle again, even if it’s only for a short assignment.  And there’s always a possibility that they will need me in the future, to fill in for vacationing buyers.  I do have the chance to apply for the permanent position, but I decided that I’m happy being part-retired and working short-term assignments.  Now, I have the best of both worlds.

Published in Group Writing
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 10 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    I’m glad you found a good balance in your life! Enjoy this time doing what you love – both at home and work.

    • #1
  2. Headedwest Coolidge
    Headedwest
    @Headedwest

    I liked this post, even though I am not in the same mind space as you. I never worked because I wanted to, I worked to make money. I never had a job that made me inherently happy to show up.  I retired in 2018 (I could no longer cope with the snowflake undergraduate students) and I was happy to go. I have so many projects to complete that every day is still full. The fact that nobody but me cares about most of these projects (except for the woodworking jobs for my kids and grandkids) doesn’t bother me. I’m setting my own goals here.

    My former departmental colleagues still invite me to faculty parties, and I was with them this weekend. They were describing the pre-semester faculty meeting that morning. I felt a little tingle of enjoyment that I no longer have to attend pre-semester (or post-semester) faculty meetings.

    So any day that I might feel bored, all I have to do is conjure up “faculty meeting” and I immediately appreciate my new freedom.

    • #2
  3. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    I’m so happy for you.  It brings a broad smile to my face to know that you got a bit of what you always wanted and counted on.  May it last as long as you desire.

    • #3
  4. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Often temp is the try before you hire since firing is more difficult. I am sure they will hang onto you for as long as they can. Congratulations!

    • #4
  5. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Thank you so much for the follow-up.  You are one of my favorite writers.

    • #5
  6. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    This post closes out our Group Writing Series under the August 2021 Group Writing Theme: “A day in the life.” 

    Our September theme is “Best and Worst.” Stop by and sign up today.

    Interested in Group Writing topics that came before? See the handy compendium of monthly themes. Check out links in the Group Writing Group. You can also join the group to get a notification when a new monthly theme is posted.

    • #6
  7. Tedley Member
    Tedley
    @Tedley

    @rushbabe49, we’re on the same wavelength.  Although I did it 5 years ago, I also didn’t expect to retire when I did.  Then, not long after retiring, I went back to college using the 9/11 GI Bill.  While taking classes, some professors asked me to help them out for a few short-term projects, and then one of them offered me a part-time job for a couple of years.  Part-time work is fine for me, I wouldn’t want to go back to full-time and tie up so many hours each week to a job.  It may also provide further opportunities after I graduate, even as I work my way towards 60.

    May you continue to enjoy what you’re doing!

    • #7
  8. Captain French Moderator
    Captain French
    @AlFrench

    Hmmm. I don’t see TV anywhere in there.

    • #8
  9. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Captain French (View Comment):

    Hmmm. I don’t see TV anywhere in there.

    I read rather than watch TV. 

    • #9
  10. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Update on October 3.  I am still working at that one-month job!  No idea how long more, but I am now term-limited by a new state law. I won’t work after December 31, since I refuse to pay the new long-term-care tax that will never benefit me.  It will be back to retirement for me.

    • #10
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.