Sunday 6 October 2013

Saga


I just looked out of the window and saw my American friend walking by, so I shouted down to him and he shouted back up.

"I got a phone-call this morning," he bawled, "I'm going into work tomorrow. That's good, because I'm starting to hallucinate and talk to myself."

Normally on a weekday, he would be out of the house by about 5.30 a.m., but he is one of the thousands of government workers affected by the Republican's childish tactic of shutting down the entire US government by throwing their toys out of the pram.

In the brief time that I have known him, the conversation always reverts to his plans for retirement, and how he hankers for the few years of service to be over so he can sit around all day doing nothing, with the odd fishing-trip adding texture to his leisurely existence. This enforced period of leisure has caused him to rethink his plans, even though it has only lasted about 4 days.

On the rare occasions that I have spent a weekday at home at the same time as H.I., the notion of 'retirement' has become even more unreal than it ever was - and I have never had any plans to retire, even if I was due for a massive pension. I am expected to make myself 'useful' during daylight hours in our compact but adorable city apartment, and it  - even after one hour - becomes clear that H.I. likes her solitude just as much as I do. I 'get under her feet', I think, and this is before I have even started to wear matching beige, drip-dry, stay-pressed, two-piece outfits bought at Marks and Spencer.

He - like me - tends to start pulling the tops off beer cans around midday if he has nothing else to do, and the fishing-season only has a few more days left to run.

I think that the isolation of working from home - or just not working at all - could explain all those recipes put up in the blogosphere, because food becomes somewhat over-important after retirement as well.

I have known many retired couples (including my parents) whose lives are solely punctuated by mealtimes. No sooner has the breakfast washing-up been done, than the table is laid for lunch, then after that has been cleared away, dinner is prepared - after the 4 o'clock tea and cake.

Ramblers associations usually have an average age well over retirement, because it gets them out of the house.

If pushed, I will always grudgingly admit to actually enjoying working - eleven and a half month's holiday and two week's work is always going to be the wrong way round, and living in Bournemouth is bound to lose it's appeal after a while.

I just looked up 'retired couple' on Google to get the above photo, and the images are 99% people standing next to the sea. Seaside existence is still the idyll, it seems.

My parents always planned to move to Christchurch after retirement, but they never made it. Probably just as well.

17 comments:

  1. My husband is way past retirement age but still works three days a week. We never have any of our meals at any given time, nor will we be moving to Bournemouth or the like. We also try very hard not to grunt or groan when we get up/down from the sofa and we both avoid M&S apart from the Food Hall .....we are desperately trying not to be the stereotypical ' old people ' !! ..... and, I think, at the moment, that we are winning ! XXXX

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    1. I thought you made a point of grunting and groaning? (Oooh Matron!)

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  2. You need a shed, a comfy chair, a bottle opener, and a half-decent radio. Voila!

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    1. I have all of those - they are key components in what I like to call my 'working life'.

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  3. I thought I learned it here first and minimized you to find some news. The news apparently is, Pentagon says most furloughed civilian workers going back tomorrow."
    Actually, that's not bad. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say. I'm enjoying watching the Democrats new found resolve. I almost typed another word, but I'm not ready to say the Dems have those, yet.

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    1. I know that word, Joanne. I only learned the word, 'furlough' from my Yank friend, very recently. He is, of course, a civilian in a military world.

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  4. Husband, though emeritus, does as much work at university and on congresses etc as before - he is happy because work & hobby sre the same. When I will retire I will have enough work to do - and our way of living (from Thursday to Monday morning together in Berlin, the other days on our own, I in Berlin, Hans in Hildesheim) always makes people look - choose: attentively/ wary/ seemingly knowingly or envious - I don't care. For us it is the best of both worlds.

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    1. Sounds good. 2 good friends of mine arrive from Hamburg/Bremerhaven tomorrow.

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    2. Have fun with them, Tom! I really hope that on your visit to Hamburg/Bremerhaven your way will lead you to Berlin too and you stay with us - we'll enjoy your visit. Tomorrow Hans and I go for 4 days to the Baltic Sea (Heiligendamm).

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    3. I will be sure to visit one day, Thanks.

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  5. I used to be in charge of the "retiree recognition program" at a big company. The retiree would get a plaque and pick out a gift from a catalog. (Woo hoo.)

    Sadly, within a few months, we'd read about many of them in the obits.

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    1. Yes, many of them pop their clogs about 9 months after hanging up the gloves. Saves on pension payouts.

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  6. I haven't worked full time since OB was born nearly ten years ago due to his issues that require my being at home when he gets back from school and here every holiday. I find myself reluctant to even sit down and eat my lunch for fear of slipping into retirement mode. Sitting at a computer for a bit is as sedentary as I'm prepared to get without suffering guilt/stress at lack of activity. Flexible research jobs are very thin on the ground round these parts.

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    1. Ah, good. You have so much to live and work for.

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  7. Your work ethic, certain but unobsessive, is one of the nice things about you, Tom. A day of pottering once in a while is great, but a few days in a row are distressing.

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    1. Believe it or not, my work-ethic was so highly developed that I once worked 7 days a week for a year, and didn't leave the confines of Bath for the whole period. I now combine pottering with working, which suits my ageing frame so much better.

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    2. P.S. What are the other nice things about me?

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