August 1, 2012
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Retirement Can Really Suck……sometimes
I read a heart warming, perspiring and nerve fraying post by a young friend of mine, about one of her typical days. I’m sure a lot of you also have similar days like her. The stressful push to deal with a demanding day and the unrelenting routine of it all. Indentured to making a living, herding and housebreaking children, tolerating an unsympathetic spouse and simply surviving the day. Yep…..it can suck as bad as a Wombisi Blood Bat.
Well….I don’t have those days anymore. You see, I’m retired now. Done, finished and you can shove my timecard in the ol‘ corporate slot. I haven’t even set my alarm clock in over a year. I don’t take quickie showers anymore, but embrace myself with long hot baths every day while I read the paper. I usually have my first beer at lunch or during my bath. I watch Seinfeld reruns, old movies, FOX NEWS, CNN, Home Shopping Network and the VIEW. I water my garden and cut fresh roses for the dining room table. I go for long walks at the local park and at HOME DEPOT. In the afternoon, I go online and spend about an hour on ’Xanga’ and an hour on ‘Sassy’s House of Breast’. I also enjoy classical music, not like the Stones from the sixties, but the real stuff like Bach, Muddy Waters, Leon Redbone and Mozart. I have had time to reread a lot of my favorite books like ‘The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire’, Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History Of Time,’ Julia Child’s ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking,’ James Day’s ‘Washington Hooker’s and Interns,” and Wilbur Snout’s ‘Mating Habits of the Wombisi Blood Bat.’
Of all the friends I’ve had over the years, many have passed on, moved away, joined Jehovah’s Witness or hang out in gay bars for seniors. So….I entertain myself with myself. I make sock puppets and use them to put on one man presentations of the Presidential debates, Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Romeo and Julia Childs. I stay busy. Wifey still works so she won’t interfere with my retirement, but in return I do all the dark colored laundry and I pick up Chinese food four nights a week for dinner. We usually have a quiet dinner of Kapow chicken and watch ‘Cops’ on TV. Yeah, kinda sucks.
My life is now well organized, stress free, no time restraints, no demanding obligations or time consuming duties……I should be brain dead in about six months, followed by atrophy.
Comments (9)
LOL — taking long walks in the park or Home Depot! There’s a real adjustment from the working world to retirement, and there’s sometimes so much to do that it’s difficult to make the choices! And it will wait till tomorrow if need be ~ ~ ~ Happy retirement!
Tell me Charlie.. You like Luciano Pavarroti ????
My friend at work was teasing me about how I’ll be bored to death after a year of retirement. I insist I won’t be because of my many interests. We shall see. In eight weeks I’m done with work.
Dear Charlie,
If I ever get one those dang new fangled “kindles” I may want to download an e-version of one of your books. I believe I tried to find links a while back but was unsuccessful.
I denied even growing old up until 55 or so. Now I’m actively “planning” my retirement, and hope to be able to retire in about 7 years.
Your sense of humor is outstanding. In our park, you don’t see a lot of the tenants most of the time. I’m pretty active (older residents call me “junior” and “the youngster”) I take a two mile walk nearly every day and spend a lot of free time at the pool.
One thing I hope never to do is waste away. (I appreciate you’re making a joke about atrophy) A lot of my firends atrophied their brains by taking too much drugs 20 years ago and some are dead partially because of it. I’ve lost a lot of buddies over the years. (One of my poems is called “Constant Pallbearer”) But I love to meet new people and never tire of life.
I don’t have a significant other, so am possibly more alone than you during the day when I’m not at work or socializing at the clubhouse in our mobile park. I (still) love my massive home theater. (Olympics look GREAT in 3D!)
And of course I still have my 8 year old Xanga blog to keep me entertained whenever I wish.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
@catstemplar2 - I liked him a lot more when he was still breathing.
@baldmike2004 - I never let myself feel rushed, but on the other hand, I’m don’t want to waste too much time either (considering my time alotment is now limited).
I do enjoy the olympics! http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2975018
It sounds like you stay busy! I’ve not worked to amount to anything in 25 yrs & understand the brain dead part. About 7 or 8 yrs ago i tried factory work again as a temp. With the automation I’ve never been so bored in my life. I decided i could find alot more to do at home! Hubby is starting to unwind somewhat at age 55, maybe by retirement time he will be able to enjoy it. I sure hope so!
Hang in there!
I retired in 1997, and was brain dead by 1998. I rather like it.