Fast forward, all of the renovations were completed, all new
furniture, appliances delivered, and we officially moved into the house on
March 1, 2014. My daughter graciously allowed me to stay at her home in Corona,
from Monday through Wednesday, and then I went home Thursday night after work.
My son and daughter-in-law also offered their guest room, which was
actually closer to my work. But I was used to the commute and apparently
a glutton for punishment. <Grin> It really was a great experience for me,
as I got to be a part of the daily routine of my Grandkids, who at the time
were ages 7 (Kendall), and 11 (Chandler).
But I must tell you on the other hand, it was a very rough three
months for BFF hubby and me. Well, I think more for me than for him, as I
would go home for the weekend, where I felt like a visitor. Every Sunday
night I would pack up my stuff for the week, and as I hugged BFF Hubby goodbye
I would start crying and did that for most of the drive to my daughter’s every
time I left. This was the first time BFF hubby and I were separated that long
from each other and keep in mind we have been together for 35 years, making it
very rough. I wasn’t worried about him so much, as I knew he would
be eating all right, taking his main meals at the clubhouse restaurant, not a
bad way to go I’d say. And for me I focused on thoughts of being permanently
home in June, which gave me the strength to go on each day.
Okay maudlin part is over, and then there is the work thing; I
tried being grateful for my job, but reality always won over. How can a
person really enjoy waking up every morning at 5:30 am, leaping out of bed,
take a shower, get dressed, fix hair and makeup, grab some coffee and breakfast
to go, only to fight traffic so you can get to a place where in essence, you
make a lot of money for someone else, and are expected to feel grateful for the
opportunity to do so! Phew, it exhausts me just thinking about it. Oh
come on now, if we are being completely honest, you know that’s it in a nutshell!
<Grin>
On a side note, getting ahead and talking about my present life -
there is no better feeling than going to bed at night, when you feel like it,
and not having to set an alarm for the next morning, and arising when you wake
up naturally. That’s a perk of retirement! <Grin>
Okay, so back to what was going on at work. I determined
with my boss that I would begin to be more like a consultant and hand off my
work, slowly transitioning out of things, which I felt sounded like a good plan
and we had three months left to do it.
Delegating to me meant helping and letting my staff become the
experts. Unfortunately, the person ahem, I reported to had a different
management style. <Grin> Managing by not wanting to know
anything…he wanted me to pass it on to the staff, and let them give the
answers, while he filled our time with irrelevant anecdotes and stories,seriously that’s the amazing truth of the matter, the man could spend
countless useless hours regaling you with his past life at his old job, and how
wonderful he was and what wonderful things he had done, ad infinitum! And
what the heck, he continued to hand off key projects to me as if nothing was
changing. Reality check here, I’m gone in three months, dude.
I kept my cool telling myself, “Why do you care, it is no longer
your problem,” the way I kept a smile on my face, was by remembering he exemplified the
Peter Principal: “every employee tends to
rise to the level of their incompetence." I have to say the days moved slowly, I found myself
leaving early, as why not, he doesn’t care, so why should I? And hey, the best
part about my last work days was that my chair swiveled, and after all what was he going
to do to me, fire me? Please do! <Grin>
I just have to add one more disheartening boss bashing thing, why,
because I can; it’s pretty sad when your boss gets paid more than you, and you
still have to help him write a basic email. I’m not saying he’s stupid,
I’m just saying he has bad luck when it comes to thinking. I mean the
qualities you must possess to be him are ignorance and confidence, and then
success is sure. <Grin> Okay, all done and yes, it does make me feel
better!
So the days kept on passing and the months, thank goodness, after all life is somewhat like a taxi, the meter just keeps ticking whether you are
getting somewhere or just standing still. So I hung in there, bit the bullet
and put a retirement calendar app on my phone. June could not come soon
enough!
Stay with me as we keep moving towards the goal, and I thank you
again for taking this retirement journey with me, or "my longest
coffee break." I'm just sayin’…
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