Do any of you fine people out there\nremember when I wrote my last retirement countdown announcement on\nthis crazy blog thing of mine that I use for my own amusement (and\nhopefully yours) during which I write incredibly long run-on\nsentences that are not really useful but can be fun when you know\nyou’re reading a run-on sentence that was written purposely to be\njust plain too long?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither do I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was poking around all my posts\nand found one from two years ago. TWO YEARS!! And now it’s two\nyears hence, and my countdown has become frightfully small. I use\nthe term \u201cfrightfully\u201d because I’ll have to admit, I’m a bit\nconcerned about how everything will go. This is basically the last\nchapter of living, and although I have a large amount of gratitude\nfor all my blessings, I’m still a wee bit apprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mostly about money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have friends who have been retired\nfor some time who tell me, \u201cKen!! It’s gonna be alright, alright,\nALRIGHT!! It’s gonna be alright!!\u201d OK maybe they don’t say it\nexactly that way. Perhaps I’m trying to embrace the spirit of what\nthey’re telling me and mixing it in with the refrain from an old\nGerry And The Pacemakers song. And if you’re old enough to remember\nthose guys, you may not want to shout it out loud because people will\nthink your old and crusty like me! Then they’ll squint and say,\n\u201cGerry and the what now??\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don’t get me wrong. Retirement is not\nscaring me enough to avoid doing it. I’m really, really, REALLY<\/strong><\/em>\n looking forward to it!! I’ve worked in the manufacturing industry\nfor many years, and although it provides a pretty decent living,\nthere’s an awful lot of bull manookey being flung around in a factory\nsetting. Pretty much the same everywhere: Big Bosses make\nremarkable plans, and then the smaller bosses in charge of\nimplementing those plans might tweak them a bit, then the folks who\nhave to implement the plans shake their heads and do what they were\ntold; only to undo it later for regrouping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\nno more for me thanks. I turn 66 years old in 3 months and 14 days. \n That’s my full retirement age according to Social Security. My\nbirthday falls on a Sunday next year; so the next day I will\ncelebrate Monday with a smile by saying goodbye to working for\nindustry. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots\nof my friends are asking, \u201cany big plans?\u201d And I reply, \u201cyes! \nI won’t be here!!\u201d That’s the only \u201cbig plan,\u201d honestly. I\nhave no idea what retirement has in store for me. I love to grow\nfood, so one of my missions is to kick the garden into high gear and\nget some nice yummies for me and my family. I also love to write, so\nI’ll be eating at the keyboard and getting condiments and veggie\nniblets all over the place. No. Probably not. No eating at the\nkeyboard. Seriously, I hope to peddle some of my gardening stories\nto various publications. Maybe someone can benefit from what I’ve\nlearned during my 46 years as an organic gardener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then\nof course there’s the Honey-Do list. A Honey-Do list is a benefit of\nbeing married. It’s also a list that never gets smaller. However,\nsuch a list is very beneficial for two main reasons: 1) lots of\nstuff gets done around the house and yard. Left to my own devices,\nthe lawn would go back to Mother Nature; and the debris from The\nClutter Bomb that went off in our garage would simply grow to a\ncompletely ridiculous level. And of course there’s the much more\nimportant reason: 2) Completing tasks on a Honey-Do list is one of\nmany good ways to avoid getting a divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahhh\nretirement. I can smell it now!! Perpetual vacation!! Forgetting\nto set the alarm!! Doing what I want, when I want!! Once in a while\nanyway. I really am<\/strong><\/em>\ngrateful. Not much savings but zero debt. And we are truly blessed\non many material and spiritual planes. I can’t help but reflect back\non what I wanted out of life in the early years of marriage. The\ncool thing is, all my wants were fulfilled years ago. I distinctly\nremember telling my friends, \u201call I want is the love of a Beautiful\nWoman, a house on enough land to grow some food, and a kick-ass\nstereo.\u201d I’ve been blessed with these for years, so I want for\nnothing. Guess I should just heed my retired friends as they\ndeclare, \u201cit’s gonna be alright, alright, alright!! It’s gonna be\nalright!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or I could go to the YouTube and have Gerry And The Pacemakers fill my heart with song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n