Retirement Musings: Part 4

Retirement Musings Part 4 (12-minute read)

I am starting with some observations before I get into my biweekly update on my post retirement adventures.

I am continuing to appreciate the new rhythms and timing of retirement. Retirement has reinforced a different approach and appreciation of time on some level. I have struggled with my relationship with time off and on throughout my professional career. I have often had a relationship with time that was instrumental on many levels – instrumental relationships are a means to an end – their main goal is not the relationship itself but some sort of benefit. My name is Jeff and I use time as a means to an end and have trouble enjoying the present moment.

A continual challenge for me is not falling into what some call the “efficiency trap”. I have always loved a good to do list and probably like many people have seen (and tried) numerous ways and methods of how to prioritize such lists. I frequently fall into the trap of prioritizing an unimportant task at the expense of postponing a task that holds the actual and true value. I will admit that there is a certain amount of joy and pleasure to be had when items can be marked off one of my to do lists by the end of the day but what I have found is that often that joy and pleasure is short lived as my plate and to do list are full again by the next day.

The lesson I keep having to teach myself is that we can never truly achieve the elusive sense of being “on top of things” or make time for everything that matters simply by trying to do more. The more we accomplish, the more new tasks and expectations arise. Striving for increased efficiency and productivity, driven by various time management techniques, often leads to more demands and what Oliver Burkeman calls a never-ending cycle of busyness.

My workdays tended to be filled with a variety of tasks that needed to be completed in order to check something off a to do list, put out a fire, or fulfill someone else’s need or request. Those individual days were parts of bigger chunks of time that had larger timeframes of meeting elements of a strategic plan (fancy word for a to do list for multiple people), regulatory requirements, or organizational goals.

The trick (and hard part) is focusing on what truly matters, even if it means wrestling with the discomfort of knowing that some items on your to do list won’t get marked off that day (or possibly ever). Rather than trying to do everything and complete our entire to do list, the challenge is to learn the ability to find peace in the present moment, often while experiencing multiple competing demands for your time and attention. When I can let go of the delusion that I can solve the challenge of busyness by doing more, I am able to make better choices and prioritize those things that actually matter.

I still utilize to do lists of sorts as a retiree but I am continuing to strive to not be bound by them and to prioritize and afford items their appropriate value. It is a lesson that I have to remind myself of from time to time and I use some simple guiding principles to help me focus on the right things. I may share those in a later update but some of you are probably eager to hear about some of my latest retiree adventures.

In a development that nobody saw coming, I have become an on-call handyman for a local non-profit. They were obviously in dire and desperate straits if they were calling me but I have further solidified my standing with the Buffalo Trace Child Advocacy Center. I had previously been added to their text group and given the nickname “J-Dawg” during a trip to Denver but now I have somehow turned that into being their on-call maintenance guy. I have been called into duty twice now, once to cut the bottom off of a door that would no longer open and shut and then again to change a flat tire.

Cathie Drury will not admit it, but I think she thought both episodes would turn out poorly but both episodes went quite well. Now Cathie does have 31 years of reasons to doubt my abilities. Twice now I have cut through my power cord while trimming hedges (never buy a green power cord, you just can’t see the cord when it is green as it blends in with the greenery). I also once knocked myself out while vacuuming the stairs. I had the vacuum cleaner at the top of the stairs and was using an attachment to sweep in the corners of the carpeted stairs. I started at the top and was working my way down the stairs. I had made it to the bottom stair and needed a little more slack so I pulled for some additional slack. If you ever saw the Home Alone movie where the toolbox slowly comes rattling down the stairs to land on top of the robber, it was kind of like that. I could hear something but couldn’t’ quite make out the noise or where it was coming from as my back was turned. A few minutes later Cathie finds my lifeless body lying (laying?) at the bottom of the stairs with the vacuum cleaner on top of me. Despite this history, I am happy to report that I also recently successfully pressure washed our house without self-injury or damage to property or equipment.

I attended my second retiree luncheon. I don’t quite have the hang of it yet as I somehow scheduled a fasting blood draw for the hour after the luncheon so I sat there and drank copious amounts of water as I knew I was also going to have to produce a urine sample. This was all for a life insurance renewal for which I was in training. My agent said that based upon the results of the exam, I might get discounted rates. So for the week leading up to the exam, I got in extra steps and exercise and watched my intake of calories, sodium, and sweets. While Cathie got quickly annoyed at the constant playing of the Rocky theme at our house, something paid off as my results came back $25 lower a month than what they originally quoted me. The agent seemed surprised that I got a preferred rate and I am trying not to be insulted by her reaction.

A very nice lady came to the house to do my life insurance physical exam. She had a small bag that apparently had access to another dimension of time and space as she kept pulling stuff out of that bag that should not have fit in that bag. She pulled out a full-on bathroom scale out the bag at one point. I told her I had an app that tracks my weight daily on my phone and that I had a scale in the bathroom but nope she had her own full on scale in her magical bag of holding.

She said that her day would take her around northern KY and southern Ohio with four other similar exams that day. I couldn’t help but think that by the end of the day, she was going to have blood and urine from five different people in her possession in her bag. I am sure they have rules and protocols that they have to follow but imagine her getting stopped and pulled over and an officer searches that bag of hers. In addition to vials of blood and cups of urine, some cop is going to find a full on bathroom scale in her bag.

We recently got to take in a Florence Y’alls baseball game where our oldest son works as Stadium Operations Manager. It was Super Hero night and a perfect night to take in a ball game. I had the best steak quesadilla I have ever had from La Torta Loca who was set up at the game. If you ever find yourself in Florence KY, the place is worth checking out. The Y’alls didn’t pull out the win but they had an awesome fireworks show timed to multiple marvel movie compositions.

As of the typing of this, my rain gauge says that we have had .18 inches of rain today at Casa Drury.

I have harvested 4 peppers to date and have another eight nearing harvest.

I have successfully propagated Spanish Moss and have a second bunch growing independently now.

Best thing I’ve read is The Three Body Problem sci fi trilogy by Cixin Liu. It was on President Obama’s reading list a few years ago and will soon be a Netflix series.

The most disturbing thing I’ve watched is a movie Cocaine Bear (apparently based on a true story).

Until my next report.

August 26, 2023