With something to take care of every single day of last week, and out-of-the-area errands to run both Saturday and Sunday, there has been no down time for me to recharge.
It's like last week never ended.
I’m a person that, having had so much responsibility most of my life, keeping myself going at times with copious amounts of Coffee and NoDoze tablets — because there was no time to sleep, I now need a lot of down time.
Consequently, it's occurred to me quite a lot lately that, not getting the necessary down time, this retirement thing is not giving me all I’m due, that I’m being cheated.
I actually did a rant on this topic last month, killed the post but, inasmuch as Margaret posted this morning that she too "Was not diggin" this lack of free time and wished I had published that post, I pulled it out of the recycle bin, revived and worked into today's post.
I feel cheated because I still have to shop for groceries, cook, clean, do laundry, run errands, budget, pay bills, workout to keep my body from turning to stone. There are still taxes to be done, the doctor, dentist and a million little other things.
Retirement for me has pretty much turned into the same ole same ole as pre-retirement. The only difference being I don’t have to report daily to a 9 to 5, and I don’t have to raise children.
Make no mistake that seeing others, I suspect are older than I, being forced to return to the workforce by the state of the economy, I am grateful for this retirement and what little has been taken off my plate. Yet and still, I expected my plate to be a lot emptier than it currently is.
It does make me wonder how I managed to do it all before, when my plate was full to overflowing.
Elsewhere, it’s so far so good with going backwards on how the Mail Center is protected from break-ins. Thus far, mail thieves have not become aware of the now easy access and returned.
I’ve yet to see the new Community Manager, but folks tell me she’s nice.
Pardon my pessimism, but that will change.
Except for Nurse Ratched, they always start off coming across as nice.
It also appears the new Manager is taking care of business.
Again, pardon the pessimism, but that also won’t last.
Next Door Neighbor (NDN) had, for months, been trying to get a problem with her sink backing up looked into. She was thinking probably a new disposal was required.
Neither No. 8 (the Tyrant) or the Maintenance Guys were responsive because, as NDN had forecasted, the Tyrant didn’t want to pay for a new disposal and the Maintenance Guys didn’t want to have to do the work.
NDN went down, spoke to No. 9. Lo and behold, the Maintenance Guys showed up shortly after and did their due diligence, new disposal and all.
Well, that new disposal for NDN is a Big Win, I'd say!
ReplyDeleteAround here, a new disposal is a miracle.
DeleteI feel the same way. But you know what? Before the pandemic I was on the go all the time with something or other going on, places to be, working, social gatherings, vacations.....and then the lock down happened, and it has made me more introverted now. I think the pandemic slowed us down, so now when we have a lot going on, we get exhausted, whereas before we thought nothing of it. I am back out mostly but have really streamlined just what and how much I'm doing.
ReplyDeleteThat makes a lot of sense about the pandemic slowing us down. While others were going nuts not being able to do anything, the shutdown was like nirvana to me. Now everything is going back to normal and life is too busy. And btw, I can't imagine you as an introvert.
DeleteMads as an Introvert... humnnnnn, well, stranger things have happened! *winks*
DeleteWell, jeepers! Put in a work order and see what happens! Better than the new manager starting off mean and remaining so. Slow down! It's ok to plan out your week. Do some fun stuff too, excepting I'm not seeing any movie at the theater worth going to see, even at Senior prices. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI stopped going to movies long before the pandemic. It felt creepy to be sitting in chairs so many others sat in, in darkness, not able to see anything that might be creeping around on the icky floors.
DeleteYou reminded me of the nights, MANY years ago, ('74) when I'd help hubby with his job of cleaning the theatres and mopping those icky floors. In a safe area, it's not too bad. Definitely quiet.
DeleteI worked concessions in a theatre for 6 months in small town Oklahoma while in college. I rode my friend's bicycle there, and brought back to the dorm all of the unsold fresh popcorn in a cardboard box that held drink cups. Those were nice, simple times.
Maybe your apartment complex needs a popcorn machine to add friendliness! Linda in Kansas
Yep, I went 100mph, then retired and a pandemic immediately followed.it's been an odd transition.
ReplyDeleteI do revolt when I have too much to do. When the grandson was visiting for a couple of months, he did the grocery shopping for me. That was such a pleasant respite. Of course, I was always missing something I usually picked up, but it was worth the sacrifice. Now that he is gone, I have to get my mind back into shopping without feeling like I hate it so much. Hahaha. A little spoiling goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteI think we were able to do it all and have a job because we were younger and had more energy. I know I used to have more energy when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteI too imagined Retirement to be different, granted I got one Child to finish Raising and a house full which I'd rather it be just The Man and I for once... our Schedule is more full than I would like it to be. I want and need more Down Time, more Time to be doing Blissful pursuits. I juggled a lot when Younger, I don't know how I did it either, except that Youth has its perks, doesn't it? My Energy level is waning and I suspect we long for Serenity and Simplicity when we just know that Physically, Mentally and Emotionally, we're at a Season of Life where we've EARNED it dammit and so we just want to be left in Peace to try to enjoy whatever Time is left. Glad you resurrected this Post Shirley, you aren't the Lone Ranger when it comes to these Sentiments.
ReplyDelete