Wednesday, October 22 Work as I like

Post 1296, Day 295 of 2014
- 1,391 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I just happened to be looking through some old pics and found this, which I used a year ago, and decided to give it another spin. I like this pic a lot.

I have never enjoyed any job as much as I am enjoying my job at the VA.

It is not the challenge of the work, nor the light workload, nor the fact that it is strictly 9-5 and nothing to bring home when the workday is over. It isn't the lack of supervision (I've never met my current manager, and have never had a manager at my work location).

It certainly isn't the pay (40% less than my previous job) or the benefits (good not great). It isn't even the little pension I'll get if I stay all the way to retirement (which is the plan).

It is the real choice I have to quit if I don't like it - for any reason.

That choice is real and possible because I started this job just before my 61st birthday. I decided that, if I was still there after 20 months, when I was eligible for Social Security benefits, it would be my last stint as an employee - my last job.

Now, it is a fact that I expect to keep working at the VA until the end of January, 2016, when I am eligible for full Social Security benefit. At that time, two other great factors kick in: I will have been receiving a partial pension from my years with IBM for a year, and I will also be six weeks past qualifying for a small VA pension.

So I have been ready to leave this job for over two years now. There are benefits to staying on, and so I'm still here, but if the job ever gets in the way of my happiness, I'm gone, and I won't be looking for a replacement.

I've already told anybody who would listen this situation. The few people I speak with (on the phone) from my department know this. I have told my manager, to explain why I don't want my responsibilities to change, I don't want a promotion, I don't care about getting raises or career advancement.

The fact that I am working because it is convenient, pays better than not-working would, and has a stress-level that is non-existent, especially compared to every other job I've ever had, including ones I really liked, enables my care-free attitude.

Not giving a shit about working enables me to continue working.

Happily.

I know all this sounds like planning, but I don't think of it that way. I understand that it involves nothing but expectations, but I don't think about it that way, either. My expectations are lightly held, and based only on what currently happens, and come with the realization that they are, more than likely, inaccurate. My plans are frivolous, and I know it.

God laughs at my plans, and I laugh at my expectations.

Food and Diet Section

2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:          212.4 lbs

Previous Weight:         213.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:       - 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

Continued loss - a good thing, too!.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
At Ling-Ling's Chinese Buffet and Grill:

Brussels sprouts, kimchee, and, from the "Mongolian Grill", my go-to dish: pork and chicken with cabbage, onions, mushrooms, green peppers and broccoli. A Quest bar for dessert.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Dinner
Turkey burger with bacon, guacamole and cole slaw. A Quest bar for dessert.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 88+ oz. A shot of Jameson's.

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