Post 1389, Day 75 of 2015
- 1,536 days since I started this blog -
- 1,536 days since I started this blog -
About work. I keep a two-column list in my head called "Work or Retire". I consult it every weekday, and make a decision whether or not to keep going to work (which is the default) or begin my retirement.
The Go to Work column has these things in it: Pension after December 6, 2015 (my five-year anniversary); and Retire January 29, 2016. That's also the list's use-by date.
Lately, little things have been accumulating in the Retire (AKA the "I-don't-want-to-do-this-anymore") column. Little and big things. Today (and the reason I am writing on this topic), my work-from-home connection wouldn't connect, and I ended up having to go in to work when I had not planned to work in the office. Also, things on the network aren't good. The system is frequently dial-up slow - a hassle when all your work is network-dependent (dumb workstation).
Other items in the bag it and sleep in column are an ongoing reorganization plan so stupid and inefficient that it has taken longer than I have been at the VA (more than four years now) for it to get to the point where partial implementation has created more inefficiency and my participation is probably moot. I also have a couple of assignments I find unpleasant.
Balancing and canceling some of these things out, there usually isn't much work and the office is only a mile away from home.
I am incredibly lucky and grateful to have a job which doesn't require overtime, doesn't make me compete with co-workers for advancement (or require that I want advancement), offers benefits, including good healthcare and an actual pension. This is the perfect end-of-career job for someone like me, who is seeking low stress over wealth.
The disadvantages are few: Lower pay than private-sector work, the bureaucracy, and attendant nonsensical rules and processes. Working completely unsupervised is a plus, but it is offset by a complete lack of a typical office social network, which I have (usually) enjoyed in all my other jobs.
True, sometimes the balance seems to tip negatively - that bureaucracy and long-way-around way of doing things can grind a person down. But I have only nine months left to qualify for that pension benefit, and only around ten months to full Social Security retirement.
I will probably persevere at the job until at least the end of this year, when I might bridge the final month on leave rather than cash out my vacation. I'll let that decision go until then.
Having this choice is one of the things that makes me the luckiest person I know, and fills me with gratitude.
Food and Diet Section
Today's Weight: 208.8 lbs
Today's Weight: 208.8 lbs
Previous Weight (3/13): 208.6 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain: + 0.2 lbs
Diet Comment
I ate badly over the weekend. Starting this week with a twelve-hour fast, and eating lightly after that. Diet Comment
Skipped.
Lunch
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.
Snack
Pepperoni and celery with home-made mayonnaise.
Dinner
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| Cauliflower with Dal Tadka (lentil curry). Not shown: A Quest bar. |
Coffee: 28 oz. Water: 86+ oz.
Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!
Your plan, as loose as it is, makes sense. As we both know , it doesn't make any difference for all outcomes are expressed in the moment. Now, how are you?
ReplyDelete- Light - Love - Compassion -
I'm fine thank you. And, finally, a day or two away from getting an upright bass. It only took fifty years. I'll call soon.
ReplyDelete