Looking for a little boredom.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Since family and friends read my blogs to keep tabs on me I have decided to post the following email excerpt. Most of what I write is in response to my correspondent’s comments or questions. Most all of these I have removed except for the trigger question. This question about being bored prompted me to give an example of my day. If a paragraph seems not to fit exactly in the stream of telling it may be because the transitions and lead-in have been removed; I’ve also done a little editing where I was unhappy with my hastily written email.
Quote (kind of)
I bet you get a little bored being newly retired.
Actually I could use a little boredom. I could use a few days to lean back and not do a thing. I have enough activities on my want-to-do queue to last several years. I haven’t lately done any electronics, personal programming, photography (other than casual picture taking), yard work (cutting the grass doesn’t count), etc. And it seems that everyone is trying to find things for me to do in my retirement (Having too much to do was one reason I retired). Well, maybe not everyone is trying to put me to work but most recently a friend tried to talk me into teaching community courses. Teach! I just retired from the University and I should immediately obligate myself to teaching? And then there are some of my long-standing web clients. So, I’m turning down work but giving in here and there. I’ll tell you a story.
I agreed to do a simple web site for a local business. i.e. Steelman’s Cajun Kitchen. So, I took some pictures and put up a concept page for them to look at. Their menu will eventually go into a database which will take a little longer to design and fill. Also I will need to take another picture after they cut the grass. Take a look: http://steelmanscajunkitchen.com/ and you will see that there is only one menu section and two items in it. As I said, "concept". Well, I went back by to give them the domain name (which I registered for them) and have them take a look (from home, no internet at work). The next time I went in to order (their $4.00 shrimp po-boy is exceptional, but I ordered fried rice for Jeanne and me), and the owner’s mother said "But there are only two items in the menu" and I said that they were the only two things I liked". She laughed and laughed; so much I could hardly get my order in.
Back: I interrupted the above about 10:30 to go to lunch with some old friends and some new ones. We went to a catfish house and then on to visit an assisted living home to see their furnishings, mostly antiques, some really nice and valuable pieces. Didn’t get home until about 4:00. Jeanne immediately started wrapping dolls for shipment and just now walked into the room announcing that she lost track of time and the Post Office is closed (it is now 5:45).
Ring: There’s Kurt calling for me to come get him, more when I get back.
Back: When we got home (from our earlier trip) Kurt said that Hudson’s had books on sale at 80% off and asked me to take him. I dropped him off and have just now returned from picking him up. We picked up po-boys at Cajun Kitchen on the way home. But before that, in the parking lot of Hudson’s we had a person approach us for $20. He said that he would have a place to stay for a month if he could come up with $20. So we went to talk to the woman at an apartment building that made the offer and ended up giving her the $20 (preferring to possibly be used than to ignore the call for help).
I didn’t ride today and you can probably see why. I’ll probably not ride tomorrow either. I want my mommy. We have to go to Camp Shelby in the morning to renew our ID’s (I’m retired military). Then we expect two of Jeanne’s sisters and one brother-in-law from the Villages in Florida by noon (One from the North is visiting the Other). They will spend the night then leave with my wife and hold her in captivity for a week. Then she will fly home.
Interruption: Jeanne just came in and got my cell phone since hers is running low on charge. She also got $10 since we used her twenty for the fellow in the parting lot. The ten is to buy an ice cream shake for her friend in a nursing home (it won’t cost $10) but first she will go by Fed Ex to mail the things that she was going to use Fed Ex for (they are open all night, not like the Post Office) and then to Sears and Kohls to exchange/return some things she bought for the trip. When she gets home maybe we will go to Blockbusters for a movie. I don’t know what I will do in the mean time. Maybe I will continue some web programming I started this morning. Or, tomorrow is going to be a little hectic, so maybe I should work on a list of things to do (Oh, I should remember to go to the credit Union and get Jeanne some money for the trip). Or, since I have written all this maybe I should put most of it on one of my blogs along with the pictures I took today at the assisted living place. I need to remember to put the pictures on a CD for our new friends(Frank and Helen); I said I would. And for our old friends too, Dorothy and Donald (they own the Calico Mall in Hattiesburg).
About Frank and Helen: He’s a Minister, she’s a web site designer so we had a lot to talk about. Talked with Frank about bike riding and he is interested; more than just interested, I think he wants to go for a ride to try a recumbent. I have a spare he can use, the BikeE. Maybe I was a little enthusiastic. Maybe a lot.
About Roy and Barbara: They own and run the assisted living place. He is a Minister also (retired I think). They provide an outstanding living accommodation for older people for a most remarkable $1600 a month. I was really impressed by the facility and the antiques. I’ll put the pictures on http://yard.piddling.info (the poor little forgotten blog).
Ring: That was the phone. It was one of those automated make-sure-someone-has-not-forgotten-their-appointment calls. It seems I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow at 2:15. Glad they called.
You can find me on the internet. Go to Google. Click on images and Search on "Johnsey" (my last name). My picture should be on the first page. Or do a regular search on "Gary Johnsey"; you should find me. Also, I seem to own the word "piddling". Do a regular search and my yard blog should be the first link after the 2 or 3 dictionary-definition links.
I haven’t ridden for 2 days. Before that I rode for 8 days out of 10 for about 170 miles total. Does not look like I’ll get to ride tomorrow but my boss is going to be out of town for a week; ride, ride, ride.
When I came home from my last day of work I said: "I am now unemployed". Jeanne said: "You are retired. You are not unemployed".
>Unquote
Oh, by the way, Jeanne went by Blockbusters on her return from her run-about and we watched a little of a movie but it was too late, we were too tired, and the movie was just so-so. So, we went to bed.
