Rant #2,636: Working For the Weekend

Yesterday was a very busy day for me, and although it was far from exciting, it really kept me going.
 
My son and I did our food shopping yesterday as we always do on Thursday each week.
 
Since the pandemic hit, my family has done our food shopping on that day of the week. I don’t remember why we started doing it on that day—when I was working it would get done on a Friday or a Saturday—but since about a year ago, Thursday is our day.
 
(I think it may have had to do with the fact that a year ago, it was really “catch as catch can” with shopping, as the pandemic was greatly affecting what you could and could not get, and I probably found that we could get more on Thursday than on more traditional food shopping days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.)
 
And when that was all done, I had to monitor and write about a conference for my remote job, so I had to get ready for that, as it was done remotely ... and anyone who has participated in a remote conference knows that it just doesn't involve a click or two and you are there ... there are so many other variables involved that it can take a while to get plugged into what you are doing.
 
The conference was only about an hour, it was on a fairly interesting topic, and it literally took me all day to do my write up.
 
The topic was that the European Union was placing new restrictions related to inspections on certain products that were being sold in commissaries and exchanges (supermarkets and department stores) that are run by the Department of Defense, and that these restrictions would impede the process of bringing American-produced items to these stores.
 
That is really boiling the entire problem down to its very basics, but one of the benefits that service members and their families enjoy is that when they are deployed overseas, they are able to purchase the very same products at their local military stores that they can when they are serving in the United States ... it is what is referred to as "a taste of home."
 
So, for instance, a service member and his family deployed to Germany can get the same container of Hellman’s (or Best Foods) mayonnaise there that they can get in the states, even though they are thousands of miles away from the U.S.
 
And the benefit is self sustaining, because much of the money derived from sales in military stores is poured right back into the military way of life that these service members and their families enjoy, including back into their bases, into various activities that they can participate in, into base infrastructure, etc.
 
The problem being discussed was that these new restrictions basically straitjacket the suppliers of these products, hindering their ability to bring American manufactured products to American stores in Europe to American service members and their families.
 
It is very complicated, and involves everything from meat and fish products to dog food.
 
The military believes in “Buy America First,” and with these new restrictions, the services state that they won’t be able to do that, and will have to buy on the local European economy to serve their customers, which goes against their credo and dilutes the benefit in the process.
 
So even though the conference was just an hour in length, it took me well over four hours to get my story written, edited and sent out to the people that I work for. It involved at least a partial transcription of the proceedings, and with a lot of reverb during the conference, it was a bit difficult to get the thing out, but after getting the story down to about 2,000 words, I was done with it …
 
… As was my day.
 
I looked at the clock, and it was 4:30 p.m., so my day was done.
 
So goes my semi-retired life!
 
As I have told so many people, sometimes my days go by in a blur, and sometimes they go by as slowly as a crawl.
 
Yesterday was a sprint to the finish line, and I can’t say that I was bored in any way, shape or form.
 
But honestly, today I am hoping for a much slower day, a day that I can take it much easier as we head into the weekend.
 
Over the past year and a half, I have gotten into a routine which is quite different then the one I was in for decades while I was working at a regular job.
 
The routine now is so different, but I think I have adapted to it pretty well, and with this remote job that I am lucky enough to have, it kind of makes my day complete, even on slower days.
 
My wife hopes to retire later this year. I have repeatedly told her that she is going to go through a shift in lifestyle that looks cozy from the outside looking in while she is still working, but when you put it into practice, it is a little more involved than you think it is, and takes a while to get used to after decades of doing the same thing day after day after day.

Look at all the people who have been forced to shift their way of doing things, including their work lifestyle, due to the pandemic. Many still aren't used to the new grind after more than a year of experiencing it.
 
At least my wife can choose when she wants to retire, which makes things better for her, unlike my situation, where my retirement was basically forced upon me, but I have warned her that it isn’t as easy to retire as she thinks it is.
 
But right now, my wife is continuing to work full time, my son is working part time, and I am doing my remote job. My daughter is progressing with her career, so I guess everything is copacetic with my family after months of employment turmoil that my son and I experienced last year.
 
It is good to be busy, and it is good to be the king of your own domain, and I guess that that is where I am right now, so at least at the moment, I can’t complain.
 
Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.