Rant #3,741: Slow Down

Yesterday was another one of those days.

My son and I met with the counselor from the Department of Employment, Suffolk County, and i have to say, it went pretty well.

He gave us some good ideas, some good things to think about, and for once, this guy seemed to be truly authentic.

He will be in touch with us, and I think we are on the right path now.

I hope ... .

We met with this counselor for like 90 minutes or two hours or so, and it took us like 40 minutes to get there, but I think it was well worth it.

I hope ... .

Now for the rest of the day.

I woke up at 7 a.m., and little did I know what was ahead of me.

I checked my email after showering and getting dressed, and I saw that at nearly 10 p.m. on Tuesday evening, I was sent a story to write up.

So right after I ate breakfast, I rushed to complete this story, because I knew I had a busy morning later on with my son.

I finished it, my son and I went to the counselor, and we arrived home at about 2 p.m.

I ate a quick lunch, and then, I saw I had a story to edit, and around 3 p.m., I finished that story.

I thought I would have time to do what the counselor suggested for my son, but lo and behold, I was hit by the proverbial bus, or a ton of bricks, or whatever you want to call it.

My work sent me something to write up, a huge thing that I knew would wipe out the rest of the afternoon--

Preventing me from doing what I wanted and needed to do and forcinh me to do exactly what i didn't want to do--

And it took me around a solid three hours to complete it.

I will have to do what I wanted and needed to do for my son sometime today--

Because I supposedly have a work meeting this morning, and you might remember the last work meeting I had, which I found out was canceled several minutes after I rushed to participate in it while in the library waiting for the late-in-arriving counselor to continue my son's assessment.

After I finished this 1,800-word horror show on Wednesday's early evening, I was talking to my wife about our situation, and I am going to let you in on some of the things we spoke about, much of which you already know.

My wife and I are both "retired," or at least the federal and state governments consider us to be so.

I "retired" against my will, she "retired" because she had had enough, working in a place which was kind of forcing her out.

My unemployment time started right before the pandemic started, and continued through almost the entirety of 2020, probably the absolute worst time in the world's history to be out of work and looking for a job, especially while in my early 60s.

After all that heartache, I was very, very lucky to get this remote editing/writing job as my unemployment benefits were about to run out. 

My wife went back to work on a part-time basis because 1) she was bored, and 2) she wanted to have some more money in her pocketbook.

In actuality, we both need to work, because retiring at the ages we did provided us with Social Security payments that don't pay for very much in this post-pandemic economic environment we are in.

Neither one of us received pensions for our years of work, but we did have 401ks, so with whatever other money we had--the sale of the house did not produce very much for us--we are far from indigent, but we want to enjoy our "retirement" without having to worry about finances--

Which we simply cannot do.

And what is "retirement?"

My wife and I have no clue, because we will probably be working for the rest of our lives.

Heck, all during the period when I tore my quad twice, when I couldn't get out of the bed, I continued to work.

If I didn't tell my work about my physical problems, they would have never known that I was operating on one leg for like six months!

In fact, when we go on vacation--we haven't been on one in a few years--I bring my laptop with me and I find the time to do my daily work, so I don't even have a break then.

No work, no pay, so even when we went on a cruise, i had to find the time to work.

And i have continued to work through my current medical concerns, without stopping.

My wife has had her own physical problems, but she also pushes on, and as you read this, she is at work at her part-time job.

And all through this, we are helping my son to look for work, and that, itself, has become something of a full-time job.

What is "retirement?"

My wife and I don't believe we will ever truly know.

And while I am not a jealous person, I am becoming increasingly envious of some of my peers, who are actually retired and wake up every day saying to themselves--

"What do I want to do today?"

They are retired.

My wife and I are not.