Tag Archives: retirement

Retirement is 24/7

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Someone commented recently on the free time I have now that I'm retired. On thinking about it, I realized that being retired is a full-time job. I'm retired every minute of every day of every week of every month of every . . . . never a vacation from this vocation.

Back in the distant days when I was working for someone else for money, I did not put 100% of my time into the job. My apologies to the several chancellors, deans, and provosts at Missouri Science & Technology during my time there. Once upon a time, a dean asked the faculty to account for the actual amount of time spent on each of our various activities. The faculty's response was, "Nope!" One can't tally the time one spends on teaching, doing research, advising students, and attending meetings. (Well, meetings could be timed but not the obligations that flow from committee membership.)

I'm certain that I worked more than 40 hours a week while I was employed. I won't even try to approximate the actual number of hours. But that — those tasks — are over. Yee! Haw!

Just remember, being retired is a full-time vocation. (Unh, vacation?)

The Heart Has Many Chambers

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A friend shared an op-ed piece on recovering from a heart attack and open heart surgery. I certainly related to Rick Hamlin's column. I've gotten a lot of positivity from medical people too. Last winter, my primary physician
told me (not for the first time) that I'm back to "normal." I asked what
that meant and he paused and said, "you're a recovering heart patient." That's more like it, but my dreams of hang-gliding and climbing Mt Everest evaporated.

My scar is only 8.5 inches but a thick one that itches, stings, burns, and aches much of the time.

For weeks — months? — I didn't want to go to sleep and kept both a light
and the radio on. My memory of the intensive care room, post-op,
is that all surfaces were a matte black. I know that's not true and if I
think about it I can remember it closer to the way it "really" was. But
it is essentially a dark place to me.

Before the surgery, the doctor told me I had a 30% chance of dying
during the operation — but a 100% chance of dying without it. I haven't had
the chills and fever Rick Hamlin did. I'm developing greater stamina through exercise,
but it's hard because I will overdo exercise if I'm not careful. Right
now I'm using Nautilus machines twice a week and doing cardio four days,
and a good stretch class two or three times a week. Plus qi
gong breathing and yoga poses at home.

I've been doing some yard work, including pushing the lawn mower (an
electric Black & Decker), but I can't do more than 20 min of that,
and can't exert myself outside if the temp is over 85. I haven't had the heart irregularities that Rick Hamlin writer speaks of. Still, I don't always trust that meat-pump to keep on pumping. So far, so good!

Medical personnel's being positive with patients is good. Much better than their being morose and grim. However, they should also be honest and realistic with patients. I appreciate my surgeon's telling me the odds I had going into the operating room. I even more appreciate the excellent work he did.

Old Man Blues, the Intro

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Old Man Blues will focus on the things that occupy me during retirement. I'll talk about books I read, music I listen to, food I eat, and cook, movies I watch, places I go. A miscellany, in other words. Don't take "blues" to mean down-hearted and gloomy. Think instead of melody, improvisation, and a thumping beat. This is definitely Gene Doty's endeavor while Gino Peregrini does the ghazal stuff.

Surprises in August

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With two exceptions, this fall is the first time in over 60 years that I have not been a student or a teacher. The beginning of the school year was a major beat in the rhythm of my year. It used to fall after Labor Day, but years ago was moved to August. As a child and teenager, fall signaled a change to intellectual and creative pursuits more to my taste than working in the fields. Fall has always been my favorite season and remains so.Surprise_lilies

My love affair with my wife began in the fall. Now, my grandchildren prepare for school while I sit back.

In our yard, August is marked by the blooming of surprise lilies, aka naked ladies. The woman from whom we brought our house told us, with slight embarrassment, that they were naked ladies; another elderly woman told me the same thing much later, but she seemed a little amused by the name.

Is there a reason for my linking naked ladies and the beginning of school? Not that I can think of, other than the simple flow of the seasons bringing these plants to bloom. For me, fall is not only the season of harvest but also a season of beginnings as a new school year starts. This year, it's not a new school year but a new year of exploration that begins.