675 Practice, Practice, Practice

675 Practice, Practice, Practice

This posting is late. No VERY late, but late, nonetheless. This is practice day for the upcoming re-retirement, when, supposedly, there are no deadlines and one's time is one's own. It's not an comfortable concept for many of us. So it requires practice.

Today's includes (a) Not reporting for work (it was pre-arranged.) (b) Ignoring an appointment (done.) (c) Keeping an appointment at a time an appointment ordinarily wouldn't have been made (still to come.) (d) Sleeping in (done.) There may be some other practice sessions, too. If no better opportunity presents itself.

This stuff isn't easy, especially for recidivist retirees. But with only two weeks or so to go, it's time to get back into shape. Younger people may scoff at the idea that doing nothing takes practice or even effort. But it takes both. When the fire gong goes off, the firefighter is up and into the boots and down the poll. Pavlov's dog? When news happens, the reporter is up and into the boots and down the poll and out the door and maybe on the airport security line. Woof!

When you don't play golf or tennis, don't have a boat, and consider your work and your hobby not one thing but two all your life, and you ditch the hobby, then what? Take courses? Volunteer? Run for local government office? Write your memoirs? All worthy goals, of course. But it's tough when you spend your life "doing all the things you always wanted to do" and then, suddenly -- stop.

Previous experience teaches this: minor ailments become major preoccupations, especially for people prone to worry. Small repairs that you'd either ignore or handle quickly become major projects. Some people use ceremonies to take up the time. Like setting up exercises. Oh, sure, they're good for you. Keep you (relatively) limber. Keep you (relatively) strong. But that's not what they REALLY are. They are ceremonies -- like weddings, funerals, bar mitzvah, graduations and crashing bottles of champagne on the bows of ocean liners.

Which means you do them, largely, because you "have" to. And if you miss a bar mitzvah or a funeral or a wedding or this morning's rotation of sit-ups, push-ups, knee bends and torso twists, you feel guilty.

There's a New Year's Resolution component, too. Resolved: to keep the car clean, to grow tomatoes in the back yard, to visit the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest or the Tower of London. You know what happens to resolutions like that.

Shrapnel:

--The Daylight Saving Time thing is getting more confusing than ever. It's "Spring Forward" which means you lose an hour's sleep Saturday night/Sunday morning. And, again, for the record "Saving" is singular -- it ain't "Daylight Savings Time."

--WGN Radio in Chicago has posted a list of banned words. Usually, that's a bad but not this time. They've eliminate news cliches and police jargon in efforts to make their announcers sound like they're talking and not reading. The list is a bit heavy, nevertheless it comes from the right idea.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you're welcome to them.®
©WJR 2010