Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Looming Retirement

Actually, retirement is not looming any more--it's here. Tomorrow is my last day--okay, half day--in the office, and I'm feeling good about it. I think I've gotten over worrying about what I'll do. My desk is loaded with projects, I have a list of people I want to lunch with, the kids are coming this weekend, and I think life is going to be pretty wonderful. Of course, in this my last week, all sorts of problems have cropped up, including authors and agents who amend contracts in ways that we cannot live with, the need to reconcile individual book accounts in our office with what the controller's office has, and similar things. Yikes! Tomorrow will be a full morning of meetings, so I won't get to deal with any of the problems. Even though I'll be doing contract work, I have resolved not to go by the office the rest of this week--except to pick up a disk that Technology Resources is leaving for me so Brandon can install Word 2007 on my home computer this weekend. I am excited that TR is giving me access to the press common drive and to regular outlook email instead of the very non-flexible web outlook.
I find myself already "practicing" retirement--not feeling I have to dive into work on my desk, though there's plenty of it, but lingering over other people's blogs, visiting with a neighbor, piddling--something I've never been good at.
Meanwhile Texas heat continues--104 today and the same for the next two days. But Friday is predicted to be 94 and Saturday 92 with the possibility of rain--let's hope the forecasters are correct. This early spell of August-like heat has been really depressing, making you feel trapped inside. I bring Scooby in as soon as I get home in the afternoon and this evening I had a hard time persuading him to go out to eat his dinner. I worry about my lawn, my plants, and my porch pots--which I think I forgot to water last night, because the mint is really withered. The sweet potato vines are usually my signal but they aren't bad. Anyway, relief of a sort is due Friday--who would think 94 could sound so wonderful?
Yesterday when I used the automatic opener to open my driveway gate, nothing happened. Tried another opener. Still nothing. Went out and tried the hidden button on the gate mechanism--I could feel the electricity and hear it trying to work, but nada. So I called Melinda to come pick me up (good thing I live close to the office). In the afternoon the electrician came and said it wasn't electric--the weight of the gate had pulled it away from its hinges. Lewis Bundock, who keeps my house in good shape, says he'll fix it first thing tomorrow. Meanwhile, the electrician manually opened the gate so I could get my car out. One of life's little frustrating problems.
Maybe I'll get back to discussing deep matters on this blog someday soon but for now everything feels trivial--a good sign, I think, of relaxation.

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