~Thursday!~ Well, it was day 3 of retirement, and so far I just keep thinking it’s the weekend.
I had quite the “productive” morning, as I did a load of laundry and wrote out 5 sympathy cards and 12 thank-you cards to put in the U.S. mail. It actually took me a couple of hours to get it all done. I don’t write cards lightly.
I made some notes during my day today—one about something that happened yesterday, and a few about things that occurred to me today.
In a phone call from my parents yesterday to wish me a (belated) Happy Birthday and best wishes in retirement:
- I was telling my dad about my retirement “to-do” list, and I asked him, “Did you have a retirement to-do list when you retired?” to which he responded, “Yeah, it had one thing on it. ‘Don’t go to work.'”
At the Method Post Office, which in spite of its name is on Beryl Road, not nearby Method Road:
- I arrived at 2:18 to find the lobby open, but the service area dark, with this sign hanging on the door:
- I told myself, “It’s a good thing you don’t have to be back to work,” and I sat in my car until close to 2:30, when I went ahead in, since cars were starting to pull in.
- Having already put my other 16 items in the letter slot in the lobby, I got (3rd) in line to have a small box weighed and stamped, and the clerk was actually friendly. “I recognize you,” she said looking at my return address label, which has a picture of me on it that’s several years old. You might have a big personality if you have return address labels with your picture on it.
- As I headed up Beryl Road toward Blue Ridge Road, I could see a buttload of cars parked on either side of the street, which I thought were way too many to be visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum, and then as things clicked, said under my breath, “Oh shit. The NC State Fair opened today, and the madness has begun.”
On the way to the gym this song came on the radio, and it reminded me of a friend I haven’t seen in a couple of years. He always sang it (and quite well) at karaoke at Flex. Funny how music does that.
At the gym, where I know I should be relaxing, I get annoyed with people sometimes.
- When I arrived, there was no one at the front desk. I don’t think this has ever happened in the entire 5-6 years I’ve been going there. I waited about a minute, and then being the patient person that I am (NOT!), I just went in.
- There was a personal trainer with two clients working out right in front of the ab machines, and while I did my 240 ab crunches, I tried to overhear as much of their conversations as I could. Yenta. My assessment: He’s not that good, and the one client is a biotch.
- There was an annoying guy who walked—about every 3 minutes—from the free-weight area to a TV by me. There was a “breaking news” story on MSNBC—including alerts IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS—about ebola, which he apparently was interested in.
- Another guy working out next to me spent 3 minutes on his phone, did a few sets on a machine, and then spent 3 minutes more on his phone. Swipe. Text. Repeat. I just don’t get that. I’m very focused on my workouts while I’m in the gym. I want to get in and out of there.
- A hot guy sat on a machine in front of me, and every time he raised his hands to pull a weighted bar down, the small of his back—right where a tramp stamp might be on a woman—was exposed and there was something sticking half in and half out of his pants. I think it was a Band-Aid®, or a generic variation thereof. Odd.
- On Tuesday, I did ab work, upper body work, and the elliptical machine for cardio. Yesterday, I did ab work, lower body work, and the elliptical machine for cardio. Today, I just didn’t feel like doing the elliptical machine for my cardio, so I chose the stationary bike instead. I feel lazy doing that, so I read a LinkedIn article while doing it, and then deleted a bunch of Red Hat email from my phone.
This evening, I dropped by The Borough, where I had two of my six credited drinks from my retirement soiree there on Tuesday evening. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store.
At home, after dicing celery, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, green onion, and carrots, I made some tuna salad, which I’ll bring to Bob’s tomorrow for lunch. He has a George Forman grill, and we’re going to make tuna melts.
And how was your day?