One year ago today I went to my boss and said “I QUIT”! actually it was a little better said, but the jist was I am retiring, I am taking your money and heading out of Dodge!! Effective March 1st. I came home from that meeting and started writing in my Blog. I had no idea what I was gonna do, or how this was going to affect me emotionally. I had spent over 37 years working for the Navy Exchange, and it had always come first, before my family, my health or anything else.
I knew I was going to be embarking on a journey that would change me forever, and I did not know where it was going to lead me, nor what condition it was going to leave me in. I was to say the least, Scared Shitless!! I had always used the excuse “I cant afford to retire, too many bills” But NEXCOM came out with an offer company wide that the first 500 associates that qualified would get full retirement, benefits, and 25,000 in cash if they retired early and within the next 3 months. They called my bluff. I thought, and I cried, And I agonized, but then I added up all that I owed except my Mortgage, and All that I would need to live on and then plugged in what I would be getting from the buy out, and my retirement. OHMIGAWD!!! I can pay off EVERYTHING, buy a few items and still have enough to live on!!
I then started writing …I did not know what direction this blog would take, as I had seen several, but did not have anyone to “blog” with. I did not know if I wanted it to be a confessional, out there where everyone in cyberspace could see it, or if I wanted to keep it just a daily itemized diary so that I would know what I had done with my life after retirement.
The evolution that has transpired amazes even me sometimes. I am not completely a computer idiot, nor am I a Geek, but I can usually figure things out with time. What I did not know was the 4 letters HTML I learned, really quickly! I started the first week or so with a plain template from blogger, and as I walked around and saw all that was out there I of course got hungry for more!
I had just purchased a baby bunny and had no idea how to take care of it, so I goggled for info, and found a blog about Bunnies…only it was a war blog. I read her daily, and she did have some links to rabbit sites. Through her blog links I found Leslie, and through her, the rest of my friends, one way or another. All of this encouraged me to write more, link more, play more, blogwalk more, and to experiment more. I have changed my blog 3 times since then, and still have a few tweaks to do, but for the most part, I have taken the original blog template and dinked with it until it appeared the way it has. I still have not figured out how to get my 100 things from dreamweaver to my Blog. I have it all ready, just can’t get it out there. Thought about just starting another blog entitled “My 100 things” and just linking to it, but thought that was the chickens’ way out.
I have met so many people out there that have helped me fill the void. For the most part they are honest, forthright people who care about my blog and me. A few of them I am sure are using aliases for one reason or another, but I don’t care. They are who they say they are in my book. They don’t know that I am really who I say I am either, but those that care enough know.
This past year has been one of absolute wonder!! I did not know that there was such a thing as a stress free Holiday season!!! It really is wonderful!!! I went to the town Christmas Parade, and actually got to see it, I was not working the late shift at the store!!
I did not miss the store, well, yes I did, but not to the extent that I thought I would. I think I saw the handwriting on the wall a few years back, and decided that I needed to go. We were undergoing a hostile take over, without any one acknowledging it. The old people that grew up in the system were leaving like rats deserting a sinking ship and they were being replaced not from promotion within, but with outsiders…management people from The May Company, and Kohl’s and Carter Hawley Hale, people that for one reason or another were no longer working for these civilian companies. People that had no clue how the military worked or how to interface with the people that were left.
Change is good. I was not one of the troglodytes that resisted the changes, because I saw that most of them were good changes. When I started to worry was when promises made were not kept, and the people that had been working hard for the company were being sent to outposts to die, or were passed over for promotion.
I was sent to Fallon, Nevada as General Manager of the store. Good position. Good money, SHIT location. I was there for 2 ½ years and I was promised only 2 and a transfer back to the Pac NW. None of that happened. It took a family emergency and a serious downgrade to get me back home. That was when I knew that my time was done. When A company that you have given your all for will not go to the wall for you and keep promises that were made, then you know that the ones coming in from the outside are the chosen few.
I felt I had much more to contribute, but my family and my well-being took first place for the first time in my career, and with the offering in hand, I Retired!!
I have kept very busy with my hobbies, and my Theater, and do not regret my decision at all. There are more things that I could have done with more income, but I’m secure for a while, and I can continue to live here until taxes go up too high. My Car is fairly new, I love it and it is paid for also. The only hang up is my Health insurance, which is not the best, but still a lot better than having nothing. I can deal with it.
I do not have any extra money, so travel is out, unless it is fairly close, and I camp. I feel that I am very lucky to have been given this chance. I also feel that I am very lucky in finding all the Blog friends that I have all over the world. I travel to South Africa every Night, and Japan, and Scotland, and England. I travel to Canada twice a day and I go all over the US every afternoon. I enjoy the honesty and the humor that I find in all my blog friends. I feel like they are a part of my family now, even though I have not met them, and I laugh and cry with their daily posts.
I have learned that there are some very passionate people out there, when it comes to politics. I read both Left and Right newspapers, although I tend to lean RIGHT, I allow those leaning left to their own views.
I have met new family members when they have arrived, and I have mourned those that have left us. I hold my breath when one of my friends is Ill, and I give thanks when they get well.
I guess I will continue to blog along and see what the coming year will bring. Who knows, maybe Mr. Right is out there dying to meet a fat old woman with a great sense of humor!!
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