Our California brethern.

What if the drought that California is facing is part of a long term environmental cycle, nothing to do with global warming. Just a cycle. What does the government do? The president promised aid, but what aid. Will water trucks soon be on the road carrying millions of gallons of water to the parched landscape. Will the billions of dollars in lost farm revenue be made up by the government with low interest loans. What if the answer is that the man made irrigation systems and the incursion of humans into an area that is not able to sustain their agricultural effort has reached an end. What if the area really needs to be abandoned back to nature. I do not believe we can do it. We may spend untold amounts of money trying to change the course of Mother Nature, and we know who will win that round.

Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty, Free at last!

I am really making light here. I have come to realize that my adult work career has not been a trap. I have been fortunate to be in positions where I could exercise my creative forces, I've lead people, developed high performance teams, and earned the respect of my people, peers and colleagues. Isn't that enough? Yes, it is.

Now my first couple of days after retirement. Oh, I'm on leave for several months, but still I will not return to work as I know it. So what's different? Not much. I still find myself checking work emails. I still have a couple of memos to write trying to promote some people that I feel deserve consideration. However, I have wiped clean my browser history at work, I have stopped looking at my work calendar and the school's website. I have taken my office keys off my car key ring so they no longer can remind me of that place. Perhaps the biggest change is I am realizing this weekend that come Tuesday morning I will not get up and go to work at ANC. I shall get up and decide what I want to do at home. 

That is what I meant about Free at last! Other than appointments that I may freely make I don't have to be someplace at a predetermined time. Other than commitments I shall freely make I don't have to do anything I do not want to do. I have a sense of freedom that I believe will expand in the coming days and I am looking forward to. Thus ends the first blog.

Pending Retirement

Thursday February 5, 2014 I will cease work at my current employer. I will go on leave for about five months, I have enough accumulated leave time to cover it, and my permanent retirement will be June 30, 2014. However in my mind this coming Thursday is it.

I am filled with thoughts, none of them sad or bad. I have spent my adult life managing the efforts of others. I am tired of being responsible for people's performance, output and ultimate success of the organization. I want to do something for me. I want to use my head, my hands and whatever limited capability I have physically to do things for me, my family and that is all.

That will probably change as time goes along, but right now all I can think about are the projects and tasks that I have looked forward to doing, myself. The list is long, it is ambitious, and some of it may not be possible, but I assure you the attempt will be made. My wife and I own the property we live on outright, I think we shall have sufficient income to carry us in retirement and we are eager to begin on our own agenda.

I am starting to make a clean break with my past life and start anew in this undertaking. I wish I weren't so old, 69, or physically weakened but I can still manage most things. So c'mon Thursday, I can't wait to get started working on retirement.