I’m a creature of habit – most of us are – but there are situations that remind me how much that is the case.
Since I’m unemployed – I mean retired – it is clear that I need a few days per week when I have no obligations. Though when I say that I have “nothing to do,” it is a bit of a fiction. There are always dishes to wash, bills to pay, and blog posts to write. (Do NOT look at the floor next to my side of the bed.)
In order to get reimbursed for some medical payments, I have to submit forms electronically; I haven’t done that in weeks, so it’s fortunate that I’m independently wealthy (he joked). I need to get grocery staples when we run out. Once a week, I have a friend I need to visit.
Also, I have to work on finding speakers for the FFAPL and host the ones I’ve secured. Oh, and I’m supposed to give a book review in less than two weeks; I should start reading the book, I reckon.
Of course, I have church and choir, which brings joy. Do not underestimate joy.
My wife, daughter and I play the NYT Connections together every evening because it’s a collective family thing; also, our brains work very differently. Even when my wife and daughter were in NYC for a couple nights, we played via telephone. I’m still playing Wordle, but having broken my streak for a SECOND time this calendar year, I keep playing because of the Wordle World community and a couple other folks.
I used to deliver a newspaper
When my newspapers, probably a week’s worth, traveled in my suitcase, a friend of mine said, “Well, you don’t really need to worry about those.” The thing is: I LIKE to read the newspaper, even the ones that are a couple of weeks old, though I get annoyed when that happens.
People note that I can read the stories online, which is true except I LIKE reading the paper. It relaxes me – well, maybe not the CONTENT but the physical experience of sitting in a comfortable chair and perusing the pages. Looking at stories online I find mentally tiring.
I check out the obituaries. More than once, I have found a piece about someone I knew but was unaware that they had died.
I do visit a handful of websites, the usual suspects: AmeriNZ, Forgotten Stars, News From ME, Coverville, whatever the heck Greg Burgas is posting, and some of the folks that Chuck Miller highlights on his Saturday blogroll. It is, in a very real sense, part of my community.
To add or not to add
What I’ve increasingly realized is that I must be judicious in adding things to the calendar. Going to lunch with a friend? That’s almost always a yes.
I’d like to work more on political campaigns – the local Indivisible group has plenty of suggestions, but I’ve done little in this arena since I attended a No Kings rally several months ago.
Some miniscule – okay, not so small – part of me wants me to do more in a variety of areas. A larger part gets into a term my sister was using a lot the last time I spoke with her: bandwidth. She doesn’t have the bandwidth to do A, B, C, AND D. I’m in a similar boat.
I’ve pretty much sworn off anything that involves meetings. Well, except for one. My tolerance for them is through the floor.
All of this to say that I am continuing to muddle through, sort of like the 4-1 Buffalo Bills; QB Josh Allen won only first overtime game in the NFL? Sort of like that.