Neither One Thing, yet the Other!

As I announced last autumn here, and have mentioned in subsequent posts on this blog from time to time, I'm going through an indefinite period of 'phased retirement'.  In conversation after the church service last Sunday, I found myself explaining just what this actually means and, under a title that came to mind in an echo of how my father might have described it, I'll begin this blog by sharing my thoughts.

My plan began simply with a pattern, as I described it to my then boss, of 'working complete weeks, but not so many of them'.  So began a season, lasting up to a maximum of 21 months, when worker would be sandwiched with retiree, and during which I would be neither wholly one nor completely the other.

Early into this period I took a lump sum from my pension and purchased a motorhome ... more specifically a motor-caravan, although I haven't been able to decide just where the distinction between the two terms lies.  Either is a bit of a mouthful, so she is commonly referred to alliteratively as 'Mary'. Sunday's conversation began with the question, 'have you been far in your motorhome?'  As I mentally reviewed my travel diary to respond, I realised that the trips I've made so far don't in themselves really justify such a large financial outlay.  What's Mary all about, then?

I explained that some of the early months (alongside the continuing demands of work) had been occupied with the business of equipping the vehicle, filling up some of the many cupboards and lockers with those items that are indispensable to life on the road, on the one hand making me independent of hotel accommodation and restaurant meals, and on the other eliminating the need for a major packing and carting of 'stuff' from home to vehicle every time it's used.  In addition to this, has come an increasing experience of the routines involved in using the on-board equipment, such as making sure the gas is turned off, and the fridge turned over to electric operation before moving off ... quite apart from the significant differences in driving a larger and less manoeuvrable vehicle than the van I've been used to.

In thinking this through, I realise that in some ways the same can be said of this whole business of 'phased retirement'.  It's a case of learning how to live a different life.  Working life - especially in thirteen years of self-employ-ment - has been very largely one of discipline.  If you don't get up and go to work, you don't have money to live on.  With no holiday pay, or sickness benefits, there is no question of taking a day off, or 'throwing a sickie'.

As the business world has changed its dimensions over the years, so the demands on a courier's time have also changed.  At the outset, I was almost always home by teatime, and evening commitments I'd entered into during paid employment could continue unabated.  Slowly one after another had to be given up as I found myself unable to attend.  Soon, I now realise, there will be the opportunity to take these up again ... at least where my own interests haven't also changed over the years!  In the meantime, comes a time in which - during those weeks when I'm not working - I have to learn a new kind of normal life, rather looking on such weeks as just a lot more holiday.

This week began by spending the Bank Holiday - and a half-day either side of it - with my cousin, my 'second family'.  When I returned home, and life quietened down, I noticed that I had become out of touch with programmes I usually listen to on the radio, or by podcast, in the van.  My pattern has been to enjoy the silence of home after the constant buzz and activity of driving.  So another aspect of retirement that I have to get used to is listening to the radio at home.  They're all tiny things, but each requires a habit of years' standing to be consciously overturned.

Now, with the weather having taken a turn towards autumn, all the frenetic financial activity of starting a new month completed, and an air of boredom wafting around the flat, it's time to think about another few weeks on the road.  An apologetic call from the office yesterday has already hinted of a couple of early starts to look forward to.