What a miserable morning to wake up to...Thick fog and freezing rain.I hear all school buses are cancelled etc...It reminds me of my earlier years in England, rather than a proper Canadian winter. Anyway not too much to shovel!

Well, I really appreciated the feed-back from so many regarding the joys and fears of retirement. I found many of your comments really encouraging, up-beat and helpful. Perhaps, through my strange British humour, I made my situation sound a bit too negative. I really have to look back on the plan I made about a year ago.I think my biggest emotional problem is that I had a job that I loved and threw myself into for so many years. It came to an abrupt end through 'the dreaded downsizing' and government cut-backs. I felt cheated & very angry for quite a while. I wasn't prepared for retirement; had tons of energy and enthusiasm which suddenly seemed as if it was thrown on some garbage heap. I still haven't got by that yet and I guess it will take time.

 

I do some volunteering, but it's a bit limited from where I live. I do a bit of volunteer hospital driving, but with the price of gas, I often lose money, but I do get to meet some interesting folks.I have been offered positions on various Boards of Directors, but the 'game playing' and BS that goes on there doesn't really attract me.

I have a hobby in addition to my writing, but since Christmas there has only been one night I could use my telescope...otherwise my amateur astronomy interests me quite a lot.

Living at the end of a country road with few homes spread about, it's difficult to make friends, especially in the winter. I also am not in a good position to talk about my past work and THAT seems the only thing people want to talk about. Old Jeff, the farmer up the hill, provides me with great humour and doesn't care what I did, he just assumes that I must be a retired 'suit from the big city'! I hate suits and ties nowadays and it's wonderful to wear what I am comfortable in . I just need to unload a lot of 'baggage' and move on. Perhaps I'll unload some of it 'Through my small window'...that's what windows are for isn't it?

Have a great day everyone, Jay  A few Reflections on RETIREMENT......

'Retirement means twice as much husband on half as much money' 

'I married him for better or worse, but not for lunch' and from George Burns;

On a Saturday too...........Today is one of those rare winter days when the sky is clear azure, the birds are twittering...[like that word twittering].....even the backroads are dry and clear of ice...HOWEVER the next four day forecast is for snow..snow and more snow..So the dogs and I are making the best of it. We had a terrific walk this morning..chased around through the bush, saw two White Tails, who didn't hang around too long when they got a whiff of the dogs. I saw a large woodpecker and a lot of birds that hang around in the bush, but not in my yard. It really was just bee-yooo-ti-fulll.

I feel like writing today, but it's just too good to be indoors for long and a bit chilly to take the laptop outside!

I think I have come down from my frustrations with MSN yesterday. I wish, however, they'd put a notice out when they are going to upgrade stuff.I saw that some spaces have made great use of the changes already.  I'm just not clever enough to know how to do it, but anyway it's nice seeing other folk's efforts.

I'm reasonably happy plodding along in my own way........[signs out.....shuts down......plods off....and gets the dogs ready for another walk..........................]...Cheers, Jay

No....not what you're thinking...I ABSOLUTELY refuse to talk about the E*******!. Not even going to mention it.

I refuse......

Instead, here's a word view through my small window. A little new snow has covered the branches again and everything looks fresh and clean. The sky, well, it's a little grey, and the wind is quite gusty; enough to blow some of the powdery snow off the trees causing small whirlwinds. My feeders are full of feeding Finches, Junco's and  Nuthatches....better than TV anytime.

The lake is frozen and snow-covered, but far from safe for the idiot snowmobilers who insist on their suicidal night rides. Already two through the ice in the last week.

An Ojibwe firend of mine told me a short tale of a fella from Barrie who noticed that he'd never heard of an Indian going through the ice. So he asked my friend how the natives knew when it was safe..

His reply:

I took the dogs out for a hour this morning didn't see another human being....wonderful. They love it when there's some fresh snow to play in and so do I, as I don't need to bath them when we get home. This morning we chased a rabbit for about a hundred yards and Chip, my Jack Russell, had a great workout. He hates to give in, but the page-wire fence proved to be a obstacle even he couldn't overcome.

I had a phone call from a buddy today. He's just heard he's on the next wave of CF Forces to Afghanistan. Fortunately he's still single and doesn't have to be concerned too much about family, except his Mum, worrying about him.

He did two tours in Bosnia and he is fine, except that he will probably never get over the tragic plight of the civilians, especially children, he came across during the worst years.

Canadians do such a great job when called upon... and we will even , well maybe, overcome the next four years following the E********.....Oh shit! I said it!.. Cheers, Jay

Here are some headlines from 2005 Newspapers....no wonder we're confoooosed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND MAYBE THE WINNER IS....................................

'TYPHOON RIPS THROUGH CEMETARY; HUNDREDS DEAD' 

Hi folks,

The reason I just about cleared my space yesterday was that I had been invaded!. I also lost a very good friend who passed away much too early in life.  I must say both pieces of news knocked the stuffing out of me.

The 'Invasion' was unbelievable, but goes to reinforce the issues of security on the internet. I have even given advice to others about avoiding cyber stalkers etc, as they do great harm, especially to folks who are vulnerable for various reasons.

One thing we need to be VERY careful about is identifying our exact whereabouts through photos, blogs, profiles etc.

For example, and this was not the case in my situation, be very careful not to post pics of the outside of your home; be careful of what might be in the background of pics and never post photos of your favourite car etc, with the licence showing. All these things can be an invitation to those sick folks who use the internet for criminal purposes.

Now if you're a young person with a phenominal body, looking for your perfect mate then I guess that's OK, but I'm not young & have the most imperfect body you ever laid eyes on and I'm not 'looking'

[I think that's the current word?] Actually I doubt that many, if they were honest, ever met Mr/Ms 'Right' on the internet. I like to have some mystery about the people I meet. I try to 'read people' through their words, humour, poetry ,whatever.

It reminds me of seeing certain people who moved from Radio to TV years ago. My mental image of them was such and such and then.....Oh My God...such a shock....

Anyway I think between me and Norton, I've fixed the b******!, so will carry on. I had thought of closing this space altogether and starting another with a changed gender, age, location etc....Might have been interesting, but maybe not!

To all my real friends in  'Space', sorry about the abrupt action/reaction, but I'll be around. I guess I didn't help one friend's PMS problems...and I'm really sorry about that. I've never had it.... only had to put up with it. Perhaps it really does mean 'Putting up with Men's S***?!

We shall overcome....Cheers, Jay