TIME IN A BOTTLE

So I was talking to my gold fish, Walter “n” Neil, the other day about things in general (a book by Bob Nevins).

I got these guys (my fish) because they look pretty neat… hanging around my office, but rarely do they get into a much deeper conversation. I think that can be a very valuable attribute for a fish. I was telling them I was probably returning to ‘working for a living’ for a while and I was seeing what they thought?

The dogs need to be walked and so on; but for fish, you feed and occasionally change their water. So they were pretty cool about the whole concept. Still working on the dogs to see how it will work out.

This got me thinking about what seems to occupy my time on a regular basis since I am semi-retired. I spend a great deal of my time in my truck with the dogs. We usually head to Starbucks in the morning, do our little walk-thing around the area and when all the dog ‘business’ is done, I head into grab a cup of Mild (coffee) brew.

The odd thing about dog walks is that now when I buy stuff at Haggen (our local grocery store), I usually ask for double bags… you know, for the ‘business’ part of the dog walk. Nothing says proud dog owner more than scooping up the ‘biz’ into a plastic bag from Haggen.

I have found over the years my best friendships have been formed with the folks who work at Starbucks. We chat, visit and make like old friends. They charge me for a tall personal cup even though I clearly have a grande cup, that’s what friends are for. I often have to decide between the cinnamon twist and perhaps the cinnamon scone. I have a thing for cinnamon apparently.

After that, the dogs and I head back to the house so I can work on the “Whiner.” I have come to believe this is usually the highlight of my day. I long ago gave up on calling old friends and seeing what they were up to.

It seems when you retire, the world does move on without you quite nicely. I think I knew that on some level, but never realized what that really meant. I am, if nothing else, very persistent in my loyalties to old friends. There are some exceptions to that rule, but why get into that list. It becomes a bit overwhelming.

I spend time with my folks to see how they are doing. It is an odd feeling to see them in their 80s. The world becomes smaller. It seems when the Golden Years have you circling the wagons; you are trying to fight off the assault of old age. Each day seems to bring a little more confusion and fear. I try to help alleviate that where I can.

Sometimes, I chat with friends on Instant Messenger. Distance has long become a thing of the past in the age of Window’s XP. Life becomes an amazing ‘Google Search’ it seems.

I have also mastered the first version of (Sony’s PlayStation2) “Vice City, Grand Theft Auto (GTA).” For my birthday, my wife bought me the new version GTA SanAndreas. She asked me how I liked it; I mentioned I thought I was homesick for “Vice City.” It was a bit like… “I’m not sure about this change” thing.

So as I was telling Walter “n” Neil, I think I am looking forward to going back to work.