So this is Retirement, sort of….

I’m not really retired yet, but I have 12 and a half months of extended leave to get used to the idea, and I am not going back to work.

I started my leave at lunchtime yesterday, marked with a very large farewell drinks at my Club with about a hundred colleagues and friends. The bar bill was sufficiently big that I will not be heading off on any holiday before my upcoming trip to Italy mid September. But hey, you only retire once, and I think Aristotle wrote something in the Nicomachean Ethics about Magnificence (or Munificence – they are much the same thing) being a virtue.

So what do I do now?

As the t-shirt says: I do what I want, when I want, where I want.

For today, that involved a nice long afternoon nap on the couch, followed by reading a few chapters of the latest Lindsey Davis murder mystery. Afternoon naps are going to be a large part of my lifestyle going forward.

I have a lot of binge watching in front of me. Now that Warrior Nun has been renewed for a third season, I feel justified in investing the time to watch season 2, and I need to make the time to finish watching revenge drama The Glory.

My lawn does need a lot of attention, and I think I will need to mow it sometime this week. Plus prune the fruit trees.

Already, several well worn business shirts have gone into a charity collection bag, and my white t-shirts for work days are going to be converted into cleaning rags. I also am going to get rid of most of my ties – not that I have worn them very much in recent years.

Life is good when you can retire at an age where you are still young enough to enjoy it. Right now, I count myself very lucky.