I suspect that many of you think fondly of how nice it will be when you don’t have to drag your ass out of bed in the morning, and go to work to put up with a day full of headaches retire. I know I did. Since I have retired, I have bumped into a few peeps who say things like, “I was so bored, I just had to go find a job.” To each his own, but for my part, no thanks.

Bored? Nope.

Do I feel a need to drag my ass out of bed in the morning, and go to work to put up with a day full of headaches? Nope.

There are, however, a few minor downsides to being retired. The one that is universally experienced is that you often forget what day of the week it is (Every day is “Saturday”). Having said that, I do try to remember that weekend errands (e.g. food shopping and shopping in general) are best left to those who need those to days to manage Life 101. I try to give the working peeps that space. I have become a “during-the-week is better” kinda guy. Besides, on a selfish note, there is less traffic during the week – especially in the summer.

The other downside that comes to mind is that you find yourself wondering how you managed to take care of Life 101 in the limited time available while you were dragging your ass out of bed in the morning, and going to work to put up with a day full of headaches working. Is that the same things take longer now, or have retired peeps reached the sublime state of “I’ll do it when I get to it.”?

For example, the following is a bit of my most recent “To Do” list:

Sort through a huge bucket of photographs taken over the past umpteenth decades (many of the photos being older than I);

Re-string one of the guitars;

Create a few more usable playlists in iTunes;

Get a slow leak in one of my tires fixed;

Write a blogpost that might be interesting or funny;

Return a few phone calls to people I want to or need to talk with;

Sort out some administrative stuff with a life insurance company;

Draft new Power-of-Attorney documents for me and Mrs. Parkway (The originals were somehow lost during the move, and the problem is that I need a notary to watch us sign the documents, and, although all lawyers in New Jersey are notaries, I can’t notarize my own signature.);

Buy a new cell phone (I’m thinking iPhone – have mercy.), and

Buy a new set of fairway woods.

The list is longer, but you get an idea, I hope.

So, how did it go with the list?

I accomplished none of the above. Instead, here are some of the things that “prevented” me from completing my To Do List:

Shot pool with the Billiard Club;

Did cocktails with the Wednesday Night Bad Guys;

Made several trips to the liquor store in order to keep the wine/beer/booze stock current;

Went swimming in pool;

Played golf (badly);

Went to Atlantic City to visit my money and to see Louis Prima, Jr. (excellent, btw);

Watched lots of stuff on TV about UFOs and aliens (Admission: I love that stuff);

Read several books, including the Stieg Larsson trilogy (I’m reading the third one now);

Went to several restaurants (retired peeps eat out a lot);

Enjoyed some excellent pipe tobacco, and

Cooked stuff on the grill.

The other day I was in the liquor store, and while a lady was in the process of getting some beer out of the cooler, she noticed that her cart was blocking my way. She started to hurry with her task, all the while apologizing for making me wait about ten seconds. I assured her that she should take her time, because I was not in a hurry.

It sure felt good to be in a position to be able to say that.