9-6, Thursday

Lunch With My Former Fellow Workers

Once a month I try to get together with the people I worked with whilst a FAA employee. Usually I drive the 50 miles up to our old workplace with Steve, who retired a few months after me. A good time. Steve and I catch up on what has happened over the last month on the way up and back and we both have a good time comparing our leisurely lives to their harried chock-a-block work schedules. I enjoy these lunches. Good to see everyone and hear about their work lives since I left. And I do miss their company. But I do not, even for the briefest millisecond, miss working for the FAA. I am grateful for pension they offer and the health benefits they provide me in retirement. But I worked for nearly 32 years to earn them and the FAA received all the added value to the corporation these benefits represent. I have absolutely no nostalgic affection for the FAA and wouldn’t wish to return even for a single day.

Speaking of Work

In the nine months I’ve been retired I’ve applied for jobs that seem interesting and have actually gotten as far as an interview for a couple of them. Most of my apps earn nothing but silence but I’ve found these interviews interesting and good practice. At the very least I get to do something I haven’t done much of over the years. But one of these interviews may have yielded something positive. Or maybe several. I got a call today from the local community college inviting me to take a part-time job in their assessment office. The hours are what I want rather than a full-time job. The other job I may get an offer from is British Airways. I like their work environment, like the managers I talked to, they have wonderful benefits. But it is a full-time job and all Marian’s and my plans for the next year would be put on hold.

Well, that doesn’t interest me much, I must say, regardless of how attractive the employer is. So I’m probably going to take that assessment center job where I can do useful work but still have the flexibility to travel when I want to.

Don’t Worry If Your Job is Small

Don’t worry if your job is small,
And your rewards are few.
Remember that the mighty oak,
Was once a nut like you.

———–by Anonymous in The Random House Book of Poetry for Children