So, earlier in the day, I confirmed that I've been retired...A.K.A., laid off. While not being totally unexpected, it still feels sudden, as if "out of the blue". The wife and I have regarded my continuing to work as not absolutely necessary, but more as a bonus financially. Of course. Who doesn't like extra scratch coming in when the effort to acquire it is so low, as my situation was. It was simple. I was down to two nights per week (from three, which happened in the same way a few weeks ago), driving two hours and swapping trailers with another dude and returning to the postal processing center from which I originated. Totally easy money and I always ended my day well before the end of the paid amount of hours my run presented. Indeed, aside from having to do it, it was pretty much the perfect situation for someone who's been looking to retire. Now, there will be two days this week when I'll be taking the two trucks used by drivers out of this location to Columbia, about 1.5 hours away. Then that'll be it. Done.
Now I have to deal with not working. I've always worked aside from a period during the economic troubles around 2008, which is when I turned to trucking to pay the bills. It was a career move from one career for which I had no driving interest (no pun intended) to another with no more. I had a family to support and that was what mattered.
So it's a weird feeling, despite always wanting it. The wife had wanted it, too. As CFO of this operation, she assures me that my income isn't absolutely necessary and I shouldn't have to work anymore (I got me a good one!). But, I don't want her stressing more about her own job (not that she is at this point) or about paying the bills. She now is suggesting I take two or three months...maybe go beyond the holidays...and we can see how things go without me bringing in a paycheck. We've never lived extravagantly, so it shouldn't be a problem. However, I'll be keeping the eyes peeled for opportunities. I just wanted to stop working, not stop earning. More dough's always better than less dough, and I need money for beer and ammo. This will be either a new chapter, or a pause in the existing one. Time will tell.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about that! But glad you have the right perspective.
Thanks, Neil. With the hurricane,which hasn't been a real factor, it's nice that my manager hasn't sent me the needed info regarding where exactly to take the trucks and the name and phone number of the dude who's to bring me back. I don't feel like driving in the rain anymore and I've had to do it quite a bit this summer. Taking these trucks to Columbia is easy money, too, but the (perhaps) 8-10 hours of pay won't make that much difference in our lives so I'm not stressing it. I'll send here a text or email tomorrow and try to arrange it for next week, when I hope it'll be rain-free.
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