The End of Summer
My retirement rehearsal™ is over: I’m starting a new job next week: Jeee! 😰 Being happily without a job for the past couple of months got me into a very relaxed, almost zen state of mind. Now, I’ll have to get back to the daily grind: resisting it is futile — I have to. Now that my long summer came to a close, let’s reflect on it a bit.
Being relieved
When I was laid off, a few months back, I didn’t anticipate that my being without a job would last for that long. As a seasoned veteran in the tech industry, this wasn’t my “first rodeo”, i.d., not a first time being laid off. Volatile as the tech industry is, at the best of times, layoffs can happen for a plethora of reasons, suddenly and unexpectedly.
This time, however, the writing was on the wall. It was a pandemic. Credits to my former employer, though: they kept us as long as they could, but, considering that they didn’t make any money, they had to let a bunch of us go. Naturally, being one of the more senior people in our department, I was invited to that party.
The sweet taste of retirement
For several months, after being laid off, I tried very hard to snatch a new job. But, unlike previous occasions, when it was a matter of a month or two, at most, this time it was different. I was getting to the interviews, no problem: most of the time through all of the rounds, only to be rejected, for various, very vague, reasons. Potential employers were nitpicky, probably because they could afford to be. I wondered if some of those jobs are even real. Don’t want to get into that, it’s still a painful memory.
Last June, I decided that enough is enough. Obviously, I couldn't get a decent job in the tech industry anymore. Instead, I focused on other things: taking care of myself, engaging in things that I always wanted to do (e.g. writing), taking a long restful vacation, if they’d let us go anywhere.
I’d be lying if I say that I didn’t enjoy it. Getting back to my natural circadian cycle gave me more energy and enthusiasm about life. Not to mention the biggest gain of all — time. Oh, sooo much time! At first, I didn’t know what to do with it, but it lasted only a week or so. Almost instantly I established a good rhythm, and I was productive, on so many levels.
We even took a vacation this year. After returning from it, back in August, after settling in, we decided that I should try again. And voila — just after a couple of tries — I’ve got a decent job, with a pay bump, no less!
Whether we made a good decision or not, remains to be seen.
What to do?
Now that my retirement rehearsal™ is over, I kinda feel sad. Don’t get me wrong, I like programming, but… I know in advance that I wouldn’t have time for the various things that I’ve started during my hiatus. If I try to push it, I’ll get exhausted and burned out very quickly, considering that I’m not a spring chicken anymore and that one has only a limited supply of time/energy.
What I don’t want is to disregard my job (a good money maker), so I can engage in extracurricular activities. So, the plan is to write sparingly, only when I feel really compelled to do so, probably a story every couple of weeks or so. In essence, I plan to write selected works. Since my writing was never intended to be a source of living, that shouldn’t be a problem.
So, my rare and infrequent readers, bye, bye for now. I really want to thank you (and Medium), for showing me that I can consistently engage in some of my long-forgotten dreams. For that, I’m ever-grateful! I’ll see you here and there, but not everywhere.
Cheers! Keep reading!
If you like this story, please sign up for my infrequent newsletter. Also, consider becoming a member. Thank you!
