8.5 out of 10

’21′ has been silent for a month, mainly because I’ve been working. In a previous post I said I was retiring and taking my pension. Well it wasn’t complete retirement. I was re-employed for a ‘flexible’ two days a week, with the freedom to work elsewhere too, if I wanted. I knew my flexibility would be tested in January and early February. Even so, I didn’t fully anticipate how busy I would be. A hectic start, a slight lull, then eight-and-a-half working days in the ten-day stretch ending yesterday. That included a Sunday, some early mornings and a late night or two. Quite like the old days in my ‘full-time’, ’37 hours-a-week’ job which frequently stretched to 50+ hours, with the familiar mix of exhilaration, frustration, stimulation, anxiety, satisfaction, boredom, interest, weariness…

It wasn’t as intense as some patches I can remember, yet it was pretty tough. I’d been getting soft, especially in my use of time, so the return of days with a full diary and urgent deadlines was a shock. And it revived a bad habit – today should be a day off but I’ve already checked my work email several times.  Grr!

Work, recently? 8.5 out of 10. Retirement? 8.5 out of 10. Mustn’t grumble.

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