Posts Tagged ‘former coworkers’
Work Dreams
After you retire, if you want to know how to start dreaming about bizarre work challenges again, just drive the commute to your old day job to walk through the workplace and visit all your former coworkers again. I did just that last Tuesday and was rewarded doubly.
I enjoyed the pleasure of seeing their precious faces again, while they applied their trade skills in a spiffed-up facility under new ownership and management. As a bonus, I was rewarded with a mostly unrealistic dream a night later, involving imagined situations I was supposed to play a role in, while having no idea how to proceed.
It was a treat to see them all looking as good as always, and have everyone still remember who I was. Of course, it helped that I brought a batch of Cyndie’s home-baked scones, fresh out of the oven, to distract them from any lingering memories of why they hoped to never have to listen to my lame attempts at humor ever again.
– Lynne, I’m sorry it took barely a few minutes before I came up with some snarky remark to poke fun at you. –
In the years since I retired, I haven’t noticed missing the work, but I frequently miss being with these people. We spend more time interacting with coworkers most weeks of a career than we do with our families. The folks I was lucky to be with for many years were a very special work family for me.
If only I could convince the staff that they should hold their next company picnic at Wintervale Ranch. I’m sure I could talk Cyndie into baking some desserts for the occasion. I would even promise not to make the manure composting area one of the main features I’d show off.
After a day up at the Wilkus’ cabin in the middle of the week, Cyndie and I have taken advantage of an opportunity to get away to her family’s lake place for the weekend. We brought Asher along, too, so we only needed to find coverage for twice-a-day horse feeding for the few days.
Since we prefer to wake up at the lake whenever possible, we drove up last night under the cover of darkness. I think it might have helped me avoid any more dreams about the old workplace.
When can I expect to start having dreams about weird situations of being retired?
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Other Ventures
Yesterday I wrote about the horses venturing out but they aren’t the only ones around here who’ve been on excursions. To make December a little more festive, Monday night Cyndie and I took a little drive to Minneapolis and picked up our daughter to meet Cyndie’s brother and mom for dinner at Giulia restaurant followed by a George Winston concert at Orchestra Hall.
The food was delightful (I ordered salmon) and the concert was… interesting. I’m embarrassed to admit that I never considered that George would have aged since the last time I paid any attention to him, which was so long ago I don’t actually remember. I think it was when we lived in the rented double bungalow on Cedar Avenue which would make it over 40 years ago. His command of the keys was still remarkable. He played a few Vince Guaraldi tunes that are always a treat to hear among selections of his other compositions.
The evening was only slightly more challenging an outing due to accumulating snowfall and Cyndie being confined to crutches.
The week before, I was on my own excursion, driving out to Eden Prairie for an annual December gathering of old high school buddies. In a wonderful serendipity of experience, I ended up finding more than twice the number of friendly old faces than I was expecting.
Much to my surprise, at the same restaurant, there was a gathering of folks from Physical Electronics, many of whom I haven’t seen since I left that company in 1999, after 18 years of employment. I was torn between socializing with the roughly 30 former coworkers and my group of about 15 former classmates.
As tough as it was to cut the coworker greetings short, I was there for the EP guys, so I returned to mingle with them, but it was a thrilling surprise to have stumbled unexpectedly upon a reunion of friendly faces from the best years of my working life.
We don’t expect to be doing any venturing out for the next few days. Snowfall is due to begin this afternoon and then tomorrow and Friday the snow will be blowing around in winds that could hit 50 mph. Wind chill temperatures will be extreme.
I took a picture of our horses modeling their blankets in advance of the wild weather. Yesterday was very much the calm before a storm. They soaked up the sunshine and napped most of the day.
I’m guessing they will see little reason to venture from the protection of that overhang when those high winds kick up. I wonder if I should tie a guide rope from the house to the barn to help me find my way in a whiteout blizzard.
There is always a possibility it won’t be as bad as the warnings are preparing us to expect. Our fingers are crossed.
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