#89: Flight Plight

Once again, Air Canada  flight attendants and I are counting on being in the air at the same time.  At least I hope they have everything settled before I take off for Saskatoon in a couple of weeks.

I love having the flexibility to pick the cheapest and most convenient times and flights. (It was the subject of my very first blog post back in June.)  But I hate the thought that for a second time I might have a quick trip to the west compromised by AC management's hard line.  Does their aggrieved staff know when I am visiting my daughter and do they plan their workplace protests accordingly? 

If my trip is spoiled, however, it will not wreck my holiday plans irrevocably.  We retirees can be flexible up to a point.

The kid I am visiting (who has to get special time off) might not feel so sanguine, of course.   

#88: Calendar Geek

So eager was I to replace the inadequate pink pocket calendar that I went out today and acquired a better, thicker (but still compact) one in red.  The problem is that I can't use it until 2012.

Did I really think I could buy a calendar that conveniently begins in October 2011?

So for the next three months I will need to use tiny, tiny print in the space-challenged pink calendar.  Or I can go electronic and put the calendar function on my iTouch to work -- after I figure it out.

What fun..... another opportunity to build new neural pathways.           

#87: Calendar Girl

Back in June when I left my job, I was delighted to leave my giant daytimer behind.  My new life would not require anything half so large.

Ha!  The little pink calendar (just the right size for purse or pocket) that I confidently purchased as a replacement is totally useless. I have been driven to jotting notes in adjacent spaces and drawing arrows back to the correct date. 

It is not that I am busier and need more space.  I need that extra room because my schedule is more varied and unpredictable than it ever was while I was working.  Every day is a new combination of activities; there are endless screw-up possibilities.

Another trip to Staples is indicated.  I will bring the pink calendar along for scale.

    

#86: Currently

Today, I listened to an entire one-hour segment on The Current, CBC Radio's excellent morning radio show with Anna Maria Tremonti.   This particular item was a fascinating interview with Shannon Maroney author of Through the Glass, an account of her marriage to a sweet fellow who --it turns out--just happens to be a kidnapper and violent sex offender.

If I were still working, I would have been turning off the engine in the parking lot outside the library just as Shannon began to recall the bloody crime scene she encountered in her living room...  

#85:Tulip Time

How much time does it take to plant 50 tulips?

Lots. There are weeds to pull, beds to edge, flowers to dead-head, and then one gets around to the tulips.

No wonder I've been putting off this job for 20 years.

#84: Present From the Past

Another retirement project beckons.  I have uncovered a cache of old photographs-- a couple of cardboard boxes containing every Kodak slide we ever took.  It's all there -- a complete family history from 1966 to the early 90's.

I get to view, sort, discard, and eventually scan the best of this treasure trove.

I suspect that vacation adventures are the primary subject, and no doubt there will be a lot that fall into the "Why did we take that?"category.  How many pictures of Mount Rundle did we really need?  But I am sure other gems are waiting to be discovered.

They will all have to wait until we acquire a slide projector.

Good thing I'm making my once-a-year pilgrimage to the Antique/flea Market this afternoon.

#83: Saturday Epiphany

I recently signed up for several Saturday shifts at one of the branch libraries.  The manager apologized.  "I'm so sorry they are all on Saturdays!"

"No problem", I assured her.  "I'm retired.  Every day is Saturday."