Over the weekend we switched back to Standard Time. Few things mess with my head more than a time change. Frankly, setting the clock up or back does little more than piss me off. Everyone talks about gaining or losing an hour. Whatever. In the end, we still have just twenty-four hours in a day.
No matter how you cut it,twenty-four hours just isn’t enough time for everything I want to do. Forget shifting things around an hour. I’m ready for a time change I can believe in — one that magically results in a few extra hours every day.
Not having to work would help. Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful for a job I still love. But if I had enough money to retire, I would, without missing work one little bit. I’ve got more than enough to keep me busy.
Winning the lottery (highly unlikely since I never buy tickets) or receiving a huge advance for one of my books would help. An extra half million dollars or so (after taxes of course) would enable me to retire early. The possibility of a big advance motivates me to write whenever I get a chance, though the likelihood is about equal to winning the lottery.
I hesitate to talk about how different my life would be without a job. Dreaming about life without a job seems an awful lot like tempting fate. I’m knocking on wood almost continuously and hoping my somewhat foolish wish for a jobless existence doesn’t come true without the aforementioned half million dollars.
Staying connected is important. If I didn’t work, I’d spend the first hour or two of my day catching up on current events. That means checking my e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and blog accounts; reading the newspaper; and checking out the national news and weather forecast on television.
After a healthy breakfast, I’d straighten things up around the house and maybe start some laundry or run the vacuum cleaner. I’ve got a thing for clean floors. Then I’d take the dogs for a walk to wear them out so they’ll sleep instead of pestering me before I settle down to write for a couple of hours,
I’d run five times a week and workout at the gym four times. After stretching and cooling down, I’d have a healthy salad for lunch followed by a shower. If I was on a roll, I’d write some more. Otherwise, I’d pile up in bed with the dogs for a nice long nap.
After my nap or an hour or two of writing, I’d let the dogs out and fix some coffee. Unless we’d planned on going out to eat, I might even start dinner.
Staying on top of stuff would be a lot easier. I’d devote one morning each week to yard work or projects around the house and set aside an afternoon for errands and appointments. Hopefully one full day a week would be enough.
My retired friends say they don’t see how they ever had time to work. The closer I get to retirement, the more I understand what they’re talking about. Until I can join them, I’ll keep wishing for more time to get stuff done.