life – Middle Age Mark

Leaves in my Pool and AI

Is it just me, or did summer end alarmingly fast? Here in East Tennessee, where I live, school starts tomorrow, and apparently, that marks the official end of summer. TV commercials have already shifted to “Now that summer is winding down” teasers. The Walmart parking lot is slammed, no doubt with moms hunting down backpacks and crayons. When I checked the baby pool today, there were leaves in it.

I’ve already seen 2 school buses.

My flip-flops don’t even have proper foot grooves yet.
I don’t have pants.
Or my Zoom shirt.
Or for that matter, any shirt with sleeves.

And although it’s only August 4th, and there’s still a cornucopia of warm-weather essentials to be lived, like watering flowers, shirtless, barefoot mowing, and evenings in the Adults Only Baby Pool Bar and Grill, the sobering truth is that I fly back to Boise on Tuesday to start prepping for another year of online public education.

I love my job. I really do.

And I knew the end of summer would come and school would start again, but I thought maybe, just maybe, there might be an uprising and a national declaration of educational sabbatical and I’d move to the beach and live in a hammock and find cool shells and not have meetings or wear pants.

All while keeping, of course, my comfortable paycheck and state pension.

But apparently, such will not be the case, and Party Summer ’25 will start winding down.

I have a sense it’s going to be a very interesting year. I attended a conference over the summer that led me to believe change is coming. Honestly, probably greater and faster change than we’re prepared for.

The public education landscape is going to realize massive change. It’s already started. A recent headline from AP read that teens say they are turning to AI for friendship. Because I work in online public education, where everything is virtual, I’m on the leading edge of the revolutionary transformation that will alter the fabric of learning.

Yes, it’s an incredibly fantastic tool.
And yes, it can also replace the need to think critically, develop personal perspectives, and master new concepts. Just as doing hard work in the yard benefits the worker by growing physical muscles, so too working hard to master new concepts benefits the learner by connecting new mental synapses and teaching the mind how to learn.

In many ways, I’m curious how this all plays out.
I’m actually glad to be a part of it.
Just like the end of summer, there’s no question AI is here.
And bringing huge change with it.

Still, though, I laugh like a 6-year-old at robot falling-down videos.

3 Things

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been rolling around the whole concept of retirement in my bean; what it looks like for me, how best to enter into the last trimester of life, how to make the most of it. In staying in the retirement vein, I read in my new book How to Retire and Not Die that a retiree should have 3 tasks they accomplish each day. I think the idea is to make a list as you’re getting your coffee and coming to life, and then try your best to accomplish those 3 Things before the end of the day. Think along the lines of wanting to feel like every day is a success. How can I know if I’ve had a successful day if I don’t have any plans to do anything? Knowing we accomplished something valuable, however small, can help us deem the day as good and well-lived.

Having 3 Things to complete each day can also help stop the days from blurring together. I’m reading that for some who retire, time, and not knowing what to do with it, can become a real problem. Depression can set in when we transition from our daily work identity and pace to, well, empty days. Without work to measure life against, our days can slip into insignificance and uselessness. If you’re like me, and pray hard you are not, you’ll notice that sometimes the less we do, the less we want to do – as we slowly slide deeper and deeper into the chair, becoming more horizontal with every minute. Pretty soon it’s 6PM and nothing’s been done; no shower, no chores, no projects – nothing. Physics is not on our side: a body at rest and all that Newton jazz. There’s only so many Instagram reels we can send before we get mushbrain. Yes, it’s a thing. Look it up.

Sidebar: I wonder where the term Couch Potato comes from and why it’s a potato.
Note to self: Look up Couch Potato etymology and know the answer. Cue the cool party trivia drop.

Where was I?
Ah.
Our list 3 Things for the day should be tasks outside of the standard day’s fare. So, for me, Wake Up and Have Coffee wouldn’t be on my list (Yay me!) Neither would Enjoy a Fine Martini (Gin, Of Course) At The End Of The Day. Those 2 things are more or less something I do every day. So probably Work Out or Make Bed Art wouldn’t be on my list either.
I mean, who can go through a day without either, right?
Heyyyy, what if I listed Work Out While Drinking a Martini (Gin Of Course)?
Could be a whole new bar scene, yes?

…Hmm.
As we can see, AI has some…unique ideas of it’s own.
Wrong tree, ChatGPT.
Anyways. Back to reality.
It’s not so much that our 3 Things need to all be major undertakings, but I do think the 3 Things per day list is supposed move us outside of our norm. Things that are intrinsically part of our day don’t really require much thought or effort or growth, and they bring no real extra value-added to life.

I’m pretty sure that our 3 Things don’t always need to be 100% completed by the end of the day either, depending on how the tasks are worded. So like, Get Information on Bed Making Art Classes in the Area could be one of my 3, or Pick 3 Potential New Books to Read could be one, too. Since most complex undertakings are completed in stages, each stage could be a smaller daily task. Although Exercise would be, for me, not something on my list that would move me enough, Add 30 Cardio so I could lose 4 lbs in 2 weeks and get back to my ideal weight of 190 might be.

The book also talked about creating each day’s list from various categories. Some categories might be Social, Physical, Spiritual, Financial, Mental, Domestic, Relational, etc. So Monday might look like Reach Out To Jen, Add 30 Cardio, and Restart Coast Guard Pension Account Tracker. Tuesday might be Read New Book And Take Notes for 30, Clean Both Bathrooms, and Make New Pork Recipe. Wednesday: Gut Shed and Reorganize And Be Careful Rachel Doesn’t Catch You Throwing Stuff Away, Wash/Vacuum Truck, 45 Cardio and Chest. Even if I don’t get one or more complete, I can carry them over.

I also don’t think every day day needs to be preplanned to the last minute. It might be fun, though, if someone asks me, “So, how was your day?,” to list out some cool things I started, added, continued, learned, finished, made progress on, etc.

And, if having a list of 3 Things is a good plan for retirement, maybe it’d be a good idea to start now while working full time so a solid life-rhythm is established by the time change comes.
Of course, full time work will limit bandwidth and margin, but still, how fun to know life is growing in ways besides professional work.
At this point in my life, I think I’ve done all the career-ladder climbing I care to do. I could also start smaller, say 1 or 2 Things per day.

For tomorrow (Sunday), my 3 Things list is Start College Paper, Rake Front, Complete Data Report. I wrote them on my home office white board. Add my usual Sunday routine of first service, gassing both vehicles for the week, and doing laundry, that should make for a full, well-lived day. And if I don’t get them all done, I can carry over or schedule them for later in the week / month.

Anyways, just something that might be fun. I like the idea of being proactive to time and life. I also like the idea of stretching, growing, and being challenged (I’m not so good at following recipes – more is always better), while also sticking to the things that I just love, like raking the yard and being in the sun and cleaning the shed or garage.

Who knows. I might even get crazy:
Find Small Acoustic Drum Set for Less Than $200
Post Article For Florida Rental Next Jan
Start Redo of Basement Floor
Get Bid for New Shower
Learn About Garbage Disposal Installation
Buy Flower Seeds
Text Friend Who Bought Me The Book And Offer Coffee
Learn 2 New Dance Moves
Look Into Starting Business Called Bed Maker Mark
And well, the list is endless.

Getting Through

I’ve been pretending to work part-time this week. That sounds more nefarious than it actually is. It’s the third week of March, and along with March Madness, it’s Spring Break. If you work in the Public Education industry, it’s yet another week off. Even though my calendar tells me I’m free from meetings and all professional responsibilities, there are tasks I like to get knocked out. One of them is writing employee evaluations. Getting two written per day during the quiet of Break allows time for separation so they don’t all blur together.

My Part-Time experiment this week consist of working any 4-hour period that I choose. Since I work from home, it’s much easier to choose hours. I wanted to experiment with the feeling of being semi-retired. I’ve been sleeping a little later, like 6:30am. It’s luxurious. I’ve been spending a little more time with my coffee and a little more time creating Bed Art. Bed Art is making the bed artistically.
What? It’s a thing.
I like to try a new way every day. I’ve also been spending a little more time at the gym. Lifting heavy things and making noises is still quite fun. I’ve also helped a little more with planning and making dinner. Last night’s creation fell a little flat. I’m much better at Bed Art.

See? Not as nefarious as it sounded.

I’ve been thinking a lot more about retirement lately; ceasing full-time work or whatever that phase of life is called when you no longer set the same priority on employment. I’m watching Medicare seminars and reading articles about Over-60 Fitness. My mom called last week to ask if I’d “Gotten Through.” She asked if I’d “taken the Social Security.”

“Getting Through” is a New England term for retiring. The idea is that you don’t retire “to” anything, you just retire “from” work. There’s no plan to pursue anything, you just “Get Through.” Think of being released from the Gulag. People will shake your hand at Walmart or Church and congratulate you on Getting Through. They’ll ask when you Got Through. If they haven’t Gotten Through, they’ll lament and fantasize about how many more months until they can Get Through. I guess when you Get Through you can also Take The Social Security.

My dad Got Through. My sister Got Through. My mom Got Through at 50 when New England Phone Company folded into AT&T. I guess the idea is that you’re just so “dahn happy” because you wake up the next morning and, well, you’ve Gotten Through, and now you don’t have to drive or deal with people or dress or do hard things. Now you can stay home and play with the dog and watch Judge Johnson and… well…. just be so dahn happy.

I hate the term. I hate the concept.

Retirement seems like it might have something to do with age. I suppose it also has to do with access to funds on which to live. But mostly it seems age-driven, like there’s an internal clock that strikes when we reach a certain age range. I think if I won the lottery my new job might be opening non-profits and digging wells in waterless places and buying shoes for shoeless kids.
I’d also probably keep my job. I like my job; problems, people, and all.

I read about people who retired younger than the average, some much earlier, and many of them seem quite not dahn happy. They attest to a lack of purpose and nowhere to place or find passion. Some found their identity in work, as if what we do to pay the mortgage is who we are. I read about them going back to work after weeks or months of being retired so they don’t go out of their minds.

A new friend gave me a book called, “How to Retire and Not Die.” I like the book a lot. The author talks about the importance of maintaining purpose and passion after full-time work. Why be on the planet without purpose and passion?

I have no plan to retire. I’m not counting days or weeks or months or years. At 63, it’s become a frequent question. I wish people would stop asking me about it. I tell people 3 or 4 more years because telling them I probably won’t retire causes them to twitch and make the scrunchy face; like I started talking demon-talk. They don’t know exactly why I should retire. They tell me they don’t want me to retire and relief-sigh when I tell them Oh-maybe-3-or-4-more-years.
But when I tell them Maybe Never they get scrunchy.

I guess I might think about going part-time when there’s some Exciting Thing that working full time won’t allow time for. I might stop working full time if the Exciting Thing really took up a lot of my time most days – like owning a well drilling company and digging deep holes in Arid-a-stan. I don’t know anything about digging wells and I don’t like getting shot at or captured for ransom or being called an infidel or having my head on a spike, but I imagine it would be tremendously satisfying to help a thirsty kid drink clean water.

Making music is a passion. Maybe I could reform the band and play covers in retirement communities. I’ve been having drummer dreams lately. I’m not so good staying up late so we’d need to wrap up the set list before 7pm.

Fitness is a passion. I could help train mature adults in fitness and maybe help restore their vitality. I don’t tolerate whining though, so I’d need to work on being more uuuunderstaaaaaanding.

Landscaping is a passion. I like being mostly nude in the sun with a shovel or mower or whacker or rake. I move rocks and rearrange wood piles and plant more flowers and make lawnmower art. I wear headphones and dance and sing kinda loud. I’m not sure my style would go over well with some potential clients.

I think I like this part-time gig.
I guess it’s time to write evals.
What a fine day it’s been so far.

I can’t ever imagine Getting Through.
I’m not a Getting Through kind of man.
I might and probably will go chase something else.
Maybe several somethings else.
Somethings worth purpose and passion.
They’re absolute Musts.
They’re the reason to wake up every morning – besides coffee and Bed Art.