A Day in the life of .....

What do you do when you have worked most of your life and now you are retired, especially when you are a little hyperactive. This is a small problem. In the morning you go hunting for food. I suppose I could go shopping once or twice a week, but I prefer to go every day. At least you get out, see something else, even if it is just the inside of a supermarket. There are decisions to be made. Today my other half let me out on my own this morning, so I had the complete food department of the supermarket at my disposal. It was one of those days when you get double cumulus points - here is an explanation of a cumulus point. I do my shopping mostly in the largest supermarket chain of Switzerland known as Migros. For the Swiss, Migros is a magical word. There is no town and almost no respectable large village without a Migros. It is seconded only by the Co-op. Anyhow the Migros have a system. If you belong to the Cumulus pont clan, everything you buy is registered and at the end of the month you get tokens in the shape of money which can be spent in the Migros. You have a bar code and this goes over the computer when you have finished buying. I think most countries have a similar system. The lady at the till always asks "have you got a cumulus card" as not all people have one. There are many that answer "no, I don't want one" although a simple yes or no would be enough. However, the rumour has it that everything you buy is registered and the Migros organisation then know what you buy and there are people that like to make a point of showing that they do not agree with the Cumulus system. I have a cumulus card, am glad to have a cumulus card and do not really care if the Migros know what I buy or not. Thursday is double cumulus point day, so the supermarket was naturally double full today with cumulus hunters. What disturbed me most of all was that the car park was almost full. They are building at the moment and the spaces have been reduced by at least a third.

Anyhow, I went hunting for special offers and found them. Today we had broccoli as it was a special price. I was only an hour away from home for the shopping which seemed to have surprised my other half, although I did not mention that it usually goes much quicker when I am on my own.

So I cooked lunch (my oldest son was also at home today - working reduced hours due to economic situation which is also present in the land of the gnomes). After lunch I had a full afternoon in front of me. I find this is the largest retirement problem up to now. What shall I do? Sometimes I am busy with writing something or the other, but at the moment have nothing to write. Then I get restless and start cleaning. Now this cleaning thing does not bother me in the least. I have a programme, I can take my time and no-one is telling me what to do. That is the advantage. Today was the day that I cleaned the kitchen, not that I have to clean the kitchen on Thursday afternoon, but it just seems to have fitted itself in on my retirement programme. The worst hours to find something to do start after three in the afternoon when everything is done, so what shall I do now? Perhaps in Summer when the weather is better I will be more outside in the garden. My cats seem to have the solution to their daily life, they just sleep, but I am not the type to sleep during the day.

Anyhow I survived yet another day of retirement and decided to now blog. That is why I am now blogging about nothing really. I think I will have to write a book about what to do when you are retired, or at least try to find a book that someone has already written about it. We do have sort of clubs in Switzerland for retired people. Club of the Evergreens, or the Grey Panthers, but they are so full of elderly people and I am not quite ready for that. The Evergreens are a peaceful organisation, but the Grey Panthers are more the rebels, speaking up for their rights and sort of going on demos. I think that might be something for me in ten years or so, but I will wait a few years. So I will just carry on blogging for now.

Anyhow this afternoon I put my nose into a book and did some reading. I read a lot, but even that can get a bit boring. I find the best books are those with at least 5-600 pages as you don't finish them so quickly. The evenings are not so bad as before I was retired I was at home in the evening and now and again the tv brings something worth watching. In my case generally the East Enders. Most Tuesday evenings I am alone as my other half has a practice of his jazz group. Since I found that Dr. Who is on the tv on Tuesday I don't mind. I was always a Dr. Who fan. Anyhow it is nearly time for tea so another day in the life of ..... is coming to a close.