Monday, June 24, 2013

When You Have All of The Time In The World

Saturday, June 22, 2013  7:15 AM
I think I can safely say we are on a Perfect Weather Streak





















Ross and I  have each been retired for over ten years.  So, that means we can do what we want and go where we please,  whenever we choose.
There is no more getting over hump day Wednesday or Thanking God It’s Friday.
But even after 10 plus years of not having to adhere to the regiment of a Monday through Friday schedule,  for some reason, we still think that we must do something on Saturday and Sunday.  Especially if the weather is nice.
We have the same conversation each Saturday and Sunday.
 I am always up before Ross, always, whether it’s the weekend or not, which isn’t really relevant to this discussion, but just saying, you know for the record and posterity.
Anyway, by the time Ross gets up, I have had my tea, and I am at my computer writing.
Ross will come into the den/office, sit down at his Mac and do whatever he does.  He probably reads the NY times, (even though he gets the paper delivered), reads his mail, (he has friends, so he gets a lot of e-mails) checks Facebook, (he has friends, so his newsfeed is filled with latest breaking news) and then browses around the net (where he winds up is his business.)
After he has exhausted all of his world wide web possibilities, he turns to me and asks this question:
 "So what would you like to do today?"
 I am usually still writing and not ready to give him my undivided attention, so my mumbled distracted response is:  “Uh, huh" "Oh, I don't know, umm, whatever, uh, huh."
By the time I am ready to have a conversation with him, it is after 9:00.
He will then sit in the chair opposite my desk, and proceed to enumerate activity possibilities.
His suggestions almost always include doing things that all of the people who still work for a living are doing because it’s the weekend and that’s the only free time they have to do those leisurely things.
As the discussion continues, it goes something like this:
Him: “How about…?
Me: “Nahh I don’t feel like it.

It reminds me of a quote from an old film made in 1955 called “Marty”.*

Quotes

Angie: What do you wanna do tonight? 
Marty Pilletti: I dunno, Angie. What do you wanna do? 

So this Saturday, we finally made up our minds and decided to have lunch at a water front restaurant in Somers Point called the Crab Trap, where they advertise “Fine Food, Wine And Spirits.”
The food was fine, I didn’t whine terribly much and it did pick up our spirits.

Afterwards, we headed for Atlantic City.  Not to gamble but to shop at the Tanger Outlets.
Outlet shopping has become such a scam. But it is pretty comical and can be quite entertaining.
For instance, every store we went into, (and by the way this occurs regardless of what day it is) there was a person to greet us at the door to tell us that, “Today, everything in the store is 50, or 70 or even 80 percent off.”

For us it was a chance to be outside on a nice day, take a stroll, people watch and the best part was we were not even tempted to enter any of the casinos. .

Okay I did buy a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes.  Hey, they were 40% off.

Yeah, so perhaps, much like this gal, I fell for it hook line and sinker.

This caught our attention on the way to AC.  I had to go back and snap this photo


Sunday, June 23, 2013, 5:54 AM
Keep those Sunny Days Coming





















My sister invited us to their weekend beach retreat over in Belmar.  Yes, my sister and her husband are still working.  Since they will be retiring soon, though, they always ask us what its like.  They want to know what we do with our time.
One of the things we tell them is that a condition of retirement (or perhaps it is merely senior-itis) is procrastination.
The fact is when you have a lot of free time you tend to put things off until later.
But, for us that usually means we are not as organized as we used to be and therefore it takes us longer to do everything.
For instance, today,  even though my day started at 5:30 and Ross actually got up earlier than normal, and our plan was to leave the house by 8:00, we didn't actually get on the road until after 9:00.
That is not a good thing when one is going to a resort area where there are a limited number of parking spaces and beach-chair/umbrella/blanket  real-estate is at a premium.   And by the way, going back to a point made earlier, the competition for said parking spaces and beach real estate are those Monday-Friday, 9-5 folks.

I am reminded of those times when I was a busy working mom.   I would have to do my food shopping on a weekend day.   As I attempted to speed up and down the aisles, I remember how annoyed I would get at the older couple, with their shopping cart in the middle of the lane blocking traffic.  I would always wonder why, why they couldn't do their shopping during the week, when they had all the time in the world.


*From Fandango: "Marty is a bittersweet, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and always realistic comedy-drama about Marty Pilletti (Ernest Borgnine), a 34-year-old Bronx butcher. "
From WikipediaMarty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. In addition to gaining an Academy Award for Best Picture, the film enjoyed international success, becoming the second American film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film FestivalMarty and The Lost Weekend (1945) are the only two films to win both organizations’ grand prizes.

6 comments:

  1. Maybe it's just become so ingrained in our culture that the weekend is the time to do things, so that's why you want to do things even when you have time to do them during the week.

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  2. Liz,
    That’s exactly right. Weekends equal leisure and free time for us for most of our lives. So of course it would be ingrained in us to continue to feel that way.

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  3. Yikes, I don't know where to start! First, I want a Perfect Weather Streak. Truthfully, we did have one last week - probably five days of clear and 80 degrees. My idea of PWS. Not so right now - 64 and gray and drooly wet. NO sunshine. But forecast for Thursday is back to sunny and 80!
    Secondly, I ALWAYS am up before Michael. He is retired but even when he was working and even on weekends and even in vacation times, I am up first (generally , these days, by at least two or three hours!).
    And outlets? I never go there but there is one a bit south of here. I went once with Meg but it seemed kinda creepy. But what do I know? The place was very boring and there were not many people and the stores had limited choices. But I don't like shopping much anymore so don't take my word for it. Word? Okay, let's see if you've played!

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  4. I used to be much more of a shopper when I was working than I am now. But I still get the bug every once-in-awhile.
    What interests me about the outlet shopping is the fact that people actually think they are getting a bargain.
    Now it's my turn to see if you've played!

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  5. My father and his long-time girlfriend retired last fall and it has been a huge adjustment for them--especially my dad who is a Type A by the book, by the clock kind of guy. He told me this past weekend that he no longer wears a watch and just does things when he feels like doing them--which sometimes translates into not doing much at all. :)

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    1. I still feel guilty not doing much at all. It's as if I am wasting that something precious called time. But don't get me wrong, I like not having to march to the beat of someone else's drum.

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