Semi-Retirement

This morning I woke to find myself staring at a clock reading 9:50. I remember the first part of As It Happens: The Midnight Edition, then I woke up. I slept the better part of 10 hours. How is this possible? I'm semi-retired! (for a few more weeks). I then had some coffee, from Phil and Sebastian no less, rode the bus uptown to see about selling my broken car, walked to a 10 speed bike shop to see about getting new brakes, rode the bus to the edge of the city, walked to a cafe on the real edge of the city, sampled some grappa at a Italian wine store at said edge of the city and then walked back to the bus. On this walk I realized that my life during the week consists of sleeping as much as possible and taking the bus to places I want to check out. I now have questions about why retirees can be so cranky. I have on a few occasions witnessed an older person out on the town, in the middle of the week, flashing their seniors bus pass, get all up in someones face about a trivial matter. I have not felt this relaxed in many months, and I am only semi-retired. Why the hustle and bustle of the senior? I would spread my day out to contain as much awesomeness as possible. I would find a cafe close to my house that I could drink excellent espresso all day at, and then when the afternoon came move to a more suitable establishment, perhaps one that served excellent micro-brew and that had an excellent soup and sandwich happy hour special. Get the beer during happy hour, enjoy the brew, then head home for an early night of baking or playing cards. What is more relaxing than that? Maybe all the relaxed seniors live in warm and sunny climes like Kelowna and Victoria? That's where I would move if I was fully retired. But since I am only semi-retired I will stay in Calgary. There is a whole world of semi-retirement for me to explore in the next few weeks before I start full time. Perhaps drip coffee at a classy coffee shop is next. How long can I extend that cup of drip, I wager at least 2 hours.