Industrially long and year end

Fish Creek is a beautiful park stretching across most of south Calgary. Much of it is so scenic you'd hardly know you were in the middle of a big city. Other places you can see distant homes. Some homes back onto the park and have to trade somewhat less privacy with a great view. I often wonder how often the people with that great view actually enjoy it by sitting out on their deck.

One place, however, that is not quite as scenic is right where MacLeod Trail, the LRT, and the CPR all cross the park. Fortunately, I like doing industrial stuff sometimes, and the CPR bridge has some interesting textures.

Your eyes are playing tricks on you. That post really is vertical. I've checked. Twice.

Don't forget the AMA! The clock is ticking.

Some year end burble.
It went by awfully quickly, let me just say that. It's the last year I expect to work in an office. While I liked several of my colleagues, one of them was a complete deal killer. In times past I might have taken more drastic steps to push back, but I didn't feel the need. Life is too short for such nonsense now. Sooner or later he will try that game on someone who is both ethical and has the authority to string his career up on a barbed wire fence to desiccate in the wind. Many will cheer.

I've had lunch with various people that are still working, and nothing they say about going into the office makes me want to do it again. Other paid work, however, would be considered. I've been doing some volunteer photography on request, and so far that's been a lot of fun. More on photography stuff in the image of the year blog next week or so.

Linda finished up her master Gardener course over the winter, then worked her volunteer hours mostly at Lougheed House. That and her own garden additions was a full load for her, to say nothing about staying ahead of the damned lily beetles. This coming year should be a bit more of a laid back year on the gardening front.

Fitness stuff has kind of come and gone for me this year. I'm glad I'm not training for anything because my consistency sucks. I ran a bit in the fall and it mostly felt good, but I dialled back (and by dialled back I mean essentially stopped) once the crappy icy weather came. Last thing I needed to do was injure myself by slipping on some ice just before our vacation.

It was not a big year for swimming either, though other than the last couple weeks, it's been a good fall, building speed and volume. The only outdoor biking this year was on my hybrid bike, after a sweet tuneup by Ken, Michelle, and Antje. I really need to figure out a better way of carrying camera gear while riding, since that's an ideal way to explore.

The road bike is still firmly on the trainer (which makes her sad, I know) but there's no way I'm riding through the ring road construction zone, and it's not been convenient to take the car out to a place beyond the construction.

Construction. That's practically the word of the year. For much of the year we could not get out of our neighbourhood without going through a construction zone, and for a while there was construction right in the neighbourhood. A detour on the detour, for heaven's sake. It's quiet now, but will fire up again in the new year. Like they were saying when I first moved to Calgary so many years ago now, it'll be a great city when they finish getting it out of the box. Pity we don't have much reason to drive on the new sections of the ring road going north.

Out of town guests used to happen a lot for us when we were active in the SCA, but not so much now. Still, it happened a few times. My buddy Janice from Nova Scotia was in town and we got together for coffee, though pity there's wasn't time for a photo ramble. I must get back to Nova Scotia in the fall with my camera, and since she is on the cusp of retirement, we ought to be able to plan something fun.

The conspirators got together to organize a party for me, which involved virtual out of town guests Kris and Sophia, and an actual Julie, who I don't get to see much. Later in the year the virtual guests became actual ones, to our delight.

So, the retirement thing, you ask. It's been lovely. My last day in the office was early August. To some extent it's been like an extended vacation. Sometimes I'm up early with places to go and things to do. Sometimes I'm feeling less energetic and have a quiet day around the house. I'm starting to think about longer term projects and have begun setting up. All my photography gear is downstairs in one place now, as opposed to on the dining room table, my desk, in the media room, or in the car. I want to set up a macro area once we're back from vacation. Last year I got the blues over the last part of the winter and intend on staying busier. I've been looking speculatively at various parts of the basement, and thinking. Yes, I made a ton of wine last year, and will be making more this coming year.

There are a lot of things one can do in retirement. You may have heard people saying they don't know how they found time to go to work. It's true. While we've been taking it easy over the holiday season, it seems like there's always something to do, or go to.

What's funny is how often things try to happen at the same time. Nothing is planned. Then a place date time is suggested. The next thing that comes up is almost always for that date and time. Sometimes things can be shuffled around, sometimes not and regrets are sent.

So even though I'm retired from office work, I'm not retired from life. Last year was pretty darn good,  and the most recent 5 years have been the best it's been. I'm thinking about ways of making the next bunch of years even better.