Good Riddence

 2020 will finally end. It was a year of pandemic and pandemonium. We lived with a sick society in two senses of the word. Physically, we were helpless until we did research and understood the enemy. Spiritually we showed that human nature is sick and ugly and we are no better than wild animals. Our president elect thinks his vice president elect is president. Once again, I heard him call her the president elect. I believe the election was stolen and if every person would have had to vote with ID, it would be a different outcome. As my mother in law used to say, "Honey, that is water over the bridge". Today is my last day as a real worker. Monday I begin as a retired part time worker. I was seriously going to end the blog today. Over and out. I decided to still write it but maybe not every day. That is to be determined. So Happy New Year to all and I pray for a better 2021.

Off The Clock

 One more alarm. After tomorrow I will not have to set my alarm to get up. My working hours will change due to my retirement, so I will be getting up later. That feels like the best retirement gift of them all. I am an early riser by nature so I will be up well before the time I need to. Just that small change in routine feels like a huge life change.

Parteeny

 Today is my office parteeny. It is my new word for a tiny party. For the past sixteen years we had a big party with the entire staff. On this, the seventeenth year I am here, it will be with a few people. It will be with the ones we have been around since the virus came to town. I could also call it a podteeny, since we now call people who we are around a lot our pod. There will be good food and gifts and I will probably enjoy the small gathering more than the large one.

Numbers Do Lie

 I was appalled last week when the local newspaper had a headline that read "Police turn down 25% raise in proposed contract". It was a blatant lie that no one would know unless they read the contract. To 99% of the people, it looked like the police were being greedy, in a world where they are now scrutinized for doing their jobs. The numbers totaled no where near 25%. No matter how you did the math the numbers were off. The first year was 1%, the second 1% and so on. They were asked to cut vacation days and sick days by about 20%. They were asked to pay into health insurance at a hefty monetary loss. They were asked to work a few free days a year. If you did the research, this is public knowledge but no one goes past reading the headline. All we saw was the bold lie of a headline of a liberal newspaper. It was insulting to every law enforcement officer. Haven't they gone through enough. Having the facts on that matter even more strongly reinforces the numbers "game" of the election. Unless a non biased bonded agency goes through and verifies each presidential vote, I will never be convinced that Biden won fair and square. If I see such lies and numerical manipulation in my county, it must be on a grander scale nationally. To me, Biden will forever be the man who stole the election.

Old Age

 Old age is creeping in but I plan an offensive attack. Since I have been off for about two weeks, being non productive, my mind is in turmoil. There are no reminders, no important projects, no responsibilities. Tomorrow I will reset it to become normally working. It will know dates, times and important issues. Time off is good, but time on is better.

In Your Lane

 You are always safest when you stay in your own lane. I am not only referring to traffic. I am referring to life. Our lane means our business. Getting out of your lane means crossing over to someone else's business. No one wants to share their lane or be pushed out of it. Stay safe. Stay in your lane.

Online

 After years of saying I would not do it, I have finally opened up online accounts. I do not trust USPS to reroute my mail when I am out of town, so I decided to control my bills online. I am probably the last holdout to enter the modern age. I now have to enter this information into a notebook and guard it with my life. Actually I will make two books. I need total control.