The first day of my transformed life

February 1 is my son’s birthday.  Details of that exact day are fuzzy, frankly I just don’t remember.  I know he was late.  That seemed to mark a trait that followed him for many years.  His mother and I are early birds so the origin of his habit puzzles us.  Anyway back to my point, “First day of my transformed life.”

Time of blog draft

Around sixteen years of age I delivered newspapers in an apartment complex for a few months.  I’d ride the elevator to the top floor (8^th I think) and use my bag to prop open the elevator door and take the appropriate morning papers and race up and down the hall placing the newspaper in front of each door. And then floor by floor make my way to the ground floor before moving off to another building.  I had four buildings on my route.  I delivered the Newark Star Ledger, NY Times, NY Daily News, Daily Forward and several other foreign language papers if my memory serves me right.  A ledger book with the apartment numbers and paper or papers to be delivered was my guide.

After that I worked in a drug store during high school, while in the local college I worked at a department store and one summer I delivered reconditioned automobile bumpers.  Then three years in the army and a return to college which forced me to take many other part time positions.  I even parked cars in mid-town Manhattan for several years.

And then another 40 years of full time work.  Fast forward to February 1, 2014.

It is now the beginning of the end.  My current position, at my request, is going from full-full time to semi-full time.  What?  I’ve cut back my work load 20%.  I’ve done it not by shortening the work day, but taking 5 days off per month.  Full days.  Most of the time I’ll take two or three days before or after a weekend.  There will be a few times during the year that I will take a solid week off and occasionally there will be a solitary day off, perhaps connected to a weekend or a holiday.  Chunks of time off rather than a little at a time is my plan.  I expect to continue this for at least two years, perhaps more. 

Today is a practice semi-work day.  See Evan early, chat about his dogs and computers, and give him a birthday gift; then off to my casual Saturday writing group.  Write in my journal, edit my book and draft this blog.  This afternoon with Iris and dinner out with the usual crew.

Tomorrow breakfast out and then at my niece’s request photograph her organizing an in-service program so she can use those photos in publicity pieces.

But man’s plans sometimes go awry.  My dream for this time in general is local travel, time with Iris and family, writing, and photographic jaunts.  Finish novel number two and rework my photo web page.  And in the words of Bob Marley, “Be happy.”  Sounds easy.  Only time will tell if this works, but I now have time. 

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