Let me start this retirement blog by referring back to the several projects I have set up in an effort to make best use of both lockdown time specifically, and my retirement life, as a whole. Then I’ll bring you up to speed on where I’m up to with them. I will tell you now, for a confirmed control freak, it does not make, at this stage, pretty reading. You the reader might also be warned that it does not make for easy reading if you like a blog with a happy ending (so far).
So let me begin with the projects and the scores I gave them for progress a mere week ago. I say a mere week ago because already things have changed and not I fear for the better. Starting with this retirement blog, The Summerhouse Years. Last week I gave it a 9 because the writing was going well and, for reasons I never fully understood, I was actually number one in the world, well on Google anyway. Now I’m 5 or 10 depending on which of my machines I look at.
Last week I would have written, that of all the projects I’m about to detail, this retirement blog would have been the one I felt I had most control over. Silly me. And that’s the sub-text to this blog of course – being in control.
This morning (Saturday) while walking the dogs I was complaining about all the things that were wrong with my life to Mrs Summerhouse and she asked me, have you always been a control freak, because I don’t remember you being when we first started going out or in the years thereafter. I was forced to admit that I thought I’d definitely got much worse since I retired. At this point I’m not sure why this should be.
So not so good retirement blog-wise, but a hell of a lot better score than the vineyard. Which scored 2. Lucky to get that. I think it was Bill Shankly (famous football manager) who after Liverpool had lost 2 – 0, said, aye, and we were lucky to get 0. So with the vineyard, lucky to get 2. And if you want to talk about being in control then I strongly advise you keep away from owning a vineyard as a retirement project. Double that for this last couple of years and the last few months when we’ve not been near the place. We went up there last week so I’ll write more about this project in a separate vineyard blog.
Along with the vineyard there is the project related to the barn itself (score 3). This is about getting change of use to a residential property from the artist’s studio it currently is. Now we’re really into the land of no control. I’m entirely in the hands of the architect who’s doing the drawings, to submit to the planners, and his mate the planning consultant. Guess what after 5 weeks I’ve heard nothing. I sent the planner an email this very morning just to be doing something, trying to take some action and grab back a little control. We’ll see where that takes me.
And so to the Colorado cabin and here we climb the ‘ladder of no control’ just about to the very top. After a cracking start all of which I described in recent blogs, all has gone very quiet. No response from the Facebook group to my last post asking them to recommend a well-digger* and / or a septic tank installer. No response to my request to the resort owner, who I’d suggested might manage the cabin along with his own cabins when mine is built of course, and no reply about a contractor he might recommend.
I don’t understand why they seem to have suddenly stopped talking to me after we got off to a flying start. It’s very, very frustrating and of course completely beyond my control to change. See end for a qualification to this. Last week I gave it a 6 or 7 because I was still trying. Now this week that would be down to a 2 or 3. Bugger. That’s my writing as therapy coming in to the picture.
Then there’s my podcast (score 5). All I can say is that my friend who puts it out for me, if that is what you do with podcasts, has been and still is, ill. You may remember I tried to take over the technical side of this project but that was a disaster so I was delighted when he felt well enough to retake the reins. But of course he’s still ill so things are unpredictable and I am not in any position to complain or to seize back any control of this particular retirement project.
As for my other minor projects they’ve been OK mainly because they’re more within my control. Gardening (we’ve been dabbling), mangle restoration, definitely not OK and destined to remain in the garage for another 40 years. Music, a real disappointment and absolutely nobody to blame but myself. I just can’t seem to get going without the pressure of a ’public’ performance.
My Great Courses, history lessons have been OK, a bit stuttering but OK. All these projects of a DIY, cultural nature might rate a 5. This is not very inspiring given that I’ve been complaining about not being in control of my projects and yet, of those that I am in control of, I have very little enthusiasm for. Hmm, that’s annoying.
So that’s you up to date with my retirement and me slightly better mentally thanks to the writing as therapy approach to life’s frustrations. Just a brief footnote.
PS. As a small taster of what’s to come cabin and control-wise, since writing the majority of this retirement blog, I’ve taken a very big step but you’ll have to wait to find out about that.
*In the absence of any recommendations from my potential neighbours in Colorado I thought, right well I’ll seize control, do it without you. I’ll go on line and look for well-diggers etc in the area. There were three and to say their on-line ratings were variable would be an understatement. For example, of the same company, users said – if it were possible to give 0 I would have, they were terrible and went on to describe exactly why. Certainly did sound like a 0, but then the very next user of the same company ranked them 5 – these guys could not have been more helpful. I recommend them and use them on all my properties. Just the same mixed reviews with the other two companies. They average out at a 3 on a 5 point scale but with scores from 1 to 5. So, how in the name of all that is holy, can a person who’s not there make a choice from this kind of information? Sometimes you try and take back control but you just can’t get ahead.