Friday, July 31, 2009

Pickles ~ Never Again!


I am not sure why I decided to make pickles, since I don't even care for them that much (although I do love the fresh, sour pickles that the authentic New York delis sold from barrels; I don't think you can't find them around anymore).

Anyway, never again.

I can say I tried. I was even semi-successful. But the 10 jars of pickles that I ended up with will probably be given to friends and neighbors.

If I want a jar of pickles in the future, I'll head to the supermarket.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Adventures in Canning


Although I come from a long line of canners, I personally have never canned. But my bumper crop of tomatoes is crying out for some method of preservation. Since there is little room in my freezer, I decided to try my hand at canning.

I purchased a small pressure cooker/canner, even though you don't need to can acidic food under pressure. I figured it would be easier in the long run.

My first project: Homemade tomato sauce.

It actually turned out perfectly -- which means, all the jars sealed. (Jars that don't seal mean you either have to reprocess the batch or put it in the refrigerator and use within the next week or two.)

My next canning project: pickles. (Even though I'm not much of a pickle person.)

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Garden


This is the second year that I've planted a garden. Although it looks like a jungle, it is producing cucumbers and tomatoes like gangbusters and the zucchini is also doing pretty well. I have a few Japanese eggplants and some yellow beans ... and the red peppers are very slowly turning.
I've never been much of a plant person. In face, my mantra used to be "no pets, no plants, no kids ... nothing to feed, water or take for a walk." However, I must say that I've changed my tune over the past year or so.


This is my second year planting vegetables. I made lots of mistakes in 2008, which I tried to correct this time around. However, this year I planted cucumbers (for the first time) and these creepy (literally) plants are invading and taking over.


Maybe the third time will be the charm, so 2010 will be the year of perfection.


Hah!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Dumpster Diving


I know a lot of people who go through other folks' trash. I'm not usually one of them, although I did surreptitiously "rescue" a dresser, drawer by drawer, from the dumpsters of an apartment complex at which I lived in Baltimore.

After I moved to my current home, I had to arrange to move my 92-year old mother here as well. I found her an apartment in a senior citizen retiremenet community about three miles from my house. It was there that I found out that old folks throw out some really good stuff.

The first thing I found in her trash room was a crock pot that looked virtually new. When no one was looking, I "rescued" it from the trash and took it home, thinking that it probably had a bad switch or some other problem.

Nope. It worked fine. It's now sitting on my counter.

Then I found (in no particular order), a practically new microwave oven, a living room lamp, a new, over-the-door ironing board and ... a box of canning jars.

The canning jars were perhaps the best find for me, since my vegetable garden was starting to show signs of extreme production, and I really wanted to try preserving some of my harvest.

Lately I haven't found any treasures in the trash room. But I check every time I'm visiting my mother. You never know what someone might throw out.


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Fast Forward -- Redux

So now you know how I became "semi retired." Let's not deal with all the boring details between then and now. We'll fast forward to the present. Here's a recap of the high points between "then" and "now."

  • Bought a house
  • Moved from the Washington, D.C. area
  • Got cable television and found The Food Network
  • Collected unemployment
  • Planted a garden (Check out the photos!)
  • Collected unemployment a second time (thanks, President Obama)
  • Signed up for Facebook and found lots of old friends
  • Started doing some freelance writing, just to keep my skills fresh (Here's a sample of some of the stuff I'm writing about.)

There were lots of other things that happened, but not many of them were significant to anyone reading this. Most of my "free" time was consumed with dealing with my 92-year old mother's doctor appointments, shopping, laundry and other needs. Oh. And moving her to her own apartment in my new community.

I have found out that even though I'm semi-retired (and still loving it), there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything on my "to do" list!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The First Day of the Rest of my Life


On September 18, I slept in, meaning that I didn't get up till around 8:00 a.m. I had vowed that I was going to make the most of my new existence, so today was the first day of my new exercise (or walking) program. I grabbed my AM/FM radio with the headphones and walked around the complex for about 40 minutes, figuring that it was about 2.5 miles. I listened to Chris Core on WMAL radio -- a great talk-show host (who susequently also lost his job at the station, thanks to the economy) and made sure I was back by 9:45 a.m., when Rachael Ray would start the cooking segment on her show. I wanted to know what I was having for dinner that night.

The exercise program I started also coincided with a lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. My former officemates were taking me out. I needed to walk off the meal that I was going to consume later that day.

I thought to myself, "I think I'm going to like this new lifestyle."




Thursday, July 23, 2009

Last Day - September 17


Most of the day was spent handing in keys, filling out forms and saying good-by to the folks that I actually cared about.

Meanwhile, my boss continued to make himself scarce. I had only seen him ONCE since May 7, and that was by accident in the parking lot. He did his best to avoid me.

I waited till about 5:45 p.m. after everyone else left to leave the building. Prior to leaving, my phone rang and the caller ID said it was my boss. I didn't answer, but listened to the message, as he "lied" about having tried to see me to say good-by. Yeah. Right.

But I left a little souvenir on my door!


Fast Forward!

It took over two months for everyone to get their act together and figure out how to pry their feet out of their mouths. On July 17 I finally got a letter, notifying me that my last day would be September 17.

My last 60 days were very interesting. My immediate supervisor avoided me. Since his office was in another part of the building, he was able to slip in and out using a back door, therefore avoiding my office which was right beyond the front door. Other folks, with whom I had worked very closely, also seemed to be doing the "avoidance dance."

I think they felt that any association with me might spread the reorganization virus.

I used my time wisely ... coming in late, leaving early, burning off excessive sick and vacation time, but not any more than necessary. You see, I'd be paid for 240 hours of vacation and up to $5,000 worth of my sick leave.

It really was a great way to transition into what was going to be my new existence.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

You're History ... but not Quite Yet

Although I was told verbally in May 2007 that my position was no longer necessary, I found out that my "last day" on the job would be in 60 days. So I had two months to clean up loose ends, make those all-important doctor and dentist appointments that I had put off and use up whatever leave time I had accumulated that would be lost.

But first things first. I called the State's human resources guru to make sure my rights were protected. She told me that the 60-days noticed began from the date of the written notification. Since I was only told verbally about my position, the clock had not yet started to tick.

So I waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Apparently there had been a snafu. They jumped the gun and notified me before they had gotten official approval from the Gods.

Ooooops.

So even though I was told I was "history," they couldn't give me an official termination letter. I had a brief reprieve.

Don't you just love stupid people???

I'm not Unemployed - I'm Semi Retired

When my position was "eliminated" due to a "reorganization," I thought the same thing as the great Yogi Berra ... "it's deja vu all over again." The circumstances of my job loss were almost an exact replica of what happened to me back in 1992. I had already seen the writing on the wall surmising that my job was in jeopardy, and the only question in my mind was "when" it would happen -- not "if" it would happen.

My employer (who shall remain nameless, but they know who they are) was not that different from whom I worked for in 1992. Only the players were different. Otherwise, all events leading up to that day in May 2007 were very familiar. So when my boss asked me to accompany him to the human resources office, I knew that this was going to be "it."

I think they were surprised I didn't throw a tantrum, spew four-letter words or start flinging the expensive doo-dads that were in the HR Director's office. They avoided the word "fired" and instead used euphemisms, such as "position elimination" and "reorganization." I told them I had expected this decision and politely asked for the information in writing. They squirmed and felt uncomfortable. I felt superior and smug. They stuttered and stammered. I was elqoquent and articulate.
I got a nice severance package and the timing for me personally, couldn't be better. I was going to be free at last!

That was the day that I decided I was not going to consider myself "unemployed." I was going to be "semi retired." And I'm going to be loving it.