Tick Tock

I’ve been noticing for some time, but didn’t really pay much attention, until I retired. When a guy retires he gets a little more time for himself, it’s not like women make out, you know... “He’s always in my way; he’s always asking what are you doing?” We retired guys have a lot to accomplish and stay busy doing just that. I simply have a little more time to give her the attention she was always asking about.

I used to get home from work and just wanted to sit down and unwind. Perhaps have a beer and catch up on the sport scores or watch the news. Usually just as I was sitting down, she would need to tell me about her day. Running into one of her friends in the shopping center had allowed them to catch up on all the things that had been happening in their lives. Of course I didn’t need to run into these people myself; I got all the news from my wife. Nothing the kids did escaped my notice the wife kept track of everything and made sure I was up to date. I would listen attentively as her day unfolded, asking intelligent questions now and then. The news on TV could wait until latter, there was always the 10:00 pm. I was usually deep into the book I would be reading by that time, but still. Making me a part of her day was important to her so obviously it was to me as well.

As the children got older she found some time on her hands so got a part time job. This was great, extra money could always be used, Heineken isn't cheap. She found her job not long before I had to take early retirement.   She would prefer to be retired, now that I am, but still has that job.  If I were physically able I would be out there as well, but that wasn’t to be so we each do what we can.

On arriving home she likes to put her feet up and relax which is understandable, her job can be hard on her. She only gets to watch the 6 o’clock news as her early mornings send her to bed by 10:00.  After dinner she reads or watches a favourite program, I guess it rounds out her day and prepares her for the next.

These days I get to hear the news while I’m making the beds, the TV can be seen from the kitchen so I can watch the football while doing the dishes or getting dinner ready. Beer made me fat so I gave that up and now seem too busy to miss it. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a little time for myself. I can use the internet to pay the bills and while on the computer I check my e-mail and such. You ever notice how some people don’t reply to mails for hours even a whole day sometimes? I guess they just don’t know how to manage their time efficiently.

I’ve been noticing recently, that my wife reads, and watches TV a lot; I just didn’t really pay attention, until I retired. It seems that every time I try to tell her something that happened during the day, she’s in the middle of an important part of a movie or must finish this chapter. I know she likes to relax when she gets home from work, but it would only take a few minutes to keep her up to date.

The weekends don’t seem to give her much of a break either, the lawns need mowed, cars washed, the usual suburban weekends. Doesn’t look like I’ll ever get time to talk with her.

Time is what it’s all about. Some people just don’t seem to have enough to give someone else a little. Look at that, dust on the computer case; I’ll get to it tomorrow, sometime.

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