Ditching school

I liked school and I didn't have anything better to do.  But I always wondered what kids did all day who ditched school if they weren't doing drugs.  I get it, they didn't like being told what to do, the teaching system didn't match how they learned, maybe they were bullied, etc.  But what did they do with their time?  I never understood that.  These days they have phones & tablets (if they don't want to carry a laptop) to pass their time playing games.  

One month in, I'm finding retirement lonely.  I expected that.  My social life was at work.  Dialysis days are slept away after treatment.  I knew that would happen, but my dialysis schedule is changing.  I need to follow my retirement plan: tai chi and making art.  Right now I'm like a newborn.  All I seem to do is eat, sleep, and poop.

I finally did it.

It does feel like a life milestone.  I does not feel like crossing the finish line, more like into the next chapter.  I will practice tai chi, I WILL !!

I'll do it, really this time

9/6/25  LOL, I've been saying I'll retire since 2022.  I would have been okay had I retired in 2018 when Auntie & Dad passed.  My stubborness to keep working for healthcare insurance cost me my mental health in 2019 by burning the candle at four ends with Mom's caregiving. I am guilty of quiet quitting in 2019 until 2021, just doing my job duties and only "working my wage".  In other words, I didn't do stuff that required an engineering degree even though I'm qualified.

Then last week I meant to turn in my notice to retire.  The current "internet advice" is to not give more than 2 weeks notice. I was going to give until end of the year in order to get my bonus & Christmas presents.  I must do this NOW in order to have a couple weeks to prepare the house for Bro's visit in October.

9/7/25 I guess I slept on it, plus I found a Medicare Advantage PPO that will take over on Oct 1.  Since I'll have no more job benefits, I've decided to work as a contractor if they really need me.  I'll stop working on my "busy-work projects" and just work on projects where they need fast design because Kyler is overloaded.  For now I'll hold off claiming Social Security until I find out how much work I'll be doing in 2026.

Rut roh, they noticed LOL

Yesterday I got called to a "motivational" meeting in Big Boss's office with Mrs HR & the GM.  They noticed my lack of "intensity" in my work.  But Big Boss still doesn't want to "get rid of me." Yes, I've been in documentation mode.  It's busy work.  Not doing anything important.  Just that nobody's coming to me for anything because they don't know when I'm coming in so they go to my Trainee.  He's pretty much taken over all the work and only has more advanced technical questions for me now.

Bottom line is I haven't been making the minimum 30 hours/week in order to keep benefits because of the medical appointments & time I need for dialysis.  In the meeting, I verbally declined the employer sponsored insurance because I have Medicare.  But now I have to find a solution for prescriptions.  But now that I've had the long weekend to sleep on it, I think I'll submit my 2-week (or one month?) notice next week.  Without the extra insurance coverage, I don't feel like I'm getting compensated enough to stick around.

I've got stuff to do that would be nice to have in place by the time Bro visits in October:

• clean the house
• clear the little room to make guest bedroom
• work out
• clear out the storage
• shred stuff
• scan stuff

Is it a sign to retire?

Just got out of hospital stay yesterday.  Went to ER Sat/Sun at midnight so total 4 days.  This, after having a cold & shingles at the same time despite being fully vaccinated for shingles last year.  Guy took his last singles outbreak as a sign to retire the year Mom passed.  I intended to do the same but there was nobody to do my job & hard to find people with my skills.  Now I've got Kyler all trained up for PCB design, he just needs a little more experience but as long as he has guidance from the engineers like Lenny & Wilton or Chris, it'll be fine.  Yea, Wilton is 70 (same as Uri & Gerri) and he's gradually stepping back.  Semi-retired like me.

Work is like a hobby anymore

So, my "helper" has been working since February.  Mrs HR couldn't find anyone with experience who weren't already making way more than me, duh.  So I've been training him from zero industry experience, zero electronics.  It's been nice to be able to finish a design, then hand it off to him to take care of release.  When he's making changes to existing designs, I've been insisting that engineer sit down with him.

When I have an appointment on dialysis day or couple appointments in a day, it's often not worth the gas for 20 mile drive to the office just to work a couple hours. It's nice that nobody's complaining about the hours I work or when I get into the office.  Can I call myself semi-retired?

I have no intention of letting you go

First chance I've had for any exchange with Big Boss in a few weeks.  He was calling me out for errors that happened over 10 years ago, and they were errors I inherited.  I say that because, yes, I should have caught it because I had redrawn the work of the original designer (10+ years ago) and haven't touched it since.  Anyway, this was my opportunity!  I told him if I go to dialysis 3X/week I can't keep up with the workload.  I said I'm okay if you start looking for my replacement but I'd like to stay until the end of the year.

Okay, that's not exactly a resignation.  Usually at that point they ask for your resignation in writing but  he said "I have no intention of letting you go."  He walked over to his wife's office (Mrs. HR) and told her to start looking for an assistant(?) for me.  Oh Pooh!

Next goal toward retirement

Okay, I can't fail this one, right?  I'm currently doing dialysis two days a week.  I haven't been able to complete a full 8 hour day of work 80% of the time.  I haven't been able to complete a 4 hour day on dialysis days.  I'm always short! Then there is all the times that I take off for doctor's appointments and procedures.

Sometimes there's talk of increasing my dialysis from 2 days to 3.  I think if that happens, I won't be able to keep up with my workload.  Actually, my workload isn't too bad right now.  My real issue is the way Big Boss talks to me in an accusatory way (he talks to everyone that way, not just me) but he changes his tone when he realizes I have all my ducks in a row.  I'm always right.  The Old Boss used to shield me from that--I still miss him, not just for that.  THAT is my ticket out.

I have help!

...so maybe I don't have to retire.  This gets the monkey off my back.  More than just offering to help, this tiger is actually setting a time to help.  If I can actually clear the rooms, I don't have to retire, although it's often the company environment that makes me dream of retiring early.  I still enjoy the work and nobody's bothering me about my irregular hours.  My deadlines are more often self-imposed.

So hard to retire despite the desire

I have my 13 year work anniversary in 3 days.  I expect I'll be having my annual review before they hand me my Friday paycheck.  I've had alot of health issues (3 surgeries) since my last post.  As much as I wanted to retire before the end of 2022, my PD port stopped working on Christmas and for the next 3 weeks I was trying to get it fixed but I was hampered by a change in employer-sponsored insurance that happened on Dec 1.  Short story: they took out the PD port & put in a temporary HD port.  There are still lots of advantages to employer insurance vs Medicare, however I had a rude awakening when I got my prescriptions this month.  My co-pay was over $500 !!  So maybe it's time for Medicare to take over with a Medicare supplement.  I have to quit employer insurance for Medicare to start paying anything.

So this week will be my next opportunity to quit and it'll be that much easier if GM does a review without kid gloves.  We had an argument last week.  Big Boss is making it so hard, though.  In his attempt to show (company) support, he quietly has been paying my full salary since I ran out of paid time off.  After Mrs HR Boss told me, I told her I'm in a good place so I won't be living in a van down by the river.  The other thing is, without a hard schedule I'm afraid I'm going to sleep my days away as I currently do my weekends.  I'm also going to miss the socialization.  I'm going to have to find a weekly meeting group or something.

edit: No annual review.  I forgot paychecks are now direct deposit.  Big Boss & Mrs HR Boss left early.  GM had visiting customers to attend to.  Dammit, how am I going to quit?