Hello and welcome to the Very Big News Announcement.
Popcorn ready? Seatbelt fastened? Good. Here we go…
According to our Government of Incompetence, I am now classed as being economically inactive.
I have given up work.
Economically inactive is such a stupid and inaccurate description (but what else can you expect from this collection of clowns?) as I shall be continuing to pay my bills and shall still be spending money on stuff. I’ll just be living off my ill-gotten gains, just not earning a salary or claiming benefits.
I’m not going to use the ‘R’ word (or even the word ‘R’ prefixed by the ‘early’ word), because to do so would imply that I am old and wrinkly when, truth be told, I am actually nothing of the sort.
But this year will be the sixth anniversary of my heart attack, and that was a very big event in my life.
Since then we’ve been kicking the notion around for a while and, after various conversations, we have decided that, as we can afford to make this change now, we should, in fact, make this change now.
So on 28th January 2022 I did my last sign-in and my last 4FA log-on and (seven hours later) I did my final log-off and secure shut-down. I’m done working.
Well, that’s not strictly true.
I’m done working for the man (or woman).
How are you going to fill your time, Brennig? I hear you ask.
Well I’m glad you asked.
I’m going to dedicate my time to annoying people around the house, keeping the dogs busy, finish writing The Difficult Second Novel, playing bad guitar (I have aspirations to get up to mediocre levels) and learning to play the trumpet. Yes, you read that correctly. I accidentally bought a trumpet on eBay, so I may as well learn how to play it.
I would also like to spend a heck of a lot of time sailing. After all the work that’s been done to Good Mood this winter, I’ll be putting her through a couple of shakedown cruises before tackling a trip to the Isle of Man. After fixing any remedial items the shakedown cruises tease out, I’m eyeing up a weekend trip to Dublin. And after that? Well… 😁
But the bottom line is I intend to grab this economically inactive opportunity with both hands, and use it to add some new quality to my life, and to the lives of those around me. For ‘quality’ see also ‘annoyance’. Probably.
That’s tremendous! Well done, you. I am most jealous.
I remember the time I also accidentally bought a trumpet on eBay.
Didn’t go down well with the rest of the family.
Or the dog.
Or the neighbours.
eBay really should put something in place to stop this sort of thing happening.
Thank you. It’s all a bit odd, this being just the second day of what is a busy week of timetabled/calendared activities. Nothing feels any different; it’s as if I’m on leave and I’m just getting on with the things that need to be got on with. The trumpeting is great fun.