Friday, December 30, 2011

Mom's Last Day at Work

Today was mom's last day on the job before her retirement. Today, I called her office for the last time EVER!!! She was not at her desk, she was hanging out with co-workers. I spoke to her this evening, and she told me that her last day was bittersweet- there are a lot of co-workers who she will miss. Of course, I pointed out to her the fact that she can always stay in touch with the co-workers she's close to, while not having to put up with the boneheads.

Mom's last year at work pretty much followed the modern model- she put in long hours (often coming in on Saturdays) in order to handle an increased workload, she had to deal with a stupid alteration in a computer system (the new system only allowed one user to log in at a time- WTF?), and her commute was horrendous. She'd always had a good work ethic, and she excelled at her job, but she was starting to get burned out.

It's pretty disheartening when everybody seems to be working either too many hours, or not enough. Joe and Jane Schmo are either working sixty hours a week, and shitting a brick about losing their jobs, or they are working twenty hours a week and shitting a brick about losing their house, or they are not working at all and they are shitting a brick about losing their minds. It's not healthy, from either an economic or a epidemiological standpoint.

Mom found out that her employer was offering a generous retirement package, and she was eligible for a handsome sum from Social Security, so she opted to retire. She got out while the getting was good. The house is fully paid off, she lives well within her means... it was time she took her nose off that grindstone. I imagine the first couple of weeks will involve some adjustment (what with having no daily routine), but she'll be flying out to Colorado to visit my two younger brothers' families in late January- after that, I think she'll take well to her newfound life of leisure.

13 comments:

  1. This may seem inappropriate, seeing as it's a comment on a post about my mom retiring, but I received two hits today for the search term "asses of face destruction".

    Internet, you never cease to amaze and bewilder me.

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  2. Wonderful!! Happy for B4's Mom, hope she enjoys herself after all, she deserves it!

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  3. If your mom needs something to fill teh hours, just let me know.

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  4. Good news! Congratulations to her! May she learn quickly to just love the hell out of graduating from the rat race and having whatever she needs.

    You know, the most depressing thing to me of all about the housing boom (that was clearly a scam to anyone who knew that property values are a function of the value of the town around them and that the prices should not have been going up at all because wages weren't going up, the population wasn't going up, and business wasn't booming) ALL THOSE PEOPLE thought of their house as an ATM machine instead of something to be paid off so that they--- and not the banks--- would own it.

    If you don't eventually own your home so that you can enjoy your retirement and leave it to you children, or friends, or ANYONE BUT THE BANK; then you're better off renting.

    Your mom payed off her house. She is my hero. I toast her NOW. Prost!

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  5. Congratulations Big B's Mummy!
    I'm so happy to hear that she is in a great place like that (with the generous retirement package I mean).

    I'm sure that, as you said, the first few weeks/months will be an adjustment but she'll find plenty to keep her occupied.
    Hey, she could always start blogging, right?

    ((Hugs))
    Laura

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  6. Salute to BBBBMom. She deserves a long and happy retirement. My own Mum said that after a month of retirement she couldn't work out how she had had time for a job.

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  7. Wonderful!! Happy for B4's Mom, hope she enjoys herself after all, she deserves it!

    She'll do well, she's got a lot of friends and family to visit.

    If your mom needs something to fill teh hours, just let me know.

    Insert "Canadian Content" joke...

    Your mom payed off her house. She is my hero. I toast her NOW. Prost!

    Yeah, she sold the house in New York, and used the money to buy her house in Virginia free and clear. She was born in 1941, so her early years during the war taught her to be frugal. No second mortgages for mom.

    Happy New Year to your mom!

    I think she'll have an awesome year.

    Hey, she could always start blogging, right?

    I think we have a winner!

    My own Mum said that after a month of retirement she couldn't work out how she had had time for a job.

    Especially since that roguish son of hers was such a handful!

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  8. Aaaah, congrats Mama B^4!

    My husband's mother recently retired and she is soooooooooo not the retiring type. She's gonna be reading A LOT. Mostly I think she will miss showing all her co-workers pictures of her newest and youngest grandson. (Evan came after his two cousins--Boom-boom-boom. Oldest is 3.)

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  9. Mostly I think she will miss showing all her co-workers pictures of her newest and youngest grandson.

    She can always go back and visit. That's what I told my mom.

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