Work, Book And Doddy

I mentioned previously that towards the end of last year, my company offered me a year's pay to go away. They didn't phrase it quite like that, but unless anything dramatic happens in the next four days, it'll be an offer I will be passing on.

There are a few reasons, but the advice of an older family member who did retire when he was a similar age to me now, was that if I don't hate my job, to keep working as long as possible.

I think that's pretty solid advice. My job is not hard. It's not dangerous. It's not wearing me out physically. Mentally? Well in theory, it can get stressful when things go wrong and operations I oversee have issues, but in practice, I'm of an age now where I can keep things in perspective. It's not that I don't care; it's more that as you get older and become financially independent, you are free to do your best free of worrying about your job, an attitude which actually benefits both you and your employer.

Another big factor was what the heck would I do with myself if I wasn't working? I'm too young to take up golf, and I jokingly told my sister that "I'd start getting up later, and drinking earlier" but there was a grain of truth in that comment. It would be all too easy to get into a very unhealthy lifestyle once the theoretical structure of work is removed. 

I say theoretical because there's not that much structure right now. Another advantage of a long career is that life gets a lot easier. It's not really work. The nature of my job these days means that I visit the office maybe one day a week, and later this month am away for another nine day trip, which keeps things interesting.  

My suggestion to retire and go travelling was vetoed by Signora Cassini, since she is still working. As much as she says she's ready to stop, as a supportive husband, I think it's important that she stays productive and continues to work towards her career goals. She claims that she's already exceeded them, but luckily for her, I've managed to find more.

One option for my free time would be to write a book. In response to a Tweet from @statsbet recommending his followers read this blog from the beginning, the following exchange took place:

Ken Dodd! For those of you who don't know, that was not a compliment. It was mildly amusing though. When you support Aston Villa, a sense of humour is essential. 

However, the possibility of a Green All Over book certainly generated some positive interest. Here are just a few of the comments I received:

I think that a book would be a great idea. I've enjoyed writreading this blog for many years and a book based on your best posts would be great - Bob

A book is an excellent idea Robsy! Looking forward to seeing you at Mum's 90th - J

Unkle Booby - Mum tells me your finking of riting a book. If you kneed a proof some one to find speeling missteaks in it let me no.

So for now at least, I remain gainfully employed, reluctant to be the one to pull the trigger on what is a fairly decent income. Not to mix metaphors, but if / when the axe does fall, I'll be fine with it, and if that day is later than August I'll also be ahead of the offer financially.

One final comment is that more than one person told me that a person's attitude to spending changes once they're on a fixed income. It's a lot easier to justify that £1,000 expense if there's a pay day around the corner. I tried to find an article supporting this theory, but lost interest after stumbling across this comment:

I'm calling the police.