 |
| 야끼만두 (Yaki Mandu) Source |
As I'm not in the mood to write any fiction and as The Missus Herself fed me one of my favorite comfort foods (the opening photo), you get a short bit of who knows what? (And yes, there is a recipe for those at the source of the photo.)
First I want to thank Dakota Viking for giving me the day off yesterday, I got to relax and we all got a taste of writing talent that I hope we can get more of. In your own good time, DV. No rush. After all, quality is worth waiting for.
Being retired is still kinda cool, i.e., the novelty hasn't worn off yet. Yes, there are days when I'd like to get back in the saddle and go back to the work I enjoyed over the past decade, but things, they are a changing. My sense was "not for the better," which is why I reached for the ejection handle and punched out.
At breakfast the other day Liz said it would be nice to have me back in the lab for at least one day a week. I think that's mostly so I can listen to her rant about the direction things seem to be going in. Honestly, I could handle one day a week, they wouldn't even have to pay me!
But that's all theoretical anyway.
My buddy Tom introduced me to this really good band Plush a while back (might even be, probably is, going on two years now, maybe three) and they're going to be in town (well New Bedford, but that's just a hop skip and a jump from here) and that I should accompany him and Brian (another buddy from work).
The Missus Herself assured me that nothing was on the schedule for that week, so I received clearance. It's off to another concert I go. Looking forward to it.
Tom was going to get me a t-shirt last time he went (he's seen them four times) but thought better of it.
Why? (You might ask.)
Well, it's an all female band, all very talented, all very lovely. Tom figured that The Missus Herself wouldn't be pleased with me parading around with this picture on my chest -
 |
| Plush |
"No, not really. But the shirt was fifty bucks, I'm not springing for that!"
Smart man, my buddy Tom.
Hopefully he talks me out of buying a t-shirt at the concert!
That is all, carry on.
Be seeing you.
Ah yes, the Retirement Adjustment Period......RAP.......when you realize every day is the weekend Sarge.........:)
ReplyDeleteIt's getting hard to remember what day of the week it is!
DeleteI had the problem.... https://tinyurl.com/Day-of-the-week-clock
DeleteI need one of those!
DeleteGetting over the work habit can be a tough one..
ReplyDeleteAfter 50+ years it is rather ingrained, innit?
DeleteSarge, glad you’re getting settled in to the retirement gig. I think you’ll get used to it fairly quickly. I would seriously think through the ramifications of going back even once a week. Bit of a black hole effect is quite possible. Your call, my two cents.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, very much looking forward to your future stories.
Cheers
juvat
Going back to work would be difficult what with the clearances required and the current state of flux in the government. It's also more two friends commiserating with each other over what the job has become and why I left. Liz has a huge task in front of her.
Delete" Tom introduced me to this really good band Plush a while back (might even be, probably is, going on two years now, maybe three) "
ReplyDeleteI know that feeling. At the point where "a few days ago" means 10+ years ago.
Re the Mandu - what percent beef did your Missus use? With the pork and vegetables I'd tend toward a 93/7 because of the moisture in all the other ingredients.
Joe, I got introduced to yaki mandu the first night I arrive in Kunsan. Pretty sure I had it virtually every night I was stationed there. Gonna have to try and make it as I haven’t found it anywher near here!
Deletejuvat
Joe - We buy them at one of the local Korean emporiums. I highly recommend H-Mart in that regard. With just the two of us at the homestead, actually making anything from scratch isn't worth the time or the effort.
Deletejuvat - From my brief study of Korean markets near you, you're pretty much out of luck. There are some in San Antonio and Austin though. SO yeah, nothing "near" you.
DeleteTom sounds like a very wise man. My children have occasionally come home with concert shirts, as has The Ravishing Mrs. TB. I do not understand the attraction.
ReplyDeleteEven when I leave a job for another, I have to confess I do enjoy a certain amount of staying in the loop - maybe because I still know the situation. Over time, that has faded as people move on and more and more references become to things that I do not know.
He is. I do have a couple of concert t-shirts from my Foo Fighters concerts.
DeleteFor me staying in the loop is easy, the US Navy is constantly in the news. I also belong to the USNI and have two sons-in-law in the "business." One is still active duty, the other is retired like me and works for a defense contractor. Staying in the loop is easy, not being able to impact things directly can be frustrating, but heck the ones causing the problems don't listen to anyone anyway!
Good on ya, Sarge! I think the key to successful retirement is to find other meaningful "work". Now, of course your fan base is hoping some of that other work will be more fiction; I have reserved space on my bookshelf for " Almost..." or whatever the title evolves to become.
ReplyDeleteAs for the siren's song of "back to the job, just for a little bit..." Beyond Here There Be Dragons"! Think of it this way; which direction is your old job? Why it's BACK, not forward!
My $.02
Boat Guy
Returning to the old job isn't possible for a number of reasons. It's just something that Liz, Tom, and I joke about.
DeleteSarge is going to be a "Groupie?" Say it ain't so.
ReplyDeleteBut, if the gals are hiring a drummer, so he may well ditch the Muse, and run off and become an entertainment celebrity.
Just like the box of chocolates, we never know what we will get here. But, it's all fun.
Enjoy the concert! Pics required.
JB
Throughout my life I've considered the idea of being a rock star, but I just don't have the patience nor the stamina for such work. Besides, their drummer is pretty danged good!
DeletePictures or it didn't happen, Aye!
I miss good Korean food, 3-4 days in Pusan '89 (I pulled duty one or two of those)(Nukes didn't shutdown in foreign ports) Like with most stuff "over there" you can't find it "over here".
ReplyDeleteOne of the benefits of having Korean family, I can get it.
DeleteThere's been a small handful of folks in my command joining you in the land of the unemployed. DOGE offered them that Deferred Retirement Plan so they are either gone already, or plan to be once the second round of offers goes into effect. Most were already planning on leaving anyway, but now they get to leave and still get a paycheck, at least until EOFY, or 12/31. I'd love to retire, but the crushing burden of debt and my own hunger, not to mention my youth, keep me around. Not a bad gig and I feel like I'm helping so I've got that going for me. Now, if I could go back to my first gig for a day, I'd be all over it. But I wouldn't be able to fit into the flight gear anymore!
ReplyDeleteThere is a LOT of uncertainty these days, makes me glad to be out.
DeleteOne of my earliest musical memories, (my Dad was a nuclear components welder in Holy Loch, Scotland.) If "Scotland the brave" doesn't give you chills , we cant be friends. Aye me laddie' my Scot ancestry might want to have a word with my Viking side. I believe they will.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLRHdeGbfKU
skip to 2:40 for the music.
I was 2? in Glasgow under a huge overhang, and a band was on the field playing "Scotland the breve" that and "Yellow rose of Texas" were my first musical memories.
My paternal grandmother was born in Scotland. I have a great granduncle who died in WWI with the Royal Scots Fusiliers. I've partied with some of the Black Watch pipers in Belgium after a memorial for a WWII B-17 crewman who died in that village. Aye, Scots, I know them, I am one.
DeleteYou want a memorable pipe tune and occasion, listen to this. It's what I want for my own farewell.
I was crying before the first note.
DeleteWill have to definitively look to the Scot/ Irish side of these raids.
👍
DeleteBrave... sigh.
ReplyDeleteTypos, they happen to the best of us. (And the worst no doubt.)
Delete