It’s strange how time can seem to pass slowly yet speed by all at once. My last week at work was like that. In some of the meetings an hour was agonizingly long but by Friday it seemed like the week flew by. The passage of time accelerated throughout the day, I tried to stay on course and do the things that needed to be done but truthfully it was difficult not to be distracted.

Thursday the guys on my team took me to lunch at the Rochester Chop House. Very nice! I struggled for words and mostly just made small talk. They’re a great group. As a manager I’ve always tried to assemble the right group of people and give them the opportunities to develop and grow into their careers. These guys have a great future ahead of them.

Yesterday I had lunch with my boss and fellow managers. Again I couldn’t come up with anything to say other than the usual banter. I sent a delegate to my last meeting of the day and quietly slipped out. I went to our old watering hole (Grand Tavern) and had a few beers while some of the crew stopped by. A couple of years ago this was our Friday ritual but not so much anymore.

When I think about the passage of time it seems incredible to me that I’ve been with the same company for 29 years. Next year will mark my 40th high school reunion! I feel like the years blew by in such a rush that many things got by me unnoticed. I plan to slow my pace and take some time to smell the flowers and savor every day.

Right before I left the office I posted to Facebook “from now on everyday is Saturday.” My friend and fellow retiree, Ed Brubaker commented, “Welcome to the Saturday club.” I like that…this is a club I’m pleased to join!

The heat and humidity this past week has been almost unbearable. Since we are sleeping in the motorhome I’ve had to fire up the generator and run both A/C units for a couple of hours in the evening to cool the coach. When we go to bed I shut the generator down and run the front A/C off a 20 amp outlet by the garage. This has worked well and we’ve slept comfortably.

In a few days we’ll drive away from here and join the full-time RV world. But, before we can do that we still have some loose ends to tie up. Donna has been burning the candle at both ends to meet a writing deadline and get our household organized and cleaned up at the same time. She’s amazing. I still have to sell a couple of amps and a nice Gibson Les Paul G0. I’ve reduced the asking price on my BMW R1200RT to fire sale levels and hopefully that goes this weekend. If not, it’ll stay on consignment at BMW Motorcycles of Detroit. I’ll service the scooter while I have a garage to do it in. The forecast calls for the heat and humidity to drop over the next few days which is a relief (if the weather guessers have it right).

So, although I’m in the Saturday club, I have much to do!