After three years and exactly one month working as Head Lecturer Prisoner Education, I've retired or refocused or commenced transition to retirement. I'm not really sure which. It's not the first time I've retired. When I returned to Australia in July 2008 after a wonderful three years at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, I didn't have a job and decided I really didn't want one.
Unfortunately, I wasn't mentally or physically geared up to do nothing after having worked fairly hard for so long. By June 2009 I had become bored and as I couldn't find a part time job that would pay me anything worthwhile ... one firm offered me $10 per hour for 20 hours per week, I applied for the advertised position of Head Lecturer Prisoner Education and the rest is now history.
Working at the Correctional Centre was often frustrating, but any sense of frustration was compensated for by the wonderful people I worked with and the salary was excellent too.
With the experience of my last retirement behind me, now I have a totally different outlook on retirement which I prefer to call refocusing. I plan to continue a small amount of work through my Desert Wave Enterprises business mainly to keep my brain going and to maintain links with people. I also have an associated blog, Working Smarter to update Wednesdays and Saturdays. Each day has a compulsory exercise component built in; Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays it's nine holes of golf at the beautiful Alice Springs Golf Club. Non-golf days are bicycling days ... anaerobic and aerobic exercise should be well covered in all of that.
Then of course, there is the housework, house maintenance, gardening, reading, chilling out with grandson Tory and sipping coffee at the Todd Mall. I really don't know how I had time to go to work.
My wife Christina is still working 0.6 equivalent full time hours as a midwife but plans to revert to casual employment status in August, just before we travel to Geelong in Victoria to pick up our new Blue Sky caravan. It's all happening for us in the Henry family.
Robin
PS: If you know anyone who needs proofreading, copywriting or other business communication services, send them to me ... I have plenty of time.
