Good Morning!

Checking the calendar, I see that I have only three days left to complete my 30 Day writing challenge.
Without a topic of my own that seems demanding of being written, I turn to the suggested topic list and find one that says: Your morning routine.

I have a pretty boring morning routine, but I suppose the simple fact that we call it a routine would indicate that is the case for most of us. Of course, as a working air traffic controller, each day was a little different so it was more like having a Monday routine, a Tuesday routine, etc. Now that I'm retired, I can say I have a morning routine.

Typically, I sleep a little bit later on days when Chris isn't working. Part of that may be that we tend to stay up later when she doesn't have to get up for work (she works three days per week), and part is because I generally get up shortly after she leaves (around 6am) on days when she does work.
Once up, I head to the kitchen to make my morning pot of coffee. I use a stove top espresso maker that makes 12 oz and add hot water to fill a quart carafe. As I've said before, I'm glad that Chris isn't a coffee drinker because one pot is just about right on most days!

I generally do a dozen squats or so and a little stretching to get the blood flowing while the coffee is brewing. Most mornings I drink my coffee black, no sugar. Sometimes I add a little half and half, and on rare occasions I add half and half and a splash of Mexican vanilla. I'll pour a cup, grab my Chromebook and sit in a comfortable chair (not always the same one or even in the same room) and read my regular blogs, check Twitter and Facebook and fall into the Great Internet Time Suck. I manage to break away a couple of times to go refill my coffee cup, but generally spend a couple of hours before deciding that I've spent enough time doing nothing. Sometimes (very rarely) I watch a couple of morning news shows. I'm more likely to watch a training DVD in an attempt to learn some new magic.

Then it's usually out for a walk before getting a shower and figuring out how to spend the rest of my day.

All-in-all, it is way better than the make coffee, shower, dress, drive to work, grab my headset and camp out on radar for awhile routine that I had for much of the past few decades. It's generally way past noon before I ever encounter another human being (other than Chris on days when she's home) and I kind of like it like that.

I'll manage some reading time later in the day -- sometimes before I take my walk -- and maybe watch a little TV. Most days are pretty non-eventful. On nice days, I tend to spend an hour or so on the deck with a decent Dominican (sometimes Honduran) cigar while reading or just taking a break from doing nothing.

I've learned that retirement is no picnic.
You never get a day off from being retired.
Avoiding people, while not difficult, is an ongoing task.
And when you're doing nothing, you never really finish.

Yes, I have a good life -- but I need another cup of coffee!

Have a grand day!

John <><