I Ain't That




After wasting an hour looking for the right (non-existent) YouTube clip, I'll just have to use my best Dr. Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy typing voice and say, "Damn it Jim, I'm a ____, not a writer." You see? There it is, right there. I don't even know what I am anymore.



Mostly, I'm retired. And I never get tired of saying it. I love being retired. So don't ever think about me having any kind of pity party. I've got it made. I wish everyone had it as good as I do (and don't understand why folks won't believe me when I tell them how it can be done).

But what am I? I noticed it when I retired -- men are defined by what they do for a living. I knew who I was. I was an air traffic controller. (I don't get tired of saying that either.) But once you're retired? And I've been retired for...13 years. (Wow!) So what am I now? Well, I'm a photographer. But I always feel like I have to put a qualifier on that. I'm an amateur photographer. (We can get into it later if you want.) I try to photograph the sunrise every day. (It's the best time of day. I'm always alone.) Since I've retired, I've discovered I really enjoy photographing the rodeo. (You'll see a lot of that.) I sing in the church choir now but I am definitely not a musician. I'm not a grandfather either. (I have to remind my children of that whenever I get a chance.)


(BOB_7247)
©Don Brown 2019

And the one thing I'm sure I am not is a writer. I don't remember who any of my English teachers were (my favorites were science teachers), I can't parse a sentence and I wouldn't know a split infinitive from a dangling participle. I can't even spell. (By the way, Google is the best spellchecker ever. It can guess what I'm after even when all other spellcheckers fail. Yes, I'm that bad at it.)

So, I have no idea why James Fallows is so nice to me nor why he has been that way for so many years. But if you want to hang around to read whatever I manage to cobble together, you are welcomed indeed. I'll do my best not to bore you on a regular basis. And if nothing else, you'll be able to look at the pictures.

Don
November 5, 2019

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Comments

Janice in GA said…
I know that feeling. When I left IBM, I was kinda disoriented for a while because I WASN'T an IBMer anymore. After that, I never identified that closely with another job.

So now I'm just retired too. Party on!
5:32 PM
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