Here’s the scoop

As many of you know, I retired early after 32 years of service at the University of Oregon.  I like to think of it as being paroled after 32 years hard time, but the early part of it really wasn’t that bad.  Retiring at 56 years of age felt pretty good, but to tell you the truth, not only does everything begin to fall apart (house and body) after 56, but when you’re home alone most of the day, you find that you begin to miss human companionship.

So, I got a job!  Not rocket science.  Actually it’s just working in a call center, which I know can be hell, especially if you have to sell, but I won’t be selling anything.  I will be helping people with technical issues in setting up their profiles or issues they experience when they arrive at venues for a travel site.  It is called AirBNB and, if you’ve never heard of it, you really should check it out.  If you have an extra room in your house, or a studio apartment, or any rental property you’d like to offer to travelers, you can list it there.  If you’re looking for a good deal on lodging nearly anywhere, you can find a good deal there.  They have everything from a tent in someone’s backyard (with bathroom privileges) to a villa in Tuscany.  You can rent a room BNB style, or you can rent a whole house or apartment.  I won’t be supervising, managing a budget, or processing payroll, and I’m excited about it.  A fun job – with fun people.  I have an orientation on Friday and I start Monday.  I may even end up working the graveyard shift, since I’m a night owl anyway, and I’ll have more daylight hours to throw the ball for my dog.

I’ve had my quilting business for ten years, and I will not be totally giving that up.  I will be scaling back.  I will be pickier about the quilts I accept.  I probably won’t do as much custom work as I have in the past.  And, when I have time off, I may actually get to work on some of my own stuff.  I may even decide, somewhere down the road, to stop quilting for others.  For now, all income will be welcomed, as my poor house, which was built in 1935, really needs some help.  You can’t do a lot of improvements on a public employee pension, no matter what the politicians try to tell you.

So – that’s my news!  I’m a happy girl.