Clock-Watcher
(198 days and counting down)
For as long as I can remember, I have been the type of man who loves to work. I wouldn’t go so far as to classify myself as a workaholic – I’m more like the casual drug user who only needs a work “fix” five to six days a week. And, don’t get me wrong. I love going on holiday as much as the next person, but when a vacation lasts longer than two weeks, I become fidgety, which is a sure signal that I need to get my butt home and back to my job!
I must confess though, that I have been corrupted by what must be a workplace’s worst nightmare – the dangerously infectious nature of a “short-timer’s attitude”. It doesn’t help that the photo on my computer’s desktop is a constant reminder of our future home currently under construction on the beach just south of Canoa, Ecuador. And to make matters worse, my wife purchased each of us a personal “countdown to retirement” clock. I only have to glance at it (which I now do habitually) to know exactly, to the second, when my wife and I will be able to deposit our winter clothes in the Goodwill bin and retire to a life of bathing suits, sandals and collecting seashells on the warm playas of South America.
Moments ago, I snuck a few minutes away from the doldrums of databases and spreadsheets in order to locate new batteries (the unstoppable energizer bunny type). I inserted them into my clock as it seemed to me to be a little sluggish, but the seconds counting down to the big day still tick, as seconds do, with a metronome’s accuracy!