Saturday, September 4, 2010

What retirement brings.

I had the urge to write this post a few months ago but kept postponing it. But a few days ago I received an SMS message through my mobile phone asking for my house address. The sender messaged that he wanted to send me a Hari Raya card. I realised that the sender was already registered in the contacts list of my mobile phone.

Normally I would immediately recognise my contacts as their names, some long and some short would appear in the mobile screen instead of numbers. But not in this case. I wondered who he was and even thought of calling him. But then I thought this might embarrass him for me not recognising my friends. Only when I eventually received his Hari Raya card yesterday I realised who he is. 

I had specified caller ringing tones for my mobile phone for calls from my close contacts. Since I like The Beatles my ringing tones are based on their songs. For example the ringing tone from my wife is 'Oh Darling'. From my former boss is the song 'Help' since every time he called me he wanted some help. Actually I dreaded his calls and since my retirement my mobile phone rang to the song 'Help' only once. This time he wanted no help. 

A few days ago another Beatles song rang from my phone. Normally I could guess who the caller was. But not this time. Only when I answered and heard his voice did I know who the caller was. 

A few months ago there were news about something happening in a housing estate in Seremban. The news appeared on TV and the newspapers. Normally I could guess where exactly the housing estate was as I knew the whole of Seremban like the back of my hand. But for this case I had to refer to the Internet find out what I wanted to know.

Talking about Seremban I used to follow its progress during my working days. When a new road opened I was among the first to drive on it. But not now. The last portion of the Kajang - Seremban Highway or LEKAS linking linking Jalan Jelebu to Paroi was opened a few weeks ago but I am yet to drive on that portion.  

The above are a few examples of the prices I have to pay for my retirement from government service.       

1 comment:

uncle said...

Salam Bang.

Saya sdarian 81-85 jalan sikamat...seronok baca cerita dari sdarian yang lain...apa kata kalau abang ceritakan balik kisah2 kat sekolah dulu!