Random memories
The older generation often sees something that reminds them of something that reminds them of something else and that reminds them of something that has no connection with the first thought that started their mind to wonder. I am in that older generation category now and I can sometimes travel all around the world in my mind while I am sitting on my back porch bouncing in my chair. Sometimes that even leads into a nap that has an enjoyable dream that seems very real while it is taking place. My memories can take me to a lot of places around the world and to a lot of people that I have known.
When I was young, I could have qualified as a work- a- holic. I was always out of the house before 8 o’clock and often about 7 o’clock. I never did retire, I just ran out of jobs that I could get. After 50 years of age in the United States, it is hard to secure a management position. I remember talking to one major company and when he asked my age and I told him I was 52 years old, he told me he could not hire anyone who could not work for his company for at least 20 years, so 45 was his upper limit. I told him that was age discrimination. He told me it was but I could not prove that he had said this or that; this was the reason I could not get the job.
After I became 50 years old, most of my work was self- employed, working as a consultant, or working on a commission where you are not paid unless you sell something. Our country has laws against age discrimination but they are totally ineffective in the management level. As a man ages his salary normally increases. In the same position, a man 50 years old would make a lot more money than a man 30 years old. The experience of the 50 year old man prevents a lot of mistakes. The younger man will make the mistakes again that the older man has already experienced. Sometimes the mistakes are costly and will cost more than the difference in salaries. As a consultant in the Middle East, I found that my age and white hair drew respect from the people that I worked with and met with.
As a young man, I was always aggressive and learning how to do the jobs on the next level up. I was the one who got the jobs when a vacancy occurred on the level above me. I worked in upper management early in my career. Other companies also noticed me and job offers came to me from other employers. In front of one of my bosses, I made the statement that I would not want to be the one that had to make a particularly tough decision. He promptly told me that was a bad attitude. He said if you really wish to get ahead you will try to be the person who makes the difficult decisions. I took that advice seriously and always searched for the solutions to the difficult problems whether or not they were my responsibility.
I remember that when it was time to consider myself officially retired, I considered renting a small office somewhere in town so that I could have a reason to get up and leave the house early each day. I realized that my office at home had everything I needed in order to do the things I enjoyed and gave up on the idea of an office outside my home. Over the years, I have done many things in my home office and found that it was convenient to go to my office inside of my home and work on a column or a book or an email to distribute. Early in my retired years, I built websites for several companies and did a couple for myself. I sold floor covering on the internet at one time until I realized that I either had to get larger or quit. I decided that I did not want to build a business and I closed my website and quit.
I have the equipment in my office to convert a VCR recording to a DVD; I can convert a cassette or a record album to a CD. I can and have produced a number of five minute videos for YouTube to give my political views. On the internet you can go to YouTube and enter my name and you will find quite a number of them. I have produced and printed nine bound paperback books that look as good as most that are available at the bookstores. I have padding stands to glue the pages together which I built and a guillotine cutter to do the trimming. My computer allows me to print the complete books with the pages in order and my printer will print both sides of the paper as it passes through. My office is big enough to handle my sewing table and sewing machine and I often alter my clothes to allow for the weight that I have gained. I have a well- equipped home office.
This column started out talking about how an old person can start thinking about something and how the thoughts just ramble from subject to subject. This column does exactly that and it is a perfect example of how an old person might let his mind wonder. Next week I will try to do better and give you some new information that might be useful to you.