Day One - What to do?

EDIS – day one. 5/1/2006
(obviously, the names have been changed to protect the guilty)

This idea, or the name, came from Tania. She decided to get out of the rat-race for a bit, and spent as far as I can tell about 2 years being an absolute bum. The idea has rattled around in my head for years now – the concept of “Every Day Is Saturday” – spending a good deal of time saving money in order to take a substantial break from work.

Feels great! A shitty day off must be better than a great day at work. Well, at least, that’s what we’re told. I’m going to find out …

Already had a text from Brenda: “Bastard J” and “Miss ya already”.

It’s a beautiful day, it’s 9:30am and I’m sitting alone in the square. Had a dentist appointment this morning. All good. Must floss weekly at least. Like that’s gonna happen. Got to color my teeth too. I’ve had the kit in the fridge for 6 months – been meaning to do it since I put it in there.

Why am I doing this? Well, I was bored at work. The $ was fantastic, and I could have stayed for ever. But I used to spend all week looking forward to the weekend, and then all weekend dreading Monday. That’s no way to live.

Today’s Monday. And I would be preparing for a shitty ICL status meeting at 11am now. Then the TPS reports. Which were an absolute waste of time – I was only allowed to report the positive things, all the issues had to be silenced. What the hell is the point in that?

I didn’t sleep well last night. I think deep-down, I was worried about what I’ve done. I’ve given up a steady(ish) reliable source of income. Dave has already told me that I’ll never make that kind of money ever again in my life. That’s a little scary. But it’s not all about money (that’s all he thinks about). I figure absolute worst case, I’ve got about 2 years worth of living expenses if I liquidate everything I have. Would be a shame to lost all that, but maybe after a few weeks or months of this, I will have a different view of what it’s there for. You can’t take it with you, right? So many people die or have something extremely unfortunate happen to them without ever being able to enjoy what I suppose we’re all working towards: a happy, healthy retirement.

Some people might see this as complete laziness: Dave already emailed me about “sucking it up” or something – but that was probably money-related too.

I wonder if that’s what money buys? Time? I always used to say that anything can be done given time & money. Money = possessions. But what do we really need? Somewhere to live. Shelter (a home). Food. Something to do. That’s important. Probably why people feel so attached to work … their jobs.

A few people said that I’m brave to do this. What? Give up working for a bit and relax? People who are conditioned to work seem to thing that’s all there is. Work to live? Or live to work? There’s definitely something very American about working. Which makes to wonder just how “free” we are. The people I see scurrying past me with their corporate IDs around their necks, clothes that I’m sure they’d rather not be wearing on a day like today, shirts, ties, suits, sensible shows, briefcases, messenger bags. Just how “free” would they say they are? Slaves to time. Slaves to the corporate clock. Status meeting every Monday at 11!! Ha ha – I’m not going to be there. And does it matter? I wouldn’t think so. What did I really do there anyway?

10am. I don’t really know what to do! There’s part of me that wants to go for a pint. I’ll probably do that at lunchtime – just because I can.

My goals: to relax. Or at least – learn how to. Slow down a bit. To not spend all night dreaming of and worrying about someone else’s problems.

There are two girls sitting just about the border or earshot. I can hear the odd word. One keeps popping gum bubbles. They’re a bit overweight, jeans with their “muffin tops” sticking over the top – white t-shirts. Maybe from out-of-town because one asked a passer-by to take a photo of them.

There are a lot of 50ish something people sitting around, reading. Maybe retired. A lot of mums or nannies with babies and toddlers. This must be what happens on a Monday when you’re not at work. Sure beats working though.

Every Day Is Saturday: Day Two - the characters around me