The Retirement Newsletter: The Summer of 2023 — a summary of my summer
Issue Number: -18 — Where did that summer go?
Welcome
Welcome to issue -18 — The Summer of 2023 — a summary of my summer.
The first thing I have to address is — where did it go? What happened to summer 2023?
The Summer of 2023
Well, that was an odd one — the summer of 2023.
Where did it go?
I appear to have blinked and missed it.
Summer 2023 seemed to take forever to arrive.
Spring took ages to get here, and finally, we slipped into summer. And now it is gone.
I was looking forward to the summer of 2023 as I had plans. I had things to do — places to go. And here we are at the start of autumn, and I haven’t done half of what I wanted to do.
Summer started with getting some plants for the garden.
But the UK weather wasn’t kind.
We started with a very hot June, then July and August were cold and wet. And we had a hot start to September. The weather did some strange things to the plants. They went nuts.
When I planted them out, the weather was cool, with some rain. But the hot weather of June caused them to ‘bolt’. The plants suffered through the damp and cold of July and August, and they were done by the end of August. They had become ‘woody’ and started to die back.
The damp July and August also meant I was fighting a losing battle with slugs and snails that seemed to enjoy eating everything I put out in the garden.
My tomato plants were producing what looked like one of my best crops ever, only for a particularly violent thunderstorm to smash them. I lost 80% of the crop.
And for some reason, I have had terrible hay fever this summer.
I had bad hay fever as a child, and it faded away, and the last two or three summers, it has come back. Very odd.
This summer, I had a bunch of walks planned but had to abandon most of them after I hurt my foot.
I did manage to get out for a few memorable walks in the nearby countryside, and as usual, I was not disappointed — there were some stunning views.
One thing that was ‘on the cards’ was taking a narrowboat course, and I wrote about that in Issue Number: -25 - Awareness and Boats. As I said in Issue -25, I had a great time on the course. And, more importantly, I passed.
One side effect of the course is I now have the ‘narrowboat bug’, and I am looking to spend some time on a narrowboat next year.
Work has been hectic.
We are still experiencing some issues with the students related to the lockdowns and the COVID-19 years. I’ve had to deal with numerous students with numerous problems. The post-exam processes, such as marking papers, processing the marks, talking to students about their marks, and explaining why they must resit some assessments or cannot continue on the degree, takes longer each year. I started in June, and it is now mid-September, and the process continues. It appears to be never-ending and more difficult each year. I am taking this as a sign that my retirement decision is correct.
Besides walking, taking a narrowboat course, working and battling with slugs in the garden, I have also been busy working on my retirement plans.
I had my meeting with Pension Wise (see Issue -19: What did I learn from my Pension Wise meeting?), where I learnt a few things about pensions and came away with an action plan. Since the meeting, I have been busy working on the ‘action plan’, and I will tell you about that during my next quarterly review, which will be in Issue -16.
And now summer (in metrological terms) is over, and we are heading to Autumn. The harvest is being gathered.
What next?
Well, my last academic year has started (and that is the subject of issue -17 of the newsletter), and I have welcomed my final set of new first-year students. Sadly, I won’t see them graduate. But I look forward to taking them for cell biology and a few labs this term before I hang up my chalk and lab coat. Once I have finished my course and labs, we will be in winter, and I will be eagerly awaiting retirement and spring.
Thanks, summer 2023, you weren’t the best, but you will do.
And here’s to summer 2024!
Travel — Nostalgia Corner
This week, I continue with my stories of my trip around Myanmar:
Myanmar (Burma) — Motorbikes in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma) — Getting about by motorbike in Mandalay. I thought the inventive use of motorbikes in Mandalay was great.
Myanmar (Burma) — Can you connect to the Internet in Myanmar (Burma)? — Getting online in Myanmar (Burma). How did I get online, and what was it like once I was online?
Myanmar (Burma) — Why is there rampant gum disease in Myanmar (Burma)? — At first, I thought there was a lot of gum disease in Myanmar, as people seemed to have red teeth and spit. But that was not the case.
Myanmar (Burma) — Myanmar or Burma? Burma or Myanmar? Yangon or Rangoon? — Which one is it?
Myanmar (Burma) — Why does that person have yellow paste on their face? — The use of Thanaka in Myanmar (Burma) — what is it, and why is it put on the face?
Next week, I wrap up my trip to Myanmar.
Next week
Next week, in issue -17, I reflect on my last start to an academic year.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
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