Big News

Forging ahead into a bright, new future!

There was some big news announced in my department this week - I'm retiring! I have been pretty quiet about this on the blog and in my work life, but I learned about early retirement (sometimes called FIRE, for Financial Independence, Retire Early) almost ten years ago and it captured my imagination. Through frugality, privilege, and a bit of luck, I will be retiring from my job in less than two months. 

My immediate plans in February are to sleep in as much as I want and start getting more exercise. But longer term, hopefully at the end of 2022, I hope to sell my house, most of my belongings and move to Madrid. I have always liked Europe, and Spain has a visa system that makes this viable for me. 

I'm sorry to be leaving my work at the American Physical Society and my wonderful colleagues, but I'm excited for a new adventure. Stay tuned in the coming months for more.

Friends

When I was a kid, the 64 set of crayola Crayons was *the* status symbol to have. However, the school supply list only specified that you needed to bring 24 crayons, and that's all my parents ever bought me. (They were teaching me to be frugal even then!) I was always a bit envious of the kids who had the extra-large set of crayons. A friend heard me tell this story in the summer, and so he and his family sent me my very first box of 64 colors. I'm so excited, it's best Christmas gift ever! 

I've really appreciated all the kind thoughts and messages from people. One friend keeps bringing me mushy food (and now, a coloring book so I can use the crayons) and another friend brought me these beautiful flowers. 

Today I had my the first of two root canals, and looking at the flowers and all of my coloring supplies makes me very grateful for all my friends who are keeping my spirits up.

Waiting

The dental work has turned out to be more complicated than expected. I have two root canals scheduled, one in a little over a week, and one the following week. For those keeping score at home, that will mean almost a full month of not eating real food. In fact, I have cancelled travel and given up chewing, exercise, alcohol, and spending time with friends to devote myself to resting extensively, taking painkillers, and occasionally being quite sad. 

I think I am working with an excellent endodontist (aka "root canal doctor"), in contrast to the dentist who has advised me poorly and then has ignored all of my follow-up calls. While I now know what needs to be done to my mouth, there were simply no appointments available in the next two weeks. My guess is this is a result of the Great Recession (I've read there are significant staffing shortages in the dental industry) paired with everyone delaying their dental work during COVID.

I'm trying hard not to wish that December was over. I strongly believe that it's important to enjoy whatever you can from each day of life, even when it's an awful day. But I'll also admit to putting on my pajamas at 6pm most nights so I can feel like the day is done. I am absolutely sure this is going to get better, and I'm very aware that some people suffer pain like this for years. That can help build my empathy skills, but I'll still keep wishing that everyone could be pain free.