I've Licked Blood

 

A little over a year ago, at the beginning of May 2024, I switched to a 4-day-work-week, signing a side-agreement that I would do so for two years for now. Well, now that I have reached half-time of this "experiment" I already know that I have licked blood and cannot imagine ever going back to working Fridays. I work a minimum of 9 hours now (having elected the 36-hrs-option) Monday to Thursday and officially start an hour earlier than I used to, but having 3-day-weekends EVERY weekend is bliss. You can get so much more done, do spontaneous weekend trips that start on Friday morning and even if you just want to do nothing much and chill at home, there's more time for that. My productivity definitely has not suffered and I can count the occasions on one hand when somebody had wanted to include me in a meeting or event on a Friday, so I definitely picked the right day of the week off. In other workds: wishing colleagues a good weekend on a Thursday afternoon already just "hits different".

It Comes With Age...

I am writing this from my parents' where Highflyer and I have spent the long weekend "sitting" dad while Mum got to spend a little much-needed me-time in Vienna. As usual, there were several garden-chores waiting for us. Apparently, I have inherited the "green thumb"- gene from the paternal side of the family, whereas mum does what she is told, but it is not her hobby, nor passion. When I was younger, I found the "garden talk" of my paternal grandmother, aunt and dad incredibly boring and in particularly could not understand how these women in particular (just as my maternal great-aunts) seemed slaves to their gardens, basically not able to (or claiming that this was the case anyway) leave the house overnight in summer for fear of thunderstorms that might wreak havoc in their well-kept green paradise. While I am definitely team "anarchic gardener" and won't spill tears if some plant does not survive while we are away on summer vacation, I do enjoy gardening and am thrilled when something (edible in particular) grows. Highflyer, like my mother, is happy enough when somebody else takes care of planting stuff that he can then enjoy and sticks to moving the lawn and other traditionally manly chores. Fine with me.

 

Old White Men

In the past 3 years I have been to several concerts by bands that were "in" when I was in my twenties and thirties or to see other performers, who are my parents' age or older by now. Some of them are remarkably fit and still have a strong voice. With others, you get a rush of nostalgia mixed with pity as you are pretty certain that this is likely the last time you will ever see them live.
Moreover, they are on average 25 years older than me and it also makes me wonder - while, obviously I'm not a performing artist - when I will enter that stage of people finding me low-key cringe and wishing I would stop whatever I was doing. As long as I will be able to read the room and find out myself, it's okay, but otherwise I might have to ask for (not so?) subtle signals...

Forever-Child

I may be 50+ and arguably approaching "old lady"- territory (eeek!) myself, but I still appreciate getting an "Easter nest" by my mum. Granted, I don't have to search for it in the garden anymore and pretend I believe that Easter Bunny hid it, but know that it will wait for me on the chair next to mine at the dining table. It is lovely a warm and reassuring feeling to know that even if I am by no means a child any more, I will be spoilt by my mother as long as she is able to do so. Time is precious and I value time with my parents all the more now that they are officially old. I was lucky enough to have been spoilt by grandmothers and great-aunts for decades, but now it's just my mother, who very much regrets not having grandchildren she can spoil rotten and therefore focuses all her gift-giving energy on me (and Highflyer)...

Blink

 

Earlier this month, I wished a good friend a happy 50th, hoping she'd spend a great day with her family. Little did I know (in fact I only found out yesterday) that her birthday took a horrible turn when towards the end of an extended bike trip (the whole family are passionate cyclists) her husband suffered cardiac arrest and despite help arriving quickly and a lot of lucky circumstances happening the short version of the story is that he has been in an induced coma ever since, not yet able to breathe by  himself. Under "normal circumstances" you push away the fact just how quickly a happy day can take a turn for the worse when an inattentive driver who's texting on his phone runs over someone or as in this case, a heart just stops beating and your loved one's lives are turned upside down at the blink of an eye. It's not that you have never heard such stories (and thankfully, often also their happy endings), but you hope that it won't ever be somebody close to you.

Cancelled

Few things compare to the bliss of finding out a work event that you were not that keen on in the first place is cancelled at short notice. Other people might be annoyed because they already invested so much time and effort preparing for it, but you, being yourself, had put your stakes on performing best with a bit of time-pressure and adrenaline, so, yeah, you'll survive...

No Going Back

Last May I switched to a 4-day-week at work. This means that I reduced my regular working hours from 40 to 36, working 9-hour-days now from Monday through Thursday and have 3-day-weekends every week. I signed an agreement that I would do this for 2 years so this "part-time episode" will finish at the end of April next year automatically if I don't request to prolong it. Right now, I can not imagine EVER wanting to go back to working on Fridays as I have been enjoying my additional day off waaay to much. I wake up on Friday mornings, knowing that I have 3, not 2 days ahead of me and also you can get so much more done on a Friday than a Saturday if you want to make an appointment with people or institutions that are not typically open on Saturdays. Since my employer is not a charity that just gives away money, by working 10% fewer hours I also earn 10% less salary, but the net difference is not so dramatic and at this stage in life I would always pick me-time over money.