Today is the last day of the school term and, as I hoped thought, there was no text asking me to come to work. I’ve worked 10 days in the last 2.5 weeks. I need a break!!! LOL.
Yesterday Tom30 worked from home and posted a photo of the walk he took on the beach before 9 AM. I decided that the little woofs have been so patient, putting up with me being gone, that they deserved the same thing. So after breakfast, I strapped on their leads – such hysterical barking! – and off we set.
It was sparkling. There were a few people and dogs there, but we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. Halfway along, I sat down and took the time to gaze out into the bay. The blues of the sea and sky were stunningly beautiful. Three seagulls were swooping low across the water. The white against the blue was amazing.
I was so happy that I wasn’t in a classroom!
The daily yoga has definitely slipped over the last few weeks, but as I sat there I did some breathing exercises and some neck stretches and we walked in the soft sand at the top of the beach on the way back. That wasn’t my choice, by the way. Scout saw an exuberant Doberman puppy and decided that discretion was the better part of valour.
Here’s the photo of the 5,000+ piece quilt, with a 50c piece on it to give an idea of scale. After I go out and water the gardens, I’ll be chipping away at this. I’ve discovered that it’s not so much the sewing together of all the tiny squares that’s time-consuming, (though it’s slow going), it’s the proper ironing of all the seams that will take up a huge amount of time.
Now I know why in the Quilt-a-long, Kellie has allowed 3 weeks for each row. I thought it was a bit too generous, but after working on this bit of the quilt on Tuesday, I’m seeing the logic.
I took home a little over $1,600 in my first pay packet. I’m happy with that, as I’ve been able to cross quite a few things from my list already. Now I settle into working to pay for my share of David28 and Izzy’s wedding costs. It’s a little disheartening to think that a full day’s work will only pay for around 2 places at the reception, but that’s how these things go. As I left school yesterday, I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’ve just paid for Mum and Dad’s places!”
Right now I’m home alone. Tom30 is at work and Ryan27 has gone out for a walk. The dogs are sleeping beside me and there’s total peace and quiet. All I can hear is birdsong, the occasional car and Jeffrey’s snores.
I’m thinking that doing some days of CRT work, even though there was nothing further from my mind than doing it, will give me a nice balance. When I’m at work it’s go!go!go! with every minute scheduled, while being at home is so unstructured and free.
I’m enjoying the challenge of bringing in money to pay for the things I want, while at the same time there’s no stress when the school doesn’t need me. I’m happy to work and I’m happy to stay home.
What’s top of my mind: The mystery will be revealed today.
Yes, today is payday. By the time I get home, I’ll be able to log on and see how much money I’ve earned over the last two weeks. I hope the grand reveal will be worth it…
Where I’ve been:in the garden!
Yesterday I wasn’t called into work, so after breakfast I grabbed me some secatuers and went out to the garden. The tomato plants were in crying need of decimation, so I listened to a few podcasts and chopped and dropped. Over winter the shreds of the plants will rot away in the soil and the nutrients will be able to be accessed by the new crops I’ll plant in Spring. It’s not quick, but over time to creates the best soil.
The kids next door had some friends over so they were out in their yard, playing with their dog. It was lovely to hear their happy little voices as I worked. The sky was overcast at first, which was why I decided to go out there – less chance of sunburn. By the time the sun came out I’d cleared 2 wicking beds and was sporting a big blister on my finger, so it was definitely time to come inside.
Where I’m going:to a Maths class.
Yes, after lunch I’m down to ‘teach’ a Maths class.
We all know there’ll be no teaching going on from me… pity the poor kids if I tried!
What I’m watching:angelically good children in a music class.
They’re doing some quizzes about chords on their chromebooks. I know I’ve said it before, but the kids at this school are terrific.
What I’m reading:The second book about a gated community.
I finished one of the books I spoke about last week over lunch yesterday, so now I just have one to go. ‘Dirty Little Secret’s by Jo Spain was good – I enjoyed it. This other one? Not so much, but I’ll knock it over. I still have to ‘earn’ my rates back from the library, after all!
What I’m listening to:Casefile, The Other Half, Welcome to Nightvale and Mum’s Boppin’ Bangers.
It was a lovely day in the garden and sewing room yesterday. I was able to knock over lots of poddies. On the way into work this morning I was listening to Casefile, about the case of a cannibal in Germany.
(omg)
What I’m eating: Last night’s dinner.
It’s so nice to know that tonight’s dinner is already cooked. I made a Chicken Tikka Masala from Skinnymixers last night, knowing that I was going to be the only one home to eat it. I love this curry – it’s like having a party in your mouth. Tonight, there’s enough for all of us. I can take it easy when I get home.
Plus curries always taste better the second day. It also has a red capsicum in it that I grew with my own fair hands. Very satisfying.
Who needs a good slap:No one so far today!
The day is still young, though.
What I’m planning:Nothing.
Of course, I still have my long-term plans in place, but short-term? Nothing much. I have vague plots and pans for the veggie garden and how on Earth I’m going to get the crazy quilt with the 5,000 squares done, but that’s about it.
It’s nice to have free days ahead. It’s the very definition of freedom.
What has made me smile: Scout sleeping in the cat’s bed. (Photo at the top of the post.)
Many years ago, when we still had the cats, (Daphne and Maris, named for Niles’ wives in ‘Frasier’), I bought a dog bed and a cat bed. The dog bed is still used by Scout every night, but for years the cat bed just sat there. It was too expensive to throw away but not worth so much that it was worth the bother of trying to sell it.
Until I washed it and, as I was bringing it in off the line, I thought that Scout would probably use it if I put it on the couch.
Dachshunds love being burrowed under and into things, unlike Cavaliers who just like to pile up together. Daphne’s bed has been on the couch for 4 days and Scout loves it. She’s so happy, climbing into her nest. She’ll love it even more as winter sets in.
I remember Daphne curled up in it. Scout and Daphne were friends. It makes me smile.
Dad joke of the day:
Never buy flowers from a monk. Only you can stop florist friars.
So far this fortnight, I’ve worked 7 days. It’s been an incredibly busy time for the school, what with a huge year 7 camp, (taking nearly 500 kids away requires a lot of teachers as well), covid absences and a nasty throat bug doing the rounds.
I’m spending the whole day wearing a mask. In fact, probably the most dangerous part of the day is when I eat my lunch. For the rest of the time I keep my mask firmly attached to my face. With the mask, me being triple vaxxed and the students being double-vaxxed, I figure I’m as safe as I’m likely to be.
I’m booked to work a day next week and after that, who knows? That’s the joy and terror of doing casual work. When I was picking up my chromebook and keys from the Daily Organiser, she said that I’d put up my hand to come back at just the right time, because the last two weeks have been awful for staff absences.
She warned me that things will probably calm down and there won’t be as much work on offer, but I said, “That’s fine. I figure I’ll make hay while the sun shines. I’m using this work to help pay for Jordan’s wedding, so any work you can give me is great.”
Yes! Remember that chart I drew up about things I can ‘pay’ for with my CRT earnings? Going on those VERY loose figures, by the end of today… or maybe by the end of the day’s teaching next week, I’ll have “paid for” the first few items on the list and I’ll be up to the first big amount – the wedding.
This sort of stuff is very motivating, at least for me. I won’t lie – this morning when the alarm went off in the wee hours for the fourth straight day, it wasn’t a joyous moment. A couple of possums had galloped over the tin roof at about 2 AM and Scout vehemently objected. It took us both ages to go back to sleep. Dachshunds grumble a lot when they’re unhappy.
But when I thought about being able to cross off the boring stuff on the list and then be able to get started on the wedding, I had a spring in my step that definitely wasn’t there before.
A thing I’ve noticed that I didn’t expect at all was that in the 7 days I’ve been back at work, I’ve been bored far more than during the whole 15 months I was at home, living the retired life.
I think it’s because when you have total freedom over how you spend your time, the instant you even get a slight inkling that you might be getting bored, you can immediately drop whatever it was you were doing and move onto something else. It happens so quickly that, most of the time, the niggling feeling of boredom never gets a chance to eventuate.
Here? A successful day for a CRT means that there are long tracts of nothing much happening. You’ve brought each class in, settled them, set up the lesson and then let them go on their way. Sometimes you’re actually teaching, but more often than not you’re walking around the room making sure they’re staying on track and not watching the basketball or playing games on their chromebooks.
Given this, there have been long minutes of looking out the windows, watching the clock and generally counting down the minutes before the bell. Once every couple of days or so, I might have a therapeutic bellow at a naughty kid, but honestly, even the naughty kids at this school aren’t awful. They respond really well to discipline given with humour, so there’s rarely a need for a raised voice.
Now, it’s not as if I’m bored all the time. Of course I’m not. (I wouldn’t turn up to do CRT again if I was!) The kids are funny and I’m introducing a variety of different lessons that sometimes makes me quietly do some research into something-or-other that sounds interesting that I’d never think to learn about by myself. I just had a lovely chat with a year 10 Lit class about ‘Pygmalion’ vs ‘My Fair Lady’, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
(Pygmalion is the play that the Audrey Hepburn/Rex Harrison movie ‘My Fair Lady’ was based on. It’s fabulous – though when I read it, years after having seen the movie, I was shocked by the ending. Now that I’m older, I think that George Bernard Shaw’s original ending to the story is far better.)
Even though I’m having fun in classes like this, the contrast between my work days and my retirement days is pretty noticeable. Usually, at home I’m surprised by how quickly the day has sped by. At work, I know to the instant when that last bell rings at 3:10 and I can walk outside to my car and start living my ‘real’ life.
To be fair, I was talking just a few minutes ago to a friend who’s also come back to do some CRT. She’s the opposite – she was getting bored at home and she loves the CRT life. It’s her new hobby. We had a laugh about how different we are.
So far, I’m really enjoying being back at school and seeing the kids and staff. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of weeks so I’m definitely in the honeymoon phase. I’m still in the stage of kids getting excited when they see me and being pleased when I turn up to teach their class.
Sadly, this will fade. Soon I’ll be just another ‘sub’ who is part of the furniture. Hopefully, I’ll get enough work to take care of the wedding and beyond that, who knows? I wrote a post a few years ago about the importance of protecting your savings, so maybe I’ll continue to do a day or two a week, paying for outgoings as I go and keeping my savings for the Big Fun expenses, like travel.
(Actually, before I posted that link, I re-read the post. It’s got some pretty good points in it, if I do say so myself.)
I’ve always felt very lucky that I fell into a career that I was good at and I genuinely enjoy. It seems that CRT has most of the good stuff and very little of the bad stuff. I’m interested to see how this all pans out.
It’s no secret that I’m no fan of the numerals. Give me a 10,000 page novel and I’ll be happy. Give me a single, closely-printed page of numbers and I literally have a brain-freeze. I’ve learned how to do basic budgeting/investing calculations, but it’s safe to say that I don’t run towards mathematics with open arms. So I was grateful to my son, Tom30, for explaining something to me in an easy to understand way.
Tom30 is an accountant. It certainly isn’t my fault – I blame his father. (That’s a little joke…) Tom30’s great passions in life are sport and numbers – both are things I avoid wherever possible. The apple fell far from the tree in this regard!
I was curious as to how much money I’d be making each day by my CRT work, once tax was taken out. I asked the other CRTs over lunch the other day and got answers rangeing from $220/day, which seems rather low, to amounts that were much higher.
I decided to ask an expert. Tom30 knows a lot about tax returns.
When I asked how much I could expect to take home after a day of CRT work, he looked puzzled.
“I can’t answer that. It’s impossible,” he said.
But why?” I asked. “Surely the tax is at a set rate each day?”
“No,” he said. “Teachers are paid each fortnight, yeah?’
I nodded.
“Well, what the tax department does is look at each fortnight, see the number of days you’ve worked and then they tax you as if this was the amount of days you worked as a full-time worker. So if you worked one day, you’d be taxed far differently than if you worked nine days, for example.”
Light began to dawn on my mighty intellect.
“Ahhh. So if I worked one or two days I’d probably be taxed at the lowest rate, but if I worked ten days in a fortnight I’d be taxed as a full-time teacher?”
“Yeah. So that’s why it’s impossible for me to give you a flat rate,” he said.
I totally get it. And now I’m waiting with bated breath for Wednesday. That’s when I’ll get paid for the days I’ve already worked. Assuming I don’t break a leg or get covid overnight or something, when tomorrow finishes I’ll have worked 7 days in a fortnightly pay cycle. I’m really curious to see how much I get to keep.
For those who don’t remember, CRTs get $384/day. Superannuation as well as tax is deducted from that total.
The following pay cycle includes a week of holidays. I’m already booked to work a day next week and I’ll accept more days if they arise. It’ll be interesting to compare how the daily rates change.
Of course, when the end of the financial year comes along, it’ll be REALLY interesting to see how much tax I end up paying. I’ve had 8 months of not working at all, but of course I’ve drawn money down from dividends and the like to live off.
Fortunately, I won’t be the one doing those calculations. Imagine the hot mess my finances would be in if I did? That’s where accountants become my favourite people in all the world.
Anyway, apologies to the numbers people, (assuming any of them have still read this far.) This stuff is probably blindingly obvious to you, but I thought that if I didn’t know this, possibly other people didn’t know either.
Dad joke of the day:
I’ve conquered my addiction to chocolate, marshmallow and nuts. I won’t deny – it was a rocky road.
The principal of the school is showing a group of dignitaries around the new campus. They came into my room, where naturally I’d written a Dad joke, (but not the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria – oops), and she read the joke at the bottom of this post aloud.
“I should have known I’d come into this room and you’d have a Dad joke on the board!” she said.
Then one of the men in the group asked if he could tell a Dad joke.
“Where do robots go for fun? The circuits.”
Where I’ve been:McClelland Park.
See my previous post.
Where I’m going:To my sewing room.
I finally started the quilt with over 5,00 tiny squares. It’s not difficult sewing, but I do need to keep my mind on the placement of each and every square. If I’m able to do 5 blocka a week, I should get it finished in a few months.
I’m already up to 3 blocks. Only about 87 to go. I’ll be finished in no time!
What I’m watching:Netflix.
I just finished season 2 of ‘Bridgerton’ and now I’m diving back into ‘Peaky Blinders.’ I had no idea that Peaky Blinders is based on real events. Ryan27 remarked that they cast the actors as looking very much like the real people, so I googled them.
I noticed that Netflix has released yet another season of ‘The Black List.’ I started watching this about a decade ago as my silly, junk tv secret pleaasure. I guess I’ll sign up for yet another season. I’ve been seeing what Raymond Reddington has been up to, right from the start. Can’t turn back now!
What I’m reading:2 books with the same beginning.
I’ve borrowed an ebook and a regular book from my local library and I started both of them in the last couple of days. Both begin with a suspicious death in a gated community in prologues, then when the chapters start they backtrack to a few weeks before the murder/s.
I hope I’ll be able to keep the two plotlines separate in my head.
One is called ‘The Girl Beyond the Gate’ by Becca Day. The other novel is at home so I don’t know what it’s called.
I tend to only listen to podcasts when I’m either driving or gardening. Aussie Firebug has a monster-length poddie episode with the Motley Fool guy. This’ll keep me going for a while!
This morning I was listening to it and he had a number of things to say about the property market. David28 and Izzy are looking at their options at the moment, so I found this interesting.
I couldn’t help but think that, given the post I referred to above, that this poddie ep was even more interesting…
What I’m eating: Red Leicester cheese in my bread roll.
Normally I just slice off some tasty cheese, but I saw the Red Leicester in the fridge this morning ad thought, ‘LUXURY!’
So today at lunch I’ll feel just a little but fancy.
After all, it’s the litle things in life that give you a buzz.
Who needs a good slap: The teacher who gave her year 8 class a DOUBLE lesson in grammar when she was away.
I’m good, but no one on Earth can make that lesson appealing.
Ugh.
What I’m planning:Nothing at the moment.
Just living my life, baby, the best way I know how.
What has made me smile:Dad’s Surprise Birthday Party.
My sister organised us all to pop in at our parents’ place at 3 PM Sunday for champagne, scones and birthday cake. Mum knew it was going to happen but it was a total surprise to Dad.
It was lovely to see the brothers and their cousins catching up. Dad was in his element.
Dad joke of the Day:
Prison may be just a word to you, but for some people it’s a whole sentence.
It’s an absolute bonus when I can bring the Little Woofs with me on a Little Adventure! This month’s Little Adventure was extremely close to home – it only took about 10 minutes to drive there. I’ve been here 6 years and have never taken the time to go and have a look, but yesterday was the day!
Now that I’ve decided to pick up a few days’ CRTing, I woke up Monday and thought, “What if I get work for the rest of March and miss out on my Little Adventure? I knew I had this day free, and though the siren call of the quilt with literally 5,000 pieces was calling, I decided to throw Poppy, Jeff and Scout into the car and go and see this park.
The McClelland Sculpture Park is set on 8 hectares of bushland. It also has an indoor gallery, but because I had the Little Woofs with me, I didn’t bother to go into that. There was plenty to see in the grounds alone.
We wandered around, with only a couple of other people that we saw from a distance.
The photos I’m showing are only a small sample of what’s there – these were the ones I liked the most.
This one is probably my favourite. I rounded a curve in a path and there it was. It’s fabulous.
I don’t know if you can tell in this photo, but the rocks aren’t sitting on the ground.
They’re suspended. So beautiful.
I took a photo of this because it reminded me of the Buddhist burial ground we saw in North Korea.
It’s been 15 months since I hung up the whiteboard markers and walked out the door towards sweet, sweet freedom. I’ve enjoyed every minute.
The absolute and total control over my time has been the best part, closely followed by the lifting of almost all of the time-stress I had in my life. If something doesn’t get done, suddenly it’s no drama. I have all of tomorrow to look after it. Or the next day.
Weekends have turned into just another two days, instead of frenzied errand-running and housework days. I can’t tell you how nice it is.
Though maybe it’s not so surprising. I really enjoyed lots of things about teaching. The banter with the kids, (most of) the people I worked with, and the liveliness of the place. Working with lots of young people around will definitely have a bright vibe.
It was the other things that drove me out. The increasing micromanagement in the classroom, the increased data collection and marking… not to mention the increasing number of meetings. Not to mention a pandemic with no vaccines.
Interestingly, these hideous things are NOT a part of being a CRT, (Casual/relief teacher for anyone unfamiliar with this acronym.)
On Wednesday I was working at the new campus, which is a place I’d never been to before. Walking in, I was instantly greeted by a woman I’ve known for as long as I’ve been working at the school – she’d been doing CRT work for at least 19 years. She swept me under her wing and showed me the ropes.
For some reason my details weren’t logged onto the system, so I hot-footed it to the techs. One of them turned out to be one of my beautiful Year 12 Theatre Studies students from my last class. He was unsurprised to see that I had tech troubles, even though this time I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I think computers just smell my fear.
This new campus is home to over 900 year 8 and 9 kids. I don’t know any of the year 8s, but a surprising number of the year 9s were racing up to me in the hallways and talking to me. They all look TALL – and their faces are different, getting the angularity of adolescence. It was so heartwarming to see them again.
The best thing, though, was settling into conversations with people that I haven’t seen for ages. Catching up on how our families are going – actually, quite a few people taught my boys when they were at the school – and hearing how people’s lives have been going since I left was really interesting.
One of the reasons that I put my name down for CRT at my old school was that I know the kids are well-behaved. This makes an enormous difference to a “sub”, as the kids call us. What i didn’t realise was that the new freeway extension cuts the commute from 45 – 50 minutes to 30 minutes. Talk about making a difference! That’s a huge amount of time shaved from the commute each way. I was a very happy camper when I realised.
What I found really interesting was that about midway through the afternoon, I was getting a little bored. This was a new experience. When you are a teacher with your own classes for the year, you’re actively involved with how the kids are progressing. CRTs don’t have that level of active engagement with what’s happening with the kids’ lessons.
The kids were doing a science experiment involving batteries, lights and circuits (or something) and they were as happy as clams. As I think I’ve said before, “boring” is actually a good thing for a CRT. It means everything is running smoothly. It’s when you’re a little too interested in what’s going on… that’s usually a problem.
Thursday was a day at the main campus, where I spent all of my 17 years’ teaching at this school.
First of all – What a difference in the space! Remove 900+ kids and around 50 teachers and suddenly the campus is spacious, with no bottlenecks between classes. I could hardly believe the difference it made.
Seeing so many people that I’ve worked with for years was amazing, as the bulk of the teaching staff has remained here. Hugs in the corridors, greetings as we walk past each other in the hallways… like the day before in the new campus, it was lovely.
One thing I really appreciated was knowing where everything was. There was no angst in looking at the schedule for the day, because I could picture where every room was.
The first period I watched the end of a National Theatre performence of ‘Medea’ for year 11 English. It was really good. I googled the lead because she looked familiar and it turns out she’s in ‘Peaky Blinders’, which I’ve just started watching.
The rest of the day was a mishmash of English, Media and Physics (!) classes. Thank goodness all I had to do in the Physics class is hand out a worksheet. If the kids were expecting any hints and tips from me to help them get through the lesson, they would’ve just had me drawing a sign of the cross over them and a “good luck, my child”. Physics is DEFINITELY not in my wheelhouse!
I had a yard duty at lunchtime in the Oasis, so I was glad I’d brought my hat. The year 7s were still running around like little kids, but without the 8’s and 9’s the noise and the sheer number of bodies in the space has dropped by a huge amount. A gentle stroll after eating lunch is a very civilised way to spend some time. It aids the digestion, I’m sure.
You want to know what the best thing was? After school the rest of the staff had to attend a meeting until 4:30 PM. Haha, suckers!!!!!! We CRTs skipped out of there as soon as we handed in our keys and chromebooks.
What were the downsides?
Obviously, getting up at 6:30 when it’s just starting to become light. I haven’t had an alarm since I retired. The dogs didn’t know what hit them – they’ve finally adjusted to a later waking time and now I hit them with this!
Driving in the morning, when I’d normally be doing yoga or lolling on the couch with the dogs. I was hoping to see some hot air balloons, but maybe they don’t do midweek flights since covid.
Having such a big chunk of my day being dictated by someone else. Obviously not a surprise, of course! It’s a subtle difference between idly daydreaming of the things you might be doing while you’re retired, and another thing to KNOW what retired life is like.
I didn’t expect the boredom factor. I haven’t been bored snce I retired. On the Wednesday, I found myself looking at the clock, working out how many minutes I had until the final bell. It felt so natural… I realised that doing this was a routine that I’d been doing for years. Talk about wishing your life away!
Driving home during peak hour on Wednesday. I had to run some errands for Mum and Dad after school, so I hit that dreaded time of the day on the freeway. Normally, I would’ve made sure I was well and truly done and at home before the roads filled up at the end of the day.
The upsides?
I’ve already spoken about a lot of them. The social aspect of seeing familiar friends and students is huge. I don’t care who you are – when you see people’s faces light up when they see you, it definitely adds a spring to your step!
It feels good to help kids with something. Just a little nudge in the right direction, even though I’m not a regular teacher but just a “sub”, still lifts the heart.
Kids still like the Dad jokes. Some things never change.
I’m looking forward to seeing how much my take-home pay is. I know I could work it out, but we all know that’s never going to happen! Besides, with my lack of numeracy skills, I’d probably come up with the wrong answer anyway.
Wearing the lovely work clothes that I bought just before the pandemic started and I’ve barely touched since.
Already being able to wipe a couple of items from my ‘CRT Earnings’ chart. I knew that it’d keep me motivated! That pizza oven will be paid off in no time… assuming I get more work.
It’s still fun to tell off kids but in a humerous way, so that they get back on task but without any unpleasantness. I guess it’s a skill that you just don’t forget.
Lots of people asked me how retirement life was going, and absolutely none of them asked the obvious question after I answered, “It’s fantastic. Happiest year of my life!” Maybe I forestalled them when I told them that with Tom30 listening to wrestling shows when he works from home, school is a lot more peaceful!! (Actually, I’m only half-joking when I say that!)
One of the teachers laughed when I said that and replied, “So you’re doing the adult thing about this problem and running away from home?”
Obviously with only two days under my belt, going back to work as a CRT is still a novelty. However, as it stands at the moment, the upsides are outweighing the downsides, so I’d happily work more days.
I was looking forward to indulging in a HUGE nap later today, though. This whole going to work gig is tiring! However, I was asked at the end of the day if I could work on Friday. You all know how hard it is for me to say no to work…
… the good thing is that the pizza oven will be well and truly paid off by the end of the day!
I’m in a year 9 class, writing this while they’re doing their work. I’ve been having a lovely time, running into year 9 kids who were my wriggly puppy classes in year 7 and catching up with other teachers.
“I NEVER thought I’d see you here again!” said one woman. I laughed and said that it was Tom30’s wrestling videos that have driven me to it.
I’m at the new campus, which has just under 1,000 year 8s and 9s. It’ll take a few days to work out where everything is, but it’s a nice place to work. Everyone seems really happy.
Where I’ve been: in the Staffroom.
It was lunchtime. I caught up with a few friends and heard how everyone was going. There was even a spare desk to put my bag on. Luxury!
Where I’m going:Mum and Dad’s place.
After work I have to drop in on my parents to pick up some medical stuff that they hired after Dad has his hip replacement. I’ll return it for them.
It’s nice that I’m in the area already instead of having to take an extra trip.
What I’m watching:a boy trying to drill a hole through his ruler with a pair of scissors.
This is a Stephen King novel in a collaboration with someone else. I’m enjoying it, though I’m sure I’d be ripping through it faster if I’d read the first two in this trilogy. Annoyingly, the library has the first, but not the second one.
Just… why? Ugh.
What I’m listening to:A couple of boys playing Fortnite instead of reading through their slideshow on circuits and electrical currents.
I’ve given them the death stare, then mentioned that Fortnite “is so two years ago.”
They’re back on task now.
What I’m eating:Home-made bread roll with home-grown lettuce, ham and cheese.
The ham and cheese aren’t home-grown, just to be clear.
Who needs a good slap:The neighbours who are complaining about theachers parking in their streets.
The Government, in their infinite wisdom, assigned 9 car parking spots to a school with over 50 teachers. I was warned to stay away from certain streets, which meant that I probably got my 10,000 steps before I even entered the building.
What I’m planning:which Dad joke to put up on the board when period 6 starts.
So many options…
What has made me smile:Max.
Max walked in late and stopped, staring at me.
“Where do I know you from?” he asked. To be fair, I’m wearing a mask and I’ve stopped dying my hair.
“I taught you English in year 7, you doofus!” I said.
He asked if I’d been to Antarctica, then when he went to his seat I heard him say, “She’s only the best English teacher ever!”
Dad joke of the day:
What is it called when you have Grandma on speed dial?
Whenever anyone talks about the risks/benefits of early retirement, the one thing they bring up, almost without fail, is that if conditions change, you should consider going back to work if you need a few extra dollars. Even in my early(ish) retirement, especially being a teacher, I knew I always had that option tucked away.
September last year the VIT registration fees came up. It was the expensive one because it included the working with children police check thing. I paid it, more as insurance than anything else. I had no intention of going back to work… but you never know. As my friend Blogless Sandy said, “You may as well pay it. You’ll kick yourself if you wanted to work and couldn’t do it.”
Then in 2022, things shifted slightly in the Jones household, as well as in the wider world. Let’s go through them one at a time.
ONE:
As you know, around a month ago Tom30 abruptly moved back in. There was a fairly tumultuous week of driving back and forth from Ormond to The Best House in Melbourne, getting all of his belongings out. After 7 years away, that guy had a lot of things, including a huge elliptical machine. There’s no denying that it adds a certain something to the decor in the Man Cave.
Anytime a new person moves in, the household dynamic changes. Tom30 is a communicative person who gets excited about what he’s interested in. As Ryan27 said a couple of days ago, “I kind of admire how Tom30 gets so enthused about things. I wish I could have such a simple life!”
It’s true. I’ve learned so much about the worlds of wrestling and gaming – he plays different games to Ryan27 – and I would have learned a lot about American politics, except I’ve put a ban on discussing this. It’s a good thing I did this – it’s saved a lot of bickering.
Tom30 works from home 2 days a week. He likes to have wrestling vids, sporting shows and angry American men podcasts playing while he works. So there’s a different vibe here 4 days a week.
Ok, so that’s a bit of a whinge. Honestly, I’m happy he’s back because it’s allowed us to reconnect again. There’s no better way to deepen a relationship than to share the same house with someone. It’s coming up to a month and the new Jones household is settling into the new normal.
TWO:
Having another adult in the house raises the expenses. Now before everyone goes crazy —- YES. I’m charging both boys board. They pay me $50/week each.
My choice is to put that money aside for them and let it build up in a bank account. Tom30 is saving for a house deposit and Ryan27 will no doubt be doing that too one day. I can’t be the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ like so many people can. I can’t merrily hand over thousands of dollars to help get a deposit together for my 4 kids. I figure the least I can do is to feed and house them when they’re under my roof, then hand their board money back when they need it. (Tom30 has no idea that this is going to happen, by the way.)
So that’s all warm and fuzzy and lovely, but when prices suddenly rise, due to Putin, the pandemic and the floods, then that’s something that as a good FIRE person, I have to take note of. I can’t see prices subsiding any time soon.
I could choose to take their board money and use it for bills, or I could choose to pivot. (There’s that word again...)
THREE:
Ever since I learned about Sequence of Returns Risk, I’ve kept it in the back of my mind as something to watch out for in the first 5 years of retirement. I took the above chart from this article, which explains it in a bit more detail, but the chart gives a good TL;DR summary.
At the moment the market is a bit panicky and has slipped a bit. I’m not breaking out the cat food tins for dinner any time soon, but it’s something that I’m keeping an eye on. The share market has been rising steadily for the last 10 years or so. It can’t last forever, so retiring at this stage, I knew I’d need to keep in touch with what was going on.
We can prepare for many things when we retire, but we have absolutely no control over Sequence of Returns Risk. The market is going to do what the market is going to do, regardless of who is retiring when. I’ve set up my finances to mitigate against this by having several layers of investments, so intellectually I know that I’ll be alright.
One of the best ways to insulate my investments from being tapped too harshly, too early in a market downturn is to have a bit of extra income sliding in.
Can’t hurt and it might help!
For a few weeks now, I’ve had a niggling feeling that it mightn’t be such a bad thing if I earned a little money on the side. Maybe that was why I took so long to make a decision about tutoring because it felt wrong to be knocking back income – but I’ve learned that if I ignore that niggling feeling I do so at my peril.
I definitely didn’t want to do tutoring, as I wrote “When you’re happily retired and you get offered a job”, but CRT (Casual Relief Teaching) is a different kettle of fish. Basically, a CRT supervises classes when the regular teacher is absent. You unlock the door, let them in, mark the roll, direct them to Compass where their work is set, then for the rest of the lesson you keep them quiet and on-task.
Basically, for a CRT, a boring day is a good day. When I first started working again when Evan25 was Evan5 and he’d started primary school, I did CRT work for a year. When you’re VERY VERY INTERESTED in what’s happening in the classroom, it’s either really good or really bad…
Last week I went into my old school and put my name down for CRT work. I could have gone to schools closer to me, but I know my way around the Main campus and I know that the kids are lovely, which makes a huge difference to a CRT’s day. A feral class is absolute misery for 48 minutes. It’ll also be nice to see people on staff and have quick catch-ups.
The catch-ups will have to be quick. Schools get their money’s worth when they hire a CRT – you work all 6 periods and do 2 yard duties. I’d better wear comfy shoes!
The daily pay rate isn’t bad – just over $380 – but as an early(ish) retiree the flexibility is what is really appealing to me. I have the freedom to say ‘No’ if I’ve planned something on a day that work is offered. Tutoring doesn’t offer that luxury.
Yesterday I was offered 2 days’ work – tomorrow and Thursday – so it’s Game ON!
Speaking of games, you know how I like to gamify my spending and paying for my rates. Of course, I’ve drawn up a list of things that the CRT days will ‘pay’ for.
I’ve put asterisks beside the things I’ve already bought. Once I knock them over, then I can start chipping away at the big expenses. Woo babayyyy – I like a list and I like to see progress. If anything will keep me motivated; this is it!
Of course, if I decide that I hate it and it’s sucking the joy out of my retirement life, I can always stop. That’s the good thing about being financially independent.
I’m fully aware that the feeling in my waters about the benefits of having a bit of money coming in is definitely because of the struggle I had when the boys and I were newly single. It took nearly two DECADES for us to recover from the financial aftershocks of the divorce. I love the freedom of being the only captain driving the financial ship, but it comes with the downside of being wholly responsible for navigating it safely through choppy economic waters. I don’t have the luxury of knowing that I’ll be able to nestle into a partner’s super fund in my old age.
So I figure that a few days’ work here and there that will help Past Frogdancer Jones sleep better at night isn’t too high a price to pay. I’m glad I chose to work in a field that can offer such flexible options for people who want to work in a different way than the typical full-time allotment… and who knows?
Oof. I love the freedom of retirement. God, how I love it. I wrote about how I knocked back a tutoring job a few weeks ago and it was absolutely the right decision.
Well, yesterday I went into work and filled out all the forms to apply for work as a CRT (casual relief teacher.) I KNOW!!! What’s going on? Have I run mad?
Am I filled with the joy at the thought of being around the kids again and enabling them to gain education?
Not particularly.
But I’m not hating the idea either. This deserves its own blog post on another day, so I’ll tell you in more detail later why I’ve decided to pivot and earn a little extra money.
Where I’ve been: Costco.
When I take the car out, I like to layer several trips in one – especially now that petrol prices have gone through the roof. So I did a big circle, going to Spotlight, my parents’ lace, the school, Costco and the library.
It was a Tuesday, so I didn’t think CC would be busy. When I drove up, the petrol section was jammed with cars, the queues spilling out onto the street and going way back. I’ve never seen it so packed, even on the days before public holidays. Inside the warehouse, it was very busy.
I went there because I was running low on the raw meat patties I feed the Little Woofs on top of their grain-free dry food – also from Costco. The dry food comes from the States, the patties from Queensland. What with the war and the floods, I thought I’d better make sure that we had enough for a while.
Ryan27 asked me why. I said, “Global supply chains aren’t an issue – until suddenly they are.”
While I was there I picked up 2 big bags of flour, some mince, a couple of slabs of tinned tomatoes and some sugar; all of which we’ve been warned we may be running short of in the coming months. Costco didn’t have any Bakers Flour, so I had to settle for Plain flour instead. After I got home I went to Aldi and picked up more pasta and rolled oats – again, because wheat products etc will be getting very pricey, thanks to Putin. The pasta packets had gone up 20c, I noticed. There were significant gaps in the meat section.
Cauliflowers were $8 each at Aldi. Yikes! Toilet paper was very limited at both Costco and Aldi, with gaps on other shelves being common. Someone on the Simple Savings forum observed that electrical goods such as washers, dryers and fridges would probably be in short supply due to the floods in Queensland and NSW. Imagine the thousands of appliances that would be wrecked and would need to be replaced? I was so thankful I bought Evan25’s new washing machine when I did.
Pandemic, floods and Putin. What a brave interesting new world we live in.
Where I’m going:To the beach.
The Little Woofs deserve a treat.
What I’m watching:Shameless season 11.
My sister put me onto Shameless years ago. I can’t believe they’re up to season 11. I’m still enjoying it.
Of course, I’m also watching Killing Eve, Ru Paul’s Drag Race, Survivor (both the US and Australian seasons) and I have many far more worthy shows waiting in my watch lists. I guess I’m in a frivolous frame of mind right now.
What I’m reading:Catriona Ward.
Stephen King recommended Catriona Ward on Twitter a few days ago, so I jumped online and put a couple of her novels on hold. I’ve read her first novel, Rawblood, and her third, The Last House on Needless Street.
Wow. I’ve been blown away by how original these plots are. As, you know, I read a lot of books, but these two have been living on and on in my mind. I loved them – couldn’t leave them alone. Highly recommend.
What I’m listening to:Jeffrey snoring.
It’s a WHOLE lot better than hearing the stupid wrestling shows that Tom30 likes to listen to when he works from home. Kill me now.
What I’m eating:Pizza again!
My cousin is dropping by for lunch, so we’re having pizza. This new pizza oven has a definite learning curve on how to launch the pizzas in. I ‘accidentally’ made calzones the third time we used it, so we’re experimenting with different doughs and levels of toppings.
So far, using a bit of polenta on the base seems to be doing the trick. The polenta acts like little ball bearings and it helps to roll the pizza off the paddle and into the oven.
Who needs a good slap:Apart from Putin?
No one.
What I’m planning:when I’m going to give my cousin the quilt I’ve made for her.
Before or after lunch?
I hope she likes it.
What has made me smile:The dogs.
As I said before, yesterday I went out for most of the day, When I got home Tom30, who was working from home, told me that the dogs had spent the whole day waiting for me to get back. When I raised an eyebrow and said, “The WHOLE day?” he showed me a photo he took at midday.
Scout had the brains to wait for me on the couch, where it’s comfy, but the cavaliers stayed right at the door for the whole time.
I love my Little Woofs.
Dad joke of the day:
I don’t often tell dad jokes but when I do he laughs.
Retirement Reading Quest – Reading my way to ‘free’ council rates.
I’m on a quest to borrow and read enough books to, in effect, cancel out the cost of my council rates per year.
It’s outlined in this post.
Year 8: 2018/2019 – $1,800
I may as well continue back-tracking. I moved here in 2016, so I’ll chip away at all the rates I paid up till then.
Running Total – $15
Year 7: I’m already a year ahead on my rates, so I’m taking a reader’s suggestion and I’m going to go back and start covering the rates from the year before I started. I may as well.
Year 7: Total needed: 2019/2020…$1,800
Finished! 12/12/2025
Year 6 (2025/2026) $2,590 AREADY COVERED!!!!!!
10/08/2015 – I won’t have another rates notice until August 2026, so I have time to kill. Let’s knock over a previous year’s rates, just for fun.
Year 5 (2024/2025) $2,339 and dog rego ($63) = $2,435.
Finished it before I even had the new rates notice ready.
Year 4 (2023/2024) $2,413.
Success! Not sure exactly when I passed the total, because I was waiting on the dog registrations to come through. But yes – I blitzed it.
Year 3: (2022/2023) $2,350
12/01/2023 FINISHED! Not working gives me heaps more reading time – I recommend it!
