What’s top of my mind:Getting another row finished on my quilt.
The photo is of two rows of blocks. It’s exciting because I can already see the pattern emerging.
But boy! This quilt takes constant mindfulness. There are a lot of corners that have to be edged up exactly right. After an afternoon’s sewing on this beast my eyes feel like they’re going around like Catherine wheels.
Where I’ve been:on April’s Little Adventure.
Post to come.
Where I’m going:To the High Country.
I suddenly realized that I have a lot of points in my Vacation Club to use up before June 30. Being constantly in lockdowns last year meant that I didn’t get the chance to go anywhere. So the chase is on! I decided to nip away this coming weekend to see the autumn colours up in the high country.
What I’m watching:My garden slipping into ‘winter’ mode.
I’ve already put a few beds to sleep for the winter, spreading fertiliser, chopping spent plants as mulch etc. Give it another month and most of the beds will be waiting for spring.
Though having seen the prices for cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower at Aldi yesterday, I might grow a few winter veggies. Yikes!
What I’ve been reading:French Braid by Anne Tyler.
I’ve read a few books by Anne Tyler and there hasn’t been a dud amongst them. With French Braid, Tyler has created another winner.
It’s not a long novel, but it covers decades in the lives of a family. I particularly liked the character of the mother. Some reviewers find her very selfish, but I identified with how she chose to live her life on HER terms. I seem to have done the same, though I’ve made different choices than she did.
Anne Tyler has written a long list of nvels. Now I want to track them down and read them all.
What I’m listening to:Nothing.
Argh! I’ve misplaced my iPad! It has all of my podcasts in it. I really need to track it down before Friday. I’d hate to be driving for hours and not have poddies to listen to.
What I’m eating:Red capsicums from the garden.
This year may have been a shocking one for tomatoes, but I’ve grown the best capsicums ever. Ryan27 loves green capsicums, but even he got sick of them and so I now have a few caps that were left long enough for them to turn red.
Tonight we’ll be having chicken tikka masala so I can use one. So happy. 🙂
Who needs a good slap:No one.
It’s all chill here.
What I’m planning: A trip to Manly Beach in Sydney.
Again, using up points from the holiday club. I’ve never been to Manly, and the last time I was in Sydney was 12 years ago with the boys. We climbed the bridge and went to Taronga zoo and the aquarium and had a great time.
I’ve locked it in for June. Something to look forward to!
What has made me smile:Talking to the boys on the phone.
It’s such a simple thing, but I love it when I chat to them. Two still live with me, so that’s pretty easy, but when the others call – or I call them and they pick up the phone straight away – it makes my day.
It’s surprising how fond you can get of the people you make.
Now that the state government has relaxed the rules for close contacts, I’m wondering how much work I’ll be picking up now that parents of young kids don’t have to isolate with them anymore.
Where I’ve been:Hanging around waiting for my heater to be replaced.
Yes, what with the fridge last week and then my gas ducted heater needing to be replaced today, it’s been an expensive school holidays.
Where I’m going: Nowhere.
I’m intending on having a lovely week just chilling here.
What I’m watching:Peaky Blinders.
I’ve had this show in my Netflix queue for ages, but it was the news that a kid from Jack30’s year level has secured a role in the 6th and final season that finally prompted me to start it. I have until June to get up to speed on the first 5 seasons. (Luckily they only have 6 episodes per season!)
Ryan27 read this book to deepen his understanding of the immune system while doing his myotherapy course. Ever since then, he’s been badgering me to read it. Of course, I avoided it because it sounds boring. But I ran out of books to read over Easter so I picked it up.
It’s fascinating! The guy who wrote it has a youtube channel that explains all sorts of things in an entertaining way and he’s kept the same thing up here. I had absolutely no idea how incredible and – frankly – impossible our immune system really is. I’m only a third of the way into it and I’m loving it. It’s a non-fiction book that reads… well, if not like a fiction book, then at least an easy-to-digest non-fiction book.
I think it’s a terrible shame that the new ASIC guidelines for discussions around personal finance n Australia have been so heavy-handed that people like Dave and Pat have decided that it’s not worth the risk to keep offering the information that they do. I know that when I was just starting out on my FIRE journey after paying off my house, their blogs were invaluable to me to glean information. It’s going to be a huge loss to people coming after us, such as my sons, who’ll be starved for specifically Australian content.
What I’m eating: African Peanut Stew.
I bought a vegetarian cookbook from Thermobexta 2 years ago and it had this recipe in it. I always wanted to try it but never got around to it. Last night was the night! It was delicious! Ryan27 had 2 friends around and they agreed. Everyone polished their plates.
Vego food is so cheap. I fed 5 adults for around $6.
I have all but one of her cookbooks. They saved me when Evan25 decided he was vegetarian a few years ago.
Who needs a good slap: Me.
I just realised that I forgot to eat lunch. No wonder I’m so hungry right now!
What I’m planning:Nothing.
It’s so relaxing.
What has made me smile: The podcast review of Evan25’s show.
Evan25 sent me the link to a review that a couple of guys did for their show. It’s a lovely thing to hear that your son is “a very charismatic guy”; has “a beautiful singing voice” and is “someone I could watch all day.”
Of course I agree with all of these comments. 🙂
On Sunday night, as I pulled out some chicken schnitzels from the freezer for a quick fakeaway dinner, they felt a little soft.
“Has someone opened the freezer?” I asked. Both boys shook their heads, so I thought that maybe I was the doofus who’d left the door ajar. In the middle of the night I woke with the question, “What if the fridge has died?” running through my head. Sure enough, the next morning brought a silent fridge and soggy packages in the freezer.
It’s never a convenient moment to lose your fridge.
Where I’ve been:scurrying from the kitchen to the laundry.
Fortunately I have the full-sized freezer from the old house in the laundry. It’s pretty full, but there were enough nooks and crannies left to be able to fill them with lots of things from the kitchen freezer.
Anything else, I put in an esky or in the freezer drawers with a bag of ice.
Where I’m going:to Evan25’s show at the Comedy Festival.
Yay! The boys are doing ‘Chumsville’ gain, so on Saturday night I’m bringing a couple of friends to see them do what they do best. Make people laugh, that is. 🙂
“They thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The untold story of the case that shredded the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity.”
This is a long article but it’s well worth the read. I really enjoyed it.
This is a new-to-me podcast, where each episode is a look at an interesting thing that has happened in the past. They’re not tied to any particular portion of history, so the episodes leap around time all over the place. The episodes are also in 30 minute (or so) lengths, so they’re great for a commute.
What I’m eating:Things that we salvaged from the fridge and freezer.
Last night’s dinner was mushroom risotto. Instead of parmesan, I used a piece of tasty cheese. I kept the parmesan cheese in the esky in the ice. There was a punnet of mushrooms that wouldn’t be great after another night without cooling, so I was pleased to use them up.
I was also glad I used up the tasty cheese, but going forward? Parmesan is definitely better.
Ryan27 cooked up a heap of dim sims for lunch. They were basically still frozen when I transferred them to the back freezer, but to be on the safe side, I told him that they needed using up. He was happy to oblige. I had the last frozen pie.
Who needs a good slap:The fridge repair company.
I can’t prove that they were planning to rip me off, but their quote certainly seemed suss. It turned out to be more viable to just get a new fridge.
What I’m planning: to make bagels.
Tom30 loves bagels. I’ve only ever made them once, YEARS ago. I used a thermomix recipe and they were delicious. I might give them another go. He’ll be delighted.
What has made me smile:Having my untrammelled days back.
Even though I’m enjoying the challenge of paying for David28’s wedding – and now the new fridge, I guess – by working, there’s a special beauty in the days where no one dictates how I spend my time but I.
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!
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.
Years 8,9 and 10: 2016/17/18 – $5,400
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. I’ll need $5,400.
Running Total – $2,400.
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.Â
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)Â $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!
