Countdown

It's Sunday, Dec. 26, and the start of my final week on the job. Because I work in a 24/7 business, and nights at that, I was at work Christmas night, though I did have Christmas Eve off. I will work Monday through Friday this week, including New Year's Eve on a 4-midnight shift. I have seen a lot of New Year's Eve midnights from my desk.

Then, on Saturday, I begin what I've referred to as the Seven-Day Weekend. I also tell people I'm about to be chronically unemployed -- forever.

At our place, paydays are alternate Fridays, with the pay period being the two weeks ending with the Sunday before payday. I will get a better-than-average paycheck (because of holiday pay) on Friday, launching the new year and retirement with a nice extra bit in the bank account. Because a new pay period begins Monday and I will work one week in it, I will have a single-week paycheck on Jan. 14.

I have two annuities that pay me on the third of each month and Social Security will be paid on the fourth Wednesday of each month (because my birthday is the 25th of the month), starting in February with a short check and full checks starting in March.

My calculations say I will be OK financially until the full checks start coming in. I'd better be; that's all the income I'll have until then.

As for some other aspects of the newly-retired, a friend retired almost five years (though she's younger by 5 months than I; had a better setup through the Railroad Retirement Board) told me that for the first couple of weeks, it will seem like a vacation because I have had two-week vacations previously. After that, it's the Seven-Day Weekend, or maybe just chronic unemployment.