Tuesday 23 May 2006

On Line... and its not a fish!

                             

I thought I would make an early start today ,The desk is made up, as I am with it ! Maurice is still in bed and when he gets up he will want to put it in situe,so If I do the entry now we can ,do all the manoeuvreing after wards ....time management ! old habits die hard lol .It is now eight am ,so armed with a mug of coffee,Are we sitting comfortably then I'll begin  .....

I retired at the end of October 2004,and because I lived on site in the bungalow that went with the job,I not only retired ,we moved house too,two very traumatic things to happen !The Bungalow we live in now is lovely,and for the first few months I was happy playing house,you know how it is, we decorated right through ,I was sewing and making curtains and a padded bedhead,at the same time exploring my new neighbour hood ....we had moved to the heart of the Fens.....After a while I began to feel there was something missing in my life ....because of the nature of my job ,As a manager of a sheltered scheme for the elderly ,interacting with people,ie the residents and the various agencies ,I soon found myself quite isolated ,and I missed using my people skills...Maurice had hinted this might happen when I first started to think about retiring...He advised me to think carefully before I actually made my decision,though physically very tiring,he felt I still needed mental stimulation,he can be very wise !

I have to digress here ,a minute ~To become a scheme manager ,you are required to do a Housing practioners course along with a manager/wardens course.I enjoyed all this,The first term we were obliged to take some set pieces ,ie First aid and computer training ...well I will tell you now the IT I hated ! the classes were too big, I seemed to spend the whole period wating for help! The next term we were given a choice ,additional computer studies or another  medical course I chose the latter,and because of the nature of the condition ..I opted for Stoma care ,it proved to be a useful choice and the residents,who had, them valued being able to discuss with someone they knew ,in the privacy of thier own homes any problems they might have.   I completed the course,when the year was up gained all my certificates and some letters after my name !We, by this time had all been given computers at work and it was a necesary evil I did what I had to do...and that was it, I didnt particularly like it,but got on with it .Maurice by this time had bought us a commputer so I was brushing up my skills at home .

So back to retireing about,last April ,my sister Jean persuaded me to go on line I took up my contract with AOL,and voila,spent my time exploring the net emailing my friends and family ,and generally surfing ,until one day I hit the blogs button !!!!!........There was Jeannette and her jottings ,I began to read her journals, then other people in her side bar,and then I got really clever I started to comment on the various journals,and made friends Jeannette and Sandra and Jules Sara and Jo ,then Jeannette started to suggest I started my own journal ....What ! shock! horror! what ever would I write about ?especially after reading their journals ....in the end after Maurice and my sister telling me I should,I took the plunge ,on September 1st last year ,I emailed Jeannette,saying "Ive only gone and done it " ! and I suppose the rest ,you could say is history! I've had alot of help along the way ...I admired Donna's graphic and told her so, but if I asked for one I wouldnt know what to do with it ! she promptly sent me back easy to understand instructions,and voila !Jeannette (travels)has also been a terefic suport,and Joan stranny daze and dear Ally ,,but if I list you all dear friends this entry will be far to long and I will get a wireless alert for sure ,that seems to happen ,if we do an, over long entry ,here in the UK ...So I think now its time to say ..have a lovely day my friends ,I hardly dare say it but the sun is shining here...another coffee ,then swap desks! and yes I will take a piccy for you lots of love from 

               

Graphics,again today by Donna ......thankyou so much dear        

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid you got the dreaded wireless alert Jan!! Very good update on your life though. Computers are scarey at first but they're made a lot more user friendly now aren't they? They must be if we can master them! Looking forward to seeing the desk set up! Jeannette xx

Anonymous said...

Jan I really enjoyed reading about your retirement and how you came to start your Journal ~ and all the help you had on your way to making this a really informative ~ interesting and colourful blog ~ there are so many people in J~Land who are willing to help and to pass on tips of the best way to do certain things ~ where would we be without them ~ look forward to seeing Piccy of your new desk ~ and Donna's graphics are lovely ~Ally

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan ,todays entry was great ,so well written.Iam so proud of you .you have come so far.I need lessons from you!!You have such a lovely bunch of Journal friends ,everyone willing to help.The sun is shinning ,hope you have a good day and week..........With Love Jeanxx

Anonymous said...

Yep...you got the wireless alert!!  Great entry though, thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  Happy desk-moving!!

Anonymous said...

I, for one, am  glad you started a journal!
~~Kath~~
http://journals.aol.com/dklars/SecretGarden

Anonymous said...

Great entry Jan. It's nice to be able to pay tribute to our friends and that was a good one. Keep on writing. B. x

Anonymous said...

your grafics are always so nice, maybe today I will try to put one in my journal too but I sure can't figure out how to put 2 in like you do. I guess I should study it more to make my journal more interesting too. Sandra

Anonymous said...

Wonderful entry sweetie!
Stoma care huh? I took extra courses in that too, when I was nursing. I was the Stoma Care Specialist on our shift at the hospital. We have things in common, LOL.
Enjoyed the read today!
Hugs, Sugar

Anonymous said...

Glad that you got your desk put together and by this time I am sure you already have your computer on it. Helen

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you took that plunge in journaling. : )  Hugs and GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan :-) Lovely entry as usual, gorgeous graphics by our clever friend Donna.....great tribute to some wonderful J'Landers!!! If you've time have a quick peek at my entry today ~ it's about UK alerts !!!!!!  Hope your new desk went together ok and there was no bits missing!! And aren't you clever ~ letters after your name ~ I shall have to curtsey to you now lol........so glad you started your journal and I found you :-) Hope you're having a great day today :-)
lots of love Debbie ~xxxxxxxxx~
http://journals.aol.com/debbiewebb4465/TheLifeTimesofanEssexGirl

Anonymous said...

Another fab and really interesting entry from you :o) I hadn't figured out that it was long entries that were causing wireless alerts...Am getting too old now to realise stuff <ggg> Hope you're going to tell us about your mystery trip soon as am still dying to know where you got to   Caff xxxxx

Anonymous said...

What would we do without our journals and reading about all our friends. During my holiday I was really missing you all so much.  Love Joan.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,

I didn`t get an alert for this entry...sob!  Anyway, thanks for this interesting story about how you got started on your journal.  It seems journals came along at the right time for you after your retirement and house move.  I`m so glad Jeannette talked you into starting your journal, it`s been a joy to read. :o)

Sandra xxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Tee hee, you mentioned me!!!!! Oh I do like it when people refer to me, makes me feel important, lol!!! Hope you are well in situ now and enjoying your new desk! love Joan

Anonymous said...

Where would we be without you?????  Thank goodness you listened to Jeanette and started your own journal...and just as well you learned how to use the graphics!!  You always have great ones!!
Gill xx

Anonymous said...

So glad you did join us all flower xxxx

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan, I really enjoyed reading your story about how you started! And yor graphics too!! Linda x

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you have a journal. I enjoy reading your posts so much.  You have a delightful wit and a good story telling ability. I also appreciate the nice comments you leave for me.  You're so very sweet!    Kathy

Anonymous said...

Lovely entry and it just goes to show what a lovely caring community J-land really is :-)

Anonymous said...

Your job sounded fascinating and I'm sure you did have a big adjustment after retiring.  I'm so glad you started a journal.  Actually, I started mine in Oct. on a whim.  I never expected anyone to read it but figured I could keep a small account of my own activities and problems, etc.  What a surprise I was in for.  LOL...I couldn't add a graphic for the life of me.  It took a couple of weeks for instructions to sink in.  Wha a thrill it was.  Can't believe I'm actually making things because computers blow my mind.  Have a good evening.  HUGS  Chris