A Retirement Hat-Trick

I had the 2nd of 2 PDT (Photodynamic Therapy) sessions done on my face Monday morning. The recovery this time is going much better than the initial treatment I had 3 weeks ago. I think that's because most of the damaged skin was removed during the first session leaving not as much for the Levulan and blue light to react with this most recent time.

Yes, that's a selfie to the left. I'm using my leg to take it. Don't believe me?

I thought I'd get more done around the house during my stay-cation but I'm okay with just having taken it easy for the most part. I'm back to work now as I write this and while I'm not excited about that, I'm feeling good about getting ever closer to my retirement date. This time away from work has me looking forward to retirement more than ever. It's taken me much longer than I thought it would to get to this point but I'm mentally ready to be done. My end goal is still January 2nd, 2016. We'll see.

Speaking of retirement: I attended a retirement party last Tuesday for a few guys I've worked with for most of my career. Grant Feest, Rob Ralston, and Dave Hanson. I can't remember the last time I was tipping back a beer at 10:35 in the morning but it was for a worthy cause. They all arrived at 10:00 when Celts in Farmington opened and began their celebration.

Grant and his wife will be purchasing an RV and doing some traveling. Grant has also been hinting just a little about a reunion with members of a rock band he played with in the early '80s, Wally Cleaver. They were quite successful in the Racine/Milwaukee, Wisconsin area and points beyond back in the day. I hope he does. Grant knows more TV commercial trivia from the '70s than anyone I know. He was always our go-to guy at work for songs we were trying to recall from our youth. We have plans to play some golf together next summer.

Rob was probably the loudest guy I've ever worked with! No kidding. At times obnoxious but at the same time, loveable. He was one of the main guys at work who (years ago) helped me to see the flaws in my conservative thinking. He was helpful in getting me to see things from a perspective other than my default mode. I'm grateful for the seeds he planted and also for the help he was to me along the way when I was in need of some guidance with respect to some medical issues at work. I'm sure our paths will cross again.

I'll miss Dave for his quiet, 'Steady Eddie' approach to working traffic. He's not a die-hard cyclist but he loves to follow the Tour de France, so much so that he and his wife were leaving the party to catch a flight to Amsterdam. Dave will be watching this year's Tour in person. I asked him if he'll be the naked guy running alongside the peloton but no, that won't be him he said. Instead, he'll be the guy with the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher's flag, waving it on the sidelines. He said to be sure to watch for him during the Prologue and the climb up Alpe d'Huez. I'll be watching.

A few photos from the get-together.

There goes nearly 10% of our staffing!

Best of wishes to the three of you and I'll see you in the land of happy before too long!

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