Monday, July 28, 2014

Be Open to Opportunities

It's never too late to learn. We so often hear that, but more than likely we grunt then say "right".  Well, I've always been curious. Learning, trying new things and doing stuff I haven't tried before have always been important in my life. Well, since I retired (for the second time) some wonderful opportunities have found me. I actually didn't go looking for them. My dental hygienist referred me for a dog sitting job. Never before had I mentioned that I liked dogs, but for whatever reason she thought of me when her neighbors needed a live-in sitter for a week. I accepted. After all, it was at their beach house! So, I luxuriated for a week while I kept company with two delightful (well-trained) pooches. Did I mention the pay wasn't bad?

The next surprising opportunity happened when a fellow writer in my group wanted to get another computer. She saw that I always schlepped around with my tiny one, so she wanted something similar. After group one day, she approached me and asked if I would help her when she bought one. I told her I would be glad to. It was going to be my pleasure to show her all that I knew. I promised nothing more, since I have never professed to be a geek or IT wizard. She would not let me share my knowledge without compensation.  I told her definitely I was not comfortable with her paying me. She said she would not do it otherwise. Well, she has a delightful restaurant in my hometown, so I told her I would gladly work for food. So, lucky me, I get coupons to the restaurant. She still insists on currency, too. Believe it not, even with my non geek status, we have made a lot of progress in getting her comfortable with her little computer. As for me, I am gaining weight and enjoying every minute of it.

A third unexpected gift came about just this past week. I've been researching at a local museum my next project. Whenever I find articles and documents I need, the docent makes copies for me. So far, I've been economically prepared for the expense. However, when I went in on Tuesday, she needed a volunteer. I hadn't plan to stay four hours, but since she needed me for that block of time, I agreed. Once I went to digging through all the articles, time took wings. Before I knew it, she was waving  me out the door so that she could close for the day. Before I left however, we came up with a scheduled time for me to volunteer. Guess what I get for compensation?  A really cool place to sit in for four hours and all my documents copied gratis!

I must add, with each of these, I've had the time of my life with those whose company I've been in, and that's the best compensation of all!

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