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It was the job all along

I'm beginning to think had I not retired when I did, I might not have made it to today.

The other day I was having a conversation, with the salesman at work, concerning a problem a customer is having with some parts we manufactured. (I say we because I do still work [sorta], although for what they pay me, and how much time I spend, it more appropriately should be referred to as a hobby.) The customer was claiming the problem was ours, when, in my opinion, the problem lies in the way they heat treated the parts.

Anyways, after the conversation, knowing I was a little amped up, I took my blood pressure, something I do quite often nowadays, and discovered my BP was up to 159/93. I was shocked, to say the least, and it wasn't until an hour and a half later, when I guess I calmed down enough, that my BP finally returned to within its normal range (118/72).

When I was working full time, this sort of aggravating situation was increasingly becoming the norm, and was a contributing reasons I did retire. It seems all the intelligent people have left their companies as well. Maybe they discovered much earlier what I've just learned  Had I known what it was doing to my blood pressure, at the time, I might have retired sooner.

So the moral of this story, and something I hope everyone takes away from my experience, is don't let your job consume your life. Don't be, or become, one of those "Type A" personalities. Your body just won't take it for very long.

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