Five Year Plan

Going back to my failure to go on strike last week due to financial considerations, I have to admit that a lot of my attitudes toward work these days - including workplace disputes - is shaped by the fact that I'm within five years of paying off my mortgage.  The knowledge that I only have to keep working at this lousy job for another five years has, without doubt, made me very risk averse.  The fact is that all I want to do now is keep my head down, keep my job and pay off that mortgage.  When it comes to industrial disputes and political campaigns that affect me work-wise, I'm caught between my desire to uphold my principles and the need to just get through these next few years with as little hassle as possible.  Whilst there's no guarantee that my current job will continue to exist for the next five years, there's a pretty good chance it will, and even if it doesn't, they'll have to offer me some kind of redundancy package or redeploy me to similar work on the same pay scale.  Ideally, of course, I'd like to see out these five years, pay off my mortgage, then get offered a redundancy pay off!

Obviously, things are unlikely to work out so neatly, so I'll be happy to pay off the mortgage.  With my biggest monthly expense gone, I'll suddenly have options again.  Now, if I was sensible, I'd just keep working and save the money I would otherwise be paying out for my mortgage for my old age.  However, I'm sick of working.  I don't enjoy it, it doesn't stimulate me intellectually and, to be frank, it's pointless.  Whilst it is unlikely that, even without the mortgage to pay, I'd be able to afford to give up work completely and live on benefits, I love winding people up by telling them that this is my plan), I will have the option of working fewer hours, or trying to find a more satisfying job, even if it pays less.  Then there's the possibility of reactivating my plan to use my teaching qualification try doing some supply lecturing.  But what will I do with the time I hope to have on my hands in five years time?  Well, I could always go for that old stand-by of travelling, but as I've mentioned many times before, my wanderlust wore out many years ago.  No, I intend staying put and doing more of the things work stops me from doing: reading, tracking down and watching obscure films, writing, maybe doing a bit more film-making and podcasting.  And lots more.  Like I said, all I have to do is get through these next five years, and the promised land will be in sight!