The End of August

I suppose that I should be writing some eulogy to the Summer gone by, this being the last day of August. Sadly, though, this hasn't been a vintage August - as soon as I took time off, the weather turned and for much of the month it felt more like Autumn than Summer.  Besides, today has greater significance for me - this is the last day that I'm getting paid by my usual employer as, tomorrow, my six month 'career break' starts.  So I might not be getting another pay packet until next February.  That said, not only are my finances extremely healthy - more than enough in the bank to see me through several years without work if necessary - but there is the prospect, as the autumn progresses, that I might be able to pick up some supply teaching work.  Moreover, I'll be looking into some other possibilities for part-time work - that's what this break is all about: exploring alternative opportunities for work.  I've already got my CV with a few agencies, but the problem is that the jobs they are sending me are all linked to my current work - which is precisely what I'm trying to get away with.  Some tweaking of my profiles is clearly in order.

In the meantime, the immediate problem facing me is what I'm going to do with my time.  It has gradually been dawning on me that I have prospect of great swathes of free time ahead of me, but I've not actually made any firm plans as to how I'm going to fill it.  It hasn't seemed quite real up to now.  But here I am, for the first time in decades, a free agent, my time entirely my own.  The fact is that, usually, at this time of year, I'm still on holiday, so that's how I'll be treating this week - like my usual last week off before the long haul to Christmas at work.  After that, well, apart from exploring employment opportunities, there's work I have to do on the house, (which I actually made a start on yesterday), there's the model railway, various films i need to write up here, maybe  catching up with friend and family I haven't seen since lockdown kicked off and several new projects which are beginning to form at the back of my mind.  You know, the sort of stuff I've thought about doing in the past, but have never had the time.  So, there you are _ I'm standing on the verge of a brave new world.