HI, You two,

Ah retirement and free time - a two-edged sword. As a member of the retired ones for over twenty years (wow - that long!) I struggled with the problem of what to do with all that time. Loafing is definitely part of the answer. I am not you, so your answer will be different from mine, just from reading your posts, I think both of you will do a better job of retirement than I am. My mother-in-law was an ace at retirement. She did a lot of volunteer work, loved her family, painted and had an art studio, ran a bookstore, loafed, and took the trips she'd always wanted to take. (the painting and bookstore were not simultaneous.)

Me - I finished everything on my to-do list. I'm about a quarter of the way into publishing my book (not counting the cover, which my friend has to help me with. ) I changed the part with the bats from impossible to unlikely. A few people will know it's unlikely, and most of them are my internet friends to whom I've shared my problems. There is also the possibility that I'll end up with fifty readers. So no reason to worry about it. I do like to get everything right.
My shoulder is better, and I made a start on my housekeeping, but I put off a lot of housekeeping chores in favor of publishing and nursing the shoulder.

I hope you're done being depressed, SPG. If not, l'll just say you have company. Maybe a long walk today . . . I think if I get the writing part of publishing done, I'll cheer up. And then I'll try to not call my friend over and over asking when she can work on the cover. (She can't do it until I finish the writing part because she needs to know the exact thickness of the spine in order to know the exact size of the finished cover.

Good wishes to all of us.