Retirement.
Sometimes it’s a permanent thing and other times it’s, well, temporary. For me,
as a retired State Department employee, it’s an on again, off again thing. When I retired in 2014, I signed on to be
called for temporary duty assignments worldwide. In 2015, I spent a week in Singapore, in 2016
I was in Brunei for 4½ months, and now I’m in Kuala Lumpur, commonly called KL,
for 1½ months. I do enjoy the travel,
meeting new people, using my skills again and earning a bit of cash.
Kuala Lumpur
is the capital of Malaysia as well as the country’s largest city. The weather
here is that of a tropical rain forest climate from March to October. It rains
nearly every day so you always have your umbrella with you. Temperatures year
round are pretty constant, 75-90 degrees. The city is very lush with plenty of
green space and modern architecture.
Last weekend
I went to the Central Market. I’ve been to many market places around the world
and this one was as fun as any other I’ve visited. It was quite calm compared to Istanbul or
Muscat, where you hear a constant chatter from vendors and the smells of food,
incense and who knows what fill the air. This market had wonderful shops and at
times, I felt I was back in Muscat!
Last night I
had dinner with a co-worker at an open air restaurant, Fuego, with a spectacular
view of the city skyline. It was cloudy so we missed a great sunset but the
surrounding buildings provided a beautiful blend of colorful lights that more
than made up for the lack of a golden sunset. The Petronas Twin Towers were lit
up like diamonds, as was the space needle-like building. It had jewel tone
colors changing every few seconds. Unfortunately,
we could only see one of the Petronas Towers because there’s another very tall
building under construction, blocking its twin.
The food was delicious, the company perfect and the views
spectacular. It was the first time I’ve
had a margarita with no ice, a grilled lemon slice as garnish and served in a
martini glass. But it was tasty.
Unlike
Brunei last year where I lived in a very large house, while in KL, I’m living
in a hotel room with a kitchenette. It’s
quite comfortable and I am able to do some cooking on the 2 burner cook top and
the microwave. Fortunately, there is a restaurant and the food is pretty good…and
quite cheap. I can get a great teriyaki
chicken breast, roasted potatoes and a salad for about $9.00US. Not bad at
all. Last week, at about 9:00 pm, the
fire alarm went off in the hotel. It was an alarm like none I’ve ever heard…sounded
like a very loud motor with the noise rising and falling. It turns out there
was no fire. Someone was frying something in their kitchenette and didn’t turn
on the overhead fan and the smoke set off the alarm. The last time something like that happened, I
was in Karachi. Someone in the apartment building started frying bacon and then
decided to take a shower. The bacon
burned, smoked like crazy and set off the fire alarm. The entire building was evacuated into the
very hot sun outside. Marines were in full gear and no one knew what was
happening…just that we had to get out of the building fast. Not a fun experience, especially in Pakistan! I doubt that person will every leave the
frying pan while cooking bacon again.
As much as I
enjoy these infrequent working trips and travel opportunities, I do think I’ll
make retirement permanent when I get home. I love the travel, the money and the
opportunity to see things I wouldn’t otherwise see, but I love being retired
even more. I love that every day is Saturday.
I love doing whatever I want, whenever I want. I have enough airline miles to travel to
Europe if I want or make several trips to Oregon to spend time with my 3
grandsons. Life is too short and at my
age, I need to be enjoying it every day.
I’ve earned it.
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