You know the old joke about when you wait at the bus stop for an hour for one bus and then three all turn up at the same time? Well, my life seems to be a bit like that at the moment. Let me explain.
It is said that the most important thing you need to do when you retire from the full-time workforce is to keep busy. Studies have shown that failure to do so can dramatically shorten life expectancy so it was always my intention to not only do the things that I WAS doing but also seek out a hobby or a pastime that would keep me busy. I hate just sitting around.
It appears, however, that I have been rather more successful than what I planned as the following should show. It might also show why I have been rather sporadic in updating my blog.
Before I retired I was an administrator on my local motorcycle forum, a relatively undemanding job. However, the influx of other social media platforms meant that it was decided that we should also have a Facebook site and you-know-who ended up creating and maintaining that arm of our club. It is by no means an arduous task but nevertheless one that has to be done.
Between staying on top of what is happening on the forum and administering the Facebook site, I am keeping pretty busy.
For many years I have been the announcer/commentator at Nowra Speedway and, for the most part, this has simply involved turning up and blathering. BUT, the off-season saw the appointment of a new committee who were determined, amongst other things, to drag the track into the 21st Century, media-wise. The existing web site, though well-designed, was woefully out of date and while a start had been made on a Facebook presence, it was just in its infancy.
When it became known that I had experience in both of these areas, I was asked if I would be able to take on both the web site and become an admin on the FB site. Renovating the web site was a massive operation, made even more so by having to learn a new software package which had been used to create it. Joomla, I believe, it is called and, compared to working with WordPress, it’s like working the second shovel on the third furnace. It took quite some time to gather the new updated speedway information and put it in the right spot. However, we did get it done and we now have an up-to-date web site that is (relatively) easy to update and maintain.
The Facebook site was fairly quiet mainly due to the fact that the speedway season had not started yet, but, once November rolled around, it suddenly took off. What had been a quiet little backwater suddenly got really busy. The updating of the web site brought the fans out of the woodwork and both it and the Facebbok site began to be deluged with enquiries about upcoming meetings, spectator admission prices and a myriad of other issues. Members of the club committee and myself now find ourselves spending larger amounts of time on the site, responding to requests, answering questions and updating information. During the Summer season, the track runs a meeting each fortnight so there is quite a lot of information that needs to be added in both areas to keep our constituency informed and happy. Thankfully, our feedback indicates that we are doing both.
Not being a journalist by trade has not prevented me from being involved in journalistic endeavours and I found myself some years ago inheriting the task of writing the programme liner for each meeting. This season that has grown into being media officer for the club. I write a Press Release before each meeting which is distributed to all the local media and then I do a race report after the meeting that is, again, distributed to the local and the speedway media. This week the role has grown again with radio interviews concerning the meeting this weekend becoming necessary as well.
I make it a point of arriving at the track a few hours before racing is due to start so that I can spend time talking to drivers, getting the inside “skinny” and having something intelligent to say when I actually get on the microphone. Though I am not a member of the club committee, I am asked to attend their meetings to brief them on what is happening in the digital world of the speedway. So, do my speedway duties keep me busy? Yes, they do.
At present we have a house full at home with my daughter, her husband and their three boys sharing our house while they look for a house in which to live. Does that mean home life is pretty busy? Yes, it does.
I became a member of my local Mens’ Shed but I have not been able to attend of late because of the other things that are taking up my time. I must fix this.
You may have noticed that I have not mentioned riding. That is because, with all the other things I am doing, there hasn’t been much of it (not that the weather this week would have allowed for it anyway). Nor have I mentioned the Minibago. It, too, is sitting in the driveway having not been taken on a camping trip for a couple of months.
Am I complaining about my busy life? Heck, no. I love it.