When I was working I rarely ate breakfast. I would wake at about 0545 each morning, get up quickly and be at my home desk or commuting to an office by 0615. When I got to work I would get a black decaf coffee and clear my emails before most of my colleagues were around. I felt ahead of the day. My first meeting would usually be 0730 or 0800 and I would be back to back. I was lucky enough to have a PA in those days and she (it was always a “she”) would make sure one hour a day was “Pete time” and I got to walk around and see my team or think about things that had come up or I was planning. I would rarely have a proper lunch break but would grab a sandwich on the move.
Don’t feel sorry for me. I was pretty good at finishing work at 1700 Mon-Thu and 1630 on Friday. And except when there was a service incident, I would not work at all at the weekend. I really loved my work and the colleagues I worked with. How many people get to say that?
Six years into retirement, my life is now somewhat different. And it includes breakfast.
A typical day for me now starts at about 0645. I will wake and still get up quite quickly. If we are on the narrowboat I will take Lulu for a walk and get back to make Mandy her breakfast in bed at about 0800. She always has cheerios and coffee. If I am in a house it is more lazy and I don’t get Lulu up for a wee till 0730. Mandy typically has her breakfast at about 0830 and then I take Lulu for a walk before setting off on whatever adventure I have planned for the day. I will often have breakfast now which can be anything from a couple of slices of toast to the flinglish.
On Tuesday it was slightly earlier because my adventure was helping my two brothers in law to move a caravan in the Lake District. It is Andrew’s van and it has not moved for years so he was worried about bits falling off it. In the end everything ran smoothly with very little work for Steve or me, but Andrew still appreciated our help as “insurance” and offered us breakfast as a reward.
We went to a very trendy cafe in the lakes called “Born and Bread” and I chose the “Salt Beef Bene”. I love a good Eggs Benedict and this one was with huge slices of their home made salt beef, on home made sourdough toast and with home made mustard hollandaise over the poached eggs. And there was sauerkraut and gherkins. So it was somewhere between a Reuben sandwich and normal Benedict. That made it a touch strange for breakfast and the beef was certainly intensely salty. But I really enjoyed it.
Do I miss those long busy work days? I certainly often dream about them which must say something. But I have no desire to go back to that intensity, living on adrenaline. I prefer my more relaxed world. And I do like breakfast.
But salt beef first thing inn the morning is a bit of an acquired taste. Would you try it??
