Today has been a significant day for me. It’s the first day I have not been in gainful employment or education since, well the age of five really. I joined GEC Telecommunications in Coventry as a Software Engineer in August of 1979. Ever since then, I have always been in employment. All that time, I have been working in the tech sector (mainly doing interesting things with software).

At the age of sixty six and three quarters, I know now should be the time I unpack my laptop bag for the last time. I should settle down to make the best of my remaining four thousand weeks. These weeks should be unhindered by conference calls, early morning train travel, and the incessant noise of emails and messaging services. That may sound good for some, but to me it would be the sounding of my death knell.

As Robert Kennedy said:

Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged – will ultimately judge himself – on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.

Robert F. Kennedy, American Politician

I can’t think of a better way of describing how I see the world now and why I believe it is so important for everyone, whose brain is active and whose body is able, to carry on trying to contribute something to society.

Since leaving my longest term employer, IBM, in 2019 I have voraciously devoured books. Mainly nonfiction and mainly books on technology and how it impacts the world. Also a smattering of biographies as well as books on philosophy and economics and not forgetting some works of fiction which too, also help in understanding the way the world could be (or could have been).

Having spent so much time reading and taking on board other people’s thoughts, options and ideas I have decided it is now my turn to try and put into words my understanding of the world. I am hoping that one of the things freedom from employment will give me is time. Time to write. Time to photograph. Time to spend with my grand children whose life is just beginning and who must first be guided and then navigate themselves through tumultuous (but interesting) times.

This is hopefully the start of my new writing ‘career’ and the next chapter in my life.