Author Topic: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"  (Read 10833 times)

Nords

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"So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« on: June 07, 2014, 02:35:18 PM »
I'd post this in "Overheard at Work" but... I'm not working.  Really.

My spouse was outside this morning picking up around the yard.  Our next-door neighbor was washing her car and they started chatting.

Eventually our neighbor asked:
"So what kind of work is your husband doing now?"

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

There's been a nice south shore swell rolling through this week.  It took my spouse a few more paragraphs to explain that I like to paddle out right around sunrise because the waves are clean and the winds are calm.  Our neighbor hears me leave, but then she leaves for work before I get back from surfing.  I guess that's how she assumed I was commuting.

A few paragraphs later she mentioned that they had to call in a plumber and a contractor this week.  Three years ago they had two new toilets installed (by a different plumber), and the work apparently wasn't done very well.  For three years one toilet has been leaking around the wax seal and under the sheet vinyl flooring (on the concrete foundation).  The other toilet has been leaking from the wall shutoff valve-- a small stem leak of maybe one-two drops per minute.  For three years.  They only looked into it because the sheet vinyl flooring was peeling up in both bathrooms and the baseboard molding was starting to get... moldy.

So for the last week a plumber and a contractor have been essentially living at their house-- removing a toilet, removing the flooring and baseboard molding, drying out the room, putting down new sheet vinyl & baseboard molding, and reinstalling the toilet.  Once one bathroom was back in business they shifted to the other bathroom and repeated the process.  The plumber used thicker wax seals and groomed both isolation valves.

At the end of the conversation she said that their air conditioner had died last winter and they'd replaced it with a new unit.  It was relatively cool so they weren't running their A/C and it took them a while to have the new unit installed.  About a month into this, our local electric company actually sent an inspector out to their house because their electric bill dropped $200 that month-- HECO suspected them of stealing electricity.  We've lived next door for 14 years and have never used more than ceiling fans (and the tradewinds) to cool our house, but I guess they like their interior a little cooler.  Their "normal" electric bill is over $300/month. 

I think they're going to be working for a very long time.

greenmimama

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2014, 03:37:52 PM »
Love it "dawn Patrol" I never heard the term but could easily guess what it meant from the picture in your avatar :)

My DH loves the same but in a different sport, first runs on ski hills :)

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2014, 02:08:52 PM »
I whitewater kayak instead of surf, but I always associated "Dawn Patrol" with "I'm trying to get a run in before work." Often if I wanted 2 runs in a day, I'd do a dawn patrol run and then and "after-work" run. I never thought that I'd have an incentive to do them once I had retired too!

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2014, 02:35:07 PM »

Great story!  I very much look forward to that kind of work.  Today I got in to work early to receive an angry rant email that I have spent the rest of the day dealing with.

Jamesqf

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2014, 04:56:30 PM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

warfreak2

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2014, 05:00:59 PM »
Well, in the UK we like to wake up at about 3AM, and if you go even further East you'll find people who wake up at 11PM the previous day, or even earlier. The trick is to set your clock wrong so that you think it's 10AM.

frugalecon

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2014, 06:00:03 PM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

Though there may be the chance of naps..

HappierAtHome

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #7 on: June 09, 2014, 06:15:22 PM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

Though there may be the chance of naps..

When I FIRE I'm totally getting up early to do fun stuff, then napping in the afternoon. Makes perfect sense to me.

Nords

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #8 on: June 09, 2014, 06:22:38 PM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

Though there may be the chance of naps..

When I FIRE I'm totally getting up early to do fun stuff, then napping in the afternoon. Makes perfect sense to me.
Those who have surfed at dawn, with no wind and glassy seas between perfectly-formed sets, and nobody else on the waves, can understand why someone would get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day.  If I had ever found a job like that then perhaps I'd still be getting a paycheck.  Now that I can surf like that, I don't care about a paycheck.

Those who can't get up at any hour to go surfing on any day, let alone every damn day (whether they're still employed or long retired), are not surfers.

When the rest of the dawn patrol crowd straggles in I'd say about a third of us are retired, a third of us are "temporarily unemployed", and the other third are getting in some quick sets before/after work.

I've been teaching people to surf for 12 years, and I'd say that only about 10% of them are really interested in surfing.  But when it grabs them, it grabs them hard.

Hedge_87

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #9 on: June 09, 2014, 07:22:33 PM »
Quote
     When I FIRE I'm totally getting up early to do fun stuff, then napping in the afternoon. Makes perfect sense to me.   

Me too! I already get up at 4:30-5:00 am because I workout, do dishes, laundry, make a bad ass breakfast every morning, and if time allows ride my bike around while the sun is coming up. I always feel like taking an hour nap after lunch. But my boss would frown upon that. If everything goes as planned, in a few years I can tell my boss "fu I want to take a nap after lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in the lake!"

CarDude

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #10 on: June 09, 2014, 09:20:40 PM »
Hah, I like it. FIRE to me means staying up until 3 AM because I feel like it sometimes. :D

HappierAtHome

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2014, 09:50:50 PM »
Hah, I like it. FIRE to me means staying up until 3 AM because I feel like it sometimes. :D

I plan to stay up until 3am occassionally too :-P preferably not on the same days that I get up at 5.30am, though.

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2014, 11:41:23 PM »
Here in Huntington the wind kicks up about 10-11 and keeps going all day... We have no choice but to get out early.     I'm happy surfing is hard to learn and requires dedication ...more waves for me!   Probably why there tends to be a small amount of elitism in all us surfers. ;)

I will have no problem keeping busy when I retire  :)

I'm jealous of the OP though....to surf Threes every morning would be super duper 👍

Then have the the other side of the island in the winters.....gawd !!!
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 12:00:56 AM by surfhb »

Jamesqf

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2014, 12:41:38 AM »
Well, in the UK we like to wake up at about 3AM, and if you go even further East you'll find people who wake up at 11PM the previous day, or even earlier. The trick is to set your clock wrong so that you think it's 10AM.

What's the clock have to do with anything?  Surely that's one of the better things about being retired, or working for yourself: you follow the sun and your body clock.


Those who have surfed at dawn, with no wind and glassy seas between perfectly-formed sets, and nobody else on the waves, can understand why someone would get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day.

I think you missed my point.  It's not that surfing wouldn't be good at that hour, it's the idea that surfing - or doing any particular thing, whether it's skiing, hiking, riding the bike or horse, or whatever you enjoy - would seem very like a job if I had to do it every single day.

Splashncash

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2014, 12:44:30 AM »
Great post, Nords.  We did an all-family surf yesterday on the windward side.  Good small ones for our little guys.

My personal dawn patrol is swimming the buoys with our sunrise swim group.  Love it!

surfhb

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2014, 01:11:24 AM »
Well, in the UK we like to wake up at about 3AM, and if you go even further East you'll find people who wake up at 11PM the previous day, or even earlier. The trick is to set your clock wrong so that you think it's 10AM.

What's the clock have to do with anything?  Surely that's one of the better things about being retired, or working for yourself: you follow the sun and your body clock.


Those who have surfed at dawn, with no wind and glassy seas between perfectly-formed sets, and nobody else on the waves, can understand why someone would get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day.

I think you missed my point.  It's not that surfing wouldn't be good at that hour, it's the idea that surfing - or doing any particular thing, whether it's skiing, hiking, riding the bike or horse, or whatever you enjoy - would seem very like a job if I had to do it every single day.

Haha.   Obviously you don't surf!   :).   Once you get the surfing bug it becomes a necessity....a way of life.    When my body won't allow me to surf anymore It will be a sad day indeed.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 01:32:02 AM by surfhb »

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #16 on: June 10, 2014, 06:35:07 AM »
I love this story. I hope to find something that I love to do as much as you love surfing!

I once woke up early in Montreal and went for a walk around 4:30 am... It was glorious. No one around. Solitude is so peaceful sometimes.

dude

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #17 on: June 10, 2014, 07:51:06 AM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

Though there may be the chance of naps..

When I FIRE I'm totally getting up early to do fun stuff, then napping in the afternoon. Makes perfect sense to me.
Those who have surfed at dawn, with no wind and glassy seas between perfectly-formed sets, and nobody else on the waves, can understand why someone would get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day.  If I had ever found a job like that then perhaps I'd still be getting a paycheck.  Now that I can surf like that, I don't care about a paycheck.

Those who can't get up at any hour to go surfing on any day, let alone every damn day (whether they're still employed or long retired), are not surfers.

When the rest of the dawn patrol crowd straggles in I'd say about a third of us are retired, a third of us are "temporarily unemployed", and the other third are getting in some quick sets before/after work.

I've been teaching people to surf for 12 years, and I'd say that only about 10% of them are really interested in surfing.  But when it grabs them, it grabs them hard.

THIS.  When I was in the Navy back in the mid-80's, in San Diego, living in OB, a couple frends and I would do regular dawn patrols before going to class (A School and later C School).  Many times, we wouldn't even shower before class to get the salt water off!  One of the most sublime moments I ever had in my life was when I was sitting on my board, waiting on a set, staring toward shore at the palm trees backlit by the orange sky, when I suddenly heard an exhalation of air a few feet from me -- I looked to see a large seal looking straight at me.  We exchanged looks and a moment later he calmly slid beneath the surface and swam off, popping up one more time about 20 yards away to look back at me once more before disappearing.  Spiritual is the only way I can describe it.

dude

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #18 on: June 10, 2014, 07:54:37 AM »
By the way, Nords, have you ever checked out the Retired Surfers Fraternity?

http://www.retiredsurfersfraternity.com/

They have a Chapter in Kauai.

Nords

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #19 on: June 10, 2014, 10:02:21 AM »
When my body won't allow me to surf anymore It will be a sad day indeed.
Standup paddleboarding, followed by kayaking or a surf ski...

I watch guys who are at least in their 70s (maybe 80s) wearing knee braces or paddling on their knees (because they can't get up from prone very fast).  They're also still nailing off-the-lip cutbacks or turning vertical on longboards.  Humbling. 

By the way, Nords, have you ever checked out the Retired Surfers Fraternity?

http://www.retiredsurfersfraternity.com/

They have a Chapter in Kauai.
I love it. 

My favorite break, White Plains Beach, used to be part of Naval Air Station Barbers Point.  The beach has a chain-link fence running across its eastern side to separate the former military property from public land.  The core group of surfers there gather about 100 yards off that fenceline, so of course everyone has bumper stickers and t-shirts for "Team Fenceline Crew". 

One regular works nights and paddles out almost every dawn (as in, 360+ days/year) for a couple hours.  Another guy, "Uncle Bob", does a weekday dawn patrol surf report on his iPhone and uploads it to a local surf photographer's website:  http://www.surfshooterhawaii.com/mogulus/UncleBob-Large-Channel.html 

Great post, Nords.  We did an all-family surf yesterday on the windward side.  Good small ones for our little guys.
It's great to hear that they're surfing, Anner-- and now they'll never want to leave the islands!

brewer12345

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2014, 11:26:32 AM »

Spouse:  "Work?  He's been retired for 12 years."
Neighbor:  "Oh.  But I've heard his car pulling out of the garage almost every morning this week at 5:30 AM..."
Spouse:  "That's not work, he's been going to dawn patrol!"
Neighbor:  "Dawn patrol?  What kind of job is that?"
Spouse:  "No, it's not a job, he's going surfing!"

Humm...  Though if you get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day, isn't it an awful lot like work?  Except no paycheck :-)

Though there may be the chance of naps..

When I FIRE I'm totally getting up early to do fun stuff, then napping in the afternoon. Makes perfect sense to me.
Those who have surfed at dawn, with no wind and glassy seas between perfectly-formed sets, and nobody else on the waves, can understand why someone would get up at that hour to go surfing every damn day.  If I had ever found a job like that then perhaps I'd still be getting a paycheck.  Now that I can surf like that, I don't care about a paycheck.

Those who can't get up at any hour to go surfing on any day, let alone every damn day (whether they're still employed or long retired), are not surfers.

When the rest of the dawn patrol crowd straggles in I'd say about a third of us are retired, a third of us are "temporarily unemployed", and the other third are getting in some quick sets before/after work.

I've been teaching people to surf for 12 years, and I'd say that only about 10% of them are really interested in surfing.  But when it grabs them, it grabs them hard.

Heh, yep.  One of the reasons I will be absolutely thrilled to be out of the cube come October is that I will be able to roll out of bed at 5 so I can be in the woods at dawn to wait for the squirrels and rabbits to wake up and come stumbling out into the dawn light.

GuitarStv

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2014, 11:30:43 AM »
Driving there?  Is your bike in the shop?   :P




Nords

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2014, 11:35:30 AM »
Driving there?  Is your bike in the shop?   :P
Yeah, I'll get right on that:

Jamesqf

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2014, 11:52:47 AM »
Heh, yep.  One of the reasons I will be absolutely thrilled to be out of the cube come October is that I will be able to roll out of bed at 5 so I can be in the woods at dawn to wait for the squirrels and rabbits to wake up and come stumbling out into the dawn light.

Which is nice to do once in a while.  (Unfortunately, the limitations of my body mean that I can really enjoy it only when jet-lagged from a trip to Europe.)  But doing anything day after day after day...  For me, that would just be such a drag.

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2014, 12:26:00 PM »
The only reason I get out of bed at 6:30am is because I have to be at work at 7 (so I can leave at 4).  Too bad it takes me half an hour to get ready for work and another half hour to commute...  I hope no one is paying attention at the office.

I could get into a midnight patrol, I have no problem staying up late.  Still hoping a vampire bites me.

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2014, 02:09:31 PM »
Which is nice to do once in a while.  (Unfortunately, the limitations of my body mean that I can really enjoy it only when jet-lagged from a trip to Europe.)  But doing anything day after day after day...  For me, that would just be such a drag.

I assume that you eat, sleep, wear clothes, breathe everyday. Does that feel like a job to you?

When you want/need to surf as much as you need to breathe, it ain't a job no mo'.

Awesome story Nord. You make me want to move to your part of the world.

Nords

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2014, 02:28:49 PM »
Which is nice to do once in a while.  (Unfortunately, the limitations of my body mean that I can really enjoy it only when jet-lagged from a trip to Europe.)  But doing anything day after day after day...  For me, that would just be such a drag.

I assume that you eat, sleep, wear clothes, breathe everyday. Does that feel like a job to you?

When you want/need to surf as much as you need to breathe, it ain't a job no mo'.

Awesome story Nord. You make me want to move to your part of the world.
Exactly, Guses.  There's always another wave, it's always different, and I probably could have surfed it better.

Living here has ruined my interest in places that have surf colder than 68 degrees or smaller than two feet...

GuitarStv

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #27 on: June 13, 2014, 03:13:39 PM »
Driving there?  Is your bike in the shop?   :P
Yeah, I'll get right on that:

That's pretty awesome!  Dude's back tire is flat though, and I wonder how much wind that board would catch.

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #28 on: June 13, 2014, 05:25:09 PM »
Great thread! Very jealousy inducing (my favorite kind of thread :-)!). I'm a dawn patroller too but get up early to run, bike and then to play beach volleyball. After I run at the park,  I bike along the bike path at the beach before playing VB. I like to watch the long boarders on the north end on the long slow waves (all with "Old Guys Rule" bumper stickers on the back of their VW vans) and bike to the south end to watch the...er...short boards take the larger faster waves. Very fun to watch just as the sunrises.  Get home in time to eat (and then eat some more), take a nap, and then yap a bit online before taking the dog to the park. I think most of my neighbors believe I work in the early mornings but no one has asked yet.  Damn retirement rocks!
« Last Edit: June 13, 2014, 05:28:31 PM by Spartana »

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #29 on: June 13, 2014, 05:38:35 PM »

 I think you missed my point.  It's not that surfing wouldn't be good at that hour, it's the idea that surfing - or doing any particular thing, whether it's skiing, hiking, riding the bike or horse, or whatever you enjoy - would seem very like a job if I had to do it every single day.
Nope! I've been retired at least as long as Nords has been and everyday is like a vacation day - even if you do the exact same thing as you did the day before. Definetly NOT like a job at all.

brewer12345

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Re: "So what kind of work is your spouse doing now?"
« Reply #30 on: June 13, 2014, 06:06:02 PM »

 I think you missed my point.  It's not that surfing wouldn't be good at that hour, it's the idea that surfing - or doing any particular thing, whether it's skiing, hiking, riding the bike or horse, or whatever you enjoy - would seem very like a job if I had to do it every single day.
Nope! I've been retired at least as long as Nords has been and everyday is like a vacation day - even if you do the exact same thing as you did the day before. Definetly NOT like a job at all.

A key difference in my mind is that you don't HAVE to do the same thing every day, unlike with a job.  If I feel like getting up at the crack of dawn to go fishing or whatever, I can.  If I get tired after a few days of that, I can plop my ass in the hammock with a big mug of coffee/beer/whiskey/a spliff and take a day off.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!