Retirement: A little of this. A little of that. And then some.

Believe it or not, I have been retired from my newspaper career for nearly eight years. It seems like yesterday ... .

In those eight years, I have made a new career of sticking to my retirement mantra, which is a response to the question I'm often asked: "What are you doing, now that you're retired?" Answer/mantra: Whatever I want.

I'm proud to say I have a pretty good record of doing whatever I want.

For example, I don't necessarily want to see the dentist twice a year, but I do it to keep my teeth from falling out. And -- and this is really important -- I do it when I want to, which is pretty much the same thing as doing whatever I want.

As it turns out, I don't have a whole lot of things I want to do, so I am able, which some planning and effort, to schedule those things I want to do over a generous period of time. I think doing one thing a day, with weekends off, is a sensible retirement schedule.

Having said all of that, let me ask you something: Have you ever heard of a perfect storm?

That's what is happening this week as all those things I want to do have ganged up on the calendar. They all have "July" attached to them. How did this happen?

As a result, over two days at the start of this week I had to (1) have the oil changed in the car, (2) visit the dentist to keep an appointment I have no recollection of scheduling six months ago, (3) take my eyes to the optometrist for their annual checkup, (4) get my hair cut, (5) volunteer at my church's food pantry, (6) make a special trip to our favorite vegetable stand to get real tomatoes, (7) deliver Missy Kitty to the vet for her annual checkup (all is well), (8) fill the finch feeder that has been ignored since the spring breeding/migration season, (9) replace the suet block for several varieties of picky feathered friends, (10) replace the flowering plants in the two tall urns on the front porch, (11) write this column, and (12) check (as we often do) on several major construction projects around town that, I'm convinced, would never get finished without our personal eyeballing.

Folks, that's not a leisurely retirement. But, I can honestly say, I only did what I wanted to do.

I've known over the years some ambitious, energetic, well-meaning individuals who looked at retirement as an opportunity to do Really Big Things they didn't have time or stamina to do while they earned a living and put away a bit fore their golden years. I salute them, but they are obviously not members of the Whatever I Want to Do Club. When you set about, in your retirement, to save the world, you can't stick to a hit-and-miss schedule. You have to buck up and deliver. All the time. Even when you don't want to. When you would rather be having the oil changed in your car.

Or taking a cat to the vet. I don't know a single retired person who is engaged in a second career who has time to load up a cat in a carrier and listen to its prehistoric guttural yowling.

I don't mind. I only do it when I want to. Or when the vet's office calls to remind me of the appointment I made a year ago. Don't you remember?

So this is retirement. My aim is to do whatever I please. I can't say I'm hitting all bull's-eyes.

Yet.

But I'm working on it whenever I want.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.