U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2023
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Precious Objects'
      • 'Failure'
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact
  • Trish's Page

'Running with Scissors' (2)  'Risk'

21/11/2016

0 Comments

 
The bar was deserted when he entered – just the bar tender cleaning the bar.  Not that it needed cleaning; he just needed something to do.  He wore a name tag saying his name was John and he was the owner.

John watched the stranger as he looked around.  He looked tired, but also apprehensive.  After a few minutes, the stranger approached the bar.  John was a little suspicious, but also a little curious.  He started the conversation, even though it felt a little reckless.

"You look like you need a break.  How far have you come?"

The stranger responded hesitantly at first "I have been driving for around four hours, most of it in heavy rain.  It only eased off over the last thirty minutes."  He was also being cautious, as if he was feeling vulnerable, reckless.

While he was talking, the stranger kept looking around, mostly towards the door.  John’s concern was growing, rather than reducing.  The stranger was obviously concerned that someone might find him.  Who was taking a risk here – John in accepting the stranger in this isolated pub, or the stranger stopping at the pub.

After some further conversation about the weather, and when no-one else turned up, the stranger started to relax.  John was still a little concerned about what the stranger was hiding from, but he was not young and did not look dangerous.  Eventually John decided to offer him some food - he looked like he needed it.  It was not normal to open the restaurant part of the pub if there were no customers, but his wife was pottering around in the kitchen any.  He also warned his wife to act quickly if necessary.  So, the stranger sat down, still at the bar, for some hot soup and bread.  John kept his eye on the door, the stranger, and where his phone was in case he needed to act quickly.

After eating, the stranger finally relaxed totally, sighed, and made the surprising statement "I have escaped!"

At John's concerned look, he explained "I have had enough of my children trying to mother me.  I am quite capable of looking after myself, but they are always hanging around as if I was a child.  How they thought their mother and I managed without them I don't know.  But once she has been gone, they decided I could not look after myself.  I have decided to take a holiday on my own without telling them.  I had to leave without them seeing, and needed to make sure I got far enough away they could not find me."

John laughed with the stranger and called his wife out.  They all sat around talking, becoming friends.  Since the pub had accommodation, the stranger stayed the night.  He went on his way the following morning much more relaxed - and with no rain to contend with.

Every year at about the same time, the stranger returned to the pub, spending a day or two with his new friends before going who knew where.  John and his wife never met the stranger's children, but saw many photos of grandchildren and shared stories of their own growing family.

The life of a publican in a country area of Australia meant meeting so many different people and making many interesting friends.  Taking a risk in accepting the stranger had worked out after all, and he had become a regular customer.  You cannot know what life will bring, but sometimes taking a risk brings great rewards.


Joy Shirley
​November 2016
0 Comments

'Running with Scissors' (1)

21/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Maybe it was not all that dangerous, but it felt like a huge risk at the time.

Things were a little uneasy at work, and rumours were flying around.  Redundancies were thought to be likely.

It was Friday afternoon preceding a long weekend that there was a message on my phone when I returned from one of the many meetings my job entailed.  It was not from someone I knew well, but it was someone I knew.  He was not actually from Human Resources, but it was a related area if I remember correctly.  It was too late to return the call, so that had to wait until Tuesday morning.

My husband worked in the same department, but in a very different area.  That evening when we got home he confirmed that he had received a call from the same officer, and he had in fact been asked if he would consider taking a voluntary redundancy.  So, the time had come!

We spent the weekend trying to work out the financial implications.  It would mean retirement for both of us – Tim was already 60 and I was only a few months short.  The chances of getting work in the IT industry in management level roles at our ages was not high – and we were far past getting jobs at a technical level.

What would the redundancy payout be?  What should we do with the payout to provide an income that would last?  Was this even possible?  What would be the level of the Superannuation income?  And so on – the weekend was spent in front of the computer trying to work out whether this was too great a risk.  And it was a three-day weekend so more time to ponder and worry.

Tuesday morning came at last, and I made the call.  Yes, I would consider the offer.  Help – was I right to do this?  I cannot remember the full process, but I think there was some early information about the amount of the payout, including outstanding leave and long service leave before the final decision had to be made.  It looked OK.  And they paid for us to receive advice from a financial planner – they got it cheaply of course because we had to do it as a package – two for the price of one.  No sense in doing it separately as we were both taking the redundancy.
 
Still it felt full of risk.  Could we live on the income streams that we would be receiving?

Well, of course it all worked out perfectly – as far as the financial side was concerned.  No need to have worried at all.  We have even managed some overseas holidays, travelling at business class level, and not backpacker costs.
​
There was another sticky point though.  Should we move to Benalla?  What would that mean financially and socially?  And so, taking a deep breath made those plans as well.  Maybe you have an idea how that is working out for us!!!!

​
Joy Shirley,
​November 2016
0 Comments
    'Our Stories'

    Joy's page

    Picture

    Topics

    All
    'Advice'
    'A Love Letter To Travel'
    'An Event That Changed My Life'
    'A Scary Moment'
    'A Turning Point'
    'Bucket List'
    'Bush Fires In Lorne'
    'Covid Moment(s)'
    Creative Writing
    'Curved Ball'
    'Endings'
    'Entrance Memories'
    'Failure'
    'Faking It'
    'Family Traditions'
    'Family Trait ' #2
    'Family Traits' #1
    Festival Hall
    'Fiesta Of Festivities'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'Found'
    Gliding
    'Good Vibrations'
    'I Broke It'
    "I Can Do This"
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only'
    'I Grew Up In...'
    'I Put My Hand In My Pocket'
    'I Was There'
    'I Was There:Eyjafjallajökull
    'I Was There: Melbourne Olympics
    'I Was There: Royal Albert Hall'
    'Lost In Music'
    'Making Waves'
    'Marriage...?'
    'My Mother's Tea Set'
    'My Other Life'
    'New In Town'
    'New In Town - Benalla'
    'Odd One Out'
    'One Moment
    One Moment (or Two)
    'On The Job'
    'Out Of The Blue'
    'Renovations'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    Roy Bailey
    'Running With Scissors'
    'Scotland'
    'Someone Who Shaped Me'
    'Stock And Land'
    'Taking A Risk'
    'The Ghost'
    'The Sky Is The Limit!'
    'The Unexplained'
    This (Writing) Life
    This Year (2020)'
    'Time'
    Travel Tale - Christchurch'
    'Travel Tales'
    "Travel Tales'
    'Travel Tales: 1950s'
    'Travel Tales: Noosa 2017'
    Triggers
    'Triggers'
    'U-Turn'
    'What I Was Wearing'
    'Winging It'

    Archives

    September 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria