{"id":1076,"date":"2026-02-23T08:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/?p=1076"},"modified":"2026-02-23T08:25:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:25:30","slug":"back-from-the-shadows-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/2026\/02\/23\/back-from-the-shadows-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Back From The Shadows Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The title of this piece is a nod to one of my favorite comedy troupes of the 1970s, the Firesign Theatre<\/a>.\u00a0 It’s a ditty that opens up “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus” from 1971.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Album cover for “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus” by the Firesign Theatre (1971)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sung by The Whisperin’ Squash<\/em>, it goes<\/p>\n

Back from the shadows again!<\/p>\n

Out where an In-jun’s your friend!<\/p>\n

Where the veg’tables are green,<\/p>\n

And you can pee into the stream!<\/p>\n

Yes, we’re back from the Shadows again!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fans (and there are many) know this quirky tune by heart.\u00a0 In a way, it’s a signature of the group, and identifies the singer as one of them.<\/p>\n

But this post is not about things Firesign.\u00a0 It’s about me re-surfacing from the world of retirement.\u00a0 Since I was scammed out of the bulk of my retirement savings, I felt it necessary to return to the work world to supplement my income.\u00a0 So beginning on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, I will once again become a part-time associate of the running store I worked at before COVID struck.<\/p>\n

Potomac River Running has been renamed PR Run and Walk<\/a>, and it suits me well, as running has all but been eliminated in my life as back and leg issues have crept up on me as I’ve aged.\u00a0 So, while I may not be a poster child for running, I can certainly advise customers on the benefits of proper footwear, nutrition, hydration and exercise!<\/p>\n

It would be disingenuous of me to claim that I was 100% enthused about this turn of events.\u00a0 Part of me is disappointed that my casual retirement life has been disrupted, but the other part thinks that I truly enjoyed the work before COVID halted it, and I’m glad they’ve taken me back.<\/p>\n

There’s not a lot of responsibility that goes with the job other than showing up on time.\u00a0 I was given some responsibility before, with a key to open the store, running the opening and closing procedures, and helping more junior employees learn the ropes.\u00a0 The lack of responsibility actually comforts me, as I need only approach the job with the idea of customer satisfaction as the goal.<\/p>\n

Thus begins a new chapter in my life.\u00a0 I have no ambition to climb the corporate ladder (and in this company, it’s more of a corporate footstool), and I don’t have a primary job where I carried specific responsibilities.\u00a0 The upside is that I will get out of the house more, have more personal interactions, and earn a minimum-wage retail paycheck.\u00a0 It’s enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The title of this piece is a nod to one of my favorite comedy troupes of the 1970s, the Firesign Theatre.\u00a0 It’s a ditty that opens up “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus” from 1971. Sung by The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-running"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1076"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1079,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}