I’ve worked for the same company since I was 17 years old. As a school kid, then a student. I graduated with a B.Eng (hons) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering. Still, I stayed with them, as a graduate trainee. I moved to Kent, Surrey, then London, Glasgow, Fraserburgh (lol), Aberdeen and finally, Westhill in Aberdeenshire.
Well today it ended. My last week at work hadn’t been a wind down, with a major refit taking place, one that didn’t go as planned, but they never do. A couple of early starts to march the foreman around moved things forward.
I planned an early exit for my last day, with a SOTA on the way home. It would be the perfect start to my retirement.
this was left on my desk
The weather (and Mo) had other ideas. Strong winds, heavy rain and the planned early arrival of my sister and brother-in-law for a weekend of 
, 
& 
. Plans to climb Pressendye turned into plans to climb Pressendye earlier and via a shorter route. This realistically turned into an ascent of the local favourite quickie - Craiglich GM/ES-062, a mere 20 minute hike from the top of The Slack, the long climb out of Tarland that summits at 270m. Craiglich is only a 206m climb from there.
I left work at 1230, full of pizza, cake and tea. 30 minutes later I stopped. It was peeing down. Horizontally. Off came the light down, and my work jersey. On went the waterproof. I was in Jack Wolfskin jeans and trainers. I was about to discover that the jeans had long lost their DWR coating. It was a mild day. 8°C.
parking
I crossed the road, jumped the fence and then squelched up the track, my new goretex trainers proving inadequate in the conditions.
A narrow path through short heather, sharp left up a bank through a break in the trees and then out onto the bare hillside. It wasn’t that bad. Thought I’d got away with it.
Apparently not.
As I approached the summit, the wind gusted, almost taking me off my feet. Bullets of rain blasted me from the south. I scampered up to the well equipped summit, it furnished with a trig, cairn and a solitary wooden post. I reached into my pack and pulled out a 4m mast, the slim-G and couple of velcro straps. Oh, and @G5OLD Tim’s lovely 3d printed thingy that clamps the matching unit to the mast with velcro. Craiglich was the scene of my inflatable antenna antics a few months ago. A good hill for messing around.
I needed the 3d thingy to stop the antenna from going horizontal. I kept the mast low in the hope that there would be enough coax to let me sit behind the cairn. It did.
I’d packed my bag last night. This morning at 0530, I removed the ft-60 and replaced it with my waterproof VX-7r. I also chucked in a waterproof pad and pencil. Good move.
So, here was me, sat behind the cairn in my work jeans and shirt, with soaked trainers and a light waterproof. It was 1330, which was fortuitous. I was just in time for the Aberdeen 2m net on 145.550Mhz. I was sheltered but the wind roared all around me, an exhilarating sensation.
The net was bad for my friends because I made them wait.
Anyway, the net were glad to have me. First time they had a real net for a while, I was told. 5 in the log, and happy retirement wishes passed.
Last but not least, my friends. Sorry I made you wait. Mike @2M0WNA Simon @GM4JXP and Alex @GM5ALX masquerading as GM0ESS. I missed Chris @2M0RVZ . I think he was having his nap.
me enjoying my retirement
With eight in my log on 2m, I felt like a champ. That was a good haul. I pulled down my sodden gear and put it in my wet pack.
VX-7r and Tim’s thingy, drying out apres SOTA
I jogged back to the Land Rover and fired it up. I also fired up the mobile radio set. Every day on the way home from work I would send Mo a pre-saved 2m APRS to SMS message, “Top of the Slack.” That way she would know I was 15 minutes out.
Today I sent, " Top of the Slack for the last time!".
Liberating.
Your call was certainly worth waiting for on such a special day. Here’s to many more activations, videos, chats and long lunches now you have secured your freedom - although you are much too young to “retire” and I suspect you’ll soon be busier than ever. With every good wish. 73 Mike 
