My dream of early retirement

2004
       I returned to England to my night shift. My employers were becoming aware that I was unhappy. They offered me more overtime. I did not want more time in the factory. I was seeking a way out. In the end, every day of the week was spent trying to sleep and every night was taken trying to work and earn more money to escape. The weekends were a nightmare of sleep deprivation and drinking. My employers decided that I should have the choice of weekend work to encourage me to stay. I took the overtime, but by now, I had only one wish; To go back to Spain. In England my options were looking grimmer every week, whereas Spain was the promised land; The stuff dreams are made of.
       My bosses were grooming me to be a foreman on the nightshift. In my younger years I would have jumped at the chance. But now, apart from the distraction of Spain I felt that at my time of life I should be enjoying the open air. I had a lot of hobbies and so many things I wanted to do if only I had the spare time. If I followed their lead I would be committed to working nights for the next ten years. It would have been like a prison sentence, but I would have had money to burn.
       I did not want to be the richest man in the graveyard. Some of my friends from my married years were already dead. I decided I wanted my freedom while I could still enjoy it.
        During 2005 I took a holiday to Portugal. I had arranged to meet some estate agents to look at some houses they had for sale in Olvera. I drove to Olvera and met them in the morning. We looked at seven or eight houses that day. Most of them were nothing like I wanted. Too expensive, or in a bad state of repair. Some of them were derelicts requiring tens of thousands to renovate.

       The last one I looked at was different. It was already lived in by a Spanish couple, who had two sons and a daughter. The estate agents wanted a silly price, which was beyond my means. So I declined. Within a week of returning to England I received a call from the owner of the house I had fancied. His price direct was better than all the others.
       I accepted after pacing up and down my hall for an hour.

       My early retirement was now within touching distance.