Joan Richardson might be enjoying the extra free time from her retirement, but for her loyal guide dog Maple, it is business as usual – with a few challenges.
After working in a full-time position as a switchboard operator for the community health services for more than 30 years, Mrs Richardson is still keeping busy.
“I started working full time in 1978. I was lucky to not only find a job, but find a job I love for all these years,” she said.
“My job was very busy – answering the phones, making bookings, taking messages, doing some clerical work, for example, typing minutes from a tape recorder that I would leave in the meeting, and I also did some clerical clinical work.
“Working the switchboard involved a lot of reliance on memory, but things got easier with the electronic white board that I could ‘read’ and which meant I did not have to try to remember where staff were during the day.
“Things got easier with the electronic switchboards, though, and we didn’t have to remember everything.
“But what I am most thankful for and that I will miss the most is the wonderful people I have met over the years, both the young health professionals and the others who have been there for many years.
“Now there are only a few long-term employees in community health and I hope the memories and all the history doesn’t get lost. Hopefully, someone is keeping track.”
She said it feels good to retire, but she wouldn’t easily accept sitting down, doing nothing.
“I have already been busy with some projects,” she said.
“I am involved with the Paper Talk group, which started 20 years ago in Pirie, and it consists on a group of volunteers who read and record The Recorder, so people who are blind or vision- impaired can keep up to date with the newspaper.
“To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the group, we hope to produce a historical record and I volunteered to go back on all the minutes and note the facts from them make a book out of all the group’s history.
“This is a major project, but we hope to get it ready by August. It will be fascinating.”
She is also treasurer of the National Women’s Special Interests Branch of Blind Citizens Australia.
She meets with the committee whose members are from other States and catches up with people around Australia once a month through a teleconference.
“In this committee, I am going through all the financial information that needs to be recorded,” she said.
“We are also producing a cookbook which will be available in electronic version and mp3. It will help people who like to cook, but find it hard to work with the scales, so everything will be measured by cups or spoons.”
Even though Mrs Richardson has kept busy so far, the change of routine hasn’t been easy for her loyal friend Maple.
“Maple and I had our routine, going to work at a certain time, she would stay there with me, and now I think she misses the routine,” she said.
“Now when we leave the house for a coffee or shopping, the dynamic on the streets is totally different. We are still adapting.
“I am finding it great to just be able to turn off the alarm every morning, but I keep doing things in a certain way, so there is a routine for Maple.
“Because the times are different, both she and I have to brush up our skills when out and about.
“I have to be more firm with her because she is getting too much stimulation … I might have retired, but Maple hasn’t.”
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