Unemployed (For Now)

The final week at the old job was quite a challenge. I had accepted the finality of it and just wanted the week to be over so that I could move on. I grew more excited that the end was near as the week wore on. Then Friday rolled around. I had decided that I would spend the morning saying good-bye to as many people as I could. As I made the rounds, I felt a profound sadness. After all, these are the folks that I have shared a substantial part of my last 17 years with. We have shared teamwork, laughter, hard work, success (most of the time), and failure (occasionally). But we have always been a team…at times like a family. That’s the toughest thing to leave behind–the wonderful people.

As I walked out the door for the final time, a smile swept across my face. And in fact this smile lasted the rest of the day. It was a selfish smile. One celebrating the accomplishments of my time there, the fact that the turmoil is finished for me, and that I am moving on to a new, exciting chapter in my career.

For my colleagues that remain, I wish nothing but the best for them. Despite the huge personnel cuts, I still have a lot of friends at the company and the company means a lot to the local economy. I wish nothing but success for the company and my former colleagues going forward.

Short Timer’s Syndrome

With only a couple of weeks left at my old job, I’ve got a serious case of short timer’s syndrome. I am just going through the motions at this point. I show up at 8am and leave at 5pm. I’m getting the job done, but that’s about it. In some ways I hate the fact that I have this attitude. I’ve never been a workaholic, but I have always prided myself in doing the best job I can do. However, it’s hard to muster the initiative to go above and beyond the minimum required…particularly since it was my employer’s choice not to retain me in the outsourcing effort.

Also, I’m going to take a week off between jobs. We’re taking the trailer up to Cascade to camp for a week. One week to reflect upon 17 years at my first “real” job. I’m really looking forward to it. I want to get my batteries re-charged so I can hit the ground running at my new job.