My Last Day
By the time it finally came around it was almost a blur. I really would have preferred to savor it a little more, talk to a few more people I won’t likely see often or even at all again and to just enjoy this day.
But no, in typical Fej style:
At approximately dead of night AM my silly dog was trying to crawl under, inside, on top of me, somewhere to hide from the horrible noise. The dreadful noise of a dying smoke detector back-up battery. Yes, they are especially horrible at this time of night. He just wouldn’t let up, I had to replace the battery or harm my dog. Luckily it was in a low hallway and while I nearly had to rip it from the ceiling I was able to replace the battery and go back to bed. Then, at just a little before 6:00 AM, my dog is once again trying to crawl into my skin. Did I put in a bad battery? Could it be possible that after years without replacing a single one, another battery went dead that same night? Yes, my friends. This is my life we are talking about so it is definitely possible. I waited until the last possible moment and of course it was in my oldest daughter’s room at a height requiring a ladder.
I retrieved the ladder, replace the battery and scared the crap out of my oldest child seeing a dark specter atop a ladder in her back lit doorway. After I had put the ladder away I went back to turn on her light and ask what she wanted for breakfast and the light bulb in her room burnt out.
$*%#!
I then had to rush out of the house to squeeze in two parent teacher conferences and somehow drop off another kid at school at the exact same time. Since that couldn’t happen, one particular male child of mine went without socks today and (in a rare moment of luck) it turned out that the conference was 15 minutes later than I thought so I was… on time.
Cool. So as I sat down in my office and started to peruse the usual round of internet news sites for my morning fix and I realized that I should really get things finished up at work. The news could wait. I transferred some files, sent some email, started some parts, gave away some stuff, and then made my rounds to say good bye. The latter part took me until mid afternoon, forced me to write a rather short “good bye” email, and even made me late to pick up my oldest from school.
There were several people though that surprised me, people I had talked to only a number of times over the last decade. They bent my ear and asked all about my new job, the industry, exclaimed how lucky I was and how they wished me the best. And it sure seemed genuine.
It was a good last day.
Jeff
But no, in typical Fej style:
At approximately dead of night AM my silly dog was trying to crawl under, inside, on top of me, somewhere to hide from the horrible noise. The dreadful noise of a dying smoke detector back-up battery. Yes, they are especially horrible at this time of night. He just wouldn’t let up, I had to replace the battery or harm my dog. Luckily it was in a low hallway and while I nearly had to rip it from the ceiling I was able to replace the battery and go back to bed. Then, at just a little before 6:00 AM, my dog is once again trying to crawl into my skin. Did I put in a bad battery? Could it be possible that after years without replacing a single one, another battery went dead that same night? Yes, my friends. This is my life we are talking about so it is definitely possible. I waited until the last possible moment and of course it was in my oldest daughter’s room at a height requiring a ladder.
I retrieved the ladder, replace the battery and scared the crap out of my oldest child seeing a dark specter atop a ladder in her back lit doorway. After I had put the ladder away I went back to turn on her light and ask what she wanted for breakfast and the light bulb in her room burnt out.
$*%#!
I then had to rush out of the house to squeeze in two parent teacher conferences and somehow drop off another kid at school at the exact same time. Since that couldn’t happen, one particular male child of mine went without socks today and (in a rare moment of luck) it turned out that the conference was 15 minutes later than I thought so I was… on time.
Cool. So as I sat down in my office and started to peruse the usual round of internet news sites for my morning fix and I realized that I should really get things finished up at work. The news could wait. I transferred some files, sent some email, started some parts, gave away some stuff, and then made my rounds to say good bye. The latter part took me until mid afternoon, forced me to write a rather short “good bye” email, and even made me late to pick up my oldest from school.
There were several people though that surprised me, people I had talked to only a number of times over the last decade. They bent my ear and asked all about my new job, the industry, exclaimed how lucky I was and how they wished me the best. And it sure seemed genuine.
It was a good last day.
Jeff
posted by Fej at 8:30 PM
6 Comments:
good for you-- I know you are glad to have that behind you. it is always hard to say the goodbyes, I think..
Yay for last days and the prospect of a new job!
Out with the old and in with the new!
you know, I think they program those smoke detectors so a low battery signal ONLY registers if it is between midnight and 4am... And they secretly signal to each other so they go off not at the same time but wait until you've gone back to sleep... Anyway, glad you had a good last day at the job.
goodbyes are difficult, hallo's intriguing, confronting and engaging at moments but thoroughly worthwhile...
you've had difficult days and worse are perhaps to come, but they'll get better and you'll live, learn and see how everything works out for the better in the end...
keep well, and keep on smiling...
Wooohoo for you!
I'm so excited for you starting the new job. Hope you're well, stranger.
Let us know what's going on.
xoxo
c
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