July 24, 2010

One year ago today was my last day at a job. On July 16, 2009 I gave my notice. This is the email I was going to send:

As we have discussed previously, since the death of my mother at the end of April, and the subsequent tasks of dismantling the life my parents had made, I have found it increasingly difficult to summon the energy and focus needed to complete my required tasks. In the last week, that has become even more of a problem. As a result, unfortunately this is my two-week notice that my last day will be Thursday July 30, 2009. Working for you has been one of my best professional experiences. I felt we had created a working situation that was productive and beneficial for both of us. Thank you.

Prior to sending the email to Steve Swenson at ProVation and Eleanor at CDI, I talked to Steve. He said wait before sending the email, consulted with the F&C people, then told me that all the F&C work had to be done by 7/24. He asked me if I could finish the online help by then. If I could, 7/24 would be my last day. If I couldn’t, they would walk me out the door right then. I told him I could get the online help done by the 24^th. I’m kind of a dope about these things. I tried to do this in a way that wouldn’t leave Steve hanging, but they seem always unable to think about anything other than their own interests, though in general, Steve has been good to work with. I thought there was some personal regard, but it’s just that I was doing really good work for them, and they wanted to maximize that. So, I got a week less pay, and still did the work for them. So, when I sent the email, I modified it to say “my last day will be Friday July 24, 2009 as you requested.”

So, July 24, 2009, one year ago today, was my last real day at Wolters Kluwer/ProVation. I got all the work done, did a really nice job on the online help, as they indicated. I guess I’m glad that I went out that way, finishing everything that needed to be done for the Q2 release and doing it well, rather than just walking away. Steve wanted me to come in Monday to show him WebWorks. I asked if that was really necessary, and he said yes, though I’m sure I could just have said I wouldn’t. I’m always too nice about these things. So, I went in Monday July 27 for 30 minutes, or so, walked Steve through how I had used WebWorks to generate the help, showed him where all the files were, gave him my keys and badge, and was out of there by 11:15. I put too much of myself into those stupid jobs, and so I always felt overly nostalgic when I left, even though they had killed me and I was glad to be going. So, I felt a little sad when I pulled out of the ramp for the last time, even though I was really overjoyed that I didn’t have to go back ever again. One of the really good things about the ProVation job was the commute. I went by Cedar Lake and along Theodore Wirth Parkway to 55. This is a scene I drove by every morning in that summer:

Surprisingly, I felt very comfortable about the decision and very happy to be done. Wasn’t worried about the closing anymore. Don’t know why, but ever since I left work that Friday, for what was really the last time, I have been very peaceful about all of it.  And it has been a good year. A lot of changes, new city, new state, new apartment, new grandson, new outlook. And kind of an adventure. However things turn out, I’m very glad I got the chance to have this year.