Friday, February 12, 2010

getting out

This will be a long weekend as I have Monday off from the job that I am about to quit. We had planned to take the weekend to visit family in San Luis Obispo, but mrs. a-go-go is under the weather and I would rather not drive alone. So we'll have to go another weekend. With the visit off the agenda the weekend is now open for all the things whizzing around in my head that we have to accomplish in the next two months to prepare for the Big Trip.

I hope to complete our Federal and State tax returns (that alone will be a victory). Then I will start the packing process and get our plans together. We have a good idea of how the trip will go but it is time to nail everything down and start contacting all the people we hope to visit and give them our expected arrival date.

Giving notice and telling my coworkers that I'm getting out has been an odd process. I'm excited to have a change and to start a new cycle. It's been a long time since I was last unemployed, and I hope to make the most of it. Meanwhile, the people at work have all reacted with that strange mix of, "Oh, no. We're going to miss you." and, "Congratulations!" The place where I work is kind of a clunky bureaucratic circus, and most people who work there have mixed feelings about it. Those mixed feelings are the source of the congratulations, as so many of my coworkers seem to have a perpetual vague feeling that they need to get a job somewhere else. It's nice to hear that I will be missed. A few people have responded with dismay as though I'm the only thing holding up the walls. I think I have been an important part of the machine and at times a critical part but I can't believe the place is going to implode without me. Things ran smoothly before I worked there and I'm sure they will continue with out me. When I describe our plans for the Big Trip the people I will be leaving behind at work all have that glassy-eyed response, "Wow, really? I wanna go do that too." Now how the devil will we get by without the health insurance?

I can't decide if getting out feels more like walking off a cliff or if it's more like activating my jet pack and waving good bye.

4 comments:

  1. Jet pack! Jet pack! Oh, wait, wait. If it's like walking off a cliff, I hope it's walking of a cliff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F9RJSPnf8A

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  2. well, you came, you saw, you're off again

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  3. Ah, yes, the health insurance thing. That is why I have waited until this year to say goodbye and move on to the next adventure. This is the year I qualify for lifetime health benefits. Makes life more comfortable.

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  4. Jet pack! Good luck, a-go-go's! Getting to see your adventures posted here, and on Flickr is gonna be pretty fine!

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