I think I was pretty much in a daze all day. It sort of seemed normal for awhile. I got nagged by DBAs, I cursed a stupid user interface, Dan stopped in the door and said, "You're still here?" (he's been saying that for months), and Chang1 was cursing at something.
We ended up in a mob for lunch. I was ordered to go with the mail group by Chang. "See all the people who are going to miss you?" "I don't even know that guy over there. He's a vendor." Turns out 2 of the other 9 people didn't know I was leaving until the lunch. You know, you count on Dan to exercise his normal rumor-spreading duties and this time he just dropped the ball.
Chang flipped me the bird while we were waiting for them to rearrange tables. "This is all your fault!" I managed to get Julie to sit between us as a buffer, but then he kept making me do the power-fist around her.
I had a glass of wine at lunch, and as I rarely drink, that just increased the bizarre quality of the day. Joe asked me if I had driven to work. "Nope, took the bus." In Hollywood, a glass of wine, even with low tolerance for alcohol, means a good chance you're probably still one of the more sober people on the bus.
They apparently "lost" our order ticket, so we were there an hour before the food came out. People who came in after would get their food. "Hey, that guy has my burger!" "Those look like my quesadillas!" Thanks to Ryan for paying my (50% off because we waited so long) lunch. But we didn't see the Raleigh hummingbird2, so I didn't get to say goodbye.
Because lunch ran so late, I had to hurry a little to finish shutting down the computer and saying goodbye to people. Dan had seriously dropped the ball. I felt a little bad when I ended up breaking the news to people by saying goodbye. I also felt a little bad because as I was saying goodbye to people I would truly miss, I had that "I'm about to be free!" smile plastered on my face.
The (totally unnecessary) goodbye presents, in addition to my free lunches:
- Joe & Bob: A jacket from the Studio Store. Fortunately the company logo is on the back, so I won't have to worry about looking down and being constantly reminded! Thanks guys!
- Chandra: A very nice pen. I promise I will not let the couch eat it. Thanks so much.
- Dan: A World of Warcraft 2-week trial DVD-ROM. Um, thanks, Dan...
Final shot of the whiteboard that started it all:
Bob warned me that it may not outlast me long. I told him I have the pictures.
I finished up the 5th floor, went down to the 4th to say bye to Hansen, and then went to my exit interview with HR. I don't know why I bothered once again detailing why I was unhappy enough to leave, because you figure if they really cared enough to fix things, they would have done it before I left, as I'd tried to bring it to people's attention before. But done is done. Except I had left the paperwork on my desk in my cubicle, so I had to go back for it. "Um, no, I didn't change my mind. Sorry!" I was lucky that it was still there. The vultures usually descend as soon as you're out the door, picking out things they want and leaving the rest in disarray. Actually, Dan had already done that in the morning, before I had even left.
I was finally out the gate around 3:10. A huge weight had been lifted3, and it wasn't just that I wasn't carrying a laptop in my backpack anymore.
But I really will miss you guys...
1 I'm not sure there's any way to describe Chang other than "undiagnosed Tourette's." Well, there's also "one-person hostile workplace."
2 Bob: "Why does the hummingbird hum? Because it doesn't know the words."
3 I woke up this morning with a huge weight on me again. What the hell? Oh, it was Spoon.
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