Pre-Departure

When I was a missile launch officer, we had to attend a briefing prior to departing the base for our far-flung destinations. This was called the pre-departure briefing. The individual squadron commanders would usually hold their own briefings before that, and those came to be known as 'pre-pre'. Sometimes, you would have to check in with various admin people, too, and those were sometimes called 'pre pre pre' -- though usually it was just recognized by a grimace. We had no use for admin people, mostly because they got to come in at 8AM and go home at 5, while we were stuck out on alert. They also worried about things like records that we didn't want to be bothered with. One of the advantages of the military is that they can MAKE you want to be bothered with them.

In terms of my departure from my company, I'm in the pre-pre stage. They have a lengthy checklist of things that they want you to do upon departure. Some of them are things that make sense -- for example, they're not going to gift me with this laptop, which doesn't surprise me, but it'd be nice -- and some are a pain -- they want me to ensure that every id that I have on every system is deleted, whereas I feel that this is a stupid triviality. Being a big, hidebound, rules-driven organization, though, much like the military, they have ways of making you want to be bothered -- say, by refusing to send you that check for a severance package until they have the little check mark that says you've fulfilled all of their requirements. So I'll go through the list today and do what I can. Next week, I plan to keep the laptop up and running until Wednesday, but at some point on that day I'll package it up and send it back, somewhat grudgingly. Thursday I'll come in late, hand in whatever remaining stuff I have -- id card, keys, etc -- and that'll be it. Sometimes people come back a few weeks later, just to say hi, but I won't do that. Its always awkward, particularly when the person didn't particularly want to go, but even when they did. The only person I've ever known who pulled it off was someone had retired gleefully, planning to work at a local garden store, and, as he delighted in saying, making (when he combined his retirement funds with what they'd pay) more than he was making then. As it turned out, the job didn't pan out, so he had lots of spare time, and he would occasionally show up and roost on various people's desks. He was someone who was skilled at schmoozing all day, even when he was working there (I never did understand what his job actually was), and that ability carried forth to his retired years. Fortunately, he didn't feel the need to gift me with his presence, as a rule.

I did tell people that after I leave, they can call if they have questions. I doubt they will, and I recognize that this is partially because I don't want people to feel screwed by my departure, but also its a way of continuing to feel needed. First time they call at 5AM, though, I imagine I'll feel differently.

This morning was on the rocky side. I got up early to do the bike, and I did it, but I never quite got into the swing of the morning. I made some breakfast for my wife and daughter, but then I went back to bed because I was just 'out of it'. As I dozed, it occurred to me that that was what it'd be like to be retired. Not terribly unappealing, even if the idea of not having something specific to do -- let alone, be paid for it -- is a little unnerving. One thing's that's become obvious to me is that retirement doesn't have to mean stopping activity, and it shouldn't, but that activity has to be contemplated in advance. What are you going to do? And for some of it, it has to be rooted in skills gained during employment. Even for people who want to change jobs, they have to be able to present skills that they got during employment. What makes that particularly tough, aside from the strong reluctance that most people have to change anything about their life, is that sometimes those skills are neither part of what they do now nor accessible to them via training -- because the company isn't training people. I'm disagreeably amazed by how often I've found job postings looking for people with excellent or broad-based skills that they could not possibly have gotten in their jobs. I don't expect -- would like, but don't expect -- the company to look out for its people (look out for the CEO, etc, oh, yes, but not the rank and file, oh no) -- but when they post jobs that most people aren't qualified to even try, I'd think that suggests a problem. Which is when I think "Gee, Bill, if you were smart, you'd figure out a way to resolve that issue, and maybe make some money at it."

Told my mother I'd be leaving this company at the end of next week, and that I might get another job, or not. She seems delighted. I would imagine being here every day with no company except one day a week can get very old.

I went to see the oral surgeon this morning, and he seemed pleased with how the incisions are healing. I have an initial appointment with the plastic surgeon in about three weeks, and with him in six, both to set things up for the bone graft. I'm a little nervous about that, because if it doesn't work, I'll most likely be wearing this denture for the rest of my life. So, think good thoughts, as they say.