Last day

Your last day at work is always a deeply weird experience and today was no different. As it happens, two of my immediate supervisors weren't in the office - one was on vacation and the other was off sick. Plus, because this was a government position, there's actually quite a bit of work involved in cuing up your affairs. And even though I knew several weeks ago I was leaving, I magically managed to keep the news quiet to most people, so today was the day many found out I was leaving. I just preferred it that way; I didn't want to spend weeks explaining to people that I was leaving.

Still, that's three and a half years over and done with. It feels kind of weird. As I've said, I've no doubt I will find something else once we get back. I applied for a federal job yesterday that has some potential, even though I had to spend a couple of hours writing out answers to questions in the online application process. I wrote about 1,500 words, on top of submitting my resume, for this job. I honestly don't know if applying to handle nuclear materials would require quite so much writing.

My time with this job isn't my longest...that's still with The Express. I was there nearly four years. Departing from there was....almost a bit of a relief. I'd been uncomfortable with the paper for months at that point. Plus I'd known for awhile I was going, what with Cathy and I getting married and moving to Iqaluit. I was going to miss the people, but I was very clearly done with the job.

Before that it was three years with The Packet. Now that was a deeply traumatic experience. I remember being really upset when I was leaving. So was the staff. I'd been offered The Express job, which was more money and a chance to move back to St. John's. But I loved the staff at The Packet and Barbara, my editor, means the world to me. She gave me a break when I was getting ready to give up on journalism and helped me knock all the rust off the hinges of my writing and photography.

Actually, in a lovely twist, Barb contacted me the other day about doing some freelancing. See, this is one more reason why I love this woman.

But today, today was just....I don't know. It just felt like gradually slipping away. I guess it's the difference between working in an office with a half dozen people and working in one with dozens.

Anyway, that's over with. Now off to Australia and then to whatever comes next. As Cathy likes to remind me, I don't deal well with change unless it's forced upon me. So we'll see how I handle all of this over the next few weeks and possibly months. On the upside, if I start to lose my mind, you'll likely be reading some very entertaining blog posts. So there's always that.

Last Five
1. Unionhouse branch - Allison Krauss and Union Station
2. Girlfriend - Paul McCartney
3. Read my mind - The Killers*
4. C'est la vie - Bob Seger
5. Sucker row - Mark Knopfler