The Penultimate Workday
Today is my penultimate day of work.
I'm bored. There is not much to do and even if there were I wouldn't want to do it. Oh, my co-worker Julio, who basically does the same job I do, sharing the role of "Site Support Admin" is probably inundated with stuff, but he's a sucker who takes on whatever projects are given to him with little resistance - only complaining to the rest of us sitting around him - and then working ridiculous hours for that wonderful reward: more fucking work and no relief from the danger of being let go like so many other poor suckers have in this miserable miserable place.
I have been trying to stretch out the things I have to do to prepare for my exit to eat up the time. Two days ago I took the time to clear out my shitty work computer of all my personal files. I have had the same machine at work since 2004! There were a ton of live journal post files, scraps of short stories, graduate school papers and articles, two folders of gaming stuff, and GIGS of music (some of it my own compositions). Yesterday I went through my paper files and recycled/shred a ton of stuff, and passed on whatever documentation I thought might be helpful to my co-workers. I also brought home a bunch of random shit I had decorating my cubicle, a talking Mr.T keychain, a couple of promotional mugs to add to my collection, a huge honking three-hole punch, a bunch of USB cables and firewires, and magnets I used to pin paper to the cube walls that I will now use to keep things on my fridge. I will wait for tomorrow to bring home the GORILLA OF SHAME!
I have had more than one co-worker (and former co-worker) ask me about where am I having "goodbye drinks" on my last day. I replied that I already have other plans - which is true - but the deeper truth is I have no desire to spend time with the people I work with (with few exceptions), and for the most part have nothing but contempt for these people. Yesterday, I already had lunch with three of my former co-workers that I like, and I talk fairly regularly with the one remaining co-worker I am really friendly with and a handful of others that had been let go or gone their own way.
I often joke that no matter how mean, unsocial, cold and alienating I try to be at work people still seem to like me, but it is hardly a joke, because I can certainly be that way (especially in the last year or so). I also told my co-workers that I hope to never see most of them again and plan to unfriend a bunch of folks on Facebook, and they laugh. . . "Oh, Osvaldo! You're so funny!" The joke's on them. . .
For this afternoon I plan to have lunch with my one remaining work buddy, and then pick up my comic books (and another comic box for the growing pile in my bedroom) and then get a haircut and then wander back to the office to kill the time before I scoot out early. For my last day, I plan to show up late, do the last of my cleaning up, say some goodbyes, leave early and then head out to begin a celebratory holiday weekend - knowing that the finality of this will not really hit me until Monday comes around and I do not have to get up to go to work!
Never before in my life have I had the opportunity to feel so damn happy about being unemployed!
Hallejujah!!!
I'm bored. There is not much to do and even if there were I wouldn't want to do it. Oh, my co-worker Julio, who basically does the same job I do, sharing the role of "Site Support Admin" is probably inundated with stuff, but he's a sucker who takes on whatever projects are given to him with little resistance - only complaining to the rest of us sitting around him - and then working ridiculous hours for that wonderful reward: more fucking work and no relief from the danger of being let go like so many other poor suckers have in this miserable miserable place.
I have been trying to stretch out the things I have to do to prepare for my exit to eat up the time. Two days ago I took the time to clear out my shitty work computer of all my personal files. I have had the same machine at work since 2004! There were a ton of live journal post files, scraps of short stories, graduate school papers and articles, two folders of gaming stuff, and GIGS of music (some of it my own compositions). Yesterday I went through my paper files and recycled/shred a ton of stuff, and passed on whatever documentation I thought might be helpful to my co-workers. I also brought home a bunch of random shit I had decorating my cubicle, a talking Mr.T keychain, a couple of promotional mugs to add to my collection, a huge honking three-hole punch, a bunch of USB cables and firewires, and magnets I used to pin paper to the cube walls that I will now use to keep things on my fridge. I will wait for tomorrow to bring home the GORILLA OF SHAME!
I have had more than one co-worker (and former co-worker) ask me about where am I having "goodbye drinks" on my last day. I replied that I already have other plans - which is true - but the deeper truth is I have no desire to spend time with the people I work with (with few exceptions), and for the most part have nothing but contempt for these people. Yesterday, I already had lunch with three of my former co-workers that I like, and I talk fairly regularly with the one remaining co-worker I am really friendly with and a handful of others that had been let go or gone their own way.
I often joke that no matter how mean, unsocial, cold and alienating I try to be at work people still seem to like me, but it is hardly a joke, because I can certainly be that way (especially in the last year or so). I also told my co-workers that I hope to never see most of them again and plan to unfriend a bunch of folks on Facebook, and they laugh. . . "Oh, Osvaldo! You're so funny!" The joke's on them. . .
For this afternoon I plan to have lunch with my one remaining work buddy, and then pick up my comic books (and another comic box for the growing pile in my bedroom) and then get a haircut and then wander back to the office to kill the time before I scoot out early. For my last day, I plan to show up late, do the last of my cleaning up, say some goodbyes, leave early and then head out to begin a celebratory holiday weekend - knowing that the finality of this will not really hit me until Monday comes around and I do not have to get up to go to work!
Never before in my life have I had the opportunity to feel so damn happy about being unemployed!
Hallejujah!!!