I've been terribly out of sorts over the past four days, which is why I haven't posted. In fact, this is the longest I've gone without posting for some time, but now I'm back. Let's catch up. Last Friday was the the last day of my employment at GM, after more than eight years. It was very emotional, to be honest, and I found myself needing to stop saying goodbye to too many people in a row over a short period, because it was a bit much to take.
Friday started out exactly how you wouldn't want you last day to start out. I completely overslept, forgetting to turn the alarm clock on. I woke up at 8:58 AM. I had the car on my block, but it was on the wrong side, which started at 9AM. I was turning it in that day, and I still needed to empty it. The last thing I needed was a ticket, in addition to the fact that now I wouldn't have anywhere to put it as I was 
emptying it. So I threw on clothes, and ran like hell down the stairs... only to find that cars were parked on both sides of the street. I stood there dumbfounded for a few moments.and went back upstairs. It was almost 9, no? I checked the internet... turned out it was Lincoln's birthday! No alternate side. So I didn't get into work too late anyway. Still, it was a shame to have to turn in the car. I have no doubt that I'll be getting a car by the summer. I just got so used to having one and I loved driving. I took a picture of the final mileage as I was turning it in. Sigh.
I have to say, I did get a very nice sendoff in my final days. The team had a pizza party for me. Marcy and I went out for sushi last Tuesday, and Larry and I have scheduling dinner with Dorean and Leslie to schedule. I even got a Tiffany clock, which they promptly took back from me in order to engrave it. If it wasn't a Tiffany clock, I'd probably dread what they could possibly write on it, but I don't think Reals would leave a joke message on a brand name item.
I finally made it out at about 6:30 Friday night. Everyone else was pretty much gone. It was all so... well... final. It really felt final. Closing the lights in my bare office and heading out was surreal. In fact, I was playing Closing Time by Semisonic on my iPod when I left.
"...Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."