Winding Up & Winding Down

[bjarvis]

The past 24 hours have been filled with vastly more work-related drama than usual.

I upgraded the hardware of one server, upgraded the operating system of another and retired two older machines. That alone would be most of a full day.

Two different applications teams contacted me about problems with their code running on Solaris 10 but both seemed determined to not share any required information with me about the precise nature of their problem. In the end, I gave up: I told them to write up a full report describing the problem, which servers had the problem, how to duplicate the errors, where we can find a successful implementation of the code, etc.. I really hate playing 20 Questions.

The day was made more awkward by the public announcement that I was departing as of Dec 19. Two separate farewell lunches are being planned currently, a situation which strikes me as a little extravagant.

Various people who, as near as I could tell, previously didn't care if I lived or died have been dropping by my cube yesterday & today to express their dismay at my departure how much they'll miss me. I have to admit utter confusion about this: I'm not exactly chummy with my office colleagues, I rarely socialize with them during office hours and never after. Many of these people I haven't worked with directly in years, if ever. Am I missing something here?

Comments

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're aware of just how much you do.

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

Various people who, as near as I could tell, previously didn't care if I lived or died have been dropping by my cube

They're checking out the stapler, scissors and other stuff they can take Dec 20th. :-)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Randi has already asked for my Solaris 8 & 10 boot cd-roms, as well as the small stash of hardware in my filing cabinet.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

Dismay at departure = [Oh fuck, we're gonna have to do all that shit ourselves now | Oh fuck, some bozo is gonna take over who is never gonna fix stuff quickly without whining | Damn, he was kind of cute... I wonder if...]

Confusion

[caller-dayle.livejournal.com]

My guess: they're not interested in the "person" Brian. They're interested in the "what he does and how well he does it" Brian.

Your choice, accept the love of your knowledge, abilities and work ethic (windows into who Brian is, but not the real Brian) ... or reject it.

Just know that I love, appreciate and respect you for who you are, not for what you do for me.

Re: Confusion

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

*blush*

[excessor.livejournal.com]

They know that you successfully found a job outside the sinking ship and they want to bask in your lambent glow.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps checking to see if I'll be hiring any time soon.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

:snort:

Very possible. Or maybe they just want the excuse of not one but two offsite lunches!

[rsc.livejournal.com]

They harbor secret fantasies of... oh, wait, this isn't a locked post.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

They just wanted to refresh in their minds who you are before you left and created a void in the cubicle.

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

of course, you realize you are probably going to have to take over and plan the farewell lunches when someone else drops the ball....