Day 328 - Drunken Departure

umm...wtf?

My name is Tony, and I'm a bit drunk...

There, I said it!

It's been a long day, that's for sure...

Today was my last day at the place where I've worked for the last 12 years...and a day I've been quietly dreading for a while.

It's not that I'm unhappy to be leaving (although I am sad, in some ways)...it's more that I would have to endure a presentation and leaving do - and I really don't cope too well with being the centre of attention!

As it turned out, the presentation was lovely!

My boss had dug right back through my HR files and unearthed a variety of tidbits to talk about, some of which I was previously unaware of.   I was touched both at the effort expended and the curious trivia of my earlier work, and some really nice things were said.

Thanks, Ange!  :-)

Otherwise, I spent the day saying goodbye to people, and drinking too much...not huge quantities really, and certainly not under the circumstances...but a lot for me.

After the presentation, I went to the pub with some of the guys in my teams, and I had a whole pint!

Whilst we were there, the wind gusted wildly across the square outside, to the extent that a parasol which had been anchored outside a neighbouring pub broke free and flew across the square, narrowly missing a pedestrian, and eventually coming to rest under the large feet of Ben.

As we watched from the shelter of the pub, Ben looked around with an air of bemused confusion...he clearly had no idea what to do, and I couldn't resist taking a snap for the blog.

After a few minutes had passed with no progress, I went out to give him a hand...

sheepish

As soon as I arrived on the scene and started trying to collapse the parasol, Ben somehow disappeared, leaving it with me...clearly he was keenly aware of how short a time remained before I would no longer be his boss!

Anyway, I lugged it back to the pub from whence it came, and set about the rest of my day. 

I spent the afternoon talking to as many of my staff as I could find, wishing them the best, reassuring them as far as I could, and thanking them for their work over the last 18 months. 

By 4pm I was packed and done...I handed back my phone, my laptop, and my ID badge...set my Out of Office to: Tony has left the building...and left the office for the last time. 

A profound moment...

In the pub for the next few hours, the party really got into full swing...

rock the party

From approximately this point onwards, I was apparently too drunk to remember to take any further photo's, so the above are the best I've got.

But to be fair, I had upwards of three pints during the day, maybe as many as four and a half in total...and all within an 8 hour period!

I'm not even sure how I've managed to type this post...

:-)