My level 10 farewell

On Thursday I had a bit of a cheery end to the work day.

I left at 5pm because I just felt like it, and while I was walking to the office to the bus stop, I spotted RB at the corner of the street waiting to cross the road. I pondered for a moment as to whether I should approach, and then figured I'd probably regret it if I didn't, so I walked up beside him and tapped him on the arm. It startled him, which I found funny, but once he realised who it was, he broke into a laugh and said "hey mate" and offered a handshake.

He asked where I was working and I told him, and I asked if he had any interesting trials, and he said just a few murders but nothing had ran. He then told me about the tv show CW was involved in which was airing that night, and I said I'd watch it before we parted ways.

At the bus stop, just as I was about to pick a spot to lean back on, I saw a guy Lemon and I used to (cruelly) call dumb face, mainly because of the birth marks on his face. I can't remember how our relationship was at the end of high school, but I was half surprised he didn't punch me - instead, we chatted a bit before his bus came. Apparently we work in the same building!

So bumping into those two people made me all cheery inside, and it also made me feel like I was going to bump into more people, but I didn't. I went home and then to the gym, and just before going in, I went to the sports store downstairs because they were having a 40-50% off closing down sale and bought a blue Addidas top, which was the same as the one I'd seen a guy wear at the gym before and I had wanted it since, but trying it on at Rebel told me it didn't suit me, but now with the discount it seemed to mitigate that somewhat.

The girl who served me was quite pretty, and while waiting for the credit card approval to go through she said something about dinner, which I totally wasn't ready for, so just ended up smiling, which probably made her think I didn't want to talk.

Friday
So, it would be my last official day with level 10.

In the morning I pondered whether there would even be a farewell for me, as I had heard nothing of it. Part of me would've been sad if that was true, but at the same time I kinda just wanted to go out quietly, not wanting to be the centre of attention.

But then in the late morning there was an email saying there'd be an afternoon tea at 3pm to farewell me.

I was a bit sad that Alanna would be out at training all day, because I was expecting her to be around so I could ask her questions about files I was finishing off.

I worked away on two files I was finishing off (slowly) while thinking in the back of my mind about my 'speech' I knew I'd have to inevitably give.

Around lunchtime I saw Alanna drop by quickly in her office to check her emails, and she said she'd be around for my farewell. I kinda knew she wouldn't miss it, mainly because she wanted to hear the kudos I was going to give to her.

I had decided and prepared the backbone of my speech, but thought the I'd leave the finer details of delivery to be determined by the moment. At around 2:30pm Junar came around to talk to me, for a bit longer than I would've liked because I was rushing to get my work done, and that took us to 3pm when Dugon called to get me to the para bay.

Lewis was talking to Karina next door, so I gathered both of them and took them with me to the para-bay. I must admit, I was a little excited. I ended up with Lewis to my left, thank god for that, because he was the most comfortable person to talk to in a situation like that. I wondered how he felt about my move.

I found out that Wendy F had actually baked the cake herself, so there goes that "I don't think she likes me" talk. I never realised I meant this much to her.

Wendy A had arrived at my left rather quietly, and she got everyone's attention once everyone was there. I noticed Katie was hidden around the corner, but she was there at least.

Wendy A started thanking me for my contributions, and I started getting really nervous, because it felt like all eyes were on me, so I just dealt with it by looking down and laughing, occasionally looking up at her. She said something about the quotes up on my walls, asking me if I lived by them, and I was surprised because I never realised she went in to check them out. She also mentioned the fact that I did 15 briefs once month, and said that may have been a record. I was about to say 16, by Alanna but refrained. I could feel the sudden hatred towards me.

Sometimes I wonder about the coincidence of my timing - just because I felt like going Mike Tyson on everyone for one month, it ended up being at a time noticed by the boss when an opportunity to move came up. Very good timing. Sometimes I wonder who they would've picked if I had just hit 12 that month. I also think about how I wouldn't have hit 15 if Alanna didn't go on leave that month.

Anyway, she finished and I knew it was my turn. I started off by thanking her for the opportunity, and then Wendy F "for the food". Wendy A said something like "I hope that's not all you're thanking her for" which made everyone laugh. I was laughing and added "I also want to thank her for teaching me, everytime I've watched her go through a brief I've learned something new, it's amazing to watch her go through it and find something with precision".

I then moved onto Alanna: "I also want to thank my super supervisor Alanna. In the time I've been here, I've asked her about a million questions, and she's answered every one of them". She added "but most of the time I ask him 'what would you do?'"

I also thanked everyone else for making me feel part of the team, and that was it. I had managed to do a speech without (hopefully) saying anything stupid and offending anyone.

I had thought about, when referring to Alanna, saying "in my nine months here", but then figured it might sound like I hadn't been here too long or that I was showing off about how fast I was getting out of here.

Zena asked me to open the card and the gift, which I did. I opened the card and saw the cover was full of quotes, and I said it summed me up perfectly. I also checked the gift and it was a movie voucher, which I thought was pretty appropriate.

People started eating and talking amongst themselves, and Wendy A started talking to me, which made me feel a bit nervous. She talked a bit about her family, saying she had a 16 year old son and a daughter who just did her HSC, and told me a bit about her earlier career. She asked about my sister, which I was a bit iffy about, I guess my family is my main weakness. She also asked me if I was going to the bar, and I said it was too early for that. I had to be careful, because I didn't want to say yes, otherwise she'd think I would be leaving the job soon, and I didn't want to say no because then she'd think I didn't have goals. I hope I struck the balance.

We talked for a while and so I was relieved when it finally ended, it was like I could finally relax again. I talked to Lewis a bit before getting back to my room. I was eager to check out my card, and found it hilarious that Katie had just put "good luck in [new branch]". It was like sooooo obvious she didn't even want to write anything, lol, so freakin' funny.

I also noticed that the movie voucher expired on the day, probably because they wanted to get me out of the office early, which I appreciated. I tried to finish off my work but left at around 5ish. I went home, drove to the gym, then drove to Bondy for a movie.

I had decided on Due Date because I was in the mood for a laugh. I bought the ticket early and then went for a walk to KFC as I hadn't had dinner yet. I was starving, but wanted something small and cheap.

I got a small snack box and then ate it as I walked back to the cinema. I still had a bit of time so I checked out Borders. I just wanted to browse, but found the book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' and had a flick through it. I placed it back and started walking out when I turned around and picked it back up.

I decided to buy it.

Once at the cinema, I went to get myself a coke and popcorn. Everything was self serve, and I had a bit of a problem with the popcorn machine. The girl working there, who was dressed in a very sexy 1970's-ish movie theatre staff costume, said I had to pull the lever out all the way and helped me pull. But then the popcorn only started dribbling out, and she said she'd go around to move it from one side to the other.

So she went around the counter and started scooping popcorn from the full side to my side, and it started pouring down. I eventually pushed back the lever when I had enough. I gave her a thumbs up and she gave it back, and it made me think about how it looked like an advertisement at that very moment about a happy customer. She was pretty hot, but probably a bit young for me.

The movie was pretty good, I really had some good laughs, probably so many that I got tired of laughing. I've never really liked Robert Downey Jr, but I found him quite likeable in this movie.

I drove home after the movie, feeling somewhat lonely. I felt the reminscent effects of my 'past' days and thought about gambling or whoring, but in reality I knew I wasn't going to do either.