Update
Wow, has it been almost five years since I've posted here? A few days ago I tried to find this blog but got a message it was no longer available. Then yesterday I received an email that said I could revive it by going to a different address so I did. Surprise, it still exists. Since it does, I will take the time to update the end of the saga.
It seems that I picked the perfect time to quit as the next week I (and my co-workers) received a bonus check. Must have been in the works before they got my paperwork. Not a big bonus but it was tax free. When I got my last check the following week I discovered that they had paid me double. :-) I didn't feel too bad about it as I had found out from my co-workers (they had been sworn to secrecy) that they all received 2-3 thousand dollars of start-up money for coming to Japan. Since I was already there they gave me nothing so I felt their mistake made us even.
Looking back I mostly enjoyed working there as I really learned a lot and had great people to work with. Using the trains and buses to commute I got a much better idea of everyday Japanese life. I couldn't understand them running to just stand in a line until I learned sometimes the bus is full and you don't get on. :-) Just so there is no misunderstanding I am really enjoying retirement and hope never to have to go back to work.
So now you know the rest of the story.
Finished.
Just got home from my last day of work. There isn't a lot of celebration by management when you quit; no party, letters of appreciation, or departing bonus. However my fellow workers were happy for me and one was a bit envious of my being able to just leave. Several mentioned looking for different jobs but how they had spent so much money coming over here and getting setup that they just HAD to stay. The new guys plundered my desk before I even got my coat on for the things I had been able to “acquire” over the nine months I was there to make my job easier. In place of a party, my watch officer let me leave two hours early so that was sort of a bonus. :-)
Now it is on to three weeks of being a tour guide for some very close friends from the states and then..... HOME!!
Wednesday night
By now almost everyone knows I'm leaving and people are coming up to tell me they wish they could too. Most of the people brought their families and had to put out so much money to get settled here that they can't leave. When you are in the states the tax-free money they offer you sounds great but it is very expensive to get setup initially and even to just live here. I was lucky enough to have housing covered by my wife's job so the majority of my money went in the bank.
Monday
Got an email from our rep and my request for a leave of absence was turned down. They have pulled so many people off the normal work schedule for "training" they can hardly cover the shifts. Won't miss the office politics of this place at all.
LOA
Turned in a request for a leave of absence today that I know it won't be granted but I think it lets me leave on a better note. Never know when I might have to go back to work and … Our company representative wasn't there so won't hear anything until tomorrow.
The Ides of March
Still got the problem with the common point of failure that no one seems able to fix. What I really can't believe is no one from the GS-14/Commander level is in the network area wanting to know when it will be fixed. We’ve made changes to the network topography that seem to help at the time but once the network gets busy again parts of it go down. I've stayed out of the way while watching the high paid Cisco certified technicians try to figure it out. These guys have worked on this stuff for years so there isn't much I can add. On another note, I'm taking tomorrow night off as I don't what to loose my comp day for all the furniture moving I did when I turn in my request for a seven month leave of absence. My chances of getting it approved are almost zero but at least this way I don't have to quit and be saddled with all the negative connotations. With only seven days left I'm really looking forward to the last train ride home from work.
At last the end is in sight
My major project last night was creating the work schedule for the next three months which took all of 30 minutes. Since my "team" will be returning to grave/midnight shift my last day of work will be the 25th of March. If necessary I will come in on day shift on the 28th to out-process but then it's 8 days of vacation time and good buy to work. :-) Maybe I'll try teaching English when I come back in the Fall ..... and then again maybe not.
