With your unannounced retirement looming did you still care?

[Scrapr]

And paid big bucks to some consultant to come up with the rehashed program...

Hey. The guys that took the early out have to eat too! Who better to recycle programs than people that have been through it several times.

Repackage/sell/collect the cash

 

[SumDay]

I'm on countdown - 156 days left. I have brief flashes of energization, followed by "OMG, I truly do not give a rat's rump about this stuff". I keep hoping they'll get tired of my brutally honest input on conference calls and open that parachute!!!


I find myself not worrying about starting work on time, or taking a long lunch, skipping out early, etc.

 

[aja8888]

I was the oldest, and most experienced, guy on the "team". Had been that way for decades.

Once day, I came to the realization that there was not going to be an 8 foot tall bronze statue of me cast and installed in front of the main office in an appropriate location when I eventually rolled it up. That's when the light came on. Everything accomplished before that moment was just plain "work" and I was paid for it so we were "even".

I don't miss the work/challenges/accomplishments/B.S./etc one bit.

 

[braumeister]

I sat down with my boss and told him life was too short and that I wanted to be retired by the time a was 60.
…
After 3 retirements and a near 7 year advance warning, I am free.

You are a saint! I'm sure you built up a lot of good karma there.

 

[rayinpenn]

One day, I came to the realization that there was not going to be an 8 foot tall bronze statue of me cast and installed in front of the main office

A little ditty that has stayed with me many years...
Many years ago I attended a funeral of a colleague’s Dad. The Rabbi said “Everything we’ve done will eventually turn to dust... what matters is whether you lived your life as a righteous man”

 

[JoeWras]

A little ditty that has stayed with me many years...
Many years ago I attended a funeral of a colleague’s Dad. The Rabbi said “Everything we’ve done will eventually turn to dust... what matters is whether you lived your life as a righteous man”

Wise. Even that bronze statue will corrode to dust.

 

[akidagain2018]

I had a feeling of detachment, almost amusement, as I'd sit in office meetings where they'd detail coming changes and put pressure on the troops to develop plans for the next year.

Hahaha...... I have similar thoughts, and hear 'bla bla bla blablabla'. How about the 'next year's' committee, etc. Meeting Requests? I mostly don't reply to those but think, 'hmm, Oct. ...'yeah right!''

 

[bssc]

I got a new boss my last year. Knew him because he managed the group next to ours. Lazy and had no clue what our group did. Never bothered to learn. So I slacked off some since he had no idea if I was doing a good job or not. My fellow project managers jumped ship too and he laid off the ones that remained loyal and worked hard, since he didn't know what they did. The good news was that he got laid off a year later.

 

[OnIslandTime]

I am very fortunate that I'm not in the middle of anything that would be difficult to hand off, or I would be working like a crazy person not to leave anybody in the lurch. I really like my bosses and coworkers and am glad the timing has worked out like it has.

Having said all that, I sit in staff meetings where the young boss is going on about the newest version of the same rehashed latest thing and the associated new metrics and write in my notebook "Blah, blah, blah. I don't care."

Oh, what a feeling!

 

[akidagain2018]

It's sad to not care anymore. I used to care, A Lot! Then it seemed no one else did nor could see the problems, understand evolving technology. Suddenly I'm five steps ahead of everyone most of the time. It's a coping mechanism to give them enough rope to hang themselves. What are you supposed to do when they refuse to listen to you? Freedom, leave the dopes behind to keep examining the lint in their belly buttons.

 

[Scuba]

I was the oldest, and most experienced, guy on the "team". Had been that way for decades.



Once day, I came to the realization that there was not going to be an 8 foot tall bronze statue of me cast and installed in front of the main office in an appropriate location when I eventually rolled it up. That's when the light came on. Everything accomplished before that moment was just plain "work" and I was paid for it so we were "even".



I don't miss the work/challenges/accomplishments/B.S./etc one bit.

When I was agonizing about how much notice to give since I was a C-level exec and most gave a lot more than I was contemplating, someone on this forum asked when the bronze statue of me outside corporate HQ would be commissioned. That really helped me see that life goes on and I should do what was right for DH and me. I did and it worked out great, both for us as well as for my former employer.

 

[scrabbler1]

I had a feeling of detachment, almost amusement, as I'd sit in office meetings where they'd detail coming changes and put pressure on the troops to develop plans for the next year.

I had some of this, too. I worked on one project for much of the time in the last 17 months I worked, after I reduced my weekly hours worked from 20 to 12. Near the end of those 17 months, the meetings about the project as it neared its first main completion date (i.e. my main involvement) included discussion about what would happen next such as less important stuff to be done. Had I not been retiring, these items would have interested me considerably. But my mind, already wandering some in these meetings to begin with, really wandered far away when I realized that I would not be around when that stuff was going to be done. It took some effort to not show my sheer delight in that realization.

 

[rayinpenn]

So i sent the work in on Friday and the individual (Bob) I’m working with sent an email to me with a accusatory tone “I thought you said blah blah blah” and cc’d the group lead and another VP. I replied actually what is said was 1), 2), 3)... So why the cc- It’s the blame game except what I said was accurate and certainly not in an unfriendly manner.

I’m bored to death with nonsense and I wont get sucked in.

 

[Dtail]

So i sent the work in on Friday and the individual (Bob) I’m working with sent an email to me with a accusatory tone “I thought you said blah blah blah” and cc’d the group lead and another VP. I replied actually what is said was 1), 2), 3)... So why the cc- It’s the blame game except what I said was accurate and certainly not in an unfriendly manner.

I’m bored to death with nonsense and I wont get sucked in.

Time to really go.

 

[mystang52]

So i sent the work in on Friday and the individual (Bob) I’m working with sent an email to me with a accusatory tone “I thought you said blah blah blah” and cc’d the group lead and another VP. I replied actually what is said was 1), 2), 3)... So why the cc- It’s the blame game except what I said was accurate and certainly not in an unfriendly manner.

I’m bored to death with nonsense and I wont get sucked in.

Details would be too lengthy, but when I was 2 months away from ER - and my company had no idea - someone tried to pull off a political hatchet job on me. My first reaction was to do nothing, 'coz in the end I didn't care. Instead, I took the opposite tack. For once in my corporate life, I could fight back without concern for long term political implications. Not only did it feel good, but FWIW I won that battle and there would not have been any long term political harm.

 

[target2019]

So i sent the work in on Friday and the individual (Bob) I’m working with sent an email to me with a accusatory tone “I thought you said blah blah blah” and cc’d the group lead and another VP. I replied actually what is said was 1), 2), 3)... So why the cc- It’s the blame game except what I said was accurate and certainly not in an unfriendly manner.

I’m bored to death with nonsense and I wont get sucked in.

The best answer is short and sweet.
"Thanks for your comments. I'll be performing my job throughout last day."
Good fortune to you.

 

[akidagain2018]

So i sent the work in on Friday and the individual (Bob) I’m working with sent an email to me with a accusatory tone “I thought you said blah blah blah” and cc’d the group lead and another VP. I replied actually what is said was 1), 2), 3)... So why the cc- It’s the blame game except what I said was accurate and certainly not in an unfriendly manner.

I’m bored to death with nonsense and I wont get sucked in.

Yup, and the other passive aggressive stuff. Was on a call with over a dozen outsiders yesterday, lead on our side introduces folks from our side who were 'in the room with me'. Way to exclude the one woman, an old to boot, on our side. What a jacka--! Time to go.

 

[NW-Bound]

...
My Mantra: As long as they pay me I’ll do good work to the very last minute. I know I shouldn’t care but my patience is wearing thin.

What was your mindset when you knew your time was limited?

At the last two companies that I was doing contract work or consulting, I finished my work up to the point I said I would. When I walked off, I left plenty of documentation behind for someone else to pick up these projects.

I was not happy, hence I walked off. Still, it was ethical for me to do what I promised and was paid to do.

Both places wanted me to come back to continue on these works. They found out it was easy seeing someone doing the work, and not so much for doing it themselves. But I am tired now, and would need a lot more money than they could pay to go back.

Maybe subconsciously, I was acting nicely in case I needed to go back to work. I am not sure.

 

[rayinpenn]

The problem has resigned and last day will be tomorrow (off today). Hopefully Bob hasn’t done too much damage. Another colleague approached me “bob bad mouths everyone”