The Final Countdown!

What are my plans for this week?  So glad you asked!

On March 30th I will get out of bed at 3:15am, slide to my knees and say my first two prayers of the day.  I will then turn on the light, take a vitamin and head to the bathroom.  As I start the shower I will hear the coffee pot start up from the kitchen. 

Fifteen minutes later I will start to dress.  By 3:45am I will be heading downstairs with my sleepy Scottish Terrier, Robbie. We will release the alarm for the house and head out to the backyard so he can do morning 'Scottie Patrol'.  Back inside he will head for his downstairs kennel and settle back in for another snooze.

I will make my bullet proof coffee, pack up the lunch I put together the night before and then let the two cats in from the garage.  Both of them will acknowledge me in their own way - Peanut by demanding I turn on the water faucet so she can take a drink and Elizabeth by asking plaintively if I had reconsidered my opposition to feeding her right then and there rather than insisting she wait until 7am for breakfast.

Once all the animals are set, I will head for the garage myself, backing out the car and then resetting the alarm system before putting in my Rosary prayer CD.  It will be 4am and I will be headed off to the Bay Area for work.

It will be my last day...the last day I get up that early to drive to work...the last day I get there before anyone else in the building so that lights will be on and a friendly face will be there to greet people as they stagger in from their traffic plagued trips originating from what should be a 15 minute trip into work. 

Thirty years ago, not yet sober and about to be married, I started my career as a Beginning Level Clerk for county government.  I have made so many mistakes.  I was such a horrible employee for such a long time.  I have grown so much over the years, often complaining right here on this blog about the perils and injustices and the horrors of my job.  I leave as a low level manager - a Clerical Supervisor - and I leave with a clear conscience, a full heart and a feeling of accomplishment.

I am leaving at the right time.  The job is changing and I don't think it is a bad thing that it is - but it is no longer for me.  I am not able to give back to the community in a way that is meaningful and I just resist becoming one of the 'people in grey' that Ray Davies once sang about with such derision. 

I work with good people.  They are not government drones.  They care about their clients - oops! customers - and they want to do a good job.  They have good benefits but they work hard for those benefits and take a lot of abuse from everyone.  The clerical class in particular are the ones that keep the wheels turning on this bus and they are the first ones to get yelled at if upper management forgets to fill the gas tank.

The past ten years my Catholic Faith has helped me be a better supervisor.  I normally have little patience for fools - especially if the fool in question is me - but because of the Sacramental Love of The Church I have been able to perform my duties with grace and dignity (for the most part).

I will miss my friends.  I will miss my unit.  I am grateful for my time here.

I am ready for my new adventure.

Thank you, God, for my life today exactly as it is.....

amen.