... and there's reasons to believe...

So, been a few days. Today I hit that "fuck it, I'm only here a few more days" zone. I think that offically makes me a short-timer.

I've done what I can to make my leaving as easy as possible, but that frankly isn't much. It's going to be hell for these guys; there just isn't a way around it. Almost 13 years of taking it for granted that I'd be here to "fix anything" doesn't just go away in week and a half.

But that isn't my problem any more, and I can't take responsibility. I've already done far more than most people expected me to be willing to do - in the sense of flying to NC for a week, all the extra training and working with folks, etc., trying to get as many details covered as possible. I think, though, I'm done - I've got two more sessions with people, but I doubt much will change.

(Random note: today, for the first time in probably 5 or more years, I forgot my badge at home. Odd, that.)

On the other side, I got poked, shot, and bled at my new job yesterday; I go back tomorrow to finalize one of the tests and then pick up my employee badge. That's the last step before orientation on the 3rd of January. I think I'm finally feeling a little excited about that.

Financially, I'm not in as good a position as I was hoping. The current company is playing hard-ball and won't be reimbursing my expenses from my last trip until the 6th of January; it's all legal, but I was trying to get them in early enough to be paid tomorrow. On the consulting side, I'm supposed to be getting a check from the woman running the project when she's "in town", but I don't know if that is this week or next week.

So, I'm running low on funds, but not drastically. No thousand-dollar Christmas presents this year, but I can cover the bases and likely still have enough to take a trip up north for NYE. Plus, my payroll person told me that I should be getting a direct deposit with all my outstanding pay (vacation and actual pay) on the 30th, which should be a significant chunk of money (about $6k all-told). If I get my consulting check and, eventually, my expense check, I'll definitely be riding high for the new year.

That means it's just a matter of waiting at this point - something I'm not wonderful at, since I'm always projecting ahead what could possibly go wrong and contingencies to handle them. Still, the window is narrowing.

It's been a *long* December.