Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

I may have made a mistake today (yes, it does happen). You see, I put in my notice last Friday, but my management team has been lax about any kind of official notification to the company at large: when I talk to people, I'll tell them (and some have heard through the grape vine), but unless I bring it up most people don't seem to know.

So, seeing as I've only got 6 business days left, I decided that certain users I support really ought to know that I'm leaving. My boss and I discussed today who would be taking over most of the responsibilities, and I've been doing training for the last few days with many of them, so I thought it was a decent time to crack that nut.

Boy, howdy, did it crack.

People are, of course, panicking now, all of them insisting that their requirements are the most important and that I drop everything to make sure their systems are covered to their satisfaction. I think I'm doing a decent job of deflecting and/or depanicking (is that even a word?) most of them, but it's making me wish I hadn't said anything and had just let them find out after the fact.

(Random note: I had a hot dog on a slice of bread for lunch yesterday. I haven't had a hot dog like that since I was like 7. When the lady at the counter handed it to me saying she was out of buns, I just replied, "That's okay, I'll just drench it in mustard and pretend I'm in first grade again." She laughed.)

I also learned today that my company's doing another wave of layoffs, mostly at the location where I am currently rather than my normal location. I think, anyway; the person who told me didn't want to say too much since she's theoretically not allowed to say anything at all, but a wink is, as they say, as good as a nod in most cases. Besides, I had the head of Finance hint at much the same thing, and I know we're losing a major client in the coming year (like, 80% of one location's business). So, I've probably picked a great time to get out.

Flying back to the left coast tomorrow, and heading right to a party - so, it's kind of a win/lose situation. I hate parties, but it's my (ex)boss throwing it, and most of my current and past coworkers will be there. So, I kind of have to show up, if only for the sake of propriety. After that, though, the weekend is mine. Seeing TRON on Saturday; was supposed to see it tonight - even bought the tickets ahead of time - but of course the last-minute trip put a kibosh on that. So, I sent the tickets to the guy I was going with, and I hope he enjoys the movie (and takes someone with him).

Last Saturday, one friend was a little astonished that I wasn't nearly as excited about my new job as he thought I should be (or even as he was). I responded by pointing out that this week would be hell, and that I'd probably be more enthusiastic for it when the week was done. At this point, I think that's true: right now I'm in the burnout phase. I just want to be done with this. By Saturday morning, I'll be through the worst of it. That's when it'll probably kick it.

For now, I'll just be glad to be on a plane back to civilization tomorrow. I always lose the sense of how big Los Angeles is until I go someplace where their idea of a major event is the town bake sale. As one of my co-contractors said, "When you get to an airport where the guy checks you in, changes hats, takes you through security, changes hats again, and lets you on the plane, you know you're in a small town."

It's far easier to be asocial in a crowd of thousands than in a group of dozens.