So this is what it feels like to be on a last day at work. Not much different from any day over the past few weeks, as I began winding down some time ago and I completed all the clearing out of desks, drawers and files last week. Today, it’s just finishing up bits and pieces here and there, deleting preferences, bookmarks and histories from my computer (bookmarks being transferred to my del.icio.us account so that they don’t get lost) and the like. I’m taking photos through the day, which I’ll be presenting at Flickr in the next few days, to commemorate the end of this era of my life.

I don’t remember leaving day being like this in the past; at previous jobs in the UK, we spent most of the afternoon in the pub and the rest of the time chatting about the new job. Here, people aren’t really acknowledging much that I’m going, but that’s probably because of the less open ways of people from the Bernese Oberland. I’d like to think that they will miss me and that they are wondering how they’ll cope without me, but I doubt that’s the case. As in many cases in this company, it’s more a case of getting on with it and not looking back, dealing with problems at the last minute, as they arise, instead of planning ahead.

It’s definitely time to leave and I am now, on the last day here, pretty free to say publicly that I can’t wait to get out of this office and this company. Positive aspects such as free web hosting for my website (until the end of last year, when I knew that I was going to leave and so moved out to Metanet) and an office within spitting distance of the lake have always been marred by the constant feeling of never quite working hard enough, even when working twelve hour days, and the constant battle against being sucked into the whole “company is my life and breath” attitude which pervades here. That’s been one of the largest disadvantages of working for a family company, where other management have been close school friends or nearby neighbours of the owners. In such an environment, it’s no wonder that the feeling of living the job 24 hours per day soaks into the surroundings from the owner of the company. Unfortunately, my attitude of giving “only” 100% to the company and stressing the importance of a separate social life doesn’t fit in with such companies, so working in such a close-knit environment has always been a struggle.

I am looking forward to my new job and place of work immensely. I have already begun getting to know my new boss through our Twitter accounts and will have a good chance this Saturday to get to know him a little better, even before starting work next Monday, as I and a couple of friends have an all-day photo shoot with the band in which he sings. I will write more of the new job and company, but probably once I have begun working there and have a truer feel for the company and my new daily life.

2 responses to “TFI Thursday”

  1. Mum & Dad avatar
    Mum & Dad

    Freee !!!!!!

    Bon Chance or whatever you guys call it over there

    LOL XXXX

  2. Vero avatar
    Vero

    Good luck for the new job, Mark. You take care :)

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