So it’s finally official, my last day at work is November 22, 2017.  I gave my company 3+ months of notice that I was leaving in order to give them time to hire my replacement and ease the transition since I’m such a badass substation engineer (not really, my design pace is fairly tortoisey these days).  Luckily, I’m in a position where my co-workers have known my adventure intentions for about two years since I never kept it a secret, so it’s not a huge surprise for most.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone believed me, and now that they are forced to, barely a day can go by without having to talk about it, understandably.  So far, the gravity of my decision isn’t quite hitting yet, since I have so much to do before I leave, mostly work-wise, and getting my house situations covered.  My priority right now is to keep focused on finishing the last of my work in the office, which is stretching my concentration capacity, so that I can do the honorable thing for the job that got me to where I am today.  I am eternally grateful for what everyone has done for me here.  My feelings are still mixed about leaving, sad for what I’m leaving behind, but thrilled for what’s to come.  As I go through periods of feeling guilty for leaving, I have to constantly remind myself that it’s what I have to do for myself, and people will understand.  Overall, I have too much to do before I leave to really get caught up in the magnitude of these life alterations, which is good.

“What am I going to do next?”,  is the most common question that I get.  Typically, people leave one job for another, so the idea that I won’t have one is fairly hard to wrap people’s head around, mine included.  I’m equally excited and terrified that I have no clue what my next job’s going to be.  The idea is to throw caution to the wind, do what I love, and see where it takes me.  What’s interesting is that nobody really asks why I’m doing what I’m doing, they’re just amazed that I’m taking such a great leap into a potential void.  Only thing I know for certain is that I’m not happy what I’m doing, and I need to do whatever necessary to change that simple fact.  Seeing the different shades of grey on my cubicle walls is the only confirmation that I need to know that this job is not for me. It is comforting to know that I can deal with it if necessary though.  The skills that I have gained while here are an incredible fall-back, as I can put them to use anywhere in the world that has a power grid. So, even though I am leaving a great job with great benefits, I think it would be a greater risk to remain where I am, complacent, and not go on the adventure I’ve been dreaming of the past two years.

For the most part, I have a majority of my ducks in a row ready for departure, only a few minor stragglers to round up.  I’ve settled almost all of my debt, there’s still a small balance on my student loans from graduate school, but I’m not too worried about it.  I’ve paid enough in advance to where if I stopped making payments, I wouldn’t have to pay until 2020.   I’ve paid off my car, which I can easily sell at some future date if I ever needed the money.  I have a roommate that’s willing to pay the bills and mortgage while I’m gone, pending me getting most of my shit out of the house that he doesn’t need.  I’ve begun the long process of getting rid of most of my belongings.  It’s amazing how much stuff I have and never use.  I’m sure a vast majority of people in this country have the same problem, and for me, I would say that it’s due mostly to being more convenient to stash things I don’t need (but maybe some day I will!) than to figure out what to do with it.  I’ve been trying to sell any valuable crap I have on the OfferUp app, and it’s a shocking realization that nobody wants the shit I don’t want!  Not really, I’ll most likely end up donating most of what I own.  It feels fairly awesome getting rid of stuff that never gets touched, we all have it, but it’s difficult when things carry some kind of emotional or nostalgic attachment, I get it.  So much so that we move a heaping pile of shit from house to house to apartment to house again.  I feel it’s very therapeutic to get rid of shit, de-cluttering  my house, mind, and ultimately my life.