Last Day at Work
Today was my last day at work, but I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I had actually finished most of my work yesterday afternoon, so today was pretty quiet: touching base with a few people to make sure everything was in order, organizing some of my files (both paper and electronic), and starting to organize my office in preparation for cleaning it out.
Officially, I'll be on paid vacation until October 3, 2006, when I will begin a one year leave of absence, and plan to return to work in early October 2007. I still need to finish cleaning out my office, so will be going in for several hours over the weekend or sometime next week.
Besides the office, I still have several other personal things to take care of before I can get on the road, but hopefully I'll be able to wrap everything up within a week or two, so that I start riding in the Rockies before the weather turns wintery.
Mostly I just need to get my possessions organized and into storage, and deal with making sure bank accounts, insurance, mail delivery, etc. is all in order before I take off for a year. There have also been some new issues with the boat in the last week, but hopefully that won't cause any major delays.
I've rented a car for the next week, in order to facilitate hauling things around and running all the various errands I need to do.
But actually, today while running around town in the car before coming to work, I was wishing I was on my bike. The bike would have been able to cut through the traffic, slip in between the pedestrians in crosswalks when turning corners, and avoided all the time I wasted hunting for parking. The car actually felt lumbering, ungainly, and slow, compared to the nimblness and maneuverability of my bicycle in downtown traffic. Timewise, I would have been far better off on my bike. Over the past several months, I've ridden through downtown traffic nearly everyday on my way to and/or from work, so I now feel pretty comfortable mixing it up with the traffic downtown. It requires a lot of awareness, but is actually quite fun. (Hint: Take the center of the lane in traffic, since you can probably move just about as fast as the cars in most places downtown, and at all costs avoid the Bike Lane of Death on 2nd Ave, or any of the bike lanes next to parked cars elsewhere in the city for that matter, unless your idea of a good time is running into suddenly opened car doors while doing 20+ miles an hour, or being cut off by cars turning corners while ignoring the bike lane).
Anyway, back on topic, the cargo carrying abilities of the rental car will be needed, and I can't match its highway speed on my bike. I'm not looking forward to the gas bills though.
In any case, the next week or so will be very busy, but hopefully I'll still have a bit of time to enjoy what is traditionally regarded as the last weekend of summer.
And I'm really looking forward to finally starting my travels after years of anticipation.
Officially, I'll be on paid vacation until October 3, 2006, when I will begin a one year leave of absence, and plan to return to work in early October 2007. I still need to finish cleaning out my office, so will be going in for several hours over the weekend or sometime next week.
Besides the office, I still have several other personal things to take care of before I can get on the road, but hopefully I'll be able to wrap everything up within a week or two, so that I start riding in the Rockies before the weather turns wintery.
Mostly I just need to get my possessions organized and into storage, and deal with making sure bank accounts, insurance, mail delivery, etc. is all in order before I take off for a year. There have also been some new issues with the boat in the last week, but hopefully that won't cause any major delays.
I've rented a car for the next week, in order to facilitate hauling things around and running all the various errands I need to do.
But actually, today while running around town in the car before coming to work, I was wishing I was on my bike. The bike would have been able to cut through the traffic, slip in between the pedestrians in crosswalks when turning corners, and avoided all the time I wasted hunting for parking. The car actually felt lumbering, ungainly, and slow, compared to the nimblness and maneuverability of my bicycle in downtown traffic. Timewise, I would have been far better off on my bike. Over the past several months, I've ridden through downtown traffic nearly everyday on my way to and/or from work, so I now feel pretty comfortable mixing it up with the traffic downtown. It requires a lot of awareness, but is actually quite fun. (Hint: Take the center of the lane in traffic, since you can probably move just about as fast as the cars in most places downtown, and at all costs avoid the Bike Lane of Death on 2nd Ave, or any of the bike lanes next to parked cars elsewhere in the city for that matter, unless your idea of a good time is running into suddenly opened car doors while doing 20+ miles an hour, or being cut off by cars turning corners while ignoring the bike lane).
Anyway, back on topic, the cargo carrying abilities of the rental car will be needed, and I can't match its highway speed on my bike. I'm not looking forward to the gas bills though.
In any case, the next week or so will be very busy, but hopefully I'll still have a bit of time to enjoy what is traditionally regarded as the last weekend of summer.
And I'm really looking forward to finally starting my travels after years of anticipation.
posted by Matt at 18:12
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