I may have retired, part IV

This whole thing has been building for a long time… but came to a climax quickly…

Some of my friends and co-workers know… others don’t… I haven’t made a formal, public statement…  I am trying not to… I am trying to keep my head down…  getting a good plan in place… before saying goodbye…

I am sitting down with my boss and working out details Monday…  It’s not her fault… she is not one the evil ones…  We need to set a date… a date I am done… but that is complicated… who will step in… we will likely need a temporary person quickly, followed by a permanent successor… I have suggested duty changes, and job description changes… but due to short time line and sense of urgency, we are likely just to look for a new me…

As people find out there are questions…  Those at the park are asking why I don’t sue the bastards…  Basically, it comes down to an old farm saying…

“Never wrestle with a pig, you will both end up covered in mud, and the pig will enjoy it…”

But, further, it would be complicated… I would have to sue my employer… they are not at fault… the bastards from the other agency are… but that isn’t how employment law works…  I may be in a hostile work place (so designated by my employer) but I am not a protected class…

But, also, it’s the thing about the pig… and the need to embrace the pig if that is your chosen route.

Strangely, I once tried to catch a greased pig… it was a rodeo, in Lake Isabella, California… it must have been the early 1960’s…  One of the events pitted a mob of kids against a small pig… a small greased pig… a really fast small greased pig… If you could run fast enough, and grab it and hold on you would win the pig…  I didn’t win…  I think Meale Haggard may have preformed at that rodeo…  This was after he spent time in San Quentin, but before he made it big in 1968… maybe it was a different year…   It was a long time ago, in a place far away…  Buck Owens may have played there as well… again, maybe a different year.  To this day, I have a fondness for Bakersfield Country music…

Back to the farm… there are rumors… lots of rumors… rumors about what happened.  There are farm rumors (some include behaviors which if true and if prosecuted would be felonies… I didn’t witness any such behavior… as a central figure in my private drama, it likely didn’t happen, so I discount such rumors),  but also rumors about the “Them”  and threats made, and actions to be taken, and unrelated changes in their organization… people leaving the farm for other sites, people retiring without notice, at least one of who is one of the “evil ones”…(based on my experience).   But, in general, I have come to learn not to believe the rumors until confirmed…  

One complicating issue… I am not the only city employee retiring… there are a number of us… and HR is apparently overwhelmed with recruitments… 

Currently I am working to an end of June end of work…  It is likely they will call me back when the new person starts, but for now… July 1^st is my target…  I may get July 4^th off for the first time in 12 years… I may not attend the Cajun Zydeco festival, or if I do, I may get to see the music…

I have not settled with the idea of being retired sufficiently to plan post work activities… that will come… but not yet… finish with the work world first.

There is a group of park citizens… the same ones listening to rumors… spreading rumors… suggesting law suits who are threatening to take action… action that looks like outrage and pitchforks and torches and generally ugly behavior…  not specifically about me (I am the central figure in my drama, but not necessary in theirs)  I hope to quite those… we don’t need pitchforks and torches… they don’t help anything…  the “Them” needs to crash before it can seek treatment… 

But, if I may have free time… (and I may) I am thinking, not quite planning yet; house improvement projects, gardening, and a couple of research trips… one to Tonopah… maybe to the back side of Death Valley… into hot places… There is another possible project in Colorado… 

It is all about change, and how it can be handled gracefully…  I am going for graceful…  and I don’t think grace and pigs go together well.