There are six more workdays left until I retire as a full-time salaried employee. I will be working after this, but as a freelancer who chooses his own hours and doesn't have to hear from the entire workforce. So in the days that are left, it is time to part from as many employees as possible.
Today there was a 'farewell party' in the branch where I have worked for the past 36 years, my 'home team'. First, my manager, the chief financial officer, praised me to kingdom come in front of all the employees there (about 20). At first this was OK but towards the end became a little embarassing. She spoke about how I have always served professionally whoever would come to me for help, and how I have solved many thorny problems over the years. She told how I have created an information eco-system for the company, creating reports and work protocols that have advanced the company over the years. This was as much for those who are not aware of what I have done over the years as it was for those who were well aware.
I began my speech by noting that whenever I attend a funeral on the kibbutz, I hear the deceased being praised in glowing terms, and I always think that it's a shame that the deceased never got a chance to hear all these wonderful things being said about him/her. I have the advantage of being alive to hear my 'eulogy'. I then talked a little about how it was in the early days, and how certain workers who are still with us began their employment. I said that like on Yom Kippur when we all request forgiveness for anything bad that we might have done, I request forgiveness from anyone with whom I might have had a dispute: if so, these disputes were always on a professional basis and not personal. I did say that I have personal and professional satisfaction from the legacy that I am leaving behing. I also recalled the late CEO who would often substitute the word 'challenge' for 'problem'; he challenged me frequently and I doubt that I could have achieved the same results had he not been there with his challenges. I mentioned that this branch implemented ERP 'by the book' and would always use it as an example to the other branches who frequently did their hardest to implement ERP as it is not meant to be implemented; I had to find ways that their protocols could match those in Priority as much as possible.
Several people came up to me personally after the speeches to shake my hand and say a few words. Most surprisingly, one was a new employee who said that he didn't know me but that he had heard of me and wanted to wish me well. That was very kind of him.
There will be another such 'party' in Karmiel next Monday; there it will quite different as first of all, my connection with that factory started only in around 2008 if not later, and secondly because I am only there once or twice a month, so all communication is either by email or by online meetings. My manager will not be there, but I will hear either from the CEO or from the factory manager (if not both) what they have to say.
There will probably be some form of 'party' in Tel Aviv towards the end of August as well as a special celebration for the finance department to which I belong.
I am not resting on my laurels: there are still some thorny problems to be solved at work that only I can deal with. After a minor upgrade a week and a half ago, there are several procedures that have stopped working for most people (but not for me), where the problem seems to be connected with choosing parts as input. I figured out how I can run these procedures under the debugger when the person running the procedure is not me but an ordinary employee. I saw that when I run these procedures, a normal SQL statement is created, but when they run the procedure, a ridiculous statement is created that apparently joins one part with the entire table of parts, causing the procedure to crash eventually . I have passed examples of this problem on to the company that gives us professional support, but I haven't heard back from them yet.
I have prepared a general farewell letter to be sent to the entire company by email some time next week. I will send it a few days before I finish as it would be nice to read what people have to say. After I retire, my account will be closed so that no one can write to me anymore with their problems - or even their best wishes. I will leave a message 'this email address will self-destruct in ten seconds', but I doubt that many people will get the reference. I must also remember to write to the company that supports us, although I will stay in contact with them, only with a different email address.
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 266 | Porting the Amateur Reasoner | Programming, AI | |
| 267 | Beef ratatouie | Cooking | |
| 612 | Transferring cassettes | Personal, Old recordings | |
| 741 | Rice and beans | Cooking | |
| 742 | And now for something completely different | Films | |
| 882 | Vinyl log 20 - 22 July | Vinyl log, Fotheringay | |
| 1793 | Italian phrases | Italy | |
| 1967 | Resuscitating the Donner octave pedal | Pedal board |
