Why Would I Quit This Gig?

I signed the retirement papers yesterday so I guess it's now official.
Am I sad? Am I happy? Well, a little of both, I guess.

Walking back from Whitmore I noticed how deserted the campus looked a few days after graduation. And the Learning Commons was also mostly empty.

It made me feel as though it was time to leave as everyone else was gone. And the work I've been given to keep me busy in the last several weeks, the mind-numbing barcode linking project, has been a real incentive. It's makes it hard to come in and makes me want to run away once I'm here.

And there's the noise.
It's construction now but once they take down the wall that's separated us from the public, it will be the mass of students who use the computers, patrons at the circulation desk, and the staff from not only our department but Circulation and Reserves. And the temperature at my desk has been a nice 72-75 degrees most days. Once the wall comes down and air circulation changes, how will that affect our temps?
Looking around the room during an All-Staff meeting I saw all the people I won't be seeing very often anymore. I'll miss the daily contact with co-workers, the jokes about the never-ending construction, the gossip, the weekly lottery pool. I'll try to catch up a little on Facebook but it won't quite be the same.

One of the construction workers asked me, "Why would you quit this gig?" The short answer is that it's not fun anymore. I learned a long time ago that often I can do what I want about a specific job if I don't ask permission or tell anyone. (I hope Jay doesn't read my blog.) That's when things are okay. But you can't do that all the time. So I'm looking forward to making decisions without benefit of committee, having to check with other departments, or waiting for a response from administrators. Whew! I just get to do what I want. If it works I keep doing it and if it doesn't I'll try something else.

For instance, I've been waiting since January to have the door to my locker reversed. It's a simple, 5 minute job that if I could do myself, would have been done months ago. Apparently it requires a special tool. The guys who can do the job are 20 feet from my desk but I had to, once again, ask the department head who contacted the business office who checked with the crew boss. They'll try to remember to bring the tool tomorrow. We'll see.