Packing it up

Latest from the Job Search:  Nothing solid to report, but thanks to help of many friends, I have been networking, with some decent prospects.  For those of you I have leaned on for favors, thanks very much for all the help.

I think the last straw for me at 3M fell Thursday. An internal opportunity, I was hoping would materialize did not come through for me.  It was the last thing I was holding out real hope for that I thought would keep me at Mother Mining. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it isn't going to happen, I found out.  Apparently, I was deemed too valuable in my current job to let go to this role.  

Too valuable to whom and doing what is a mystery to me.  I had been working on the plan to make my job redundant, so I could either (a) be freed up for this opportunity or (b) get a severance package and leave.

Anyway, I found this out from my ex-boss, whom I had a very open discussion about my future at 3M.  I have great respect for my ex-boss and we have had very open discussions including severance package strategies, the offer to let me see his resume for comparison, and a list of the top executive recruiting firms.  I still don't know how to take it - was he being a friend or was he giving me a clue that it was time to leave.  I think he was being a friend, but it was still strange getting this from the person you reported to up to a month ago.  Also, this discussion was an add on topic after we had just finished my yearly review, and he told me he was going to take in a higher rating for me than I had given myself.  This was Thursday morning.

On Friday, the last thing I did was to pack up my personal effects.

For the last few years, I have kept a box by my desk.  The purpose of this box is very simple - to pack up all my stuff in case I decide to quit suddenly.  I didn't want the reason for me not to leave to be some lame @ss excuse - like I didn't have anyway to get my stuff out, I have too much porn saved on my work computer, or I don't have an eMail to blast out to everyone saved in Draft (I actually have two eMails:  DEFCON 1 and DEFCON 2 I call them.  I sent out the DEFCON 2 message - don't use this eMail address anymore.  I still have not gotten to the point where I send the DEFCON 1 eMail, which is equivalent to telling myself "Turn your key, sir.  Turn your key.")

The box has been stuffed between my desk and the wall, so it is not easily visible.  A few folks have noticed it and I have told them what it is for.  I think they think I am joking, but I not.  For some reason people don't like believing the truth.  It reminds me of when I was in grad school and the job search mania that enveloped us all back then.  There were a few days when I would be very low in the clean clothing, and all I had was a suit and dress shirt.  I would wear a tie, as I think my suits looked silly without one.  This would always elicit questions from classmates:  "who are you interviewing with today?"  My answer was an honest "nobody".  Yet, they didn't believe me.  They were convinced I had an interview, and that made them more paranoid.  It was especially bad if there wasn't a company on campus.  If they had asked "why are you wearing a suit today?" I would have told them the honest answer.  I had no other clean clothes.  Alas- I digress.  No one at work believes me when I tell them the purpose of the box.

I used to keep in practice with packing things quickly.  I have heard stories of folks who had 5 minutes to clean their desk out.  I have tried to cut my down to 90 seconds.  I used to train preparing for emergency packing situations.   I was like a Marine;  travel light and pack fast.

On Friday, it became apparent I needed to return to boot camp.

With nobody watching, it took me about 12 minutes to get everything in the box, and I still didn't get everything in it.  Several brave items were left behind (Semper Fi indeed). Those who did not make it include:  

• My autographed picture of our former NASCAR driver Todd Kluever
• My Space Buddy Certificate that shows my name has been sent to Mars. I got in 20o2 on the NASA Kids site (I wanted to get in good with any Martians who might find this)
• An old Palm Pilot which has all my insurance and medical contacts
• (2) copies of the "The Six Sigma Way" given out to 3M employees when our ex-CEO came over from GE. (The fact I only have two copies is impressive.  Other people have tried to hide thier copies in my bookshelf when I wasn't paying attention.  At one point I think I had 5 copies.  I thought I was down to 1, but someone sneaked another back in, the b@stard).
• My steel toed work boots from a Caterpillar plant
  
• A collection of my favorite badges from trade-shows, including the World of Concrete show, The American Welding Society show (3 times) , the America Industrial Hygienist Convention and Expo (4 times), the International Woodworking Show, and of course The International Poultry Convention and Expo. These are all real shows I have attended.
• Several photos of my niece and nephew

This is by no means as fun a list as the fellow at General Mills who was auctioning off the contents of his cube on eBay (comedy at its finest!).  It did highlight the more ridiculous parts of my job - oh, I did forget all my personal reviews and accolades, too.  Plus any free samples I wanted to hoard in case of a pandemic.

The worst part of the operation was how heavy the box was.  I was dying.  I stopped three times on the way out to my car to catch my breath, and I have been working out a lot lately.  It was a good thing this was not an actual termination.  If it had, it would have been tough to walk out with my head held high.  It would have been impossible to do it gasping for air.  Back to boot camp for Jimbo.

Oh - as a side note - the box has not moved once I got in the door of my home.  It sits there as a monument to my girly man-ness.