Well, everything has gotten a bit full-on all at once…
Yup. I did that. For the last time in my final job.
I could probably work out how many times I’ve resigned previously, but it’s always been a step towards a new job so quite different. I probably took at least a week longer to do it than I should have done, but I really felt I owed my manager being told in person than just an email.
And I was really glad I did. It was a huge relief being able to talk openly (finally) about our move to France which turned the resignation into more of a departure for a new way of life.
It was hardest of all breaking it to my closest colleagues, so rather than pick them off one at a time I sent an email with the full story of why I’m going. And then have caught up with people in chats or meetings after.
Those not as close to me I’ve just dropped it into discussions or stand ups, which I have to say gave me an evil pleasure.
You’ll permit me a mini-rant, I trust, on applying for my final LocalGov pension.
Why is it that pension services are unremittingly bad? I don’t (necessarily) mean the staff. The processes just seem archaic and so slow. I had at least 7 forms to fill in (on paper of course), each one requiring me to provide my National Insurance number, and some my payroll number. I can’t help thinking they already have this information and don’t actually need me to provide it.
Anyway, that pain aside, this one marks the last step in extracting myself from working life. Weird feeling.
After what felt like a frustrating start to our property search in the previous week, everything took off very quickly. We had two remote viewing sessions within 2 days (using WhatsApp).
These worked pretty well - we were on from our end, Natalie from Ibanista joined the call as did the estate agent showing us around. Natalie handled any translation and pointed questions that we’d need to know the answers to before signing up for anywhere.
But….a small screen really is no substitute for being there in person. For our favoured property we had the impression that the bedrooms were a bit too small, but no real feel for the space. In addition, Google Street View and Google Earth can get you a long way there, but you don’t really benefit from the sense of walking up the street and hearing the birds.