...I've packed up my office, and as I look around it I get a strange lost feeling. The end of this era is finally here.

It's so empty, except for my computer and Sam - my plant. I inherited Sam from DH when he left his company. Sam was so small. Wait, I take that back. He was short. Now he's a very tall something-or-another, we've never figured out what. But he's flourished - even though DH left him in his car for an hour or two and singed a couple of his leaves.

So Sam, after almost being kidnapped by the tree-movers yesterday, sits here with me in an empty office. I've only spent a year in this office... 5 1/2 years with the company. I remember when I shared a real office (with a door) with someone, and then we got relocated to a far corner with folding tables. Of course, the master programmer had been relocated to that corner too, so we made friends of each other. Good thing too, now that he's the VP of Software Development.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do one last wipedown of my desktop here, and gather up the dust that's accumulated over the last month since I had time to do it last. It's only going to be dismantled anyway. You'd think I was leaving the company (betcha that's what some of you have been thinking so far, eh?) instead of just leaving this building for a new one. I didn't feel like this with my last building move - I think it's because it was a move from such a small, cramped space to an awesomely huge building that we never thought we'd fill up. 4 1/2 years later, we're moving because we're busting out at the seams.

We're moving to a place that's almost twice the size of this place, but I don't feel that same sort of awe. I feel a little lost. I think that may be because of the amount of time that I've spent in this building, what I've experienced in it, and what I've dealt with. I've been through a lot here - most of it with my former team and ex-boss, and a lot with the team that I'm currently on, as we're the folks who've been around the longest. This is much like going to a new company with a bunch of the same players going with me.

...and then there are some that will be left behind as proverbial 'ghosts in the machine'. They've hired the new operations director that will take the place of the ex-boss - hopefully he'll continue to live up to my first impression of him. If he does, then he's going to be really interesting and fun to work with. If he doesn't, well, let's just say I'm being cautious about it. We'll see how things shake out.

Ah, but back to the move. I think I'm moving offices today. It wasn't supposed to be until the weekend, but I broke down my office to minimum operational need in about 30 minutes. That impressed a great many people including the guys in charge of the move - they handed me the blue tape and the sharpie and said 'Label your stuff, because we can move you tomorrow'. Which is today. It feels... odd. Empty, except for the cube walls that keep coming down daily. If I move today, and come back in two days, I'm pretty sure that I'll find my office will have been completely taken down. The end of an era is finally here...

...and I'm still here, happily grinning my way into the next one.