noun
| 1. | a period of time considered as being of a distinctive character; epoch |
| 2. | an extended period of time the years of which are numbered from a fixed point or event: the Christian era |
| 3. | a point in time, esp one beginning a new or distinctive period: the discovery of antibiotics marked an era in modern medicine |
| 4. | geology a major division of geological time, divided into several periods: the Mesozoic era |
12 years working for the same company can probably be considered to be period of time of a distinctive character, at least in the context of my own life history, and so now that I’ve said my goodbyes to everyone at Hydro International it seems appropriate to say it’s the end of an era.
I guess this is how it must feel when you retire. After years of routine and walking around the same bit of carpet with a lot of the same people 5 days a week I suddenly won’t be doing that any more. It’s an odd feeling and something that probably won’t sink in properly for a good few weeks yet. Kirsty had been working for Zuken for 14 years so is trying to break an even stronger sense of institutionalisation. 10 of those years were spent sitting opposite the same person so he may have just as big an adjustment to make when a new face turns up for him to look at.
Unlike retirement though we’ll be starting another routine soon but this time without the weekly sales updates, monthly reports and annual general meetings. It’ll be nice to be spending less time staring at Windows Vista and more time exploring the vista outside the window but I’m sure there will be days when the thought of sitting on a warm and comfortable office chair instead of a hard, leather saddle may actually be quite appealing.
But first we’ve got another job to go to as we’ll be up in Glasgow volunteering at the Commonwealth Games for the next two weeks. Kirsty is on the timing team in the athletics stadium and I’ll be helping out in the ‘field of play’ at the velodrome. It’s a great way to be part of a huge sporting event and you can’t get much closer to the action! Look out for us on TV, we’ll be the ones in the red and grey uniforms.
