30 Years, 2 Months, 9 Days

30 years, 2 months and 9 days.  Starting with National Bank of Detroit, who then changed their name to NBD Bank.  After lots of mergers with smaller banks, we merged with First Chicago and became First Chicago NBD.  Then merged with and became Bank One after I moved to Florida in 1998.  Then finally merged with JP Morgan Chase.

I suppose I should wax poetic about my time at the bank.  ‘Holy Crap!’ is about all I can come up with.  I have seen this coming for a very long time and really expected that it would have happened already.  When I moved here, I was responsible for everything technology.  Over the last few years, they have whittled that away until today, where I am literally down to unemployed.  The last couple of years, I pretty much felt like Geech here.

So today starts a new phase for me.  A lot has happened over the last 30+ years.  Think about it.  I started when I was 18 as a custodian in a branch office.  Barely 7 months out of high school.  Worked my way to an assistant manager’s postition in administration.  Ultimately became a project manager requiring a vast amount of skills and disciplines that I won’t go into here so as not to sound lik a resume.  Finally moved to Florida in 1998 to become Technology Director and an AVP.  Then, a Dipstick. 

In that time I married, had four children, lost two of those children and my wife.  Got three kids through high school, and am dangerously close to getting two of these to earn college degrees.  From that I get a great deal of satisfaction.  I also volunteered far more than anyone should, owned three homes and a multitude of automobiles.

So I am going to take just a little time for myself.  

Lots of folks ask the question, ‘What are you going to do?  Where are you going to go?!? Are you still going to sell the house?’.  To those and any other questions I say, ‘Heck, I don’t know.’

So as we used to say in Jazz Band, ‘Jump in and hang on!’