Not with a bang, but a whimper

I turned in my notice yesterday.

It was a short little email (does anyone send letters, anymore?) that merely stated my regret at leaving, my future adventures, and my responsibility to family. I thanked everyone for my time with the company (11 total years from first "rules question" I answered on AOL, the playtesting for THE GAME, subsequent contract work, and finally 2 years worth of full time) and gave them my final work date.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. Doing odd projects, chatting with the few co-workers left, lunch at Hooters, and fending off a co-worker who wanted to sneak out and see War of the Worlds in the middle of the day.

The irony was not lost on me that my exit was more graceful (and planned) than so many of my friends who suffered from earlier layoffs. What was odd to me was the question that was asked many times. Instead of "what's your new job" I heard "do you have a new job". It's as if getting out was more important than landing gracefully.

I DO have a new job. I will be moving to Seattle to take a position with Wizkids so I'm staying in the game industry, although this veers quite a bit into the realm of toys, which I'm very exicted about. They seem to be a great company and I'm looking forward to the move.

I don't have a lot to say about it yet because I'm very busy with the second move and house sale in two years. I had hoped my time in Virginia would have been longer, but it doesn't appear to be "in the cards".

I hope I get a chance to see as many of you as I can before I go.