I retired on August 24, 2018, and while I tried to inform everyone I could that my work email address would be defunct, I knew a few contact and mailing lists would not get updated, so an out-of-office message would be a polite reminder. I thought about crafting a short and sweet message, but my fingers wanted to take this last opportunity to make a joke, look at the opportunities ahead and reflect a little on how fortunate I was to pick I.T. as a career and even more fortunate to have been part of teams with really great people. I was a lot of work and a lot of fun.
If you sent me an email after that day, this is what you have received back. But if you didn’t...
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I've run away and joined a circus...
Just kidding.
After working since I was 11 years old in one job or another, I've retired.
I've traded in my alarm clock for adventures, my calendar for a second cup of coffee and morning commutes for morning exercises. While this work journey ends with the declaration of retirement, the next journey begins, one that offers the most precious thing in life other than love, that being time. Time to read, write, golf, explore, create, mentor, listen, give, appreciate and deeply inhale the fragrance of the roses.
I really have loved working, mainly because of the people I've come to know and what we've accomplished together. Information Technology was a great career choice, and one that ended up being just as much a creative outlet as a technical challenge. And one that I don't have to stop because I'm retired. That wasn't true in 1974 when I entered Wright State University, in the era of mainframes, but personal computers, the Internet, web sites, mobile devices and open source software hadn't been invented yet. I can dabble to my heart's content.
Don't bother replying, I'll never get it. This out-of-office message is permanent.
Signing off ...
Paul
