Leaving on a Jet Plane...

It most certainly has been an eventful week in Transfrmrland.

Let's start with a brief summary:
Monday - Labour day
Tuesday - 12 hours of work
Wednesday - Resignation day
Thursday - Counter-offer day
Friday - 10 hours of work

Those of you who are paying attention may have gasped when you got to Wednesday on that list, do I'll give you a moment to recover and start with Monday :)

Monday being Labour Day, I had job-related duties to perform. Instead, I spent a good part of the day playing Bioshock. I managed to finish the game before the day came to a close, and am quite happy with it overall. Sure, there are a few things that I'd change if I could, but that can be said for pretty much any game out there. In general the game was wonderfully difficult, and followed a well-planned storyline. They even threw in an unexpected twist towards the end that I enjoyed quite a bit.

On to Tuesday, just a regular day of job-related toil. Early morning and late night and all that jazz. Not really anything in particular that stands out in my memory, so let's go on to Wednesday.

Some of you probably skipped right down here looking for the juicy tidbits. Well, I'll try not to leave you wanting :P I received a job offer late last week that I spent much of last weekend mulling over. It is a good offer, but involves a wee bit of relocation on my part. I've worked for my present company for about five years now, and have quite a good position, but this offer has a few perks that really had me thinking. By the end of the day Tuesday, I had made up my mind to accept the offer, and so on Wednesday September 5th, I submitted my resignation to my employer giving them two and a half weeks notice, and offering to help with the transition(I'm just that kind of guy...).

I think it really took the company by surprise, although it probably shouldn't have. I really do enjoy my job, but a large part of that comes from the people I work with. Over the last few months, one-by-one, these people have been leaving. All have gone on to accept wonderful positions with other companies and continue their own personal growth, but it left me wondering if maybe I should be doing the same. When this "limited-time offer" arose, I took it as a sign that it was, indeed time to move on.

On Thursday, much as I expected, my company decided to provide a "counter-offer". This is basically when they really don't want, or can't afford to see you go, and so throw money at the problem. I have to say that the offer was quite flattering, but I had to turn it down. I know that they haven't given up alltogether, and expect to have several more meetings over the next two weeks, but I really don't believe that any of it will change my mind at this point.

So what does this mean? Well, it means quite a bit to do in a very short time. The new job is not in Toronto, as a matter of fact, it isn't even in Ontario. I will be relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia before this month is through, and will be starting my new job on the first of October. Short timeline is an understatement.

I'll definitely miss all the people I have met in Toronto over the last year and a half. Can't really say that much for the city itself. It's not absolutely evil, but it sure as heck is no Montreal. I'll have access to much better skiing in BC, something that I have missed dearly in TO. My family was a big part of the decision since they live in Montreal. Visiting them was only a 6 hour drive and I tended to go back at least once a month for a weekend. From BC, that just won't be possible, although I will definitely have to plan some extended visits over the next year. I spoke to them before making up my mind, and they urged me to do this, which played a big part in my decision to "go for it".

So now, over the next two weeks I will be simultaneously wrapping up my role for my present company, and preparing for a move accross the country. I won't be bringing a lot of my belongings with me, but will rather be storing them in Montreal until I have found a place to live, and settled in some. Even my car is remaining behind for the first bit. I'm sure that you can all picture just what such a quick transition involves, so I will spare you the boring details, and just leave it at that.

I plan to spend the last week of September in Montreal, with my family, and fly out to BC from there. I'll be having several "going-away" parties, one for Toronto, one for friends in Montreal, and one for family there. Hopefully I'll have time for all of these.

So there it is. In less than a week, my life has changed radically. In three weeks, it will change even more radically as I migrate clear across the country to the West Coast. I'm already tired, and stressign about every minute detail, but decided to take today to take it somewhat easy and handle some of the more mundane logistics. Tomorrow, I start the packing (I hate moving...).

On that note, I'll leave off, but rest-assured that I'll be sure to share my trials, tribulations and triumphs over the next few weeks with you all.

Hope you like the new soundtrack :) I thought it was rather appropriate.