the end of an era

Today was, for all practical purposes, my last day at Dell. Technically next Friday is my last day, but I'm only going in for a few hours on Tuesday and Friday of next week.

I feel like I'm being forced out more than quitting. They are making it impossible to work there and a lot of good people are quitting. Just about everyone that has come to Ireland from America is leaving, and there are quite a few Irish moving on as well. The mood at the company is completely dreary. it's all doom and gloom and every breakfast/lunch/break is a depressing affair. we sit around and gripe about how bad things are. We worry about what will happen next. we're miserable and, for some, it has affected other areas of our lives. We spend a ton of time at work and when that is bad, it has a ripple effect. Dell, at least the Ireland location anyway, appears to be a sinking ship and we're jumping. I hate to be quitting, Dell has been good to me up until this point and I'm sure if I went back in the US I would be OK, but the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was never passionate about this job anyway. It was a good opportunity and I did well, but it's over.

The worst part is, I don't really want to leave Europe yet. I feel like I'm not leaving on my own terms. Now that the decision is made, however, I am looking forward to starting some new things back home. I have no job lined up, no place to live yet, no car, and after my last hurrah trip around Europe before I fly home, I will have no money. It's actually quite exciting. I know things will work out how they should.

So, I leave August 7th for a 6(ish) week train trip around Europe. I bought a one way ticket to Portugal and a 2 month train ticket. I have a loose plan but I will mostly fly by the seat of my pants. Whenever I am ready to move on, I'll just head to the train station and see where it will take me. I'll try to keep up on the blog where I can find internet cafes and such so stay tuned and wish me luck and pray that things calm down in Turkey because I will be there around the end of August.

Love, Russ

PS get a mac.