Goodbye to Riptown

Riptown held a going away party for Carla-Mae and I tonight. Like most other companies I've worked for, the party consisted of dinner and drinks at a local pub and some funny gifts for the road. A lot of people showed up though, even some whom I haven't really taken the time to get to know very well, as well as Corey & Anne, two of the high-ranking types in the company.

If it was just a party though, there wouldn't be much to post about, but I wanted to take a minute to just talk about how nice it is to feel respected and appreciated in the workplace. I heard a lot of nice things said about me tonight. My IT lead, Mike was very generous with all sorts of compliments and Corey even made mention of a new project I could help start up with Riptown when I got back to Vancouver. The general feeling from the group was that everyone was sincerely sorry to see me go and that my presence here has meant something to them and the company -- it doesn't get much better for your self-esteem than that.

Mike says that he's going to do everything he can to make sure that I get a job with the company when I get back into Vancouver and I really hope it works out. Never before have I worked with such a wonderful group of people that made me feel so talented and appreciated.

If any of you are reading this, thanks so much for a wonderful ten months.