I have a new option ahead. Saturday evening we had dinner with my old boss. He is building a startup company and quizzed me on my interest. 

He knows how to make startups happen as he has built and sold them before. He also has some interested from venture capital and is talking to a few people who I respect. 

We had a good discussion. No promises. Just mutual interest.

The next morning my husband and I had a conversation on this. Me potentially doing a startup would be a big impact on our retirement. My interest is a little unsettling.

Sunday we hosted a retirement party for my husband's friend and AA sponsor. After she retires, she is leaving Seattle and moving back to the midwest to be with her family. My husband will miss her. She was a good person. 

  

how did she leave the country? roderick

That was a logistical adventure in and of itself. 

Internet connectivity was crappy while she and my brother were planning. Sometimes they could only exchange a couple text messages at random times during the day. As a result much of the planning had to be done on faith. My brother had to buy airline tickets and not learn for a day if she received the itinerary. 

Weeks ahead of her departure, she bought and set aside the gasoline that she needed to get from their house to the airport.

My brother found a small regional flight from Cuba to Cancun. Once she was in Cancun, she took a regular flight to home. 

My Sister-in-law is back from Cuba. My brother has this to say...

...She made it back. She seems to have both a sinus infection and an allergy issue right now she’s itchy all over and she’s on penicillin and an anti allergic or antihistamine type medication.

When she got home pretty much the first thing she did was shower and clean up. She doesn’t believe she fell asleep in the last 34 hours before arriving home. And she seems to be only waking up for her alarm to take her medication

But yes, it’s good to have her back. And I’m glad there was no major issues on the flights back

This is a bittersweet moment from them. Her father has late stage 4 cancer.  We don't know how much longer he'll live or if she can travel back to Cuba when he passes away.

I have submitted my retirement notice.  The suggested an end date is June 30th, though I'm willing to work with them to hire and mentor my replacement.

I've been mulling retirement over for a while. Late last week I was asked to put together my org's long term compensation budget (Compensation paid out over the next two years) By announcing my retirement now my boss can allocate my future long term compensation to other people-- give them a little raise so that maybe they are more inclined to stay around after my departure. 

When I met my boss this morning to discuss the budget, I informed him of my decision. He sighed. He quizzed me a bit. We talked a little about the budget. Mostly we discussed my future plans and what changed that I decided to pull the trigger.

We have learned that the Washington State Ferry System offers memorial services. For a fee and with a little planning, they will pause the ferry, let you scatter the ashes and then sound the ferry's whistle to honor the occasion. 

What a fantastic way to scatter my mother-in-law's ashes.

In Seattle, March is in like a lamb with two pleasant sunny days in a row.

We had the neighbears (Too cute?) over for dinner last night. It was good to catch up with them. They are getting married soon and we talked through their last minute challenges. 

One of them has taken a new job at a non-profit. It's a pay cut, but he is much more interested in the work. When we were talking about his frustrations with his old company I recognized many of his words and phrases as the same used by my executives. I wonder if this is all a McKinsey and Company management package being sold to many tech companies-- 

Hey little tech executive-- did you over-hire during COVID? Have your sales plateaued? Have I got a business plan for you! Just repeat these phrases--"High Performance Culture." and "Efficiencies from AI"-- over and over. With that, you can stealth layoff without drawing attention to the fact that you are actually struggling.

As cynical as it is, it's hard for me to actually feel sorry for most of my compatriots in the tech industry. We are paid fantastic salaries and given enormous freedoms. The companies we work for have the right to demand high standards and that we constantly improve ourselves.  At some level, we tecb-bros want to be well compensated working at easy jobs that make billionaires a tiny bit richer. If that is not acceptable, then leave.