Hello and Goodbye

Friday was a grand day. The Wednesday before was my last actual day working, which, after 42 years of doing it, was an eventful and emotional day.  But Friday was grand.  There was a rather large crowd of retirees and employees, some say the largest one so far, and it all went extremely well.  Wonderful things were said, memories were shared, a few tears shed; but the most amazing thing happened.  The Duck showed up.  Yes, THE Duck.  The Oregon Duck mascot, the one you see on TV at all the games, the one that does all those pushups every time Oregon scores.  That one.  Not only did The Duck hug me, he dropped down and gave us 42 pushups, the last one being a one-armed one.  And what was even more fun, after being prompted by many of us in the room, he gave a warm hug to three of the most staunch Oregon State Beavers fans in the company, to the delight and hoots of all.  All that, and very kind words said about me, and three cakes.  Like I said, it was a grand day.

Photo by Jerry Paulsen

I handed out quite a few of newly minted "retired" business cards with the address of Bad Hat on them, so I assume our readership will be going up.  And because of that I'd like to welcome our new readers and hope you have a good time here.  Bad Hat has been a love of mine since 2007.  Uncle Bob Winslow and I started it basically to keep ourselves relatively sane during the Bush administration, and opened it up for all to read when we heard it was helping others cope with that disaster which was called Dubya.  We have a moderately large audience of regular readers now, and although I've let them down for the last few months as my mind wandered elsewhere, I have pledged to expand the scope and frequency of posting here at Bad Hat now that I'm retired with much more time on my hands.  Other people have and will contribute to this venture.  Arthur in Marin County, a bit of a world traveler and astute observer of the political scene is a regular contributor, and any of you may do the same if you have something intelligent to say.  Feel free to comment anytime.  And don't forget to click on all the links.  If it looks like this, click on it.

I received a lot of cards along with the good wishes and they were wonderful, but one message typed on a piece of paper really touched me, and I'd like to share it with you.  It's from our great friend, co-worker, and fellow Bad Hatter Steve and the words touched me deeply.

Thank you for the things you've said, done, implied and shared across the years.
I have always known how difficult it is to be a really good operator, the irony being that the better you are the easier it looks.  You, my friend made it look like child's play.
I am one of the many fans you've accumulated during your tenure.  We all learned by your thoughtful ability to dance on the mind fields and look beyond the madness.
Whenever it all became too much, you shared a laugh with us, but it never came at our expense.
Thank you for setting the example for us to stretch to be better and more human.  You carried yourself as if it made sense to do so, even when it could not be easily explained.
Now you can E.P. Rush at your own chosen pace.  Remember to breathe and enjoy.  You've earned it.

Thanks Steve, and thanks to all of you for all the memories.

p.s. thanks to Jerry and Cheri' for camping here from Oregon City to keep my head clear and knees stable for the weekend, and a special thanks to Pam for organizing The Duck's visit.  I love you guys!



JP