De-Smocked!

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellows,

This morning was hard. I really didn't want to get out of pyjamas. I just wanted to retire to the couch and watch telly. 

But no. I had to get up and out of the house to catch the train and go to work at MPI one last time. 

Grumpy.

This picture is taken at around 7am outside the plaza that surrounds the Beehive. I cut through it to get to my office. When I got there, I found so much hand sanitiser. SO MUCH. 

Seriously. It was like, go through the first set of double-doors. Hand sanitiser. Second set. More hand sanitiser. Security barrier. Hand sanitiser. There was no hand sanitiser IN the lift, but more waiting for me when I got out at my floor. 

Also, a bottle on my desk. 

It sounds like I am complaining, but really I appreciate it. Smock turned up about an hour later and I was already looking at problems. In fact, today was another pretty busy one. 

This is somewhat surprising. Usually final days are pretty boring. Full of dangling about and embarrassing speeches. But today I looked at a few things and I fixed a few things and wrote some helpful notes for the support team. The morning went by pretty quickly. 

Also, Smock took me and the two other BA's for a coffee, and to say "Thank You And Goodbye" to me. I complain about her a lot, and this is because she can be really effing irritating. But I have always given her credit for insisting we have a good work-life balance with the emphasis on life. That's really quite unusual.

We talked - mostly not about work which was nice. Pregnant BA - who always talks about her kids - talked about her kids.

"My son was SO grumpy this morning," she said.

Well, I could relate.

"He just wanted to stay in pyjamas," she added.

You don't say.

"And my daughter just wanted to sit on the couch and watch tv," she went on. 

This is starting to get eerie.

Meanwhile, the other BA told a story about when she lived in Australia. She went to the bathroom one day to find a HUGE jobby sitting in her toilet. 

"How DISGUSTING!" she thought. And tried to flush it away.

At which point the jobby LEAPT out of the toilet, right at her face!!

She screamed. Well, you would, wouldn't you? Being attacked by a flying shite. 

Anyway. The jobby then let out a large BURP and hopped off. Which is unusual for jobbies. 

It was at this point she realised it was a Cane Toad.

I was delighted! A free coffee and a croissant AND a jobby story! That was unexpected!

So my morning was ok. At lunchtime, I made the most of being in town to do a few chores. And then it was back to work for just an hour before I fecked off for good.

Smock said she couldn't hug me on account of disease, but I could consider myself virtually hugged. 

I feel a bit bad now. 

Mind you, she DID have one last, "Been shoppin' 'ave yer?" because she just can't help herself. But I didn't even mind that so much today. One for the road and all that. 

And now I am home. You know, it's strange. Being at work just this one day has sort of erased all these weeks at home. Just being back for this short day made me feel like all the weeks at home with Caro and the cats is all part of a lovely, strange dream that has simply slipped away.

Maybe I am just tired. Or maybe every day is a dream, with some just better than others. 

And with that final whimsical thought to mark the end of my time with MPI, I wish you all pleasant dreams from here on.

S.