Closing in

We’re getting there.

The plan is to tell my boss of my plans to resign next week. I’ll be giving him plenty of warning; I’ll tell him that I can work up until April 1st if need be, but can leave anytime before then if he deems it feasible. Why the long stretch? Definitely a bit over a 2 week notice, more like 4 months. Ultimately it’s because I’m trying not to be a dick. I want to leave my position honorably. 

Where we work, it’s normal for retirees to give their notice anywhere from 6 months to 3 years notice before they leave. This is partially due to the intricacies of the pension, but also because it’s so difficult to find a replacement. Someone has to fill my slot, which is a supervisor in a specialized unit. Just to get in my current unit requires a months long process to select, vet and train prospective members. Generally a dozen or so supervisors will apply for maybe two open slots. Once selected, someone has to backfill the old supervisors slot, usually as a street supervisor. We’re constantly short on supervisors, so someone has to be promoted from street cop to street supervisor to make the backfill happen. We’re also constantly short on street cops too, so we usually have to wait on the latest rookies to complete their year long training. It’s a mess. Long story short, if the stars align and Jupiter is in retrograde, it might only take a few months to fill my spot. If Cthulhu does not smile upon our department, it could easily take nine months or more.

So yeah, that sucks for them. Given, I’ve done my time, and in the strictest sense it stops being my problem the minute I peace out of this place. That said, my boss is a pretty good dude, and the cops in my unit are pretty decent too. My boss has gone out of his way several times over my career to give me opportunities to do stuff others would kill for. When I leave, he’s going to have to jump through his ass to get authorization to get my slot filled in a timely manner, and he’ll have to start a new selection process to get someone in here. Having been on the other side of that deal, I know it’s a huge headache. If he can’t find someone before I leave, that means the other supervisors in the unit are going to have to work overtime to cover the hole. That means working even more weekends. As it stands now, our schedule ain’t great. It’s going to suck for them even more when I bounce.

As I said before, I’m trying to not be a dick. I wanted to wait until I was super sure I’m going to leave before giving notice, and I wanted to sit on it for a few more months just to be even more sure. I hit my FI goal 2 years ago, but didn’t feel right in leaving in the midst of the 2020 craziness. And then afterwards I was plain scared of change. I started thinking through leaving about four months ago, and realized my mind was made up soon afterwards. I’ve been sitting with it for months now, and though it still scares me, I know my mind is made up. I haven’t said anything yet, mostly out of self interest. Our oldest starts kindergarten next fall, and staying on these past few months gives even more of a buffer financially in preparation for that. Even if my boss says they can let me go the day I let him know next week, we’re now in a good position where we’ll have a financial runway to cover our oldest’s full time daycare and then some before expenses drop off next fall. 

I read in Tanja Hester’s Work Optional that an 8 week notice should be about max, and though I agree with her reasoning, I’m doubling that for the above reasons. And I’m totally cool if they unexpectedly fill my role way before April 1. The extended timelines is mostly for feels. So I feel less like a dick, and because having my mind made up for so long and not telling work is killing me. Having sat on this feels like keeping a secret from my coworkers, which I guess it is. I feel justified as I felt I needed the time to process, but much more of this and I know I feel like I’m being disingenuous. 

There we are. That’s most of the reasoning behind the wait, and the 4 month notice I’ll be giving. I’m trying to grab a beer with my former longtime partner and tell him of my plans just before I tell my boss.This guy has literally kicked down doors to save me, was my best man, and has done more for me than anyone besides my wife. Feels like the right thing to do. He’s a bit time crunched with lots of family and work demands, so if we can’t make it work IRL, I’ll be sure to hit him up before I walk into my boss’s office with my formal letter of resignation. 

My boss works a different shift than me, and like me he’s constantly bouncing around our city putting out figurative fires. I’ll have to request a meeting with him so he can block out time, and I want to do this in person because I owe him at least that. He’ll know something is up once I request the meeting, because I never do that. If he asks what it’s about, I’ll be frank. I can’t not be honest, so I’ll go with “I want to drop off my letter of resignation, and give you my four month notice in person”. While my boss is a good dude, he’s got a bit of a temper, and he’s invested quite a bit in me. He’s probably going to be pissed, at least initially. Will just have to roll with it, but doing it in person also seems like the right thing. 

I’ve already written my letter, and it’s sitting on my desktop waiting to be printed and signed. I also have a plan for what I’m going tell my boss (the truth) when he’s like “what the fuck??”. I’ll probably detail that plan in the next post. We’re already over 1000 words deep in this, and the only thing I’ve really said is I’m going to tell my boss I’m quitting next week.  Time to wrap it up. I’m nervous, but also excited. Here we go!

My posts operate on a bit of a delay, as it takes me a few days or weeks to go from first draft to published post. Long story short, I told my boss this past Monday. It was awesome! Give me a few weeks, and I’ll get that whole thing out there.