Hot Tub Meditation

I have been cold all day long; I hate it when I can't shake chills. Though today, I am probably not the only one loathing the frigid temperatures, the high temp for the day was somewhere around 25 degrees and the low was seven. Beh. I don't mind the cold but if it is going to be this way, then it should at least warm up enough to snow. And yes, for all of you warm weather people or other peeps in places where it doesn't snow, it can indeed get to be too cold to snow.

Anywho, after I finished up with my last official closing shift at Costco, I came home, changed into my swim trunks, and headed to Gold's to get into their hot tub. When I get chilled to the bone, the only way I can thaw out is to get into a shower or bath and soak for a long, long time. Gold's Gym was not very busy and I was the only one in the entire pool area. As I sunk down into the hot water, the star aligned and the world was at peace. All was well.

I just lounged in the warmth that enveloped me and pondered the happenings of the next few days and what I have done in the past few weeks and months to get to where I am tonight. Not having thought about the whole scenario too much, I realized that I have been busy lately. Really busy. Between trying to sell my car, worrying about money, taking a mental note of all of my worldly posessions, working, and in general, getting everything in order for my departure, I have not had the time to just sit back and dwell on what I am about to do. This is going to be kind of a big thing. :) A big, fun, very cool, thing.

Tomorrow, I work at 9am. I asked for this shift so that I may say goodbye to all of the morning people that I don't see very often. Work over the past couple of days has been odd, good, but odd just the same. I guess I never put much thought into how my being there has affected my co-workers and now I am getting a glimpse at how much people there appreciate what I do and who I am. My regular customers have all said goodbye to me and have thanked me for how much I have helped them over the years. People I have worked with since my first day are telling me how much they are going to miss me and how work won't be the same. I don't think I have ever felt this appreciated and to be honest, it weirds me out.

One of my best friends at Costco is a guy named Tim. He and I have been in the same department with each other for seven years now and I consider him to be one of a handful of people there that I really like and trust. Tonight, he walked up to me and gave me a card that he had drawn for me and signed. In very Tim fashion, he drew it while on the clock, using valuable company dollars to doodle. Something he does quite often, as do I. He drew a picture of a rising sun with Godzilla and Rodan fighting in the foreground. A very touching scene indeed. :) He and I always tease each other about our doodles so this was very fitting. The thing about tonight that I think struck home for both of us is that it will be the last time that we ever work together again. At the end of the shift, we shook hands and hugged and then parted ways. Of course, it is not like it will be the last time I see him, he is throwing me a going away party tomorrow night.

The going away party will be something as well. People that are not even employees anymore are coming to it to see me off. All in all, this is the way that everyone should be able to leave a job. While I may not have liked it all that much, Costco has been good to me and I have made friends there.

In other news, I have found it to be quite fun running into people I haven't talked to in months, telling them that I am not with Mushi anymore, and then telling them that I am moving to Japan. I ran into a girl that Mushi and I used to hang out with named Anna tonight and when I told her all that had happened, I thought she was going to explode. It was a rather amusing sight to behold. Anywho, I think she and I are going to go out to dinner soon and catch up on everything. She has a new job now too so it will be fun talking to her again.

So that has pretty much been my day. I also got a haircut in between the doctor's office and work so it has added up to yet another full day. I am warm now and feeling very content, I think I am going to call it a night. Sorry this post went pretty long, there have just been a lot of neat things happening that I wanted to mention.