A couple months back I started keeping track of how may work days I have left. I have a letter-sized whiteboard on the side of one of my hanging file cabinets that I use to track some things and on the bottom of it, in the lower right-hand corner, is a two-digit number that is decreasing in size. It is on the side that faces away from the door so I’m the only one who sees it. Every morning. First thing, I subtract one from the number there.1
I have not made it a secret that I am hanging up my spurs here at the Valve Store, but I’ve only really shared it with just a few people. Everyone in my department, my cubical neighbors and HR of course, but word is starting get around. Seems like every other day now that I’ll get asked, “Is it true you are retiring this year?” I’ll answer in the affirmative and then tell them the number that is on my white board.
Now that the number is in the thirties, I’m starting to feel a little like a pitcher with a no hitter going. I know what is going on, everyone in the dugout knows what is going on, but nobody is saying anything for fear of jinxing it. So when I say the number out loud…