Last Day At WFIC

Woke up 15 minutes before the alarm. Last day of work. Big sad day at WFIC. I took extra care with my frizzy hair, washing and spraying it to look civilized.
It was a beautiful still morning for the boat ride to work.

The boat arrives at Bergen, and the first commuters run off.

There's the now-closed knitting factory, that has been converted to the Salhus Knitting Museum.

Arriving at the dock in Knarvik

After packing my last few office possessions, I started saying goodbyes. Linda Hugvik gave me a rose, with a poem that she wrote in English. It was very touching. There was free lunch in the canteen.

 Nadeem, Jayesh, IT helper, Ian (can't see him), Ten, ?, Evgeny, Olav, Michael, Silje, Terence and Rahul

Evgeny made us one of his world-class cheesecakes. I posted an out-of-office message, and turned in my laptop. The good news is that it's old enough that they will gift it to me after it's erased.

You may remember Marie Aahs, who was here when I first started in 2008. I talked her into coming to receive her Continuous Improvement award today. It was great to see her again, and everyone was so surprised when she walked up to them. She didn't recognize Zoltan at first since he had a ponytail when she knew him. (smile)

Last chance to hold up the company!

Marie and my goodbye selfie

The Leisure Club had a bunch of money to spend here at the end, and I arranged for everyone to ride on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, with all-you-can-eat shrimp and herring plus live music. 79 people came! It was an awesome evening. It rained a lot, but there was a tarp overhead, or you could stay below.

Margrete, Lene and Bjørn

Terence and Mariah

Ida and May Jean

Rahul and the lighted bridge to Askøy

Lots of good conversations. Thoralf on the right.

Zoltan and the bridge to Askøy

Up top

Michael managed to give Zoltan his seniority award

 I guess it was a big rush to get Zoltan's 5 year pin to him in time. Mind you, he's been here over 6 years, but you know how these things get put back burner... Michael had Mariah bake a beautiful carrot cake for the occasion. Zoltan was thrilled.

Jannicke got her 20 year watch just in time, too.

Bente and Reidar have each been here over 32 years, can you believe it? They were on the boat, too.

Janne and me

Everyone has been such good friends through the years. This is like watching all your brothers and sisters leave home. Will we lose track of each other? I sure hope not.

We had live music by some musicians who played mostly Irish songs, but also childrens songs and even traditional rounds. We loved it, and by the time we returned to Bergen, lots of dancing was going on.

Dancing to the end ...

We tried to delay the end. People went to other parties. But next week, the plant will be nearly deserted. Just a few people will work another month or two to close down. They will have a job center in the building, so we'll still be able to get in to some areas. Several people have new jobs already and others have had or are having interviews. The unemployment rate is only 2.5%, so I'm optimistic for everyone. We plan to get together once in a while, and keep in touch.

Welcome me to the world of retirement! I am going to start a consulting company to earn travel money, but I want to have more time to wander the mountains here.