It’s official…I’m out, done, ready to move on.

For those of you that didn’t know, my company closed shop in California on December 15th.  So this, I guess, is where the blog, and the ride, begins.  Yes, it was sad (for a moment), but in the end it was a lot of smart and talented people sitting around being saddened at the thought of being sad.

For my part, I was over it several months ago.  I stayed in it to the end out of loyalty (read ‘severence’), but I have known for some time that it was getting time for a change.  The ride is a way of putting closing punctuation on my tenure at MH and some distance–literally–on what had become my familiar routine.

By the time summer rolled around, we all knew something was up.  I suspected more layoffs for months, but not me.  I was ‘franchise.’  I just received the Corporate Achievement Award for developing innovative education technology products and the division was more than profitable.  At the mid-year, corporate ‘town hall’ meeting, however, I noted a few extra suits in the office and I knew there would be blood on the floor.  I was right.

Everyone.  Everyone was gone, save the lone Publisher, who handed us the requisite manila envelope and directed us to the door.  MH was letting go of the entire California operation within five months.  Some could (and did) choose to stay with the company and move to Ohio, and I wish them luck.

For me it’s time to get gone.  I’ve got a plan and I’m stickin’ to it…

Pearl Jam: “Rearviewmirror”