* * *

All week long, my anxiety level was abnormally high. I felt so nervous ... as if my freedom would somehow be snatched from my grasp just as it was to come within my reach. It was a very long week indeed.

Monday night, I was at work, but instead of working I watched football. The Green Bay Packers played the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl re-match. I watched the game in the break-room at work while my two replacements worked in the data-center. Aside from answering a few questions, I did nothing but watch television for most of the week.

On Tuesday, my supervisor informed me that Human Resources wanted a letter of resignation from me.

"Letter of resignation?" I asked her. "I didn't think that I was resigning."

"Neither did I," she answered.

When I got home that night, I set to work writing the requested letter, with one objective in mind. There was no way that I was going to use any form of the word "resign."

Moreover, I avoided the temptation to launch into a lengthy diatribe detailing in vivid detail just what is wrong with the company. I didn't give in to the allure of telling them how to fix it, either, and I only briefly considered telling them just what they could do with it. Instead, I decided to attempt a more graceful exit.

I ended up spending about three hours writing a letter of which I think I can be proud. On Wednesday, upon my arrival I gave the letter to my supervisor. She agreed that I did a good job of succinctly stating the facts in a professional tone.

Thursday came and went without incident, and on Friday I began my last shift with an exit interview. A woman from the Human Resources department came to Wausau and gave me a bunch of paperwork I have to go through in the next couple of weeks. I knew it was really true when I turned in my key. It was at that moment that I knew that the next time I went out the door would be my last time.

That door is now closed behind me, and today is the first day of the rest of my life. The nervousness that I felt all week, has subsided and I feel somewhat numb. I suppose it will take some time for me to adjust to the fact that I don't have to go back there any more. It just doesn't seem real yet.

A fitting day for me to vacate my personal chamber of horrors. No more tricks, I have reached the end of the stick at last, and the treat is mine -- and I've got it in writing.

Happy Halloween!