We had dinner Friday night with our friends Chris and Sharon. They took us to Banyans, the restaurant at the WSU golf course and it was great! Chris came to Moscow as the Director of Contracts and Purchasing from the University of Michigan about ten months after I came to Moscow. He came into a giant mess and has spent the last three years putting together a great operation. It just so happened that he and Sharon bought a house just around the corner from our house in Moscow so we were able to get together fairly often – although not often enough :-) They are just wonderful people and I will miss them. I hope they will come see us but won’t hold my breath – Costa Rica is a bit out of their comfort zone.
This coming week Joyce and Doug are hosting a goodbye party for us and have invited several of the information technology folks I have worked with closely over the last few years and I am really looking forward to that. On my last day – July 23rd – there will be the traditional party at work with the people on our floor as well as those people across campus who work for and with me. And then on the 24th, we will go to the final goodbye party in Lewiston hosted by Tom’s boss and another friend who works for me. This has been a very hard four years as I was asked to come in and fix many things that were wrong or not working well. The people who will be at these parties are the ones who stuck by me when I was under extreme pressure from those who didn’t like what I was doing. They are also people who have held their own in their individual areas against the negativity and good ole boy culture that permeates this university. Bottom line –there are some of best and some of the worst people I have ever worked with in my 30 years or so of working in higher education. I am glad to let go of the worst and will be very glad to be able to retain my good memories of the best.
Costa Rica Dog Lover 