So… lard :)
OK, so given notice, hot chocolate with old team mates, toddle over to Canary Wharf, hot chocolate with friend there (more about that in a mo), get home, fancy celebrating my lack of a job (but continued employment) so eschewed the gym and went for a pizza hut with a friend instead. Will go tomorrow morning (or afternoon if the postman is late again). In the mean time I’ll probably just snack on a stick of lard sprinkled with pure sugar. After all, we don’t want me getting all stupidly thin again do we? 
Anyway, Canary Wharf. Stood there in full cliché*, Jas comes out, laughs at me and says “You didn’t go to see HR dressed like that did you?”. Yes, yes I did Black vans, black combats, t-shirt (’Keep out of direct sunlight’, was going to be ‘404 not found’ but I appear to have spilled half my breakfast down that so I had to change), full length leather coat, shades (think Matrix with long hair and you wont be too far wrong). After all this wasn’t an interview, it was just them formally telling me that in a few weeks time they want me to go away and here’s lots of money to do so quietly. I made an effort too, I put on a non threatening t-shirt and I didn’t turn up with one or more katana slung over my back Anyway, after about 10 seconds it was obvious to her I wasn’t going to be one of the disgruntled ones (why is it that people think that these huge organisations care about them as individuals? You’re a number, get over it) and despite the scary outfit all I really cared about was “how long do I get paid for? When is my last pay date? When do I get the money? How much is the money? Is there anything that will cause my to forfeit the money?”. You’ll spot a general theme there, but at the end of the day it’s why we get out of bed in the first place (don’t give me that crap about money doesn’t motivate you, given the choice of your job, or your job for an extra £20,000 a year I know which one you’d choose ).
* The first time I wore the full length leather coat Jason turned round and said “Did you just walk into a shop and order a cliché?”. The answer is, of course, no - it took several shops to put the whole clichéd ensemble together, but since then I’ve always referred to the coat as my cliché and doing the full black look with coat as full cliché. My last leather jackets was called ‘The Cow’. It finally got rid of it a couple of years ago as it was 10 years old and really didn’t fit me any more. It’s important to name leather jackets (we’re not talking fashion jackets here either).
In other words you went to see HR dressed as the ‘Urban Warrior’ (TM) *grins broadly* Dom I would love to have seen it *laughs* Even without Katana it’s always worth seeing
Girlba
all I really cared about was “how long do I get paid for? When is my last pay date? When do I get the money? How much is the money? Is there anything that will cause my to forfeit the money?”.
This is mostly true in bigger companies, unless the profitability of the company directly reflects your pay.
You’re right you are just a number, even people in government jobs who think they are appreciated anymore than anyone else in any other job is sadly mistaken.
As long as you do a good job and don’t think of the job as your life you’ll be ok - its a shame they don’t see it like this when you go for an interview though isn’t it?
‘So why do you want to work for compnay x?’
bleugh - must easier being a contractor. Its just the same as being a normal employee but non of the pretense that either party actually cares for each other.