I intended to post this before I left but as you can read in Extraction 9, the last two days didn't quite go as planned.
Amazingly, I managed to jump through all of the hoops required by Aramco to clear my departure process before the payroll closing date. That means that I should get my final payment with my March paycheck.
Departing is very different from arriving. When you accept that job with Aramco, they take care of nearly everything necessary to get you into KSA. When you leave, you are mostly on your own. Personnel does have a "guide" with a sort of checklist, but it isn't very helpful. For example, let's say you have to complete a task that requires five steps. The guide might mention four of them, might mention all five but one of them is wrong, might contain online links that are broken...you get the idea. You can spend hours or even days trying to sort out how to complete that task. And there are dozens of them, some large, some annoyingly insignificant yet they can't be ignored.
The only things left to complete are the animal departure logistics (inshallah, I will complete that tomorrow by noon prayer time), picking up my passport (the government used to hold them at the airport!), delivering the Honda to its new owner (fortunately, he lives a 15-minute walk from the hovel), cramming everything into my luggage (three large suitcases, two carryons, and a dish pack box), emptying the fridge, turning in my house keys, turning in my badge, and surviving the check in at the airport, which includes the aforementioned luggage plus three dogs, two cats, and their crates--I had to reserve two large cars to hold it all.
Everything has been completed at work. I either finished all of the projects I was working on or I moved them to a plateau where someone else could take them over without too much effort, and I wrote a detailed handover document.
Quite a few people have been asking me if I'm excited about leaving. I have been operating on a fairly high level of stress for some weeks now and I wouldn't say that I'm excited. Resolute, perhaps, since there's a fair bit of teeth-gritting going on.
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