Last Day at BP

Today is Dan's last official day at BP. To be fair, he has checked out mentally since two weeks ago and donned hawaiian-esque shirts and jeans every day since, but the last paycheck will state THIS day as his last.

It's 2:30 now, which means that since 11:30ish he has been partying with his BP friends at Hugo's Frog Bar. I wish I was there. I may just drop in for kicks and giggles. Right. Nah, I better leave him to his cynical fun. He tends to tone down the petroleum jokes to meet me at my intellectual level whenever I crash his conversations. Better let him be.

Dan has a lot of change heading his way, but I can pretty much rest assured that one thing will not change. In the many years I have known Dan, he has a hard time keeping his gas tank full. This is no word picture folks- he literally forgets to fill his tank. He and I will often be talking in his car only to be interrupted by the friendly chirp of his gas tank, reminding him to quench the thirst of his sedan. He looks at me sheepishly, anticipating my scowl, and we negotiate with the car whether or not we can make it to our destination. The irony, of course, is that he works for a petroleum company and gas should be on his mind a lot, right?

Dan will miss a few things about BP. He will miss his many friends there. I figure he has at least 10 friends there, given that he has worked there a decade and he makes at least one friend a year. :) Actually, he's been given a LOT of goodbyes and sincere farewells from friends he hopes to keep in touch with and, let's be honest, bring with him to Google.

He will also miss the free gas the company bestowed upon all their employees. Oh wait, I lied. They never gave free gas. That part was false. Nix that.

He has had a great deal of input at BP. Before the new logo came out years ago (the helios, flower-looking one), Dan was privy to seeing it. He had to sign his life away as far as secrecy, but he saw it. We laughed our butt off when it launched because it was so darn pretty and we tried to imagine the gas attendants scrapping their old majestic logos for ones that looked like a flower: "Durn corporate. Why they keep making us wear this girly stuff?"

Well, I'd better turn in. Dan will be gone a lot of today and he made need a lift home. Not because he drank too much, but because his car didn't get enough to drink. Plus, I've got to make room in our house for a new member in the family: Dan's smile has returned.