First, I came in to the news that the London office had been evacuated because of a nearby gas leak! No problem in the end, everyone was back to work by around noon/9am - but still!
As if that wasn't enough, around 1pm there was a fire alarm in the US office. We all ignored it at first--we have weekly (yes, WEEKLY) fire alarm tests so we're kind of numb to the announcement after the first startling whoop of the alarm--then the announcer said that there had actually been a smoke alert. The lower three floors were even evacuated! Barely 15 minutes later we got the all-clear, and a coworker of mine later got the scoop: Apparently someone had tossed a cigarette without extinguishing it. It rolled into a crack near the wall and whatever caulking they used on the sidewalk caught fire, setting off the alarm. By the time I left, there was no sign anything had happened.
Finally, since a day of getting lovely good-byes from friends, coworkers, and authors just couldn't be complete without one last SUSFU, an author who had been trying to change their back cover copy ever since the deadline to change back cover copy had already passed called up my editorial assistant and said that their production editor had said they could change the back cover copy with editorial approval. Not only had I personally spoken on the phone with this author three times explaining why the change was not possible, we had email evidence that the production manager had told the author that the change was not possible. So I had to spend my last hours as an editor coming down hard on alternative facts. A bit cathartic after the hectic two weeks I've had, but not quite how I wanted to go out. Ah well.
Anyway, in the way of the delightful American workplace, I start my new job as a Metadata Manager on Monday. Hopefully I'll do another post like the one I did about my internship once I'm a few months in. Erm, don't hold your breath.
Anyway, here's a quick summary:
Things I Will Miss
- All the people, of course!
- This:
- The glamour of saying, "I'm an editor" (before I started qualifying)
- Relatively regulated heat in the winter (sure am glad I took that space heater home when I left the Flatiron!)
- Fast elevators
Things I Won't Miss
- Hour-long commutes
- The ear-piercingly shrieky tracks on the subway between City Hall and Cortlandt Street
Things I'm Excited For
- Working in trade (the books most people read)
- Working with books in a ton of different genres
- The glamour of saying I work in the Flatiron
- Half-hour commutes!
- Free Book Day (also kind of dreading this...)
- New job in general - duh!
