I haven’t had much time to update my blog.  I’ve been walking in my spare time!  I did my normal nine-mile hike with 40 pounds five times this past week.  I broke the five day trend because the family wanted to see the Black Panther.  I won’t hike today because it is my daughter’s birthday.

I received my approved permit to enter Canada, so that is now done.

Finally, I put in my 30-day notice on Wednesday.  I requested a leave of absence from my long-time employer on November 2nd, after I successfully signed up for my thru-hiking permit.  I gave them four months to decide how to respond.  I asked both my supervisor and human resources three times each over those four months.  Finally, I was told that they had not decided to approve it or not.  I believe the thought was that I wasn’t actually going to go through with it.  Clearly, they don’t understand me.  I said I was going on a hike in 2018.

So, my last day is March 30th.  That is the last day of the quarter, so I usually end up working 12-to-16 hours that day.  They could escort me out of the building I suppose.  That would be kind of awesome!  However, I don’t expect that to happen.  Don’t be sad for me.  The unemployment rate in my field is less than 1%.  I do not expect to have any difficulty finding a new job once I return, victorious.

With my last day the 30th, and it a late night that night, I will have three days to get everything ready.  There isn’t much left to do.  Mostly I will crank up my mileage those days.

Now to spend some time with the family.