Farewell to Bardel

Today was my last day in the accounting department at Bardel Entertainment. Between working a summer during my diploma, and then returning after BCIT, I have spent five years there and am ready for a change.The hardest part of leaving after that much time is you know so many people that it's tricky to properly say goodbye to everyone - and it's important to remind some people that you're leaving a company, but not them. It's equally daunting to consume the sheer volume of calories that people offer you on your way out the door...

I have had a fantastic core of co-workers across Finance, Payroll, Operations, HR, and Production, so there were almost a dozen lunches, drinks, and coffees this week trying to fit in goodbyes with everyone. I feel incredibly fortunate to have met so many kind and hard working people over and hope everyone continues to succeed in their careers moving forward.

Anyone that has talked with me about work in the last few years has heard about my work-aunts and I was delighted that Sherna (who retired in December and never had to set foot near Bardel again) came all the way from Ladner for my send off lunch.

(L to R: Michelle, George, Sanja, Sherna, and Ethel)

 
I also made a point of taking the operations team out for beer and nachos since they work as hard as everyone else (if not more so) but are too often overlooked when someone leaves Corporate. I'm not sure if this is because specialized teams get insular or what, but I wanted to thank everyone that helped me succeed and you certainly can't work in finance without getting the mail and calls routed or having lights and locks.

I was very pleased that they were keen to spend time with me off the clock since I'm not sure I would have been thrilled about hanging out with a 40-something accountant when I was their age, but they were sincerely happy to visit and fantastic company with an energy an exuberance which was contagious.

My camera phone is old and a little blurry, but this photo managed to capture the primary character traits of the team in one go. They're a great bunch and I'm confident they'll do great in the future as they go on to bigger and better things.

(L to R: Sam, Kyle, and Andy) 

Purely by fluke, there was also a company town hall/Beer Friday on my last day, so I got a chance to see the whole team gathered one last time and signed up to work the keg filling pitchers for a chunk of time at the end of the day. There was something pleasing about having my last task for the company being bar-tending that I just couldn't turn down.

The Langdale Skipper

 As many of you know, Kathryn recently had an interesting opportunity fall into her lap out of nowhere. She is currently spending 2 and 2 half days captaining a foot ferry which connects the Sunshine Coast terminal with Gambier and Keats islands. Since this service starts early and finishes late, she is spending 3 nights a week in the town of Langdale. The downside is a little time apart for both of us, the upside is a new job experience and a little bit of rural living.

I made a short visit one day over the Christmas break and, as you can see, the scenery is pretty darn picturesque out there. The terminal is in the lower left corner of the picture, and she is staying with a nice couple just a few minutes walk away.

 The dock for her commuter service is right alongside the BC Ferries docks. All pedestrian traffic exits at the front of the ship's car deck and it's just a few dozen meters to the side. The majority of customers are locals who live on remote islands with limited services and therefore need frequent access to a larger community for food and various other goods. It sounds like there are more out-of-towners in the summer months, but the winter is predominantly regulars.

The company (Kona Winds) owns several boats, but Stormaway IV is the workhorse for these runs. Kathryn handles the driving and navigation in all sorts of weather, but has a deck hand available to take fares and assist with docking and tying up the vessel. All in all, a good opportunity to put her 60-ton ticket to use and get more experience in the waters of BC!