Things Move Along

I now have 11 days left before I retire.
I have already applied for Social security and Medicare.
I am most of the way through the process of getting my pension from Boeing worked out. Friday Dec 19th will be my last day of work, but then I will go on vacation before I retire.
January 22nd is the 35th anniversary of my employment at Boeing, so on the 23rd I will retire. As with any long journey, there have been many ups and downs, triumphs and failures, but for the most part it has been a satisfying trek. It is honorable, honest, challenging work.
I am getting out just in time.
The company I joined and worked for all of these years is dying. Gone is the sense of family. Gone is the atmosphere of creativity and innovation. Gone is the inspirational leadership and charisma.
The most innovative, industry leading company has been bought out by the bean counters and accountants, and it has become increasingly obvious to even the casual observer that profit above all else has become the mantra of our upper management.
Any so called new programs have been driven, not by by innovation but as a knee jerk reaction to moves by the competition.  The 787 program was a reaction to Airbus creating the super-jumbo. The business plan was concocted by a band of accountants over the objections of of the Engineers and Production people. The results of that plan, driven by greed and ignorance brought a grand company to its knees, and everything that has happened since has been the result of management refusing to back away, justifying every action in pursuit of profit.
For now, with a captive work force, the plan will succeed. Unfortunately for Boeing, a large proportion of their employees are like me, at the end of their employment cycle. An enormous asset will be leaving the company within the next few years, but mqnqgement seems to be ignorant of the dumbing down of the work force. They have repeatedly demonstrated a disdain for the work force.
The newest 737 derivative, the MAX is a direct knee jerk reaction to the Airbus NEO.
Don't expect any innovation or risk taking from Boeing. Gone are the visionaries that gave us the 707, the first really  successful commercial jet program.
Gone is the innovation that rolled out "The Queen of the Skies", the 747. Back then the company was run by risk takers, visionaries, and innovators.
RIP a once proud and inspirational company.