If a shoe drops in a forest...

I sent out the announcement to my team today, so it's now (relatively) safe to discuss it here.The (edited) note to my team:It is with some regret that I have to announce that I have resigned from Apple. My last day with the company is August 11.As you all know, I've been fighting my weight for a number of years; increasingly it's been a losing battle, as I've "expanded" in the last month or so to 380 pounds. What I haven't talked about is that over the last year, I've also seen my blood pressure start to rise to the point it's now worrying my doctor (and me). When I caught that bug in April, it started me taking a serious look at my life and priorities (I now call it my "two minute warning"). Since that time, I've never rebuilt my energy levels and stamina.

It's been a difficult fight for me to try to get the work done expected of me, and it's left me exhausted much of the time.I have been looking at alternatives on and off for the last few weeks in an attempt to find a way to restructure my position to reduce the stress and workloads. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with I felt met my needs, was fair to Apple, and would survive the business realities that are expected of the project. The scenarios I came up with weren't fair to Apple, and I don't believe they really helped the project move forward -- and I know myself too well to know that I wouldn't dig in at crunch time to help out, and I really can't continue putting myself in that kind of situation.So I've made the tough decision that it's time to make a clean break of it, take a little time off, and then find a new position where I can make a fresh start in a situation where the stress levels are easier for me to cope with.

I'm not really happy with this decision; the word I'd use for my feeling is that I'm comfortable that it's the right one. I'm not leaving for a new position; I've just started exploring what I might want to do, and what might make sense.As to transition issues and the next three weeks: I'm taking a couple of days off to deal with some personal issues that have cropped up. After that, I'll work with mimi to set up schedules and priorities on what needs to be done. I'll be working part-time at home writing documentation and answering "stuff", and part time in office doing trainings and KT's with everyone. I have also committed (happily) that I'll continue to be available to discuss things after the 11th, and we'll figure out how that'll work as we move forward.I want to thank all of you for your support and your help as I've tried to figure out what I needed to do. Your cameraderie and friendship are most appreciated. You are the best bunch of folks I've ever been privileged to work with. While my time on this project is coming to a close, I regret not one minute of being here. And I believe we're all looking at the same goal: that the project not just succeed, but thrive and kick butt. My moving on will cause some things to change; but I think we can work together so that it improves the project; it's my committment to make that happen.Thanks....Chuq