The other side has had its throw. They'd be good numbers normally and would give them a significant advantage over me, but they can't use them this time.

This is something of a metaphor for my work situation at the moment. The other side can certainly boot me out the door to save on my salary, but they still need me until the new system comes in so their move has been stymied. I, on the other hand, have the next roll of the dice. Go and find something better now, the numbers that come up in the roll permitting? Stay and hope to pick up the gammon of a redundancy package?

On the one hand I'm being told that there will still be a role for me after the new system comes in, and am even being offered the money to upgrade my system that I haven't had for the last 4 years. On the other, I've seen the solution architecture plans and I don't see any role for my system once the new one is implemented. (I mean, seriously, I'm one of the ones who has to sign off on the plans; did they think I wouldn't notice?!)

What annoys me is that I don't really care either way. They could tell me that I have a role and what that role is, and as long as I feel like I'd be making a difference and building my skills I'd be happy enough to stay on. I'd also be happy enough to go if they said to me "We'd like you to stay until the new system comes in, and if you do we'll give you X, Y and Z"; I'd then happily take a little break after I leave then go and find something where I could make a difference, build skills etc.

What I don't like is getting the feeling that I'm having buckets of nitrates shovelled in my direction to try to play me into staying if they have no intention of keeping me around; that annoys me.

But as I said... it's my move next.

(Edit from December 2023: As it turned out the new system simply couldn't do what my system can, so I ended up staying on. And on. And on. Until the company that I was employed by at the time was bought out by another company and I ended up running a later version of the same system, coming up to 13 years after this post was made. This is one of those moments that makes you look over your shoulder and say "What the h3ll just happened there?". Oh, and one other thing... it's been so long since I played Backgammon, I barely recall how.)

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