Goodbye, alright, already!

When it comes time to change out commanders in the military, there is a long drawn out process of saying farewell. The higher up you go, the more painful the process. As outgoing brigade commander, Ward's been farewelled a lot these past three weeks, with the climax being the actual on-the-parade-field COC ceremony. Before that there were several luncheons, official and non, plus my own farewell at the club. It is thoughtful to take the time to thank those people you've worked with and to get a pat on the back yourself, but by the time you actually make the transition to the next guy, folks are pretty much sick of you with a "why are you still here" look when they see you! It is a bit of an overkill, but what makes it especially hard for me, is that I'm staying here for the next year. The usual circumstance is that you are packing out and hitting the road after this long goodbye and moving cheerfully on to the next duty station. Ward leaves tomorrow for his deployment and I'm staying on . . . got any ideas for a good disguise?