The first story speaks to another issue: How long do I stay in order to guarantee a smooth transition, when the project I'm working on is two years old with no end in sight? (And is generally a god-awful mess, both from a technical and project-management point of view?)
I feel like I'll be dinged for leaving them "high and dry" but... my employment is specifically at will. I'm tempted to terminate it from my end, and get on with my new career.
At the bank I mentioned earlier, someone gave notice, and was immediately walked off the floor by security. He had organized his work completely so that it was an easy transition despite him not being there. Everyone had good things to say about him afterwards. (And he got paid for the notice period, which is standard if someone says, "Don't bother coming in.")
Somewhere down the line, someone will formally or informally do a background check on you. You don't want to give someone a reason to subtly backstab you later. If you do something big on the way out, it can haunt you later, and you may never find out. Be as professional as possible, document everything you know that may help someone, and work full days during your notice period.
Now that I've said all this, you asked for stories...
- A former colleague gave the minimal possible notice "because every day I stay costs me a lot of money." He was leaving to start a t-shirt company. (He was a great guy, and not as arrogant as the story sounds.)
- A friend at an investment bank (which was notorious for perp-walking people out when they were let go during the financial meltdown) quit, and gave his notice from his new firm's Bloomberg account.
These actually sound fairly lame. I wonder if ohters have better. :-)