Let me start off by saying it’s good to be back on the east coast. For the most part people here make sense to me in that they have places to go and basically want to be left alone to get there in as expeditious a way as possible. With that being said, all I can say about this class is that I’m basically over it. I’m not saying that I’m ready to go back to my actual job, just that I’d rather be doing something other than this.
Tag Archives: job
Finally…
My four-month odyssey to move from one end of the building to another seems to be complete this week. I say seems, of course, because every advance on this front has been beaten back up till this point. Now, finally, with all my workly possessions moved into my new digs, taking marching orders from my new boss, and only occasional questions from the old, I dare to hope this could be the real deal. I forgot what it was like not to be continually surrounded by procedural dysfunction. I haven’t wanted to beat anyone to death with their own arms for at least three days… and that might just be a personal best.
Swan Song…
This trip reminded me why I have enjoyed the work in emergency management since I first got the bug five years ago… It’s also reminded me why it’s time for me to go. While I’ve been here smoothing ruffled feathers and talking up our operation, I’ve been constantly peppered with emails from the home office about things that could more easily be handled by others. With a rare few exceptions, everyone in the office is senior to me in terms of years of service by 20-30 years. With that many years of experience stacked up, an office should be able to run for a week without sending major decisions through me for evaluation or to send in a report about how many of our people are working overseas. Sometimes I can’t quite shake the feeling that it’s amateur hour at the icecapades around here.
This trip is probably my last big roundup before moving on to other pastures, but one of the most gratifying things in it all is knowing that my opinions in the field are sought out by senior leaders and people who awed me when I was just starting out. It’s a little humbling… but fortunately, my ego is sufficiently large not to be too deflated by that.
Second time around…
Well, here’s hoping I manage to get it right the second time around. I’m leaving tomorrow on a redux of the trip I was too sick to go on last month. Mercifully, I’m feeling well and it’s possible that this will be my last big trip before the job swap takes place. I’m not holding my breath on that one, though. Seems no matter what my job is, I’m always needed somewhere other than where I happen to be at the time. After a long weekend of waging war on my back yard and getting it primed for spring, I think I am ready for a nice quiet boondoggle. Talk to you from Kansas City… Or from the airport if I see something that just demands an immediate rant.
Not what I was expecting…
I’ve been holding off on writing this one for a few weeks now. The Army works in mysterious ways and human resource types adhere to a time-table that they alone know. Last Friday, I was asked formally to accept an offer to be the #2 for Plans and Ops. My portfolio is said to include all emergencies in the US, its territories, and dependencies. The plans for how we respond to earthquakes, wildfires, and terrorist attacks will have my fingerprints all over them. In planning sessions with other agencies, I can speak for and commit the organization to courses of action without racing up the chain for approval. The technical description is Lead Civil Planner, but it’s de facto Deputy Chief, Plans and Ops. HR has the paperwork in the queue and I’m expecting the final word to come down before the end of the year.
It’s the job I moved here to chase. The title bump and pay raise are the goal that kept me focused through the post-Christmas move last year and the only slightly organized chaos of creating an organization out of a half dozen empty rooms. It’s why my desk at home is covered almost every weekend with briefing books and white papers.
This should be a moment of supreme satisfaction. The capstone event of a five year race. Hell, most federal employees cap out at a GS-10 or -11 after a 25 or 30 year career. Even if I were to kick back and rest on my notional laurels, the sheer weight of attrition will keep me on an upward glidepath… Not necessarily because I’m the best, but because I happen to be holding the right grade. The whole thing feels a little hollow, really. I spend my life being prepared for the eventualities, but I wasn’t prepared for that. How’s that for irony.
P.S. Yeah, I know I shouldn’t be bitching about this, so tomorrow morning, I’m gonna suck it up and drive on until I figure out what’s next.
Unexpected turn of events…
My current boss has been “acting” in his position for the last year or so. Although he was one of three interviewed for the position, if I had been taking bets, he would have been the dark horse candidate, with the odds of him being selected being very long. While he has been “acting,” he’s been formally occupying the job that I really wanted… effectively meaning the only way I get promoted is if he gets promoted.
As of about 20 minutes ago, the word is officially on the street. The “old man” is getting officially kicked upstairs to the big office, freeing up “my” new position. There are still plenty of wickets to get through, but assuming that there are no serious hang-ups, a significant assumption when talking about a federal job, my promotion could come through sometime after the middle of next month.
I’ll still be playing with hurricanes, charging across the country at a moment’s notice, and probably having even less free time than I do now, but in the end, it’s the job that feels right. It’s the one that I’ve sacrificed for and the one that I’ve driven myself into the ground chasing. It’s here now, just flitting into reach. It’s here now and God help me, I want it. I know I’ve sure as hell earned it.
Not quite writer’s block…
Actually, I suppose the phrase “writer’s block” implies that I haven’t been writing when, in fact, I’ve turned out a fair amount of copy in the last few days… Just nothing that I would think of as blog-worthy. Predominantly, it has been for class or for work, but I have found a few moments to do some writing purely for my own purposes and have found it as satisfying as ever. Some days I think I may have missed my calling and should have made a career of thinking on a topic, reading a little, writing, and then repeating the process until I have a new idea worked out. As I understand it, though, that job description is a little hard to come by and the pay scale sucks. One thing I have found is that a business degree has very little resemblance to actual academics and it’s nice to get back to thinking about issues of history and politics, even if no one but me will ever read the end results.
Something’s different…
I read a number on blogs of this infernal machine and a common refrain among my fellow drones is something like “my job sucks.” While you’ve often seen me bitching and complaining about whatever happens to be going on, I actually thoroughly enjoy what I do. When I’m bitching the loudest, I’m usually the happiest. It operates on a similar principle to only picking on the people you like. Despite it all, I can’t imagine doing anything else just now.
It’s hard, though to deny that something’s different lately. The phone isn’t ringing as often. The steady flow of e-mail has slowed to a trickle. It’s like the organization is hunkering down, doing underground to ride out the coming storm. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re in the calm now. I hate the waiting. Give me something that I can work against, something I can plan against, something to drive against. I hate the waiting.
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