My first week of federal service has been completed. Its has been a busy week.
Day one was the intake day. I reported to the main State Department building in DC, and I and 47 other people were sworn in as employees, filled out paper work, listened to welcome speeches.had ID's issued, and had briefings on several different subjects.
The official orientation began on Tuesday. Every day of orientation is briefings, reading, presentations and meetings. Every night there is homework - readings, online courses, prep work for classes.
Looking back on my first week the most is the almost comical number of acronyms and forms that we we introduced to. It is like a parody. Like a mix of MASH, Office Space, and every other movie about dealing with a bureaucracy I have ever seen.
On the non-work side of things, we have managed to have a dinner with friends, take a couple walks on the Mall n DC and take in a couple museums.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Pack Out
Tomorrow is the day they come to pack up all our stuff and bring it to storage, and we are ready! And by ready I mean we are out of time to do anything else.
We could really use a few more days, but it is what it is. We have our belonging divided up into 3 piles - What we are taking in our car, our unaccompanied air bag (UAB) and our house hold effects (HHE).
What makes this tough is the uncertainty. I have a general idea what will fit in my car, but our pile looks pretty big. And our UAB is 450 lbs, but how much is that? Are we really under, or really over? We are just not sure.
The bottom line is that we will have a hectic and stressful day tomorrow.
On the flip side, we have had several very nice send offs. Bar meet us, diner parties, calls from friends and family. It has made the last couple weeks both very busy and vary enjoyable.
We could really use a few more days, but it is what it is. We have our belonging divided up into 3 piles - What we are taking in our car, our unaccompanied air bag (UAB) and our house hold effects (HHE).
What makes this tough is the uncertainty. I have a general idea what will fit in my car, but our pile looks pretty big. And our UAB is 450 lbs, but how much is that? Are we really under, or really over? We are just not sure.
The bottom line is that we will have a hectic and stressful day tomorrow.
On the flip side, we have had several very nice send offs. Bar meet us, diner parties, calls from friends and family. It has made the last couple weeks both very busy and vary enjoyable.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Judgeing people By Thier Books
I know we should not judge books by their covers, but what about judging people by their books? I have always been interested in checking out what books people have on their shelves when I visit their homes. The books you choose to own are a reflection of who you are.
But now I wonder what people might think of me. I have had people coming in and out, with realtors or during open houses, and my bookshelves are easy to see. I have a wide variety of interests, and my books reflect that.
The problem is that I also own books that don't reflect what I think, and some people would find offensive. I even find some of my books offensive.
I own a copy of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and Chairman Moa's Little Red Book. I can't say I am in agreement with either of these men.
I have a book called "The South Was Right," which argues that while the Confederacy lost the war, the was actually right and the North was wrong. Again, not really my position.
The worst book I own (both in what it stands for and how well it was written) is "The Turner Diaries." I heard about this book after the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh was inspired by it. I read it and wondered how anyone could find anything inspiring in this really dumb non-sense.
So I wonder if anyone has looked at my bookshelf and come to the conclusion that I am some sort of a racist nut job? I could hide these books, but I think it it far better to confront and understand ideas we don't agree with than it is to merely read what we are predisposed to embrace.
But now I wonder what people might think of me. I have had people coming in and out, with realtors or during open houses, and my bookshelves are easy to see. I have a wide variety of interests, and my books reflect that.
The problem is that I also own books that don't reflect what I think, and some people would find offensive. I even find some of my books offensive.
I own a copy of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and Chairman Moa's Little Red Book. I can't say I am in agreement with either of these men.
I have a book called "The South Was Right," which argues that while the Confederacy lost the war, the was actually right and the North was wrong. Again, not really my position.
The worst book I own (both in what it stands for and how well it was written) is "The Turner Diaries." I heard about this book after the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh was inspired by it. I read it and wondered how anyone could find anything inspiring in this really dumb non-sense.
So I wonder if anyone has looked at my bookshelf and come to the conclusion that I am some sort of a racist nut job? I could hide these books, but I think it it far better to confront and understand ideas we don't agree with than it is to merely read what we are predisposed to embrace.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Getting Our Affairs in Order - Part 3 - Our Cat
Some people take their pets with them when they relocate. We have 1 cat that we adopted over 10 years ago, and they told us he was 2 years old at the time. If a cat is not a kitten or clearly old, I think they always say its 2 years old. The point is, he is now an older cat.
He has had his share of health problems. He is down to just a couple teeth. A move would be hard on him.
And it would not be just one move. We are going to Washington. But in a few months, we will relocate again to who-knows-where.
So the best move for him will be to find him a new home. Fortunately, Carole's sister has agreed to take him. Carole has been methodically introducing him to his new home and the cat that that already lives there. She takes him on short visits. He met the other cat for the first time yesterday.
The day that we drop him off for the last time will be very hard for Carole.
He has had his share of health problems. He is down to just a couple teeth. A move would be hard on him.
And it would not be just one move. We are going to Washington. But in a few months, we will relocate again to who-knows-where.
So the best move for him will be to find him a new home. Fortunately, Carole's sister has agreed to take him. Carole has been methodically introducing him to his new home and the cat that that already lives there. She takes him on short visits. He met the other cat for the first time yesterday.
The day that we drop him off for the last time will be very hard for Carole.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Getting Our Affairs in Order - Part 2 - Our House
I have lived in our house most of my life. When my parents moved out of state in their retirement, I bought the house I grew up in. My family moved into this home when I was 4 or 5 years old. I lived there until I got married, and Carole and I bought our own house when I was 24. Ten years later we bought it from my parents, and sold our house to my sister.
People have often asked me if it is strange living in the house I grew up in. Living in the house itself is not all that weird, but there are two things that have been odd. The first is when I went to the corner store and saw the same people working there that had been there when I was little. The second was visiting my parents in North Carolina, and seeing the furniture I grew up with in a different home.
Now that we are moving overseas, it's time to sell. We had considered keeping it and renting it, but decided not to. Its too much hassle to be a long distance land lord and having to have someone manage things for us. We opted for a clean break.
In anticipation of selling, we had the house inspected. It has several minor issues, and some cosmetic ones. We had addressed some of them, and had a plan to address the rest when the offer came through. So we accelerated everything and now the house has been listed even though it is still being painted.
Yesterday was our first open house, and, lucky us, it snowed! We still had a decent amount of people in to see it. We just have to wait and see if we start getting any offers.
People have often asked me if it is strange living in the house I grew up in. Living in the house itself is not all that weird, but there are two things that have been odd. The first is when I went to the corner store and saw the same people working there that had been there when I was little. The second was visiting my parents in North Carolina, and seeing the furniture I grew up with in a different home.
Now that we are moving overseas, it's time to sell. We had considered keeping it and renting it, but decided not to. Its too much hassle to be a long distance land lord and having to have someone manage things for us. We opted for a clean break.
In anticipation of selling, we had the house inspected. It has several minor issues, and some cosmetic ones. We had addressed some of them, and had a plan to address the rest when the offer came through. So we accelerated everything and now the house has been listed even though it is still being painted.
Yesterday was our first open house, and, lucky us, it snowed! We still had a decent amount of people in to see it. We just have to wait and see if we start getting any offers.
Getting Our Affairs in Order - Part 1 - Our Stuff
When you are in the Foreign Service, the Department of State will help you with all of your stuff. They will ship and/or store a total of 18,000 lbs. So, for example, if you have 10,000 lbs of furniture/clothes/books/art etc. that you want at your post, they will also store up to 8,000 lbs at a warehouse they have in Maryland.
This has lead us to our first question - how much is 18,000 lbs? We honestly had no idea. When we scheduled people to come and pack up our stuff (a.k.a. the pack out), they gave us a rule of thumb of 1,000 per furnished room. We have an 8 room house, plus a basement. It looks like we will be way under our allotment. We can just have everything packed up and we are done.
Well, not so fast. Anytime you move, its an opportunity to reduce the amount of clutter and junk you have. Plus, we don't want to put a lot of things into storage and have it stay there until we retire, and then find ourselves getting rid of it then.
For the past several months we have been trying to rid ourselves of excess stuff. But once I got the offer, we have really pulled out all the stops. We have been giving away, donating or tossing loads of things we simply no longer need. There have been a few things that we are selling because they were expensive, but for the most part, we are just happy if we can give it to someone who can use it.
But we are still keeping plenty. Good furniture, like our bedroom set, we keep. About 1/4 of the books we owned we are going to keep. And of course we are keeping all the mementos we have picked up in our travels.
It has been very liberating every time a big item or car load of things leave the house.
This has lead us to our first question - how much is 18,000 lbs? We honestly had no idea. When we scheduled people to come and pack up our stuff (a.k.a. the pack out), they gave us a rule of thumb of 1,000 per furnished room. We have an 8 room house, plus a basement. It looks like we will be way under our allotment. We can just have everything packed up and we are done.
Well, not so fast. Anytime you move, its an opportunity to reduce the amount of clutter and junk you have. Plus, we don't want to put a lot of things into storage and have it stay there until we retire, and then find ourselves getting rid of it then.
For the past several months we have been trying to rid ourselves of excess stuff. But once I got the offer, we have really pulled out all the stops. We have been giving away, donating or tossing loads of things we simply no longer need. There have been a few things that we are selling because they were expensive, but for the most part, we are just happy if we can give it to someone who can use it.
But we are still keeping plenty. Good furniture, like our bedroom set, we keep. About 1/4 of the books we owned we are going to keep. And of course we are keeping all the mementos we have picked up in our travels.
It has been very liberating every time a big item or car load of things leave the house.
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