Moving on

I’ve got six weeks of federal employment down. The first three were orientation and the second were billed as “specialist training.”

This is vague. I’ve no idea what I am getting into. I’ve communicated with my predecessor in Guangzhou (she’s out of the office now; three weeks’ vacation at Everest Base Camp) and she keeps dropping names of software and systems things that I’ve never heard of.

I thought these things would be taught in class, but nope.

Don’t get me wrong, we did stuff. Not as much as I was thinking we’d do, but we did stuff.

Some came via guest speakers, most of whom were entertaining.

On Friday, we heard from someone who “works the line.” No, this is not a knockoff of Johnny Cash. It is Statespeak for someone who works in the office of the Secretary, a/k/a Kerry.

This speaker was highly entertaining and very likeable. She’d been in training four years before and had just gotten her position “on the line.”

To catch people up, the tours are mostly two-year tours and the first two are “directed,” meaning ultimately you go where you’re told. After that you essentially apply to positions (“bid” in Statespeak), just like anyone who’s looking for a job.

On paper, it seems like it kind of stinks, so we’ll see how it plays out for me in four years.

But anyway, this woman being in her four year means “the line” was her first job on which she “bid.” It’s a high-prestige position, too, so that’s really cool for her.

Her description of the position actually made me think I’d like to do it, and I’d really never thought about working in DC. For this, though, wow.

She’d taken the job in July and since then had been to training in London, then to an event in Bogota, then an event in London, and then to another event in the Philippines. And in there somewhere, she was in New York working when the UN General Assembly was there. Sign me up.

At this point, I’ve forgotten why I brought this up … Oh, yeah. Four years. She’d said she had been in training four years ago – the very same room and indeed, right there, she said, pointing to a seat in the back – and commented that in training, “you learn everything about the State Department but nothing about your job.”

And wow, that might have been the most honest, accurate and insightful thing said during specialist training.

Yes, we briefly learned how to write cables and the style for correspondence. But other things have been just so darn vague and abstract that I’ve wondered what is going on here.

This is, however, the only time that State can tell us things as a group while we’re in the States. That’s helpful, but the thing is, a lot of the stuff deals with things we won’t encounter for three, four and more years down the road. It’s tough to know where to file that in your brain so you will recall it when it’s needed.

But now that training is over and I can just hope and pray that I recall the knowledge at the right time, whether it’s the stuff I need to do before departing or the stuff I need to do after tenure for promotion.

Next, we have random training. I think this is to kill time before our visas arrive, but it’s not like it’s wasted. The stuff was scheduled with eye down the road: some are the things required for promotion (which won’t come until after tenure, takes 2-5 years).

We’ve also got “distance learning” days scheduled in. These are days when we’re supposed to do online classes. My problem with that is I’ve already taken all the suggested ones and more. I’m kind of running out of related classes to do.

I have one in the hopper if it’s cleared by my “Career Development Officer” so maybe that will come through. In the meantime, I’m having to clean up a lot of little messes.

Last week was brutal for finances. Not spending money – though I did that, too – but tracking it down.

First, I had a fright when I realized a $1250 deposit I’d mailed from DC to Florida on 9/30 hadn’t been deposited into my account. After several phone calls and emails to various people we were able to determine that the right bank had received the money but put it into someone else’s account. That got resolved.

Now, I’m waiting on a $100 check to arrive to me in DC so that I can mail it back to Florida. It was said to be mailed over a week ago. I am not sure where the carrier pigeon got shot down, but I sure don’t have it yet.

My new credit union account, with one here in DC, mailed my credit card to Florida, which I specifically told them at least twice not to do. I had planned on picking that up tomorrow. Nope.

Then, I’m trying to transfer two IRAs into my new federal retirement account. I sent them both the federal paperwork.

One transferred the money no problem. Only my account doesn’t show it yet. The other refused to transfer it. Seriously, folks?

And lastly, I am putting $193 from each check into two separate accounts for savings. I got paid on Thursday and checked tonight if it went into my new credit union.

I can’t tell because I can’t create an online account. I’m told I have a login, which I never set up but there’s no way to. I keep doing the automated “send me my login” thing, it hasn’t done so. It looks like I’ll be in that credit union’s office tomorrow even though I don’t have to pick up the credit card.

The other bank that is supposed to receive the $193 doesn’t have it in my account. I went back and checked – and this is my bad – and I gave them my MEMBER number, which, for this place, is different than the account number.

So tomorrow, my plan is to knock out that one class and then call all those financial institutions and try to get my financial world straightened out.

Oh, and give blood. The Red Cross is coming and I figured I’d try. I usually am on the bubble, but I had salmon on Saturday and a Fuddrucker’s burger today in preparation.