Misty in Chincoteague

For my first federal holiday, I decided to take a holiday.

So far during the shutdown, I have been one of the lucky ones and haven’t been furloughed. It seems we’ll have at least next week, and that’s pay week. My financial confidence is growing slowly and I wanted to take advantage of the holiday.

The idea of a holiday, especially a little-celebrated federal holiday like Columbus Day, is really entertaining. With the exception of this last Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas I haven’t taken holidays off lately, which means dating back to 2007. And I can’t think of a time when I was off on Columbus Day. I mean, who celebrates that?

Anyway, with the thought of another paycheck next week I’m moving ahead with being a regular American, which means spending money.

My first foray was to go to the dentist in the US for the first time since 2007. Not surprisingly, I got a list of $1900 worth of stuff that needs to be done. Sigh. But I knew this was coming.

But that’s not a highlight for a three-day weekend. I pulled out the map and tried to find a place to go to for a little bit. I mean, it’s likely the last vacation I’ll have in the States until my first home leave, so I wanted to do something. Even if it wasn’t far away.

So I Hotwired a rental car and chose Chincoteague Island, which is only about three hours away. This is assuming you don’t get lost. “Lost” is a really vague term while on vacation with no set itinerary. Fortunately, since I didn’t bring my GPS.

Chincoteague Island is in Virginia (I had to reiterate this to the rental car people for some reason. I started to think the car might lock up when I crossed the state line or something, but nothing nefarious happened.) on the Eastern Seaboard.

The ride here is probably really gorgeous, but it has been a soggy, soggy time in the DC area. There’s been at least a steady misting from the get-go.

And "misty" is appropriate, I guess, because the reason I wanted to go to Chincoteague is because it’s the setting of “Misty of Chincoteague,” one of my favorite books from my youth. Marguerite Henry wrote it in 1947 and several related books followed. (As it turns out, there’s at least one I never read, “Misty Twilight” or something like that.)

For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, the story centers around an annual event on the island called Pony Penning Day. In the book, a brother and sister save money and buy the filly of a wild pony than no one was able to bring in called Phantom.

The ponies originate on Assateague Island, across the channel. They’ve been there for 200 years. No one can really say for sure how they got there, but the legend in the book is the one about a shipwrecked Spanish ship that was loaded with horses. Some of the horses escaped, and the ones that roam the island today are descendants of those.

On Pony Penning Day, which is held at the end of July, “saltwater cowboys” round up the 150 or so horses on the 37-mile island (the island stretches into Maryland, but I think the boat tour guy said the horses were only in the Virginia part, but I’m not sure) and herd them across the channel to Chincoteague Island.

There, the colts and fillies are separated from their parents and sold at auction, although some people “buy back” some of the foals. That, I learned today, is when a benefactor basically makes a donation to the fire department and sends the pony back to the island to replenish the herd. (The fire department acts as the caretakers for the horses and runs the roundup and the auction, plus a carnival that goes along with it.)

In the book, Paul goes on the roundup and gets the Phantom, who has a filly by her side. She’s a flash in the wind, so he calls her Misty. Paul and his sister Maureen buy both the Phantom and Misty, but Paul winds up turning Phantom loose again because she’s a free spirit. Misty, OTOH, is “Misty of Chincoteague” and wants to stay with Paul and Maureen.

Misty is still a big part of the community. There’s even a statue downtown, modeled after one of the illustrations in the book. An artist named Wesley Dennis did all the illustrations for all Henry’s books, and they are just phenomenal.

The book was made into a movie, which I’ve never seen, and that’s blasted all over town, too.

But it’s not a hugely commercial place. It’s a beach town. Oysters and crabs are as big as the ponies. Well, in popularity, anyway.

I did a boat tour so that I could head over to Assateague to see the ponies (it’s a federal park/refuge so it’s closed due to the shutdown) and got the rundown on the seafood side of it.

I don’t think I realized how much I miss beach. I loved the boat. I miss salt water, salty air and all that. I could definitely retire to an island.

Photos to come. I have to unearth my connector cord thing first, but even before that I am going to splurge (in more ways than one) at one of the many ice cream shops I’ve seen.

Shooting up with “Breaking Bad”

For years, people have been telling me that I’d enjoy “Breaking Bad.” I’m not into TV all that much, at least as it airs. I don’t have the commitment in me to watch it on whatever channel it comes on, but once they get to Netflix, I don’t mind trying out new shows.

On that, I recommend “House of Cards.”

Anyway, last weekend or so – right before the overall season finale on real TV – I finally decided to start on “Breaking Bad.” As the first season was only eight episodes or so, I watched them in a few days but then got waylaid with my DVD Netflix order.

As an aside, I am not sure why I continue to put movies in my queue that the rest of the word says are bad. I don’t always have the same views as the rest of the world – in fact, I usually don’t – but on movies, the general public has a good grasp on movies.

So I should have known better than to put “The Great Gatsby” into my to-view list. It took me three days to make it past the first 30 minutes. Yeah, big red flag there. It was pretty horrible.

After that diversion, I got back to “BB” and am currently in the third season. Gotta say, it’s everything people said. Very addicting.

Really, I don’t understand why people watch TV as it airs. It’s much better, in my mind, to watch three at a time or whatever at your own convenience.

For some reason, I thought my whole training period would be foot-to-the-floor busy, but I haven’t been. I’ve had periods of dead time that I just hadn’t anticipated.

Our training schedule – there are 10 of us – is basically 9-4 with an hour lunch and 1-2 breaks in the morning and afternoon. It’s not bad.

So far, my end of it has not been directly affected by the shutdown, although that could change. I recognize that I am lucky and blessed to have received a paycheck and, so far as I know, still be on track for the next one.

But the slowness is welcome; I’ve been doing a few of the additional classes online and in general, trying to get ready for deployment.

One of the pre-departure errands is vaccinations. For those who haven’t heard, I’ll be heading to SE Asia (email me for more detail) and there is a slew of shots I need.

I’ve had many, thanks to my PC service, but things like typhoid expire. (Fortunately, I don’t think the rabies series does.) And PC didn’t record some of the ones I know that I’ve had.

But I lack a spate, and last week I got started on them. Holy smokes. I did the flu shot on Thursday and made the appointment for the rest on Friday.  

Well, Thursday came and I went at lunch to get, I think it was, seven shots. However, since I have to go back in for the second of one of those series a bit later, we broke it up, plus on one, I am going for the oral instead of the shot. It lasts five years vs. two, and it's one less hole in my arm.

The oral thing turned out to be way, way worse than the shots. It’s one of those you take on an empty stomach, so I did it right before I got to bed. The normal side effects include diarrhea, 100+ temperature, abdominal pains and the like, but I slept just fine I and figured I was OK.

Wrong. Friday I was just blah. I didn’t have any of the listed effects to the extreme or anything, but it wasn’t a good day. Plus, I’d gotten three shots in one arm and two in the other, so I couldn’t even lift my arms.

Totally listless, I muddled through class and then just came and crashed on the sofa, with “Breaking Bad” on Netflix.

Since the oral thing is a series of four pills, one a day over a span of six days, I hoped to God that my Friday reaction was from the whole HepA-B-Japenceph-flu-yellowfever combo and not just the oral thing.

Apparently not. I took the second of the four last night and this morning, same thing. I’d had delusional plans of playing tourist in an abandoned District of Columbia, but that just didn’t happen. I drug myself to church and was so out of it I don’t even know what the pastor talked about. I was sweating up a storm and had shortness of breath – the whole nine yards.

So I came back home, turned on “BB” again and just did nothing. Sheesh, I don’t even think I drooled.

Tomorrow I am due to take another, and I’m going to change the tactic to take it in the morning. Since it seems to take awhile to kick in, I will try to state off the nasty/listless feeling until I get out of class.

Fortunately, I should be well over this vaccine long before the second round of shots, which is scheduled to be on Halloween. I thought that was appropriate.

It’s more than just a fantasy

Zippy and Daddy’s 50^th anniversary is next year, and since I won’t be around, I tried to line up a gift in advance. (It always comes to me.)

Of course, Zippy is of no help when it comes to big gifts. Daddy doesn’t care, either.

When I suggested a cruise, Zippy’s only response was, “But who would go with me?” So that was out.

When I posed the question to Mary Lynn, she suggested Yankee Fantasy Camp. After all, Zippy loved it when Charles went a couple of years ago. She crashed the final day’s events and even got to see Richard Gere.

But when I asked Z about it, she kind of made it sound like she wasn’t interested. Between that and it being a really hard sell to Barry, I kind of left it. At least until I went to Charlotte and Charles showed Z his custom Yankee uniform and she looked pretty envious.

I decided to do it, but being an AC volunteer at $200 a week doesn’t really make that a smart purchase, so I pursued the siblings. Laurie was an easier sell. Wendy was pretty easy, but since she never has any money she couldn’t go even.

Barry thought it was a stupid idea, but he finally gave us the go-ahead. Of course, I had already decided to do it so that worked out well.

Even though it was supposed to be an anniversary present, since that falls in June we decided to give it to her on her birthday.

Well, that was fine except she was born about a month too late. All the medical paperwork is due on Nov. 1, which, last I checked, falls before Nov. 9.

So Laurie and I decided to give it to her when I came down for Mackenzie’s birthday.

Originally, I’d figured on being in North Dakota and had made plans to come down on Thursday, but after taking the new job that went out the window with the “no leave during training” rule.

So instead I did a quick up and down over the weekend. Mackenzie and Cracker Barrel. That was it. No friends, no malls. There was no time.

But it was fantastic. Mackenzie didn't have a family birthday party (Barry didn’t have her that weekend) but she invited me to the Japanese steakhouse with her friends. She'd invited four and her mom took them to dinner.

I'd cleared it in advance that Nic and Zac could come (this was my last chance to see her before I leave for post) and Laurie came along, too. It worked out well because we sat at one side of the table and they sat at the other -- no boy cousins embarrassing her or anything.

I gave her a little silver jewelry box with a silver cross necklace. She squealed when she opened it and so did her friends. Score! I really had agonized over the purchase so it worked out well.

Sunday morning we met Barry at Cracker Barrel. Zippy, true to form, didn’t want to get up and go in the morning. I wound up sending Daddy, Laurie and the boys in one car to force her to go with me in another. It would have NOT been cool had she not attended!

Laurie had wrapped the folder with the Yankee camp information in anniversary wrapping and put it in a box with Christmas gift wrap. That was in a box with birthday gift wrap.

Zippy was totally confused but I just said I wasn't going to be there for those holidays and that was why.

She got to the inside and of course had the wrong side of the folder facing her but when she opened it her jaw totally dropped. She just kept saying “I can’t believe I’m going to Yankee Fantasy Camp.”

So that gift was a definite home run.

Two down, one to go

Two weeks down of my three-week orientation. Yay. After next week, I will not only know where I am going but also know about when I should arrive.

It looks like I will be deploying around mid-November, but that’s speculative. We have nine posts on our bid list (one for everyone) and one requires language. It is possible that the person who is posted there might get Spanish lessons for as long as it takes the person’s visa to come through.

The same posting, which is in South America, was open before but the person assigned there, after seven months, was turned down for the visa. So that person is going elsewhere and the position is up for grabs again.

The way it sounds, the only way anyone is staying is if they get that post. The other eight posts are listed as “NOW” for availability. I think we can put in for training but not hold our breaths that it will be available.

So far, I am trying to pick up tricks of the job, and training is one of them. Apparently you need to lobby for it every chance you get. And this means tacking it on the end of R&R trips or home leave.

The former is a plane ticket you get to a particular city if you’re posted in a “hardship” post. You get a ticket to that city halfway through your two-year tour, or you can opt for your home of record or someplace that’s the same cost (or less) of one of those.

The latter is extra accrued time, 15 days a year, that you take either once a year (two-year posts) or after 18 months or so (three-year posts).

The trick is, you’re supposed to lobby for training in DC to tack on the end of those. Now, I do not understand how you’re supposed to do it during R&R if your R&R point is, say, London.

But I will figure that kind of stuff out later.

All but one of the available posts have R&R, which is given for hardship posts. You get the plane ticket but you have to use your own leave time, which makes sense.

I’m not at liberty to divulge the bid list, but the R&R points are fabulous: London, Paris, Rome, Sydney and Miami. If I got the one with Miami, I’d definitely go to Tallahassee instead. Plus, that particular post has two R&R breaks, so it’d be two tickets home in two years. Not bad.

On the bid list, I can be vague: There is one European city, one in South America, one in Africa and one in China (I’m told there’s always one in Africa and one in China), two in the same SE Asian city and two more in what I consider Central Asia, plus a “Stan.”

The European city is the other that doesn’t have the R&R. A second post has two R&Rs but I forget which one it is. It’s a Sydney one, though.

“Flag Day” is Tuesday. The do a whole little dog-and-pony show where they call out the country and hand someone a flag, or something like that. I’m not into dog-and-pony shows, so I’ll just grin and bear it.

People keep asking what I am hoping for, but I just don’t care. I’m amused by some of the people because they keep telling people where they want to “go.” It’s not “going” like on vacation. This is a job.

There are also a lot of younger people here and they’re all stoked to be “going” to X or Y but they *really* want to “go to” Z. It’s kind of like, wow, you’re 27. You will retire in 38 years. If you do not get assigned to Z right now, it’s not the end of the world. There will be LOTS of time to bid on X, Y and Z – as well as A through W.

As for me, I really can’t get excited about it. I mean, I do want to get on with the job (and the paycheck), but I’m not going to sit and sob if I wind up in Central Asian city instead of European City or whatever it is.

Right now, if I had to guess, I’d say I’m destined for SE Asian City. The career lady swears she’s never given anyone one of their “low” bids, and for me, that was one of the Central Asian Cities and European City, based on the fact that those embassies are monolithic and I really prefer smaller workplaces.

In talking to some of the other candidates, I’ve found that people have bid high on most of the cities but so far I talked to anyone who has SE Asian City “high,” and there are two posts available.

Since I have stressed that I don’t care – and this is true – I figure I have a good shot at winding up there. It would be fine and perhaps even an easier transition, because I would have an immediate support group. Yeah, it would be the blind leading the blind and we’d be in different sections at the embassy, but still, I would know someone right off.

Of course, now that I put that prediction out there it won’t happen, but that’s OK.

My only wish is that they really don’t give us a flag. I am trying to hard to continue with the downsizing I just don’t want to add anything.

The “Fall” in “Falls Church”

This week, the first I’ve ever worn suits on a consistent basis, was incredibly humid. And I say this as a Florida native, so I know what I’m talking about.

Right now, I am in training, so we’re hearing from a lot of higher-up people for whom you have to look sharp, which mandates suits. I’m trying to get used to them but boy, with the humidity, it’s just toasty. Sitting in a seminar, I have several times realized suddenly that my neck is sweating. I do not look forward at my first foray into dry cleaner bills, but that is right around the corner. (Actually, it’s straight out the door, on the other side of the tennis courts. This apartment complex has everything.)

But it seems the hot and humid weather might be done now. I woke up this morning, the day of FSU’s first home game, and it’s suddenly fall. The air is crisp and it’s wonderfully gorgeous.

That’s really great news and made a pleasant walk through my area of Falls Church down to Target early this afternoon, especially since I tried a new route and got lost. I mean, I sort of knew the right direction, but I was wandering through a nice little neighborhood and wasn’t really clear on which roads went all the way through.

The news isn’t so good for my footwear, because I brought exactly five pairs of shoes: three of dress shoes and two pairs of Chacos, one of those flip flops.

Next week, my class group will get split and we will each take have a “teamwork” day that requires close-toed shoes that are OK to get messy, as in not dress shoes.

This is irritating, because it’s not like I do not own tennis shoes; I just don’t have them with me. They are packed in my air shipment, which could have arrived last week (thought they didn’t), could arrive tomorrow and maybe arrive Sunday – but may not arrive until after my six-week training session is over.

Therefore tomorrow I will have to go out and buy a new pair of tennis shoes.

This brings up a kind of an us-vs.-them mentality as far as what are considered “local hires” and the rest of us. These are people who live with 50 miles of the Washington Monument. Those of us who are from farther away are given a housing/meals per diem, the local hires are not. They get some kind of transportation allowance instead, but no cold, hard cash. (For the record, I haven’t gotten the cash yet, but it will come in a paycheck that will not arrive until 10/3 or 10/17).

The per diem is supposed to offset the fact that the non-local hires (maybe there’s a technical term, but I don’t know it) do not get to sleep in their own beds. It annoys the local hires, because they sometimes have multiple-hour commutes to training.

However, my heart doesn’t exactly bleed for them, because as a non-local hire, I have to shell out a lot of money for things that I already own but do not have with me.

It’s getting to be a little ridiculous. I have an air shipment on its way to me, and in addition to shoes it also has petty things like salt and pepper. And while I understand salt and pepper are cheap, there’s also a waste issue. What am I going to do with multiple salt and pepper containers when I leave in six weeks? Do I pack it or just toss it?

I have things like laundry baskets, key chains, scissors, pitchers, umbrellas, rain jackets and coats but they have not arrived yet. So do I just replace them and add to the landfill problem in two months, or what? Because, let’s get realistic, there’s not a big demand for used plastic ice trays, something I could really, really use right now.

This morning, I needed an envelope. Not 500 or even 50 of them, but just one. You can’t buy just one envelope, just like you can’t easily find a small thing of laundry soap, dish soap, shampoo or anything else these days. I have about a gallon of shampoo on its way up here, but it’s not here yet, so I was forced to go out and buy yet another container.

It’s a first-world problem, for sure, but I just hate to waste things so it really kills me to have to do this.

Beyond annoyance and landfill issues, it’s also a cost thing. I just hate to shell out money for something I don’t really need, and right now, since my first check won’t be until October, it’s still a little dicey. I’ve already been to Target three times. It doesn’t matter that the prices of the stuff I need aren’t really expensive (at least the way I shop), but when you have to re-establish yourself with so many things, those little numbers are going to add up.

A Whole New World

I’ve made it to DC and started today.

I’m a little late in this post because I forgot my computer cord and don’t want to run the battery down on my own laptop. Daddy mailed the cord today but until it arrives I’m using the monitors in the business center as much as possible.

Travel to DC was fine – my first USAir flight in eons – but then I screwed up on the subway. I took the blue line out of DCA all right, but when I transferred to the orange I neglected to see it was also a blue line and ended up right back where I’d started.

Had this been the middle of the day, it wouldn’t have mattered, but it was around 8:30 p.m. and the trains started running more infrequently, so it was a 15 minute wait until the next blue came around. Then it was another 20 minutes before the next orange one came through.

 As luck would have it (bad luck, I mean), the orange line was also under weekend construction, so I then had to ride it to the end, which was two stops away from where I needed to be, and then transfer to a shuttle bus for the last two stops – another 15-minute wait.

So, instead of ending up at the apartment at 8 p.m., it was more like 10 p.m., and then I had a long, involved check-in. It’s hotel-like, but it is an apartment so there was a lease and everything involved. Finally, I got to my room and unpacked everything, which is when I discovered the computer cord was missing. Ah well.

Sunday, instead of going to church like I’d planned, I walked to the Safeway – about a mile, maybe – and then spent $60 on groceries. Honestly, I can’t remember when I spent that much on groceries last. Definitely not in Minot or in Jakarta.

After walking back from that – and bashing the hell out of my toe on the grocery cart – I decided to go to Target. I knew where one was, but after looking at a map, I found out there was one just past the Safeway, right on the other side of the CHICK-FIL-A. Yes, I have a Chick. So awesome.

Anyway, after the Target run I was pretty much set up in the apartment (though I still have no salt and pepper) but was exhausted so I skipped the social and soaked in the tub. Got the first good night’s sleep in awhile and headed out.

 The apartment, which has lots of State people in it, had a shuttle right to work, so I went on that Today was just a bunch of paperwork and HR-ish seminars, like planning retirement and picking a health plan.

The real classes start tomorrow, and it’s my understanding that I will also get the “bid list,” which will be a list of nine posts that are open for the people in my position. I am to “bid” on them to decide where I will be working for the next two years.

 I am not allowed to post this list publicly, nor will I be allowed to post here where I will wind up. Or at least that’s my understanding right now. I know the former is true, but I’m not positive about the latter, but either way, if you want to know where I will be going, be sure to email me and ask me around Sept. 26.

Zero to 60

This was unexpected. But I could get used to it, and hope I do.

Even though I am specifically on the “do not call” list for the foreign service – the job in the pipeline – I got an job offer in April for July.

It came six days after I’d re-taken the oral assessment and somehow, with the “new” candidacy, it didn’t transfer over that I was supposed to be marked as unavailable.

My plan was to stay in Minot and finish the rebuild with Hope Village, and I was to be on DNC until November, which would have made me available for the January 2014 class, assuming there would be one.

So I declined that offer – you get one shot to say no, and then if you do it again, your candidacy is deep-sixed – and went on my merry way.

My plan was to finish up in Minot, get my offer, take a cool vacation (literally, as I was eying Antarctica) and then start real and gainful employment on January 27.

God mocked me.

The last foreign service orientation class – the six-week training for the position – is to be in September, and those invitations went out in July. Based on the numbers given earlier, there should have been about 14 or 15 in the class, but there were six. Even with my high score, I wasn’t high enough on the list to get one. But that was OK, because I was on DNC anyway.

Started hearing rumors of next year’s positions being cut back even more than this year’s, which would have been brutal since the 2013 numbers were half what the 2012 numbers were. I’ve even heard rumors of the January class being canceled and no hirings for the specific position I’ve been gunning for. (It’s an OMS, or office management specialist.)

I’m on a Yahoo! group for this job, and there are other people out there who are also close to being hired. One of them had a higher overall score than I did on the OA (she got bonus points; I didn’t) and she sits higher than me on the register but is also unavailable until January.

One Tuesday, she posted on the board that she’d received a call on a job offer because they added two spots to the September class. The person who called told her they knew she was on DNC but was just checking to verify that she was not interested. She assured them she was not.

And then I got an emailed offer. No “hey, you’re on do-not-call, just checking” but the offer. Same as July – the one if I said no to a second time, they’d drop me.

My supervisor was in his office when I opened the email and I said something to the effect of “You’ve GOT to be kidding me” or “Again?” or something similar that made him ask me what was up.

I read it to him and he, the ever calm peacemaker, said to step back and think about it a minute. This is the second time it’s come, so maybe this really was God telling me to go ahead and leave Minot.

I truly hate to do it, but the way it’s worked is since the end of June, the one partner has thwarted the recovery efforts.

No, that’s not true. Since I’ve been in Minot, they’ve done it. Left and right, everything I suggest to try to get volunteers, they shoot down. It goes on and on, really, and it makes me so sick I want to vomit.

But in June, which was the second anniversary of the flood, it became evident to me that we are not going to finish by Oct. 31, which was the goal and the reason to extend.

Then, we had 100+ volunteers for the only time this summer, and they had them doing yard work. That’s a nice concept, but it’s directly in opposition to our mission, which is to rebuild the homes.

We’ve (meaning this partner has) turned away volunteers – over 150 – and misused the ones we’ve had. It’s made me sick to my stomach on more times than I care to count, because all I want to do is get the homeowners back.

I’ve done everything in my power to bring attention to Hope Village, and have done well. I’ve built the brand but this partner had just undermined so many things.

Example: they sent out a letter to the homeowners saying Hope Village was closing in October, but they would finish the rebuild. That’s NOT true. At the board meeting, which is where they were asked to send a letter, we explicitly said we would not use the word “close.”

But they sent out the letter anyway, denied they were doing it and didn’t bother to check with the board on the wording, or even cc: in the alleged PR person (me).

So too much of that was getting to me, and I decided I had to accept the offer.

It set off a whirlwind that won’t end until I board a plane for DC. And then another whirlwind will begin.

Mostly, it’s been gut-wrenching. I didn’t want to leave and now I feel like I am abandoning Minot.

The one extremely palatable thing has been discovering I am going to become a gainfully employed federal employee with all the benefits that come with that.

My salary offer almost caused me to faint. I’m coming in at the lower grade, I think an FP-4, because everyone comes in at that one. But it has 14 steps in the grade with about a $20k range in between. And they’re bringing me in at step 14.

So I’m going to shift gears fast and go from practically zero as an AmeriCorps volunteer to close to $60k as a federal employee. Yay!

For foreign service, you also get housing paid (assuming you’re overseas), plus different allowances if applicable, like cost of living, danger or hardship pay.

In Jakarta, for example, there are COLA and hardship allowances that account for another 30 percent. Not all posts have allowances, though.

After two years, I get a month of “home leave” which must be spent in the US.

The job is an OMS, so it’s in my wheelhouse even if it isn’t what I totally love. I’ve read reports of people in the field and it sounds pretty cool, though, so I am looking forward to it.

And no, I don’t know where I will go.

The drill is I will be in DC for six weeks of orientation. During the first week, we will get a list of the available posts and “bid” on them. There are eight in my position so there should be eight posts and I think I rank them high, medium or low.

Three weeks later, we all find out where we’re going. The posts are two years for the first two and then after tenure they’re between one and three, but I think it’s usually two.

It is possible that I will be in DC for longer than six weeks, because some posts require language or other training.

So now the frantic work begins. I have to unpack everything that’s been in storage since 2007 and organize it. It consists of multiple piles, such as “store until retirement,” “might use at post later,” “need for posts now,” “may or may not use in DC” and the like.

I’m up to my ears in paperwork, which isn’t surprising because it’s a federal gig.

I really have mixed feelings about it, though. I really wanted to stay in Minot.