Saturday, December 27, 2008

Trial Separation

12/12/08.

Robin just returned home from a week away. We have tried this sort of thing before, and I can tell you that I don't like it ... not one bit :)

Last Friday a about 2 PM we came across an e-mail that stated that a last minute cancellation had opened up one spot in an "Operations Supervisor Workshop". This is a specialized class experience attended and facilitated by first level supervisors from all aspects of the FAA and includes powerful and detailed learning opportunities from many different offices (Human Resources, Quality Assurance, etc) as well as training in Labor/Management relations and perfomance and conduct management. There is usually a wealth of operational and administrative experience attending these seminars and we decided on the spur of the moment that it'd be a great experience for Robin to attend this if we could make it work.
Well, we started out trying to get all the pieces of the travel arrangements put together and it was a very trying experience, but in the end Robin got on the airplane Sunday morning and was whisked away to Atlanta, GA.
There she was met with the government MAstercard she had been assured would be working was in fact being declined (booo). So, she had to front the money for the hotel and rental car until it all got sorted out the next day. It all ended well, but it was a pretty stressful arrival and beginning to the class week.
The class days were full, and she called me from a couple of restaurants and music spots just to make me a bit jealous :). I'd have loved to attend the workshop, but there was only one slot available. So...I got to be a bachelor for a week and it reminded me that I like having her around (a lot). I had a few days to rattle around the fifth wheel (which isn't really all that hard with all of 530 square feet) and accomplished some work on archiving more photos that ended up being tossed into boxes before we headed down here.

I celebrated (well, remembered) that I crossed a milestone of 24 years with the FAA on December 7th this year. It's only coincidental that I was hired on Pearl Harbor day, but it does make it easy to remeber my work anniversary. In March of 2009 I will cross another milestone in having 30 years of government service, which includes time in the U. S. Postal Service and also my service time in the USAF. Wow ... it all kinds of sinks in when you look back on those kinds of markers. I'll be looking foward to my commemorative pin here before too long.

Study continued on the learning of the detail maps required for the job, and I got to attend a meeting and meet all my new peer supervisors (a cople of which I actually remember their names now). It's all still new, but it's beginning to feel less foreign as we start to learn names and faces and offices there, and streets and businesses and a couple of service folks out in town.

Hope you have an awesome Christmas season!

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