More Lessons In Patience.

.....It was a rather frustrating day at work. Not bad, per se. And I was reminded today by Live Journal that I need to be grateful to have that job. But I still reserve the right to laugh at the idiocy that is dealing with the Federal Government.

.....This morning I had a visit from the Energy Conservation Team at the Shipyard. You see, per written policy I have to have their written permission before I can buy air conditioning units for the new office. My initial inclination had been to buy the bloody things when I first decided I needed them, and then follow up with all the required paperwork. But I was stupid and pulled out the official Shipyard instructions and started an attempt to follow them.

.....The 'new' office is in a building that is nearly one hundred years old. It is tongue-and-groove on the outside and plywood sheeting on the inside, without a whole lot in between, including and especially insulation. It is only early May and the temperature in the office is already reaching into the mid 90's by noon.

.....The Shipyard instructions dictate that the Energy Conservation Team must 'audit' the office or space requesting air conditioning to determine the current condition, how much capacity is required to cool the office, what modification are required to be made to the space before they authorize the purchase of air conditioning unit, etc.

.....When the audit Team came through today, they clucked their tongues and nodded disapprovingly at our space. Apparently, the original floor plans for our building had our office as not really an office, but as part of a big open floor plan encompassing the second floor. When office walls were erected, it cut the ventilation flow considerably.

.....Then they discussed the lack of power in the space. They would want separate lines brought in to power air conditioning units and they did not think the space could support the amount of cooling needed. There were other things as well, but my thought was that they would give me a list of recommendations to perform and then the approval to purchase the air conditioning units.

.....Not so! I was informed on their way out the door that they would require about three weeks to prepare a report on their recommendations. And that their recommendations must be completed before they would give their blessings to a purchase. And that their recommendations would require a.) more power brought into the space, and b.) more ventilation, and c.) different windows.

.....I groaned at the prospect. Once I had that report in hand I would have to then fight for the funding to make the space modifications. Not a sure thing as the building has been slated for demolition at least three times in the last decade. Then, once I had the funding secured, I'd have to get it scheduled with the Facilities people. When all was said and done, it would be winter again easily before I could get the space set up to even allow for the purchase of air conditioners. Argh! Why didn't I just buy the damned things first and ask forgiveness later!

.....This afternoon I started battling the Travel Office for my claim encompassing the trip to Indiana and Florida a couple of weeks ago. It seems that they are unwilling to pay what the rental car companies charged me because what was charged me was over $50 more than what was originally estimated. Huh!? I was curious and dug up the travel claims for the last couple of trips I took and found out that they had done the same on them as well. WTH! I was just never aware enough to notice and paid off the travel card. I wish I had been paying more attention. The only reason I actually looked in this case was that I was curious about Alamo charging me that $58 for replacing the battery.

.....The Travel Office also does not want to pay for the baggage fees either. Huh!? Again. And did they expect me to wear my safety toed shoes on to the plane? And to carry all twenty pounds of graphs and files in my computer bag? But what this did do was convince me that for the next trip I pack the suitcase up on Thursday, bring it in on Friday, and have the Shipping Department FedEx the damned thing ahead of me. That way I don't have to deal with the airlines, and it'll be waiting for me at the hotel ahead of me. Wish I had thought about that earlier! Would have saved me a lot of hassle!

.....Did you see that Arrjay from Eagle Ridge has passed away!? Wow! I worked with him on every event on which I was the Marketplace Coordinator. He was a nice guy and will be missed.

.....Yay! It's the weekend! I'm looking forward to a couple of days of sleeping and small talk! :-) Hope the weather stays nice!

.....Aaron / Arontius.