Another Crazy Week
Nothing major happened this week, it was just a lot of little things... Well that not totally true from the point of view of the company. We had the Company CEO come to the camp and spend a half a day telling us ... well ... lots of stuff we already knew. When a project is almost done and every one knows there won't be any more jobs after a given date the managers start to panic a little.
I think it comes down to the fact that many corporations motivate by promising the imaginary. ( http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-03-31/ ) Most often this is done in less obvious ways then what in the comic, it more often seen as “what do you see as your long term goals in the company” But when the end is in sight those kind of conversations become very pointless.
The fear for the managers is people leaving before the contracts are done. The company only gets paid fro the people on the ground and if some one leaves two or three months early its not cost effective to get some one new, train then, and fly them over here so it ends up being a loss income ether way.
The solution for them seems to be to talk up Kabul, every one knows the military not asked for people yet and that there going to be sitting on a large pool of military doing nothing now that the combat mission is done. The other solution is telling how they are talking to the parent companies about giving us a leg up on position they may have.
The funny thing is no one really cared what he had to say about the projects future, it was all about Dubai. We now had to deal with getting visa for over a week and Dubai airport system seems to become a land mine field you need to navigate. Before it was a oasis to stop over at, get a few drinks, maybe go into the city. Now well we had lost luggage, missed flights, and people trapped at the air port for a couple of days sleeping on floors. We had more problems in the last week then the company would see in a year., and that with most of the past problems having more to do with people getting drunk then issues with the city or airport.
Talking about travel my vacation will be in march, and i need to tell the travel people what i want to do about a month before. That means having my travel plans ready by the end of this month. I have 25 days to spend ( 28- 3 travel days ) I will need to come back to Canada probable for only a week then spend two weeks or so going around Europe. I want to start in London, then I will have to pick two or three other cities to visit ( advise will be welcome on this choice )
I am looking forward to this as I'm going to focus on museums and castle. I'll start in London and take to Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, and train to other citys from there, i guest the real choice is France or the low countries. From my last trip to London I learn its fun to go alone but its be much better to have someone to go with. I can afford using my vacation bonus to have some one flown out but who. I'm still trying to figure that out, one of the disadvantages of being single.
I'm not the only one planning travel trips, there is a number of local cats people have made into pets and there is a strong desire to send them to good homes back in Canada, the problem is the costs. It about a thousand dollars a cat after you cover the necessary travel and vet fees needed. So people have been putting hats out and fund raising the money. Two cats have been sent home already there is talk of two others. For the long term readers the cat that was rescued from a US dumpster has been sent home the one that lives in the repair yard is the next one planned to be sent home.
Well the web sites are moving along now i have two to make and i seem to have stepped in something. There seems to be a little war between managers arguing over the planned corprate web site about if we should make it and what networks should it be on. As i got volunteered to do the next version of the site I’ll be right in the cross fire. No wonder this project has gotten no ware scene April. I May get a bit of time to work on it this week as I'm back on evening shifts next week so if the evenings turn out to be slow then i will get some done.
The evening shifts will let me spend the mornings in the gym. The gym thing is going well i did get my three trips in this week and i may get five or six in this week because of the evening shift schedule. My body is starting to get use to all this gym time and working on both upper body and core body weight work. That reminds me if any one by chance can pick up one of the hand gyro gizmo and throw that in the mail to me it will be appreciated. I apparently need to work on my wrists and this little gadget is a little weighted ball that you twist in your hand and the ball speeds up from gyroscopic forces.
My current wrist workout, fencing, is doing well. We are going to lose the other squire Ioannes Dalassenos is leaving next week but we have a few other regulars coming out and they both have talent and one is from the west kingdom. The squire is interesting as he is a lefty and will be missed, he trying to get me to go out to gulf wars and i am trying to get him out to pennsic.
I won't say too much about calibration other then apparently some of the kingdoms in the south west US have a minimum calibration for fencing. AKA they have a fencing light, you need to place “positive pressure” for the hit to count not just touch pressure. It comes from the whole phrase “It takes a sword 4 lbs of pressure to break skin” He is not the first i have ran into with this idea/rule. I had some worries when i got back last time about my fencing calibration.
Any way that was my week more or less, I hope every one is doing well on the normal side of the world. I'll try to keep the Post coming
I think it comes down to the fact that many corporations motivate by promising the imaginary. ( http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-03-31/ ) Most often this is done in less obvious ways then what in the comic, it more often seen as “what do you see as your long term goals in the company” But when the end is in sight those kind of conversations become very pointless.
The fear for the managers is people leaving before the contracts are done. The company only gets paid fro the people on the ground and if some one leaves two or three months early its not cost effective to get some one new, train then, and fly them over here so it ends up being a loss income ether way.
The solution for them seems to be to talk up Kabul, every one knows the military not asked for people yet and that there going to be sitting on a large pool of military doing nothing now that the combat mission is done. The other solution is telling how they are talking to the parent companies about giving us a leg up on position they may have.
The funny thing is no one really cared what he had to say about the projects future, it was all about Dubai. We now had to deal with getting visa for over a week and Dubai airport system seems to become a land mine field you need to navigate. Before it was a oasis to stop over at, get a few drinks, maybe go into the city. Now well we had lost luggage, missed flights, and people trapped at the air port for a couple of days sleeping on floors. We had more problems in the last week then the company would see in a year., and that with most of the past problems having more to do with people getting drunk then issues with the city or airport.
Talking about travel my vacation will be in march, and i need to tell the travel people what i want to do about a month before. That means having my travel plans ready by the end of this month. I have 25 days to spend ( 28- 3 travel days ) I will need to come back to Canada probable for only a week then spend two weeks or so going around Europe. I want to start in London, then I will have to pick two or three other cities to visit ( advise will be welcome on this choice )
I am looking forward to this as I'm going to focus on museums and castle. I'll start in London and take to Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, and train to other citys from there, i guest the real choice is France or the low countries. From my last trip to London I learn its fun to go alone but its be much better to have someone to go with. I can afford using my vacation bonus to have some one flown out but who. I'm still trying to figure that out, one of the disadvantages of being single.
I'm not the only one planning travel trips, there is a number of local cats people have made into pets and there is a strong desire to send them to good homes back in Canada, the problem is the costs. It about a thousand dollars a cat after you cover the necessary travel and vet fees needed. So people have been putting hats out and fund raising the money. Two cats have been sent home already there is talk of two others. For the long term readers the cat that was rescued from a US dumpster has been sent home the one that lives in the repair yard is the next one planned to be sent home.
Well the web sites are moving along now i have two to make and i seem to have stepped in something. There seems to be a little war between managers arguing over the planned corprate web site about if we should make it and what networks should it be on. As i got volunteered to do the next version of the site I’ll be right in the cross fire. No wonder this project has gotten no ware scene April. I May get a bit of time to work on it this week as I'm back on evening shifts next week so if the evenings turn out to be slow then i will get some done.
The evening shifts will let me spend the mornings in the gym. The gym thing is going well i did get my three trips in this week and i may get five or six in this week because of the evening shift schedule. My body is starting to get use to all this gym time and working on both upper body and core body weight work. That reminds me if any one by chance can pick up one of the hand gyro gizmo and throw that in the mail to me it will be appreciated. I apparently need to work on my wrists and this little gadget is a little weighted ball that you twist in your hand and the ball speeds up from gyroscopic forces.
My current wrist workout, fencing, is doing well. We are going to lose the other squire Ioannes Dalassenos is leaving next week but we have a few other regulars coming out and they both have talent and one is from the west kingdom. The squire is interesting as he is a lefty and will be missed, he trying to get me to go out to gulf wars and i am trying to get him out to pennsic.
I won't say too much about calibration other then apparently some of the kingdoms in the south west US have a minimum calibration for fencing. AKA they have a fencing light, you need to place “positive pressure” for the hit to count not just touch pressure. It comes from the whole phrase “It takes a sword 4 lbs of pressure to break skin” He is not the first i have ran into with this idea/rule. I had some worries when i got back last time about my fencing calibration.
Any way that was my week more or less, I hope every one is doing well on the normal side of the world. I'll try to keep the Post coming