Confederacy of Dunces!

Well, friends, my agency has been undergoing a lot of organizational changes, many of which have yet to pan out for any good. It' s amazing how much money agencies are willing to waste for a "reorganization." But, alas, it wasn't money that was going to go towards me, so I guess I hope everything blows up in the faces of all the dunces behind it all.
For all of their supposed wisdom and knowledge, it amazes me (perhaps it shouldn't) how these so-called senior-level managers make the dumbest decisions. It's almost as if they didn't do any research or planning on anything. The computer system they chose is not compatible with our needs...oopsie! The construction has taken longer than planned...didn't see that happening! Nothing is working...yowsa!
Like I said, I hope it blows up in their faces (figuratively of course--this is not a physical threat). I hope things continue to not work and that they will all look like even bigger fools than they presently are. Hey, I have no vested interests in the success of their "project." I'm just one of the so-called peons.

Calling for a Larger Stay-at-Home Workforce

The House has taken a big step toward expanding the number of federal employees who could become telecommuters and work from home at least one day a week.

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Thrift Savings Plan Looks Good at 20

The Thrift Savings Plan is celebrating its 20th birthday this year, and the numbers for the 401(k)-type plan are looking pretty good.

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How to Deal Live

Check out How to Deal Live, a washingtonpost.com discussion by columnist Lily Garcia, which focuses on workplace survival. It begins Tuesday at 11:00 AM.

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Quarter-life Crisis

I was somewhat inspired by the article "Reinvent Your Life" that appeared in the Washington Post. Sometimes I feel like I did too much too fast, and now I am stuck in a job that I don't even like and sometimes can barely tolerate. I will break loose at some point. I have done everything by the book, but I need to LIVE life, not just exist. God wants me (you, too) to be joyful, not miserable. So, one day, when the time it right, I will start over and reinvent my life. I don't have the exact plans, but it does NOT involve being a working-stiff on a meaningless job forever. Everything has its season, and I am positive that mine will end and lead to bigger and better things. Check out the article, though, and be inspired if you, too, feel stuck, regardless of age.

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Gender Matters with Anger

In the battle of the sexes, the little lady better stay unemotional and let the big man yell at her. That's because in the workplace, an angry man is likely to be viewed as admirable, while the angry chick is likely to be viewed as "out of control" and "incompetent." Wow.
An article on CNN.com discusses how in a study participants watched videos of males and females interviewing and were asked to rate their statuses and assign them salary. Participants gave the man who was most angry the highest status and the woman whom was most angry the least status. Another study showed that when women were perceived to be angry with "good reason" their status improved.
Victoria Brescoll, the author of the research paper, "When Can Angry Women Get Ahead," says this reveals a paradox and that women will have to appear calm in order to be regarded as rational. An analogy was made to Hillary Clinton, who has been said to be "too angry to be elected president" last year by a top ranking Republican.
Well, I don't know about competence, but in my office, I try to sort both the angry men and women into two categories: justified and unjustified. I'm not angry, by the way. But, it does pay to pretend to be sometimes.

Form a Pseudo-Friendship with these People at Work

You need to be friends with the Gatekeeper, Well-Connected Social Butterfly, Grapevine Monitor, and Cool-Headed Veteran. I'm none of these people, so no one at work should want to be my friend. I'm the Revolutionary, Jack-of-all-Trades Newbie, and I didn't see this mentioned in Careerbuilder's article on the four friends you need at work. There is some truth to this if you are one of those people who actually cares about your job and is trying to get ahead in that very workplace. But, not me, so much. I don't really consider myself friends with anyone in the true sense, but I'm kind of leery of individuals in my crazy, ridiculous workplace who are really interested in getting ahead through the established channels of groveling, manipulating, lying, and backstabbing. But, of all of these, I like the Cool-Headed Veteran the most. They are calm and know how to get through difficult times. I am not unlike them in terms of generally being calm, but we differ in that I am interested in the overthrow of the system. Check out the article, and see if it helps you. If anything, you can amuse yourself with guessing who comes closest to each description.

Secret: Everyone in my Office is Overpaid!

My boy, Stephen Barr wrote about a debate held by a House subcommittee that asked the proverbial question: are federal employees over- or underpaid? Don't let me answer that question. I'd have to speak honestly. I've told my co-workers a couple times (okay...a few) that I felt we were overpaid. Of course, they recoiled in disgust and seething anger that I'd have the temerity to actually admit that we don't do enough for the money. But, it's true. Seriously, I can see why people are reluctant to leave the government. After you roll in sometime during your flex-time hours in the morning (6:30 - 9:30 am), you immediately bolt out the door for a leisurely breakfast. Then, you return and make or receive some personal calls from your friends that you've worked with the last 36 years. When you finish that, you take one of your 30-minute breaks, and somehow manage to blow off the rest of the morning by visiting your friends around the building (may be one of them you just spoke to on the phone) and looking at your favorite websites. The closest thing to "work" you do is checking your work e-mail account, which of course is full of silly forwarded e-mails from your friends, whom you just finished visiting. Then, you go to lunch (a little early, naturally) and take your time returning, though not too brazenly. Then, may be you'll pick at some work on your desk for good measure until you bolt out the door to go home. Nah, I'm not surrounded by top-performers. My agency is LAX to the MAX. My supervisors set no example, yet gripe about any task they have to do, as if they are being overworked.
So, no, even though I do not do most of the things mentioned above (the Internet is my vice admittedly), I know that I am not being as productive as I could be. But, I'll kindly take that step increase (I'm too hated to get an award). I don't want to speak for everyone. I KNOW that everyone in my office is full of baloney. And, I observe much of that same laziness throughout my agency. May be the other agencies are just awesome, full of awesomely hardworking people, so they might be underpaid. But, we sure ain't. Thanks, Uncle Sam.