Another Interesting Day

Sunday 30 March 2008
1800

Today was an interesting day, in the sense of the ancient Chinese curse (“May You Live in Interesting Times”).

Actually, it wasn’t so bad – just a typical day managing projects with local contractors inside a facility with limited access and lots of high-ranking officers. I serve many masters, and no matter what I do, I can’t please everybody all the time.

I had two projects going in the same area at the same time, and we were doing a pretty good job of managing to our plan. One contractor was adjusting the air conditioning, and another was putting down new tile on a stairway. It was all being done in a secure area that requires extensive coordination and pre-planning for me to get workers in to do anything. I had done the required coordination, and we were where we were supposed to be, and when.

One thing about working with these local contractors is that you can never tell what they are going to do next – they just don’t approach a job the way you’d expect (although after hearing my sister’s nightmare saga of building a new house with red-blooded American contractors, maybe it’s not so different than back home….). Combine the contractors with a less-than-stellar soldier supervising them and you have a recipe for problems.

Partway through the project, at a time when I wasn’t there, one of the highest-ranking officers in our headquarters came into the area and expressed his displeasure with the way part of the project was being done. Next thing I knew I was summoned to his office to explain.

I got a two-star @ss-chewing, which is an interesting experience. I wouldn’t recommend it for relaxation. But once the general had told me what he thought and listened to my explanation, he shook my hand and said “Good job – keep pushing, we need to get these kinds of things done.” In the handshake he passed me this:


CFLCC DCG Coin Obverse
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

CFLCC DCG Coin Reverse
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

So it was an OK day after all – it was a sort of microcosm of my job as a whole.

The funny part is that the same contractor will be back tomorrow to tackle a different project – talk about same sh*t, different day! I can hardly wait…. :-)

Mood: Relaxed
Music: Neil Young – “Old Man”