The first full week in April, I traveled to Philadelphia with my co-worker, Regina, to conduct a site visit at the National Call Center located there.
Leading up to this visit, I had been preparing for and visited Phoenix during the week of March 21st, which meant I had been out of the office one week, in the next, then out again to Philly. On top of that, what had originally been scheduled to be a three-person team had become a partnership when leadership in Washington pulled my supervisor from site visits for the rest of the year... So, this visit represented my 2nd official site visit during which I would be briefing a VERY powerful regional office (and insurance center) director - oh, yeah - and, training Regina at the same time.
Well, all the worry was for naught because late Friday night, the powers that be figured it out and signed a one-week extension and then a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year the following week. During the entire process, though, I learned I was not classified as essential and that if the government shuts down, everyone has to report to work to get a letter and collect one's personal "artifacts."
The week following the near-crisis, we all got a letter from the President thanking us for our service and our professionalism during the uncertain times... I put it on the fridge, lol.
My apologies for the less-than-stellar scan... but, here is it.
.
Leading up to this visit, I had been preparing for and visited Phoenix during the week of March 21st, which meant I had been out of the office one week, in the next, then out again to Philly. On top of that, what had originally been scheduled to be a three-person team had become a partnership when leadership in Washington pulled my supervisor from site visits for the rest of the year... So, this visit represented my 2nd official site visit during which I would be briefing a VERY powerful regional office (and insurance center) director - oh, yeah - and, training Regina at the same time.
I am happy to report that I survived!
And, in actuality, Regina and I had a really good week. The hotel we stayed at (Homewood Suites) rocked because it not only served breakfast, but dinner, too - to include wine! Visiting the call center was refreshing and renewed my sense of purpose at work - at least a little bit. We just had a really nice time, and I felt like the visit was a success and accomplished what it was supposed to. And, I really like the office. It has a good feel... I could work there.
The strangest part of the week is that Friday, April 8, marked the deadline of a continuing resolution for the federal budget, and everyone was anticipating that the government would be shut down. It was all over the news and everyone was talking about it in the office. On Thursday, Regina and I had to pull away from the site visit work to dial in to an all-hands meeting to discuss what to do... we were particularly concerned because she and I were on travel and were worried about filing our expense reports.
Well, all the worry was for naught because late Friday night, the powers that be figured it out and signed a one-week extension and then a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year the following week. During the entire process, though, I learned I was not classified as essential and that if the government shuts down, everyone has to report to work to get a letter and collect one's personal "artifacts."
The week following the near-crisis, we all got a letter from the President thanking us for our service and our professionalism during the uncertain times... I put it on the fridge, lol.
My apologies for the less-than-stellar scan... but, here is it.
.
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