RELAXing

This weekend was great! Every now and again I get to have a weekend completly free of planning. No real schedule and nothing set in stone. This past weekend was one of those. I finished work Friday and decided to head over to Virginia Tech to toss the frisbee with Erin. From there we joined a football game then came back, had dinner and watched some scary movie (complete with popcorn, hot chocolate & Jujyfruits). Saturday I was able to spend time with Erin and her family by way of bowling and eating lunch at Jimmy V's in Salem. The rest of the weekend followed the pattern of doing whatever came along. It was a great time and I look forward to my next one.

I also wanted to post a few pictures of friends (maybe not after I post the pictures!). One is of Troy & Jill Waskey. I met Troy a few summers ago and we spent time attending Harvest Baptist Church in Blacksburg, VA. We studied together, hiked together and had some good times. He now resides with his wife Jill in Phoenix Arizona where he studies at the University of Arizona!


This second strapping young fellow I was able to meet a few months ago. His name is Brad Griffin and he is the husband of Lauren Griffin (Erin's best friend). He is a history teacher in the Greenville, TN area and is also a football coach. I sometimes wonder if he ever took the history posters for his class out of his car trunk??? I am hoping both he and Lauren can come visit the SouthWestern Virginia area soon!


This week is my final week with BearingPoint and I am excited about starting my new job next week. I even have a little in my budget to go clothes shopping! I'd better find an advisor before I go... Have a Great week & a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

5

VT vs BC - 6 days remain

Last night I went to the Virginia Tech vs Boston College game. But before that we hit up a really good tailgate with a friend from work and his tailgating buddies. I finally was able to see the gas powered blender (in person!) and had some of the best chili life has to offer. Needless to say I'll be tailgating there more often.

As for the game VT won 30-10, beating a quality opponent. The stat line favored the Hokies heavily, but I can't help but know that they should have had a good bit more points. And of course there was the TD that Jimmy Williams was beat on (I've counted 3 of those this season). For the first time I sat in the "West Stands" (Alumni Side) and sat for much of the game. What is interesting is that from the West side stands you can see the clear break of students/alumni in the East Stands. The line is the difference between standing and sitting. During the beginning of the game the students were pretty much rabid the whole time. Jumping up and down, going crazy etc. I can only imagine what Lane Stadium would be like if everyone were so crazed. Don't get me wrong Lane is a great place for the home team to play, but it could be better :)

In other news I have 6 days left at my current job and I don't think it can go by fast enough. I have a few major responsibilities remaining and have halted all new development efforts, since they will not be seen to completion given how long it takes something to reach completion in my current work environment. That being said, one good thing I will take from this experience is the friendships I have made. I have also learned that:
1. Working for a big company will likely be like Office Space.
2. Working for Federal entities is slow moving.

This weekend holds ???? The original plans of a 3 day hiking trip were cancelled due to temps in the 20's on Saturday night, so I find myself with a free weekend. Wonder what it will hold other than an extra hour of sleep?

When did I request resignation?

There are so many posts to make that I feel like throwing 2 of them up today. This is a chain of events that started when I requested to resign from BearingPoint on Monday October 24, 2005.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Human Resources
Tue 10/25/2005 5:32 PM

Per your request I have process your resignation effective November 4, 2005. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
If you have any questions feel free to contact the HRIC at 1-866-524-6435 prompts 2,1,1,3,2.

Rex
October 25, 2005 at 9:31 PM

My resignation notification date is listed as October 26, 2005.

I wanted to have this corrected:
1. I turned in my 2 weeks on October 24, 2005.
2. It is not yet October 26, 2005, but this is the date listed as my resignation notification?

Please let me know how I can help correct this.

Human Resources
Wed 10/26/2005 9:13 AM

The notification date is when you contacted the HRIC to start the resignation process. Not when you advised your Manager.

If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to contact your HRIC at 1-866-524-6435 prompts 2,1,1,3,2.

Rex
Wed 10/26/2005 10:06 AM

This should be simple. Today is October 26, 2005.
I contacted HRIC YESTERDAY (and have e-mails saying so). Yesterday was October 25, 2005.

The response I received about my resignation notification is this:
"The notification date is when you contacted the HRIC to start the resignation process. Not when you advised your Manager."

How is it that I contacted HRIC on the 25th of October and the resignation notification date is set at October 26, 2005 (a day into the future).

Rex
Phone Call: Wed 10/26/2005

After being put on hold for 5+ minutes I was told that the "resignation notification" date was used for internal purposes and that they were not sure how it got updated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Simply Amazing.

7

How about this one?

Let me first explain:
OneTeam is an application in which you post what days you would like to request for vacation. The whole point is so that the company knows where you are at, so that resources can be scheduled properly. It is good to fill in the vacation dates far in advance, so that everyone knows where you are...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rex
Fri 10/21/2005 11:58 AM

I tried to update one team for today’s vacation and December’s vacation, but I can’t seem to remove my current work dates to put in the vacation. Any ideas?

The Large Company
Fri 10/21/2005 2:51 PM

You cannot remove them, but you can double schedule. The system will allow you to schedule conflicting events. Your entries will over ride the previously entered schedule and be automatically updated once you reach the update period (which I believe is Sunday evening, 23:59 EST or around that timeframe). So don't worry- you'll get it recognized as long as you save your entry.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Translation:
- Why can't I wipe out work scheduled on a day when I am adding vacation?
- Because the system does not allow it, it would rather you schedule work alongside of vacation until the system updates itself.

????? Is it that hard to have a single schedule ?????

In other news the head honcho here decided last Friday afternoon to let everyone know that he would be gone for 2 weeks. To my knowledge no one knew of his absence until about 2.5 hours before it was to happen. Wonder what happened to the 2 weeks notice?

Just an example...

of what I have been dealing with:

Rex
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 9:40 PM

Is it necessary to enter a reason for every daily entry in TIMEnX?
What about normal daily entry?

The Large Company
Wed 10/26/2005 9:35 AM

It is only necessary to enter a reason if you are late (or early) - ie, past noon on the following day. For example, if you didn't input Monday's time before noon yesterday, then you would have to enter a reason why you're late. The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) requires us to submit our time daily. For this reason, TIMEnX has been structured to require a reason when the submission is late or early. If you submit each day, however, then you don't have to provide a reason. When you project time to meet the submission deadline, you will have to provide a reason as well - and it's one of the options in the drop-down menu. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

PS Adding a comment for on-time submission isn't bad. Don't worry if you've done that already.

Rex
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 10:21 AM

I will re-try the system tonight when I get home. The reason I e-mail is because when I entered my hours yeterday I was not able to hit the 'OK' button without entering a reason.

Now there are a couple reasons why this may have happened:
(1) I had not yet entered my time from the day before and was required to submit a reason there. So maybe the system thinks I need to submit a reason for everything I enter if I have to submit a reason for one thing? In which case the logic of not having to enter a reason for the current day would be false based on this pre-exhisting condition. If this is true, either the explination on how to use the system should change or the software itself should always allow one to enter a current days hours without a reason.

(2) My login could be buggy and in that case TIMEnX always needs a reason from me.

There may be more reasons, but I have work to get done.

Bottom line is I went to enter my time yesterday and I had to provide a reason.

The Large Company
Wed 10/26/2005 10:23 AM

Since you're on your way out, I wouldn't worry about this too much. You're not the only person who has had this issue, although it isn't common. It's not worthwhile to open a trouble ticket to get it fixed. Thanks for the feedback, though. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for this sort of thing.

--------------------------------------------
In closing:
1. It's Broke
2. This is how it works
3. No, it's broke
4. It's not worthwhile to fix it, I might even see it again

And I have PLENTY more examples, look for them in the days to come...
8

So what do you know..

about Rex?

A Quiz and then Check the Scoreboard!

2 weeks remain...

So the 9 in my previous post is how many more days I will be working for BearingPoint at ALTESS. I have been here for almost 3 years and have not only learned a good bit, but have met some of the best people that I know. Many of them are gone now, but a few still remain. It has been a good time, but it is time for a change...

So why am I leaving?
I am leaving mainly because I am not compatable as an employee with a large company. I knew this coming in, but given that I had the same client I was hoping my work responsibilites would be the same. Well, they have been, but now I take work home every night. The ineffeciency, inability to recognize people by their names and rather by number and all of the administrative duties drive me batty. The biggest frustration is that I don't feel like I can get as much work done when I am spending so much of each day figuring out what new course I need to take, what policy I need to read or what procedure I need to follow. Those things coupled with some ethical issues (obligations not fullfilled) or the creation of expectations based on no real factual data (but rather presumption) pretty much kept me open to looking for work elsewhere. So when I received a call from a company I previously interviewed with I was more than happy to entertain the invitation.

What's next?
Well I turned in my 2-weeks and will be starting work with Tele-Work on Monday, November 9, 2005. The position I interviewed for was project cordinator. I will be in charge of large amounts of organization, client communication and managing external/internal expectations all in a team enviornment. I am really excited about this position as I think it really fits a lot of my strengths to a T. I am also excited about being able to take lunch outside of work (with friends!), having windows and being closer to downtown Blacksburg.

What are people saying?

"Congratulations !! I am so happy for you. I think you'll find that you made a good decision, despite going to a smaller company. In this case I believe smaller is better."

Wow. Sorry it didn't work out for you at the bunker, but we all kinda knew that was happening. I'm glad you found another place to work locally. Hope it goes well. Let me know!

Very NICE!
I am very happy for you. If you get a break in between jobs stop by
and say hi. The world is a brighter place here in the land of not the army.

You're free at last! Free at last!

Congrats! I think you will thrive in a small company. I can't wait to hear more about your new job!

9

9

The Way Back from Delaware

A Destiny is born

WE WON!

This very day is the day that the "AgeLess Wonder" won their third consecutive Alpha Eta Hope Bowl Championship. Hope Bowl is a flag football tournament that I travel to each fall and for the last 3 falls have won. This year the competition was pretty good, but we handled it fairly easily after we cleaned up our play. The defense during the Championship game really did the job and allowed the offense to do theirs. All in all it feels great to accomplish such a feat with the same good friends year after year. There are very few other ways I would choose to spend a weekend!

The Latest and Flag Football Preparation

Thursday morning and the town is a buzz about the Virginia Tech vs University of Maryland game. My original plans were to go, but after looking at all I would like to do before heading to Delaware this weekend for the Annual Flag Football Tournament I have decided to stay in town! Lucky for me, I have off of work tomorrow :)

So much has been going on lately! The trip with my mother and Cher coming to visit went wonderful! The weather was great and it was so good being able to show them around where I live. As I showed them a bit of my life and friends it once again occurred to me how lucky I really am to be here in Blacksburg.

The trees are starting to change and that means I need to get out with my camera, look for pictures soon! The flag football tournament is this weekend and I've been told I have not blogged that much in preparation for it, so here goes:

This year is year 3 of the Ageless Wonder's team gathering together to play in "Hope Bowl" an annual Flag Football Tourney. These past two years we have won the Championship with some great games along the way. Last year we were able to hold off our undergrad team in the semi-finals and won the Championship game on the last play of the game (a diving flag pull by Tim!) This year we are all a little older, but in fairly good shape overall as many of us have taken up running this past year. Our major blow comes to our Team Leader (Pete Gingrich) who suffered a major shoulder injury in our 7 touchdown - 3 touchdown blowout of the undergrad football team a few weeks back. So now his playing is listed as "Questionable" and we have one heck of a coach!

I'll be splitting QB duties with Mike Brody again this year and we run a pretty good offense together. He takes a lot of pressure off of me and I take some off of him. My plan this year is to conserve energy until the later rounds, which means a bit less running early. And not to hurt myself, I am currently at a lapse in health coverage due to my employment situation. All in all it should be a great time to see old friends, play a great sport and enjoy the better things in life.

Full recap upon my return...
Stay tuned...

What a Week!

Back from vacation and things are in full swing. This week I jumped back into work with a new company (very large company) and spent all of Monday learning about them and how to handle the 'new hire' process. I'm sure after I get through all of this it won't be all that bad, but right now it is not only overwhelming, but a lot of it seems either redundant or inefficient. I think of everything it is that causes the most frustration.

In times like this I need to remember the words of my mentor Kris Eiben, who when she saw me getting frustrated said:

Kris: Rex, you know what your problem is?
Rex: Yeah, that this is taking too long, is inefficient, da da da
Kris: No, it is that you care too much.

And when I remember that, things get better.

In other news my mother and her friend is in town so we are doing lots with our time together. Wednesday was dinner and study, Thursday was dinner with Erin and her family and tonight holds dinner at the Paulette's place and then FLOYD! Saturday will be me running/jogging a 5k followed by hiking the cascades before dropping my guests off at the Roanoke airport.

So, pretty busy. Speaking of pretty, the leaves are changing and it is amazing! So I am planning a hike on Sunday with Erin to take some photos and see one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen -> Erin!!!, errr... the leaves, yeah the leaves (if Erin were leaves) ;)

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

Back in the burg...

Well I made it and promptly slept in till 2pm today (8am Hawaii time). Looks like the next few days will be full with all kinds of things: Moving Erin & her roommate Betsy, Homecoming @ VT, prepping for the new job, bills ;), and getting some things squared away with the direction of life. It should be a great next 4 days! I'll post a Hawaii trip wrap up later, after taking some more pictures off of my camera.

Sorry Joel... (more Hawaii)

I can't stop sending the updates... It is really nice here and too bad the cat is keeping you at home. Today I found out that I accidentally booked my flight a day after the couple I was traveling with so it looks like I am "stuck" (and I use the term lightly, very lightly) in Hawaii for another day.

Today's plans took us to the "Swap Meet" which is a place where everything Hawaii is sold. Souvenirs, jewelry, clothing, art, luggage, etc. It was both good (I picked some things up) and bad (for the budget). Next we headed up to the "North Shore" and landed on Sunset Beach, where we took in the tail end of a surfing competition and played a little frisbee. The day was rounded off with a submarine tour (by a friend I am staying with in the Navy) and a homemade dinner of lasagna.

Tomorrow is Pearl Harbor, possible surfing lessons and maybe some kayaking. It's late now so I'll add some pictures and be off to bed.

More news for Hawaii!

ALOHA!

Back from Kauaui and it was beautiful. I'll have to post some pictures later when I am on a computer that has some pictures! While in Kauai I took a Helicopter tour (more on that later) and hiked out to the Na Pali coastline (a 2,500 ft cliff) that ends abruptly at the Ocean. When we got there the whole place was shrouded in clouds and the 2 hour hike was looking glim for brethtaking views. After a while the clouds cleared and the view was awesome. Took some pictures there as well!

Last night I went to Sam Choy's for dinner in Waiki and it was delicious, I ordered a seafood medly (Crab, Clams, Shrimp, Lobster, etc). Right now I am about ready to head out to the O'ahu Swap Meet followed by heading up to the North Shore (the Surf Capitol of the World). Really looking forward to that one and doing some boogie boarding & taking some surf lessons!!! We scrapped the plan to go to Pearl Harbor for sleep (since we would have had to be there at 6:30am for tickets) and are looking to hit that up tomorrow. Well, time to run!