Well, my transfer orders finally came in this week, and with them came my first taste of government fun. I had informed State that I would be going to my orientation solo, so wouldn’t need tickets/lodging for my family. This was confirmed by them in an email, and all my lodging was set up on this premise. So of course when my orders arrived, they included my wife and one of my daughters, but not the other. This set off a fun ping pong of removing them from the orders, but also making sure my newborn was listed as a dependent so when we get our final PCS destination in a couple of months, she isn’t left out.
Thankfully, everyone on the other end of these transactions has been so nice. I got my orders changed easily enough, but when it came to adding my daughter as a dependent (which she already was included on my benefits options), that was more fun. First, I had to email one address, who forwarded me to another department, who then forwarded me to a subdivision of the same department. Their reply, was my daughter was listed on their end, so they weren’t sure why the error existed in the first place, and forwarded me back to the original address I made the first inquiry. They replied that the issue was resolved. I hope so.
The second taste of fun was booking my flight to DC next month. After several minutes of being on hold, I got a very friendly rep with the travel service the government uses, who proceeded to book my ticket. Points of interest were that they seemed oblivious to booking a ticket for new hires that are relocating, which I found strange since hundreds of people are doing this all at once several times a year. Although the ticket is booked, it doesn’t get funded and released until 3 days before, and the way you ensure this happens, is you email a black hole email address your travel orders, and just hope everything falls into place. Lastly, booking a 1 way ticket from El Paso to DC took 28 minutes, including time on hold. Something that most people can do online in about 2 minutes. The government has contracted airfares and routes, so I understand the need to get the best deal for the government, but there’s got to be a better way. Either way, I’m gladly rolling with it.
Aside from the excitement above, for the most part things have been smooth and fairly easy to navigate when dealing with the various arms of the State Department and the moving process. I had a pack-out inspection and my air baggage is set to be picked up next week. I also got a reconfirmation of my lodging arrangements which was reassuring.
All in all things are coming together nicely. Two weeks from today I will say goodbye to my current employer, and in short order be heading out to DC. I’ve got a few days off coming up over the next week and will be spending time with lots of friends and family. Small world, I also learned a colleague in my orientation class is from my area, and we will be getting together to have some coffee. A few other’s have reached out after finding this site, and I have gotten to know a few of my fellow providers that will be in the class next month. A WhatsApp group was made for our orientation class, and it really is amazing just how varied the class is, literally folks flying in from all over the world with an amazing array of backgrounds and experiences. It’s going to be fun.
–Nick
