Part 1: Work woes and how frustrating that is...

Let's see, where do I start? I went down to Ft Hood two weeks ago - the week before Memorial Day actually -(some trivia for you. This is the largest "free-world" (that's how someone referred to it the other day) military base in operation anywhere in the world.) for my annual environmental inspections, which by the way were supposed to happen two months ago but all the problems and issues at work kept delaying them. I had 6 places to visit, all of which were e-mailed at least four times, and they were all given plenty of time to let me know when was good for them to have me come visit. Not a single facility manager got back to me to say anything. That in itself is frustrating.

So I schedule when is good for ME to be there since they can't take two seconds to even reply to an e-mail. Everyone was notified plenty of time in advance, and even got a reminder message the Wednesday prior to my visit. AFTER I picked the dates, I had one facility manager tell me he wouldn't be available but he'd have someone there to work with me. And that's the only response I got from anyone.

So I get down there, having sent them a tentative schedule last week (which I also said was always subject to last minute changes once I actually arrived. I learned the hard way that no matter how well organized or planned, someone won't come through and I have to change everything else for them.) So I arrive Monday afternoon and head straight to the one huge maintenance shop down there I needed to visit, that I had planned to be at on Monday and told them so. Only to arrive and neither environmental person is there for me to talk to. They all work 4 10's down there and both environmental people are off on Mondays.

So the week just starts bad. Why the heck couldn't they tell me Monday was not good and to come Tuesday instead? Then I could have been at one of the other places that day instead. But by the time I found out no one I needed was there, I had no time to go to another facility that day since this one is 45 minutes away from everyone else and it was already 2:30. Just about everyone on normal 8 hour schedules leaves at 4:30 and I need more then an hour. So there goes Monday...wasted.

So I have to be there Tuesday AM instead. I'm already a half day behind schedule now. So I go there Tuesday morning, everything goes OK and I finish up just around lunch time. Which works out because by the time I get to the other end of post for the next facility, they'll be done with lunch there. So I go to the next site, which I was supposed to be at Tuesday morning. and guess what? Yep, neither of the people I need to talk to are there either! There was one person there who was able to help on most everything though so it wasn't a wash out. But this facility was in REALLY bad shape last year and I was mad they didn't bother to tell me the people there I needed were not going to be around. So the other place I was supposed to hit that day didn't get done since it took longer here then it should have due to not having the right people there. Still a half day behind.

Wednesday I had two aviation facilities to visit and that schedule I was able to keep, or so it seemed that morning anyhow. This is the place where the manager said he wouldn't be there but someone else would be for me to talk to. And guess what... the other guy is NOT there! He's in meetings all morning and then he had to go home at lunch. Aviation units don't work normal work schedules as they have to go by flying times. And this guy had a flight at 3 AM so they had to let him go home at lunch to be ready for the flight. I can deal with the unusual schedules, when I'm told about them. So the one lone guy who WAS there says, too bad, you need to reschedule. You were supposed to be here last week and never came so we can't accommodate you this week. Well he's half right. I had originally planned to be there last week, but something came up right after I scheduled it so I had to move it to this week. I alerted the facility manager about the change, still three weeks in advance so not like it was last minute or anything, and THAT was the message he replied to about having this other guy there to talk to me. So now I have to make a special trip down there because either the manager never bothered to alert the others about the change or he did and they are just saying he didn't. Which wouldn't be the first time that happened.

So I head to the other place for the day and JUST as I start their visit, the one guy from the other place calls and says come right now and I can do this meeting with you. I said sorry, No. I was just starting someone else's visit and wasn't leaving in the middle of it to accommodate him. Plus the fact these two facilities are opposite ends of Ft. Hood also so are a good half hour away from each other. So I do this visit and now I'm pretty much back on schedule, except for the one place I had to skip on Tuesday. So this is Wednesday and I figured, I'd stick to what was left of my schedule and visit the one place missed on Thursday and take an early day Wednesday. I was so mad about how it all went down I felt I deserved the early day, especially since Friday
was supposed to be MY day off and I had to spend it driving home.

Thursday morning I arrive at the last facility to visit and guess what? Yep the guy's not there! The one who was said, you didn't show up on Tuesday like you said you were so he figured you weren't coming at all and took the rest of the week off. HEL-LLO! I SAID in my schedule message that everything is subject to change last minute once I arrive. So I was only able to do half of what I needed to here. Pretty much the whole week was a wash out and I called Jim my boss Wednesday when I left this facility telling him what happened and why this makes me so
angry. Especially since this is THREE months in a row someone did that to me.

They never bother to tell me when is good and when isn't for them so I schedule for when is good for me and let them know. And then either they say, sorry we can't do it then or they say nothing at all, which to me means, everything is fine. So I show up and no one is there. This happened to me last week too. I drove 4 hours to San Marcos to visit ONE facility only to get there and the people aren't there. But THEY say "well I tried to call you to let you know I wouldn't be available and you never called me back. Guess what? NOT A SINGLE MESSAGE from her over e-mail, work phone or cell phone. So who the h*ll did she contact? It sure wasn't me! I'm furious over these people's attitudes and Jim gets to hear all about it. And if they play games with me like this? I slam them as hard as I possibly can on everything at the facility, which Jim's blessings. LOL

And THAT is just part of the work related stuff.
Part 2 coming...