re-synch with puzzle. unbirthday lateness. actual code.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Day.001
Remodeling the bathroom. New job jitters. Lost in CAC land.
A few days ago my amazingly talented father-in-law showed up in his truck. He has enough tools and random equipment to fix nearly anything and it was known that our bathroom needed some professional love and was desparately in need of remodeling.
You know those bathrooms where the peeling ceiling looks like weird comic-book eye-lids that are frozen open? Where, on a quiet day, the pipes whisper that they have always leaked into the crawl space? And you feel obligated to provide a vague apology to any guest because it is your only bathroom? Yeah - that's ours.
So my wife and I were exceptionally pleased that he showed up to help. Even five minutes of his time in this, his domain of expertise, would be priceless - and he had shown up to change our lives through plumbing!
The only hint of a ... challenging reception lay in the fact that I would be starting a new job and the bathroom was still an active work in progress. Certainly this put a vibrant spin on things; however, I remained thankful.
The first time you lay eyes on a new job, there is a sense of looking in on an undiscovered country - where the inhabitants do not yet know or trust you and the lay of the land is alien. It was then, with heart in hand, that I parked and entered into the foyer. My instructions told me I would be meeting someone - and I was given a name but no contact information.
Was I at the right place? Did I miss it?
Finding a company phone directory on the small foyer table, I called and left a message with my primary HR point-of contact. I gently regretted leaving my phone in the car - because it wasn't allowed on-premises.
Ten minutes passed and I decide I needed to get in touch with someone - and as I left the foyer, the internal door opened. The woman asked for my name and, having confirmed I was one of her new hires, proceeded to direct me to a small conference room. The already present greeted me and we both sat down as the first woman distributed new-hire administrivia and walked us through the new context.
Two hours later we were both officially new employees.
And after badge, fob, picture, and a vouchsafe that we would not try to hire people away from the new company, I was give instructions and set on my way to acquire an authenticated token in the form of a common card. And it was there I was reminded of a lesson I had forgotten.
You know those bathrooms where the peeling ceiling looks like weird comic-book eye-lids that are frozen open? Where, on a quiet day, the pipes whisper that they have always leaked into the crawl space? And you feel obligated to provide a vague apology to any guest because it is your only bathroom? Yeah - that's ours.
So my wife and I were exceptionally pleased that he showed up to help. Even five minutes of his time in this, his domain of expertise, would be priceless - and he had shown up to change our lives through plumbing!
The only hint of a ... challenging reception lay in the fact that I would be starting a new job and the bathroom was still an active work in progress. Certainly this put a vibrant spin on things; however, I remained thankful.
The first time you lay eyes on a new job, there is a sense of looking in on an undiscovered country - where the inhabitants do not yet know or trust you and the lay of the land is alien. It was then, with heart in hand, that I parked and entered into the foyer. My instructions told me I would be meeting someone - and I was given a name but no contact information.
Was I at the right place? Did I miss it?
Finding a company phone directory on the small foyer table, I called and left a message with my primary HR point-of contact. I gently regretted leaving my phone in the car - because it wasn't allowed on-premises.
Ten minutes passed and I decide I needed to get in touch with someone - and as I left the foyer, the internal door opened. The woman asked for my name and, having confirmed I was one of her new hires, proceeded to direct me to a small conference room. The already present greeted me and we both sat down as the first woman distributed new-hire administrivia and walked us through the new context.
Two hours later we were both officially new employees.
And after badge, fob, picture, and a vouchsafe that we would not try to hire people away from the new company, I was give instructions and set on my way to acquire an authenticated token in the form of a common card. And it was there I was reminded of a lesson I had forgotten.
There is a timeless aspect to the DMV. There is always the hint one is always only moments away from - and, as a result, they lack one detail that would probably make the DMV more palatble: the ability to schedule appointments.
So too with CACs (as I had forgotten) which can actually be scheduled: always schedule ahead.
I wound up waiting in line, standing the entire time (over 2.5 hrs), as those with appointments strode pass and the remainder of us lightly fought to be patient, noticed, and done. And thus my little second-floor trek to have a well-formed and well-framed. I could have counted this day for a win, save for one thing: the CAC service personnel told me my backend datasource wad not populated.
Oh noos!!
I reviewed my email and found I had not verified my application - something lost in the remodeling weekend and the challenge of a new job. A quick call and an even quicker email and resulted in a fixed record; a humble plea resulted in not having to stay in line again for hours - something for which I am extremely grayeful.
So too with CACs (as I had forgotten) which can actually be scheduled: always schedule ahead.
I wound up waiting in line, standing the entire time (over 2.5 hrs), as those with appointments strode pass and the remainder of us lightly fought to be patient, noticed, and done. And thus my little second-floor trek to have a well-formed and well-framed. I could have counted this day for a win, save for one thing: the CAC service personnel told me my backend datasource wad not populated.
Oh noos!!
I reviewed my email and found I had not verified my application - something lost in the remodeling weekend and the challenge of a new job. A quick call and an even quicker email and resulted in a fixed record; a humble plea resulted in not having to stay in line again for hours - something for which I am extremely grayeful.
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