When work is rewarding

Looking through this admittedly sparsely populated blog, I came across a post I wrote in 2010 evaluating what I like and dislike in a job. Namely, I liked being responsible for a variety of tasks, as well as being able to provide clients with real, influential advice based on research, experience, and/or industry knowledge. I also noted my dislike for "useless busy work" that no one cares about and that accomplishes nothing.

Almost three years after writing this, as I again consider what I want in a job, my earlier insights about what I find rewarding in a job still hold true.  I've gained more consulting experience and worked with a wider variety of clients and organizations, I know more specifically the type of consulting work I like to do - and it still entails having a variety of different types of tasks to complete in a given day or week, helping address various types of client challenges. 

As long as I know that my work is being valued and having an impact, I know I'm doing good work. Conversely, when that shifts to being more repetitive tasks, more excel formatting than original thought generation, the work product is far less meaningful and rewarding. 

There is a lot to be said for creativity, be it through artistic expression or analyzing a new topic. The greater the ability to think outside the box, the more we are able to grow and evolve within our jobs, and the more inspired we are to do so.  We spend the majority of our days and weeks at our places of employment. The more mentally stimulated we are, the more enjoyable the experience. 

United States Postal Service

I have been working with the U.S. Postal Service for the past year and a half.  You've probably read and heard all about USPS' financial woes, Congressional roadblocks, and institutional challenges.  In working with the organization at their DC headquarters, I've learned a lot about the Postal Service - how it has evolved in recent years, how it got to be where it is today, its original founding principles, and and its service to America.

The Postal Service is a unique organization.  Though it is self-funded by its own sales and operations, it is bound to government regulation and oversight.  It is required to pre-fund retirement for its employees, though no other organization in the world does so.  The Postal Service must deliver mail six days a week to every address in the nation, including some which are only accessible by helicopter or mule.  It is the only representative of the government (despite not being funded by the government) that reaches every U.S. town, village, and dwelling with an address on a regular basis.

Originally created first by a British grant and then by the Second Continental Congress, the Postal Service was established to enable early American colonists to communicate and connect with one another in a geographically disparate region. Nominated as the first Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin implemented many policies and procedures that are still in use today.

The Postal Service's mandate is humbling, and its supporting infrastructure is astounding.  However, with the growth of electronic mail and package delivery, and the decrease of traditional mail, the Postal Service is working to realign its physical assets to better serve current demand.  In the meantime, USPS must continue to serve its paper-based business customers while becoming even more creative in its product and service development in the electronic sphere.  Amongst all this, USPS still must present any major changes to current offerings and services and potential new offerings to Congress for approval, as USPS is beholden to Congressional oversight even though they do not receive Congressional funding.

Given these challenges, it is not surprising that the Postal Service is struggling.  Nor is it surprising that USPS's role in and interaction with government is not well understood - many people (incorrectly) assume the Postal Service receives government funding and is still somehow billions of dollars in debt. USPS is working on making changes to remain viable to the American people while still upholding their original mandate of connecting the country.  Unfortunately, Congress has rejected most, if not all of the Postal Service's proposals. 

The Postal Service has a long history of innovation and early adoption of new technology.  In recent years, though, its enormous physical infrastructure and Congressional gridlock have crippled this trait.  The mandate to connect the country and allow nation-wide communication is still a vital, valid one - online connectivity notwithstanding.  Though sending physical mail and packages around the country is the stated responsibility of USPS, the outreach our mail carriers provide to the most remote corners of the nation, to the most isolated citizens, may be the most valuable activity the Postal Service has to offer. 

USPS is always the first agency back on the ground after natural disasters, the first representation of authority to reconnect people to a sense of normalcy.  Their physical and technological infrastructure allows them to make adjustments to delivery in the face of those disasters so that vital medications and the like are still delivered to the intended recipients in a timely manner.  USPS is the only organization in the mailing industry that can and does achieve all this, both because of and thanks to its constitutional mandate.  The U.S. Postal Service is a model for other posts around the globe.  Its role in our lives is essential.  USPS can evolve to meet the digital age, if we let it - and we must.

2013 Tea Party

With the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial elections, Virginia will serve as a signpost for the current status and popularity and perceived chances of longevity for the tea party.  The Republican ticket includes current Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who believes that the University of Virginia somehow fraudulently funded research into global warming and that women's rights should be more reminiscent of the 1850s, and E.W. Jackson who compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK.  For a state that has been described as going purple, this is a fairly extreme party ticket.

Contrasted with this is the news that Michelle Bachman is not seeking reelection to her U.S. House of Representatives seat. As a (formerly?) prominent advocate of Tea Party beliefs, this news is not entirely surprising in light of the fact that tea party popularity seems to be waning.  Some say her decision is due to lack of confidence in her ability to be reelected - perhaps the tea party is weakening in Minnesota more quickly in Virginia.

Third parties are potentially a valuable shot in the arm for the two party system.  Libertarian and Green parties have straggled along as minority parties for years now, but have not gained mainstream traction. Perhaps the reason so much attention has been paid to the Tea Party is because it is potentially the first alternative party to garner nation-wide attention since the Republicans overtook the Whigs in the 1850s-1860s.  Virginia's November election results may determine the course of the party going forward.

One Tiny Step at a Time

Yesterday, North Carolina took a step back in time and decided to deny a group of people their civil rights.  Today, President Obama came out in favor of coming out - he formally supports gay marriage.

Yesterday's Washington Post: 






Today's:

How can these two completely divergent opinions coexist? In the same country, at the same time?  It is scary to think that we, as a county, have a contingent of people who are moving so far backwards when the younger generation is, overall, pretty accepting of differing beliefs, sexuality, etc.  Live and let live - if it's not hurting you, why do you care if other people do it?  I understand feeling uncomfortable about the thought of a man marrying another man - it's not "traditional" marriage.  But, if they love each other just like a man and a woman, why not get married?  As long as they're not trying to marry *you*, why do you feel it's your place to legislate their behavior?

This is something that continues to perplex me.  This class of politicians wants less government, less controls over their lives - their right to own guns, to have or not have insurance, to not pay taxes (and consequentially not receive the government services that those taxes fund...) - but they want extreme government intervention in women's reproductive rights, contraception, and homosexuality.  Why are these things the government's business, but taxes, social security, health care, etc. are not?  I would really love to see a logical, constitution-based argument for that.

The argument that controlling gun ownership and use is for public safety is sound, as is paying taxes to support government-provided services, such as highway maintenance.  If gay people get married, who is harmed?  Who is being protected by preventing their happiness, by treating them as second class citizens? It has been all over Facebook today, but I'll reiterate it here - what is being done in North Carolina and other places is an eerie reenactment of the 1960s civil rights era, something we learn about in school today and can't figure out why it took them so long to fix what was clearly an injustice, and why it required so much violence and hate.  Our children and our children's children will read about the homosexual/transexual/transgender civil rights era of the 2000s and 2010s, and most likely will ask us what was wrong with us, in our time, that we couldn't accept people for who they are.

Thoughts on North Korea

I read this article today in the BBC and was struck by the article's use of the term "concentration camp."  It seems that the number of news articles that allude to human rights abuses and atrocities in North Korea has increased lately, perhaps due to the country's recent leadership turnover and failed rocket launches.  Its continued talks with China and other international politics faux pas don't help.

In this article, a South Korean citizen and his family defected to North Korea for a job opportunity promised him by North Korean agents who convinced him to defect.  Almost immediately, he and his family regretted their decision, and they were installed in a guarded camp and forced to produce propaganda communications.  He was given the opportunity to go on a mission to Denmark, and was eventually able to escape. However, his family was left behind.  His wife and two daughters were put into a concentration camp.  He heard from them once, most likely as an attempt at manipulation, but he never saw them again and doesn't know if they are still alive.

Really?  There are still concentration camps, 65 years after the Holocaust? I felt so disgusted when I read this article - disgusted, appalled, and a little scared that these things still happen.  And, in North Korea, it can happen to anyone - anyone who displeases the government, anyone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I read another article recently, this one in The Washington Post, about a man who was essentially born a slave in a North Korean labor camp.  This article likened the camps to Soviet gulags, and said that the man's parents were ordered to mate and have him.  His mother and brother were executed in front of him, and he had no reaction to this - because his only functions in life were to labor and work to avoid beatings.  He was able to escape, the only known person ever to do so.

How do these things still happen?  I know that attacking North Korea is in no one's best interests right now, and that that is not the way to deal with this.  I know that the US and other countries have sanctions on North Korea, and are refusing to provide aid because of their continued nuclear efforts, but clearly these actions are having no effect.  I don't know what the solution is, but the human rights situation is beyond anything that has been acceptable since the American Civil War.

Since I am an unreliable blogger

(on this site, anyway) - clearly I 've been neglecting this. However, I do blog fairly frequently for work at www.magamaps.com. Check it out!

And perhaps soon I'll update this, too.

New Year x3

Happy 2011! I know we're a month in already, but today feels like the real new beginning. Today was my last day at my current job at Hanover Grants. After a somewhat lengthy interviewing process, I finally accepted an offer at a design company. Next Tuesday, I start work as an Account Executive. I'll have a lot more responsibility, and the company is small, really cool, and rapidly growing.

I also signed a lease for a new apartment today, and I move in there at the end of February. The building is two buildings down from mine but it has a slightly more grown-up feel. The apartment is a 2 bedroom + den, 2 bathroom - I have the master bedroom and private bathroom. It's a corner unit so all three bedrooms (including the den) have windows, as does the living room. The building has a heated pool, hot tub, gym, party room, track on the roof...and probably other amenities I'm forgetting about.

2011 looks like it'll be a great year!

Happy (Almost) Thanksgiving!

I've always loved Thanksgiving, and I think every year but three that I can remember, we've had Thanksgiving dinner at my house in Vienna. The exceptions are the year my grandparents (dad's parents) took us to the Homestead resort in West Virginia for a joint Thanksgiving/Dad's birthday celebration, the year my family tried going out for Thanksgiving dinner, and the year I studied abroad in France.

My memories of the holiday consist of sleeping in, waking up in time to see the last bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, lounging in pajamas for a bit before getting dressed and helping with last-minute preparations. In recent years, we've also had mulled wine prior to the meal, which I love. The spices and warmth are a perfect winter alcoholic beverage, and a great way to kick off the day.

For us, Thanksgiving has always been about being with family. It's a holiday of thanks, eating, and family time, and little else. We don't do any of the crazy 4am shopping events on Friday, and while we sometimes go to Black Friday, generally we take it easy, stay home, and continue eating and drinking. The time off from work, lack of obligations, and being at home makes it a really nice break right before the rest of the "Holiday Season."

This year is a bit different - in addition to this being the first Thanksgiving in 12 years without Riley, there are a few other changes to our guest list. Rather than having out of town family, my sister and I are each having a friend over, and Harry is having his boyfriend over. One of my mom's best friends from her childhood, my "Aunt" Renee, and my aunt's friend and his boyfriend are coming this year, as well. It'll be a fun family and friends food fest!

Why yes, yes I am excited.

Tae Kwon Do

I did tae kwon do fairly religiously while at Northwestern. For the first two years, I rarely missed class and tested for a new belt (rank) at the end of each quarter. As I got busier, I didn't go quite as regularly, but I was still an active member in the club, and it was a huge part of my life at Northwestern. I really loved it. It was a fun and somewhat untraditional form of exercise, and having the 1.5 hours of class time twice a week dedicated to it was also a great mental break from class work.

I hadn't done TKD since graduation in June '08 until I took a TKD class at GWU last night. It was amazing - I can't believe how much I have missed it. Everything was familiar, from the order of activities of the class down to the old, unairconditioned gym in which classes were held. The blocks, the stances, the kicks, and how the master taught and led the class were all familiar, as is the soreness I feel today in my shoulders and calves from doing things I haven't done in two years. It was great to be back, though, and I look forward to going to more classes in the future.

R.I.P. Riley

My dog, Riley, passed away last week. He was twelve and a half, and we had had him since just before my 12th birthday in 6th grade. He had been ailing for a few months, but when my dad took him to the vet on Tuesday, he was much sicker than we thought. My whole family is having trouble adjusting...we know he's gone, but I still expect to see him around the house. He had a great life, "the life of Riley," we used to say, and I think everyone who has ever met him had a story about a time when he stole food either off their plates or somehow got up on the dining room table when we stupidly left the room unattended.

I stayed at home last week and Monday night, and it's weird to not have him around, cocking his head at us, trying to understand what we're saying, or barking for treats at exactly 9pm, or lying in the hallway opening his eyes to look at us whenever someone passes by. He leaves a big hole in our lives that will be difficult to fill. I love you, Riley.