So... yeah.
Work's been a bitch and a half the last few weeks - more so than usual - since I've been back from the holiday time off. That's essentially the main reason for lack of posting and my general all-around M.I.A.-ness with flist stuff. I'm still not caught up from that time off, but frankly, none of us here in the office ever will be.
For those on my flist who aren't aware, I work for the U.S. federal government in civil service, specifically with the Social Security Administration as a claims representative/disability insurance specialist. (Most of) my duties involve the taking of new claims and processing of post-entitlement cases through appointments and unscheduled walk-ins, and adjudicating medically approved claims, in order to get clients into regular pay of federally approved disability benefits - both for those based on financial need, and for those insured through qualifying quarters of coverage on their work record, based on taxes paid into Social Security. And as a federal employee, I take issue with the often-thought stereotype that government employees get paid for sitting on their collective asses. My reasoning is as follows:
Anyway... I kinda just wanted to get that out of my brain. Sorry to bore those who are completely disinterested (everyone, probably).
In better news, though, the 2008 FX Show is finally here this weekend, and I'm ready be there all three days. As of right now, I've already made plans for pics with Nick, Nathan, and Greg. I may be a typical male and see Laura Vandervoort, too. Depends on my cash flow. There's supposed to be a short panel on Sunday at noon with the Whedonverse people - Nicholas Brendon, Nathan Fillion, and Elisabeth Rohm. Looking forward to that, along with scoping out deals on any fandom-related collectibles too good to pass up (as if I need any more geek-worthy crap).
Since this is a new year, I'm also gonna try harder to keep up with birthdays on my flist from now on. Very belated wishes to
wsasianboyand tdog0105, both on the 5th, wrthy2bluvdon the 7th, and mari_guerraon the 12th. I hope your respective days were good ones, and I'll try to remember in a more timely fashion next year.
And I have taken way too much time as it is, brain-spewing all of this. Back to work.
Kristen Bell is awesome.
Work's been a bitch and a half the last few weeks - more so than usual - since I've been back from the holiday time off. That's essentially the main reason for lack of posting and my general all-around M.I.A.-ness with flist stuff. I'm still not caught up from that time off, but frankly, none of us here in the office ever will be.
For those on my flist who aren't aware, I work for the U.S. federal government in civil service, specifically with the Social Security Administration as a claims representative/disability insurance specialist. (Most of) my duties involve the taking of new claims and processing of post-entitlement cases through appointments and unscheduled walk-ins, and adjudicating medically approved claims, in order to get clients into regular pay of federally approved disability benefits - both for those based on financial need, and for those insured through qualifying quarters of coverage on their work record, based on taxes paid into Social Security. And as a federal employee, I take issue with the often-thought stereotype that government employees get paid for sitting on their collective asses. My reasoning is as follows:
The Orlando SSA office used to be the largest in the nation, in terms of staffing, and in the top 5 in volume of visitors served daily/weekly/monthly. The reason for that is Orlando was/is the only major city in the nation with no branch offices to go with the main district office. Other cities like Atlanta, Miami, L.A., Chicago, New York, etc. all have a half-dozen or more field offices each, to cover the metropolitan areas they service. Orlando's never had that. Three years ago, another field office opened in Kissimmee, which is about 30 minutes south of Orlando, but our office's traffic was hardly affected. There was an ever-so-slight downturn for about three months, as newly-zoned clients found heir ways to Kissimmee, but then the numbers just crept back up - and up, and up.
Compounding the difficulty of ever-increasing public traffic, the staffing issues are becoming critical. Retirement, transfer to smaller areas, and general resignation across the board has led to nationwide shortfalls in staff replacement. For about 4-5 years now, there has been NO replacement of lost bodies, and the budget for fiscal year 2008 MAY allow a ratio of 1 hire for every 2 people lost - but who knows how long that may last, or which areas will get help the most. Basically, that largest-in-the-country staff we used to have: about 130 total employees 4 years ago - including claims reps, service reps, clericals, supervisors, and other management - has dwindled to around 60-65 now. Advances in systems automation has helped to streamline some workloads for greater efficiency - individuals can do more processing in the same time - but not nearly enough to offset a reduction in employees by half. More shit is just being thrown at everyone, with no real time to catch up on any backlogs. Treading water and putting out the most severe and immediate fires are about the only ways to cope and maintain some sense of organization. Going on vacation or taking any kind of extended leave almost punishes you, for the mountain of crap one has to face upon returning - because nobody is going to sift through your mess while your gone, when they can't even conquer their own.
And to top off the chaos, the Orlando office is being relocated to a new building about 10 miles east of where we are now. After over two years of planning and development, construction is finally complete, and the official "moved-in" opening date is supposed to be February 12th. And the office will not be closed for a single day to help with organization, because "the public must be served". So the movers physically breaking down workstations and employees packing shit up - while differentiating what's personal and what is still needed for daily pending work - has to be done in the midst of still taking claims and dealing with walk-in traffic - and that means 600-700 people served, on average, per day. So when I say I have no down time, it is absolutely in the most literal sense. When I take a moment to even briefly update here, I'm neglecting something else.
Compounding the difficulty of ever-increasing public traffic, the staffing issues are becoming critical. Retirement, transfer to smaller areas, and general resignation across the board has led to nationwide shortfalls in staff replacement. For about 4-5 years now, there has been NO replacement of lost bodies, and the budget for fiscal year 2008 MAY allow a ratio of 1 hire for every 2 people lost - but who knows how long that may last, or which areas will get help the most. Basically, that largest-in-the-country staff we used to have: about 130 total employees 4 years ago - including claims reps, service reps, clericals, supervisors, and other management - has dwindled to around 60-65 now. Advances in systems automation has helped to streamline some workloads for greater efficiency - individuals can do more processing in the same time - but not nearly enough to offset a reduction in employees by half. More shit is just being thrown at everyone, with no real time to catch up on any backlogs. Treading water and putting out the most severe and immediate fires are about the only ways to cope and maintain some sense of organization. Going on vacation or taking any kind of extended leave almost punishes you, for the mountain of crap one has to face upon returning - because nobody is going to sift through your mess while your gone, when they can't even conquer their own.
And to top off the chaos, the Orlando office is being relocated to a new building about 10 miles east of where we are now. After over two years of planning and development, construction is finally complete, and the official "moved-in" opening date is supposed to be February 12th. And the office will not be closed for a single day to help with organization, because "the public must be served". So the movers physically breaking down workstations and employees packing shit up - while differentiating what's personal and what is still needed for daily pending work - has to be done in the midst of still taking claims and dealing with walk-in traffic - and that means 600-700 people served, on average, per day. So when I say I have no down time, it is absolutely in the most literal sense. When I take a moment to even briefly update here, I'm neglecting something else.
Anyway... I kinda just wanted to get that out of my brain. Sorry to bore those who are completely disinterested (everyone, probably).
In better news, though, the 2008 FX Show is finally here this weekend, and I'm ready be there all three days. As of right now, I've already made plans for pics with Nick, Nathan, and Greg. I may be a typical male and see Laura Vandervoort, too. Depends on my cash flow. There's supposed to be a short panel on Sunday at noon with the Whedonverse people - Nicholas Brendon, Nathan Fillion, and Elisabeth Rohm. Looking forward to that, along with scoping out deals on any fandom-related collectibles too good to pass up (as if I need any more geek-worthy crap).
Since this is a new year, I'm also gonna try harder to keep up with birthdays on my flist from now on. Very belated wishes to
wsasianboyand tdog0105, both on the 5th, wrthy2bluvdon the 7th, and mari_guerraon the 12th. I hope your respective days were good ones, and I'll try to remember in a more timely fashion next year. And I have taken way too much time as it is, brain-spewing all of this. Back to work.
Kristen Bell is awesome.
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