Last couple of Admin Weeks and First Day at work
The First Blog
Having now completed my first day in work it seems appropriate to add a blog update for the past couple of weeks of Admin fun.
Having arrived in Washington, we set things in motion to avoid the bear traps that Matt was carefully marking for us, and so rapidly set up a Bank account and mobile phones (my phone number is +1 202 415 0907).
We received the embassy brief on Monday the 26th March, which for the most part was swept up and beneficial. Matt had prearranged for the majority of the Common Access Card admin to be ready for us so this made life easy, and we managed to have these ID’s issued to us very quickly (in comparison to what might have been, so thank you Matt.)
Once we arrived in Frederick things became a little more fun, trying to get a suitable house was interesting due to the bidding system here, that means that several people effectively give closed bids on a property, and are then informed several days later whether they have been successful, this coupled with a sporadic rental market meant that with two rejections we were running very short of time. We did however manage to get a fine property and moved in over the weekend just past (Easter Weekend).
The Americans also seem to love bureaucracy, those people who work in the Social Security and Vehicle Licensing Office more than most. So a few days have been spent in their various offices, waiting in lines, with only a butchers slip booking. It really vexes me why they can’t manage something a little more advanced…
I now have:
A vehicle – Jeep Grand Cherokee which manages 20MPG, making it cost the same per mile out here as my little 50MPG back in the UK, and it handles very similarly too!
A Social Security Number, which now allows Utilities and Broadband to be connected to my house.
A house – walking distance from the Camp – this really confuses the Americans – “walking”
Insurance
I still need:
Maryland state driver’s license
Internet connection
A lawn mower
A hunting bow
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Some Brief Background
The USAMRID project is classified as a Partnering project
It is currently about 50% of the way through, with 60% of pay given to the contractors
First Day at Work
Having tried to get an IT account for a couple of hours this morning I was then due in the Monday morning staff meeting, discussing the key issues of the week and progress expected.
Most of the discussion today hinged around the program of works. Part of the problem appears to be the management of snagging lists (“deficiencies”) The contractor is pushing (successfully) for the line items on the program to be declared complete when they are only at 95% or so. They have the work that actually needs to be done added to the deficiencies list. This maintains cash flow for them, and means that they don’t actually need to complete the task before they get the payment – very convenient!
However the deficiencies list has now gotten too large to be able to track effectively, and so contractors appear to be able to get away from actually finishing the work…
How to get the project back on track is a political issue as the project has been reported more complete than it truly is, and the money has already been spent. It is also a very large organisation that has significant momentum.
This is only my first day’s impression, so I am sure that there will be much more depth to the situation than this…
We had a meeting with a contractor in the afternoon. This showed a more healthy side of the “partnering spirit” as cost effective solutions to problems were discussed, and the contractor was flagging up problems he had foreseen, and suggesting possible solutions.
Tomorrow I will be observing part of the testing and commissioning of the steam sterilisation plant, which has been caught by several problems over the past few weeks, but when you see the complexity of the plant it is hardly surprising.
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Ben, I’m not sure why you need a hunting bow (unless you are lacking in other departments) but when you get one I’d love to see your best Robin Hood impression. As for the MPG, I can beat that slightly with my Ford Territory that averages a steady 13 MPG. Mega!
I’d be interested to hear how the deficiencies are managed. I saw a similar scenario in AFG and would like to see how the manangement compares…it may be worth your while to understand it for your future postings to Chilwell. What I do know is that there was/are still ongoing claims with the tornado ramp in KAF because of the snagging list and it caused a great deal of headaches due to missing documentation on agreements, meetings, etc.
Hi Ben, Like the concept of partnering spirit on the contractors part – What form is the contract – are they raising compensation events and helpfully proposing solutions for which they can then claim the cost as a target price increase i.e. raise their stake before the pain gain so increasing costs to the client….?
There is much talk of partnering here as well, and safety, and quality control. From what I’ve seen so far, however, the talk in the main office does not necessarily tally with the practice on site. The regional OHS manager told us during an induction that WA has one of the worst construction safety records of any English speaking country.
Car wise, I’ve got a lovely, if vulgar, ‘Do you think he stole it?’, purple 3.8lt V6 Ford Thunder Couger Falcon Bird (not sure what it is actually called). Apart from the colour this is great fun but very frustrating since the speed limit is 60kph on most roads and only 100kph on the motorway. This is a slight improvement on the equally beefy but much more, ‘No, I’ve never heard of rule number one. What’s that?’, yellow, thing I had last week.