On the real...Pt. 3
So while enjoying a few days off we were getting the paperwork in place for my return. Febuary 11th 2004 I returned but this time I was in DC at BUMED (Bureau of Medicine & Surgery) this time. This time I was working under a different lead but then again I worked for him before and when I did he never really indulged me in conversation. He spoke to me through someone else who may have happen to be talking to me at the time but never directly. He too is a blogger check him out here "Barking at the moon". Free plug Mike...you owe me. Anyway you know what is funny?
When you start a new job and everyone either assumes you are out to get their job or they try to let's use FLEX (for lack of a better term) on you to prove dominance or seniority. This was no different than any other job I have had. Certain cliques, traits and habits and it was important to find out what side of the fence I sat on. What they were ultimately going learn was I know how to make things mine. I will never forget the day I was called "The new guy" by the only female on the team. This is me...at least in thought..."Step on the brakes shorty." "I am far from new."
One person was like I have heard your name before. So of course I had to remind them of who I was and where I was. I believe it went something like this..."I believe I was the person that was calling you to make sure all of your contact information was correct." I was the person that was making sure you knew the Deputy Director was requesting your information." Now the truth be told I had to go back to when I was working the helpdesk and had to find out how their rollout went and if there were known problems.
So NO technically I am far from the NEW guy I am actually as old or older than you and if we had to go based upon age I am definately older than you. So here was a person I knew I was going to have to draw a line on interaction because the first impression told me more than enough. Now along with the only female (in that office) was a guy who for the life of me I could not understand. Honestly I didn't want to try. My description of him was this:
He was a guy who had serious identity issues. He was like 40 (didn't really look it, or act like it to be honest) and believed he was the PLAYA's PLAYA. NOT!!!! Now according to him he has traveled to some places most of us wish we could go. And he knows people we wish did know. But when the time comes to back it up there is NO foundation. He and the only female were closer to the lead of our group. As a matter of fact they got away with more stuff than any of us did. Now this has happened once before and as I sit here thinking about it unless you have heard me call these people by name I am sure you have no idea what their names are. And if you do then you know the story. But I wrote once before and used some quotes from a persons site to address some comments that I knew and they knew were directed at me. Ultimately this person called HR to report me for harrassment. Now what is funny is they admitted to the things I called them out on but they did nothing to either on of us. So watch and see what happens.
Those of you who personally know me know that I do party when it is time but I also make it a point to come to work with a clear and sober mind. Now I have gone to work a few times hung over but never intentionally or on purpose. We had one individual who in my eyes had major issues with that. This person came to work under the influence a lot. Now it is bad enough to have your co-workers tell you how bad you reek of alcohol but to turn around and either go in front of a client smelling or just sit in your cubicle smelling up the office is purely disrespectful to everyone including your employer. But when you got a boss who drinks and you have had more than enough opportunities to get smashed with him then I guess it is okay. Not really. This had gone on so much many of us did complain. Ultimately something was said. But the lead himself saw no problems with it until someone higher than him stepped in.
So knowing how that particular section of the office was when the 3 Amigos were in I did my best to stay away. There was 1 guy in that section (he was the NOC tech) that I really got to be good friends with. He showed me some stuff I didn't know, he showed support, and definately backed me on my desire to know more. He was also a really good friend. Someone I could confide in. When I was not in the mood for work or had stuff on my mind this guy would not let that take over my day. He found a way to get a laugh out of me. I always tried to get to work early because he and I had a morning ritual of drinking coffee and busting on each other.
But there was the place I had the ultimate honor. The day I got there I was trained (or at least shown some of the ropes) by a guy whom I will never forget...Justin Gaglione. He was so freakin' cool. Easy going, laid back, always laughing, always smiling, very good at what he did. Unfortunately he was murdered a few years ago in Baltimore.
Justin...I thank you for all you helped me with. You were a great help, a great mentor, a great friend. May your soul rest in peace.
He worked in "The LAB" as we called it with Aaron (my blogging mentor), Frank (whom I will get to in a minute), and myself. We actually had one of the best working chemistries I haven't had in a while and "The Lab" was all ours.
Now Mr. Frank...
In my eyes he was HISTORY. Even though he was a Redskin fan I still had much LOVE & Respect for him. He was in his 60's I believe but he really didn't look a day over 40. Moved around better than me and I called him PLAYA, PLAYA because all the ladies liked Frank. To me I saw a walking book of history and I honored him. He was like the elder in the village to me. When he began to talk all you could do is just sit down and listen, close your eyes and just try to picture the time. I would often ask him about the life and times when he was my age. And just stayed in a state of awe around him. Now just as much as I would get him to tell me stories I also made it a personal point to let others know (including the lead) that he has done his time of hard work, we should all respect him and help out as much as we could because he did not deserve to have as large a workload as us. He should be the one teaching us how to last in the game. So I would always ask him if he ever needed any help. He refered to me as his other son and that made me feel real cool.
Aaron (my blogging mentor)
This was a young white guy with an ole' school white man mentality to a degree. Late 20's, very sharp skill wise, hungry, knowing there is so much out here, wanting more but never slowing down enough to planning the work, before working the plan. You know that person that takes on so much they don't give their body a minute to rest? He and I butted heads in the beginning because of different idealologies on life, marriage and business. I can't remember exactly what the arguement was about this particular day but I do remember the comment and I actually took it as a compliment. He called me an "Angry black man" which actually was not the case. On this day our opinions clashed extremely. But he and I ended up having a very good relationship on and off the job. He was the reason I got into blogging. He expressed to me that he felt I had a lot to say and blogging would be the best fourm for me to kind of do that. We are still friends to this day and I am glad he and I had the chance to work so closely together.
I took waaaayyy too long to do this one. More to come soon.
When you start a new job and everyone either assumes you are out to get their job or they try to let's use FLEX (for lack of a better term) on you to prove dominance or seniority. This was no different than any other job I have had. Certain cliques, traits and habits and it was important to find out what side of the fence I sat on. What they were ultimately going learn was I know how to make things mine. I will never forget the day I was called "The new guy" by the only female on the team. This is me...at least in thought..."Step on the brakes shorty." "I am far from new."
One person was like I have heard your name before. So of course I had to remind them of who I was and where I was. I believe it went something like this..."I believe I was the person that was calling you to make sure all of your contact information was correct." I was the person that was making sure you knew the Deputy Director was requesting your information." Now the truth be told I had to go back to when I was working the helpdesk and had to find out how their rollout went and if there were known problems.
So NO technically I am far from the NEW guy I am actually as old or older than you and if we had to go based upon age I am definately older than you. So here was a person I knew I was going to have to draw a line on interaction because the first impression told me more than enough. Now along with the only female (in that office) was a guy who for the life of me I could not understand. Honestly I didn't want to try. My description of him was this:
He was a guy who had serious identity issues. He was like 40 (didn't really look it, or act like it to be honest) and believed he was the PLAYA's PLAYA. NOT!!!! Now according to him he has traveled to some places most of us wish we could go. And he knows people we wish did know. But when the time comes to back it up there is NO foundation. He and the only female were closer to the lead of our group. As a matter of fact they got away with more stuff than any of us did. Now this has happened once before and as I sit here thinking about it unless you have heard me call these people by name I am sure you have no idea what their names are. And if you do then you know the story. But I wrote once before and used some quotes from a persons site to address some comments that I knew and they knew were directed at me. Ultimately this person called HR to report me for harrassment. Now what is funny is they admitted to the things I called them out on but they did nothing to either on of us. So watch and see what happens.
Those of you who personally know me know that I do party when it is time but I also make it a point to come to work with a clear and sober mind. Now I have gone to work a few times hung over but never intentionally or on purpose. We had one individual who in my eyes had major issues with that. This person came to work under the influence a lot. Now it is bad enough to have your co-workers tell you how bad you reek of alcohol but to turn around and either go in front of a client smelling or just sit in your cubicle smelling up the office is purely disrespectful to everyone including your employer. But when you got a boss who drinks and you have had more than enough opportunities to get smashed with him then I guess it is okay. Not really. This had gone on so much many of us did complain. Ultimately something was said. But the lead himself saw no problems with it until someone higher than him stepped in.
So knowing how that particular section of the office was when the 3 Amigos were in I did my best to stay away. There was 1 guy in that section (he was the NOC tech) that I really got to be good friends with. He showed me some stuff I didn't know, he showed support, and definately backed me on my desire to know more. He was also a really good friend. Someone I could confide in. When I was not in the mood for work or had stuff on my mind this guy would not let that take over my day. He found a way to get a laugh out of me. I always tried to get to work early because he and I had a morning ritual of drinking coffee and busting on each other.
But there was the place I had the ultimate honor. The day I got there I was trained (or at least shown some of the ropes) by a guy whom I will never forget...Justin Gaglione. He was so freakin' cool. Easy going, laid back, always laughing, always smiling, very good at what he did. Unfortunately he was murdered a few years ago in Baltimore.
Justin...I thank you for all you helped me with. You were a great help, a great mentor, a great friend. May your soul rest in peace.
He worked in "The LAB" as we called it with Aaron (my blogging mentor), Frank (whom I will get to in a minute), and myself. We actually had one of the best working chemistries I haven't had in a while and "The Lab" was all ours.
Now Mr. Frank...
In my eyes he was HISTORY. Even though he was a Redskin fan I still had much LOVE & Respect for him. He was in his 60's I believe but he really didn't look a day over 40. Moved around better than me and I called him PLAYA, PLAYA because all the ladies liked Frank. To me I saw a walking book of history and I honored him. He was like the elder in the village to me. When he began to talk all you could do is just sit down and listen, close your eyes and just try to picture the time. I would often ask him about the life and times when he was my age. And just stayed in a state of awe around him. Now just as much as I would get him to tell me stories I also made it a personal point to let others know (including the lead) that he has done his time of hard work, we should all respect him and help out as much as we could because he did not deserve to have as large a workload as us. He should be the one teaching us how to last in the game. So I would always ask him if he ever needed any help. He refered to me as his other son and that made me feel real cool.
Aaron (my blogging mentor)
This was a young white guy with an ole' school white man mentality to a degree. Late 20's, very sharp skill wise, hungry, knowing there is so much out here, wanting more but never slowing down enough to planning the work, before working the plan. You know that person that takes on so much they don't give their body a minute to rest? He and I butted heads in the beginning because of different idealologies on life, marriage and business. I can't remember exactly what the arguement was about this particular day but I do remember the comment and I actually took it as a compliment. He called me an "Angry black man" which actually was not the case. On this day our opinions clashed extremely. But he and I ended up having a very good relationship on and off the job. He was the reason I got into blogging. He expressed to me that he felt I had a lot to say and blogging would be the best fourm for me to kind of do that. We are still friends to this day and I am glad he and I had the chance to work so closely together.
I took waaaayyy too long to do this one. More to come soon.
posted by DJ Seaniemo @ 7:17 PM
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