geoviki | Back in the saddle again

The problem with not posting for months is that it becomes self-perpetuating. The longer I go without posting, the more stuff I think I need to catch you up on, and that leaves me feeling too overwhelmed to start. So I finally convinced myself to eat that elephant one bite at a time.

I don't think any of you actually remember my immediate post-retirement plan was to continue at the USGS part-time with a new focus. This terrific plan was meant to allow me to segue gradually into full retirement. Well, like so many terrific plans, it got fubared right out of the gate. Even though I had written up the new job before I even left, and everyone was verbally on board with it, it took 50 entire weeks to advertise and fill it. Yeah, insert rant about gross incompetence of the government. But it wasn't "the government" as much as it was the reluctance of 2 employees to, you know, do their fucking jobs and move the paperwork along. And I'd trot in every couple of weeks to stare at them and make them feel a little guilty, which didn't work. Finally, a full year after I left, I'm back in my old office doing something new.

And what is this new thing?

I'm trying to invent a title that sounds impressive and cool, but what happens is that I describe my new job and 95% of the time, people think I'm nuts. The other 5% are people like me who get it.

So, I'm either working as a specialist in "data rescue" or "asset management" or "organization." But what that really means is "I clean up abandoned shit."

Most places of employment do not allow shit to become abandoned. However, my agency has turned a blind eye to the problem for decades. Scientists are hired, they work for long, long careers, they (sometimes) retire and are allowed to continue to keep their offices as emeritus workers, they come in less and less, and then (to be blunt) they die, leaving all their stuff behind. We're talking about people who collect rocks for a living, so you can imagine the piles of stuff. Or wait, you don't have to imagine, here's proof:

(to make it more interesting, the ceiling flooded after this photo was taken, and the top stuff got wet)

These shots show about 20% of one area I'm working on. This is what happens when someone's office has been cleared out and heaped into various corners of the building. Repeat this with multiple people over multiple years and you begin to see the issue. In these boxes and file cabinets and map cases are a few very important things that need to be preserved. The rest is shit. It all needs to be sorted.

Think "Hoarders" and you'll know what I'm doing.

You know how easy it is to overlook one's strengths? Well, I'd always dismissed this ability of mine to swoop in and get rid of piles of crap, something I've been doing ever since I was really young. I'm really, really good at it. I really like it. To me, it's very satisfying to start with a pile like this and end up with everything where it belongs. It's calming.

It also pays pretty well, I learned.

In the year I've been retired, though, I found I really like the free time. So I'm only working 10 hours a week, which is enough. I wish I'd been able to move right into this a year ago like I'd planned because it's weird being back after a whole year off, but my fingers have been itching to take care of this stuff the whole time.

Annnnnd, that's the first bite of this elephant.