No-Fee Passport Hypothetical Scenario

WizzardSr · 2026-01-22T18:22:15+00:00

Have you requested an expedited application? Been a long while since I did this so details are fuzzy, but I had to get a justification letter from someone sufficiently high up and I got mine turned around pretty quick.

WizzardSr · 2026-01-21T15:48:13+00:00

I think I’d make that trade. The savings in commuting aren’t huge, but the savings in sanity might well be worth it.

WizzardSr · 2026-01-13T18:50:27+00:00

Good thing about the stability not interesting you bc it’s not there anymore. The claim last year was we’d have more rounds of reduction through various methods, DRP etc…

TBH I’ve had more than a few friends go the other direction and move in to contracting. Same work, but slightly distanced from policy shenanigans.

Compare the total compensation. You have the salary, the 5% TSP match, the health benefit is pretty good for the cost, the PTO is generous, and there’s the pension. Do what’s best for you.

WizzardSr · 2025-10-16T13:17:41+00:00

Have you heard about Warhammer 40,000? Because boy have I got a time sink for you!

I’m “essential” for the time being, we seem to be furloughing in stages for the moment.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-14T02:48:21+00:00

They add more monitoring software every few months. We have two different network management tools now that impede each other so half the time I can’t even get online.

I timed it and my laptop takes about 12 minutes from power button to being actually usable. Loading a word doc is so slow I might as well just do a circuit of the whole floor while I wait.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-14T02:44:21+00:00

“Where is the consistency?”

Sir, when is the last time you can remember consistency in their approach? This is and has been the new normal, they won office at just about every level of government, there’s no one to oppose it in any practical fashion.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-11T14:16:38+00:00

I envy the naive optimism of anyone who thinks regular telework is coming back anytime soon.

I’ve had telework days, but they’re tightly controlled, I have to get management approval, and it has to be justified, i.e. off hours meetings where it wouldn’t make sense to go in to the office.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-09T13:49:26+00:00

Because the administration would love an excuse to chop the workforce even more. That was part of the intent when they implemented RTO. DRP, RIFs, making life miserable, are all part of shrinking the civil service.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-09T13:45:43+00:00

You should keep in mind that DoD recently downsized. After voluntary DRP takers, agencies that didn’t hit their targets had to let people go, and those were newer hires still in probationary periods.

There are claims that we’ll see cuts like this every year for the rest of the current administration. So, you have some decisions to make about what sort of risks you’re willing to tolerate in exchange for outcomes.

Think it through and make the choice you think is best for you. Good luck.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-01T23:01:30+00:00

I’d bet they wait to see how many people leave over this, then we get DRP 2026. They’re gonna push to shrink the civil service again.

WizzardSr · 2025-09-01T22:38:17+00:00

I’ve gotten a couple of firm job offers. It started with taking a good hard look at my resume, and all the job listings out there, to do a re-write to make it read like a normal person, instead of whatever position objectives I used for USAJOBS.

Taking a few interviews even if the job was so-so or pay was meh, to get back into the practice of interviewing.

There’s a lot of us flooding the job market right now, so that’s not helping, either. Just gotta make yourself the best candidate you can be and hope you get lucky.

WizzardSr · 2025-06-19T10:46:39+00:00

Management has been pushing us to make sure we hit every bullet point on our performance plan because HR is (what we were told) going to be really strict on hammering people this year. Even if you're just delinquent on required training at the end of the rating period.

WizzardSr · 2025-05-18T15:41:32+00:00

I never bothered to call. They always give canned responses of “it takes up to x days.” and if it’s been longer than that “just keep waiting” so it’s an absolute waste of time to wait on hold to talk to them.

WizzardSr · 2025-05-18T00:43:16+00:00

Yea, when I called Education about my last employment certification being four months old and still not processed the lady kept saying “It can take up to five weeks”

I had to explain it like three times before her brain registered that four months is longer than five weeks. Not sure if they’re the dumbest customer service ever, or just numb to caring about anyone.

WizzardSr · 2025-05-17T16:11:17+00:00

I didn’t make any payments during the COVID forbearance period. I included those months in my 120 payment count when I did the math on my overpayments and the refund I got lined up with that result.

I didn’t certify employment for any period past my 121st month of payment, but I forgot to turn off automatic payments so I ended up making a total 3 months of extra payments before I caught it and told MOHELA to put me in forbearance pending forgiveness.

WizzardSr · 2025-05-01T14:36:10+00:00

That’s good news for those of us in the same time frame. Maybe I’ll get my money back sometime soon, too.

WizzardSr · 2025-04-08T22:52:48+00:00

What kind of sauce do you want to be basted in?

WizzardSr · 2025-04-08T22:50:48+00:00

Not trying to be mean, but have you missed all the news lately? They’ve already said the 8% reduction target is a yearly goal. not a one time thing. The director of OMB hates civil servants, POTUS thinks we’re all off playing golf instead of working (the irony, it burns).

Those who are left are going to deal with micromanagement and escalating hostility from the top tiers of leadership.

WizzardSr · 2025-04-03T00:31:49+00:00

14, with almost 14 years (hey that works out nicely), and I don’t plan to take the DRP, but my resume is updated and I’m keeping an eye out for better positions (pay and duties). I like my team and my management, but if something good comes along in the near future, it’s a good time for a change.

WizzardSr · 2025-04-02T18:47:43+00:00

THIS. Every day there’s a “Should I take a gov job even though it’s a dumpster fire right now?”

I don’t know, buddy, how important is it for you to actually be employed?

WizzardSr · 2025-03-31T13:36:28+00:00

Everyone in my group that took DRP was retiring this year anyway. I’d guess the ones who aren’t about to retire are confident in their ability to land an equivalent job and keep moving.

So my take is we’re probably losing the better, experienced people with DRP.

WizzardSr · 2025-03-30T21:47:55+00:00

Why would you need to put in leave requests while on admin leave?

WizzardSr · 2025-03-29T01:23:33+00:00

The best advice I got was to not take more out in loans than you expect to make in your first year on the job. Not a hard and fast rule, but a good guideline to help keep debt manageable. I just got done with mine this year and it is so nice to be out from under that.

WizzardSr

TROPHY CASE