Don't Tell My Wife

Don't tell my wife, but I love BETTY.


Luckily for both of us (and for our marriage), BETTY is a band, not a person.


On of the many cool parts of my job is that I get to bring in awesome artists from America to perform here. And this weekend, we brought in BETTY to do two performances in Tallinn and one in Viljandi.


BETTY is pretty famous stateside, especially among the LGBT community. They are especially known for their performances on the hit series "The L Word," as well as for the theme song of that show.


But their music and their message go beyond that, and the reason we brought them here was to spread their message of tolerance throughout Estonia.


Our selection of venues was deliberate. One was a local gay nightclub, X Baar. That was to give something to the LGBT community here, a community filled with brave souls already involved in activism here. Just last year, this blossoming community hosted Baltic Pride.


Our next venue is a more mainstream local, Kino Sõprus. They will perform there tonight at 8 pm. This will offer a chance for anyone in Tallinn to come out and enjoy their talents.


And Tuesday, we will head out to Club Rubiin in Viljandi, where folks far outside the city will get a chance to watch them perform. This is particularly appropriate because while Viljandi is a ways outside the capital, it is very much a cultural capital in its own right.


These are the days (okay, I know there are a lot of them) when I really love my job.


I love that I get to bring such awesome performers here (and I have to add, genuinely nice people...I spent most of yesterday with them, and they are just down to earth and nice).


I love that I get to spread a message of tolerance throughout a country and community I have already come to love (and who is clearly receptive to this message.


And...I love BETTY.


So please don't tell my wife!

WP: We growled, they listened

Al Kamen of the Washington Post's "In The Loop" covered United's decision to extend the pet waiver to Foreign Service personnel PCSing overseas on official orders.

We growled, they listened


Score one for Fido!


United Airlines has told the State Department and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) that it will extend its military rate for pet travel to Foreign Service officers assigned abroad.


An April 18 Loop item noted that UAL had given a waiver to members of the military when it newly classified dogs and cats as cargo instead of excess baggage — a change that could run transport costs from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Because of its size and federal requirements that officers use U.S. carriers, United is often the only option.


The AFSA members protested that they should be included in the waiver. Former commerce secretary Gary Locke, now ambassador to China, weighed in with a letter to the airlines.


Members of Congress, including Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) , Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), wrote UAL executives last week urging they extend the waiver to the Foreign Service.


The effort apparently paid off. A senior UAL official called Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy on April 18 and AFSA President Susan Johnson the next day to tell them the military waiver would be extended. 


AFSA’s not been talking about it, one official said, because they were “still waiting for something in writing before we make it official,” and that the organization hoped to get written confirmation this week. Unclear if the new policy also applies to employees of other agencies who are stationed at embassies.

You can read the whole piece here.

Dear Anonymous

I don't publish assinine comments from people who hide behind anonymity. 

But I will tell you this. We are not "bureaucrats on vacation." We are diplomats working far more hours for a frozen salary than most people ever will, mainly in the hopes of maintaining good diplomatic relations with countries in the hopes of keeping our soldiers out of harms way.

Because diplomacy is far cheaper than war.

And as for paying the ultimate price: more Ambassadors than Generals and Admirals have been killed in the line of duty. We too know we are signing up to risk our lives in the service of this country. We just don't get to carry guns when we do it.

United Extends Waiver to Foreign Service, FS Pets Cheer (bark, meow, chirp...)

It seems that United has decided to do the right thing and extend their waiver on pets travelling as excess baggage to members of the Foreign Service. This is a great thing! 


 I don't know what convinced them. Clearly it wasn't all of our letters on their own. I am sure that the potential los of income after the Department approved us flying on other airlines played a role. And I imagine that Al Kamen's "In The Loop" column in the Washington Post two days ago also had a hand in it. 


Susan Johnson, our AFSA president, offers some of the details below as well as word of thanks. She left out one person: herself. Thank you Susan, for addressing the needs of AFSA's members. 


Thank you for fighting tirelessly for us and our families, including our furred and feathered family members. Like military spouses, kids and pets, our families serve too.

United Decides to Extend the Military Pet Transport "Waiver" to Members of the Foreign Service!  

This is a victory and provides recognition to the Foreign Service and those who serve abroad.  AFSA will continue to work to ensure we have the option to transport pets as accompanied baggage checked in at the passenger terminal and delivered with baggage and hope to work with United to make PetSafe viable globally and truly safe for pets.  

AFSA 's request for a meeting with United's CEO Jeff Smisek or with an appropriate Vice President resulted in a call today from Hershel Kamen, United’s Senior Vice President for Alliances, Regulatory Affairs, and Policy.  Mr. Kamen told us that United Airlines has decided to extend its military pet travel policy waiver to members of the U.S. Foreign Service who are traveling on official change-of-station orders. This will include USG employees traveling to take up assignments in our embassies and missions abroad from all agencies.

We have not received official notification in writing and are awaiting details about what the waiver provides, but this decision is a direct result of this collective action that you made possible by your quick and united action.  We want to let you know right away.

Huge thanks to all of you who wrote quickly and eloquently to United!  Volume, speed and content combined for successful collective action and a message that was heard.  This is a real success and validation of collective action for a good cause, and for standing up for the Foreign Service and what we do in service to our country.

We extend our appreciation to the work of Under Secretary Kennedy and his staff and to the Director of Logistics Operations in the A Bureau to get GSA authorization to use alternate U.S. carriers or code shares. This option should remain in place because the option to transport pets as accompanied baggage is the standard we need for ourselves and for our animal companions.

AFSA also extends our appreciation and thanks to six members of Congress – Nita Lowey, Jim Moran, Chris Van Hollen, Donna Edwards, Gerry Connolly and Eleanor Holmes Norton who wrote to United in support of extending the waiver to members of the U.S. Foreign Service.

AFSA extends a big thank-you to the Overseas Briefing Center, and to volunteers from AAFSW, the Foreign Affairs Friends of Animals Network (FAFAN), the FSpets Yahoo Group as well as from our FS pet owners themselves for their great work for this cause.  It would not have happened without you all!

We appreciate United's decision to extend this courtesy to a large and dedicated customer group, demonstrating their appreciation of the service and sacrifice of the U.S. Foreign Service on behalf of the United States.  We hope to work with United to help them improve their level of service to customers and to make PetSafe a program that is safe for pets globally.

AFSA will publicize the details of what the waiver provides as we learn them. Until then, you may read about the military waiver on the pet issues page of AFSA’s Web site. That page also includes the details of AFSA’s campaign to date.

Sincerely,

Susan R. Johnson
AFSA President

EER - Employees Exaggerating and Rambling

I wrote this post a few years ago, but as it is EER season yet again, I thought it was worth sharing again. Especially since last night, as I was trying to sleep with what seems to be turning into my THIRD cold in eight months (seriously, I never get sick. I didn't take a single sick day during a year of language...What is up with this??), I had this ongoing dream that I was writing the remaining part of my EER (I'd wake up from the dream and then resume it when I dozed back off). By the time I finished it, I thought, hey, this is pretty good.

But do I remember it now that I am awake?

Not. One. Word.

I hate EERs.

From February 2010:

I wish I could take credit for finding this gem. Actually my wife found it (though really, if I can't take credit for what she does, whose efforts can I take credit for?!)

At any rate, it seems particularly timely given our (me and No Double Standard) recent discussion of EERs and the like. What my wife found was Form FS 316, the Performance Report for Foreign Service Officers, Revised June 1949 (and then according to a stamp on the page, again revised in June of 1958).

Now by Foreign Service Officers, the form means male FSOs...there are no feminine pronouns on the form.

Also missing from the form are the big blank boxes you have to fill in (there is only one for a summary and recommendations). Not even a "suicide box." No, instead, it is a bunch of multiple choice descriptors and the rater is to underline the one which is most descriptive of the officer and his job performance and to x out the letter of the one least descriptive.

So an example is:
A. He will probably not go much further in the service
B. He demands a high degree of efficiency from those associated with him
C. He is not active in seeking desirable contacts
D. He is imaginative
E. He is probably one of our future career ministers.

You get the idea. As I said, SHE is not an option. But at least I couldn't find the part where they graded an officer on his wife's ability to host social functions.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd share some of the funnier descriptors:

*He shows little taste in his clothes. (Maybe this is why Secretary Powell had to put out the memo saying no flip flops or sparkly tank tops)

*He is inclined to be pompous (I wonder if they consider this a good thing or a bad thing?)

*He is careless in his personal habits (this is the guy who got dust on his pants and the dust stayed there for the whole season...he wore them EVERY DAY).

* He becomes emotionally upset at times. (What, screaming is bad?)

* He gives little promise of development (And yet still gets promoted)

* He is a clock watcher in slack periods (How is this a bad thing?)

* He is petty in minor matters (and in major ones, he melts down completely)

* He is slow (How often have you asked how someone passed the FSOT?)

* He does not wear well as one knows him better (He seemed nice for the first 5 seconds I knew him)

* He bores intelligent people (this is my personal favorite)

* He has an exaggerated idea of his own importance. (I am pretty sure I worked with that guy).

* He has a tendency towards hair splitting (is this a comment on his appearance?)

* He is of limited intellectual attainments (no doubt the guy who bores intelligent people)

* His personal appearance is an asset (well thank god for that)

* He is overbearing (In the Foreign Service? Shocking!)

* He impresses you as not being fully alive to the problem you are discussing (or maybe just not fully alive?)

You know, as I read this through, maybe we should bring it back. Of course, there'd be tons of lawsuits ("You can't call me stupid! Everyone is special!"), but there'd also be some honesty in the EER. Really all you need to do is add a feminine pronoun.

AFSA’s campaign against United Airlines’ New Pet Policy Is Finally Getting Noticed

Apparently AFSA’s campaign against United Airlines’ new pet policy is gaining notoriety…let's hope that it makes United do the right thing.

In today’s In The Loop in the Washington Post, there is a section called "Foreign Service officers feel dogged by airline" in which Al Kamen discusses the issue (though less seriously than I would prefer).

And there is this in the Federal Times…

and this in AAFSW

And this...

And this From “Carla Runs the World”

and this from Government Executive.

And what have we heard from United Airlines since they said they had no intention of extending the policy to Foreign Service Officers?

Crickets.

One of the Hardest Parts

Elton John has a older song called "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word."

But he's wrong. Goodbye is much harder.

There is a lot about this job, this life, that is great. There is also a lot about it is that is hard, even painful. The constant moving and associated issues (i.e., our current issue with United Airlines over bringing our pets with us). And part of that constant moving is the constant saying goodbye.

This weekend, I am saying goodbye to my APAO.

This is his first tour, but he is already an excellent officer. I'd serve with him again anywhere (and this is the highest compliment you can pay a fellow FSer). In fact, I genuinely hope to serve with him again someday.

He has also become a friend. You develop fast, intense friendships in this life. The Americans you serve with are sometimes the only touch of home you have. And you work so closely with the local staff as well, that as I said to him yesterday, you love hard and love fast (this is especially true for my APAO and me, since we share having learned early and often about the brevity of life). I already care deeply about the folks in my section, and I have only known them eight months.

We had a get together at my place yesterday for just the staff, me, my departing APAO and my incoming APAO. I am glad we did it. It was both necessary and hard.

Harder still for him, since when we leave a post, we are leaving behind local friends we may never see again. Officers, we'll see again, either at another post or at our perennial reunion grounds, FSI. But the local staff...that's hard. At some posts (thankfully this is not among them), our local staff risks their lives serving with us. Several of my wife's FSNs from Azerbaijan have been killed. One of mine from Jerusalem died at a checkpoint...another has been in a coma for years.

These are among the things that make this life hard and yet so worth it.

I hope my APAO realizes this and stays in the Foreign Service.

His presence in the Department benefits us all. And I hope I serve with him again.

Welcome to the 166th!

Yeah, I'm late.

I'll spare you all my excuses...I'll try to do better by the 167th in May.

So in the better late than never category, I'd like to welcome the only blogger I know of who joined in this class (though I know someone in the class who has a livejournal account, but I am not sure it is public...)

Compass and Companion

LaDiplo

I have moved you up to the More FS Blogs blogroll (since blogger still won't let me edit the old one).

Welcome to the Foreign Service! And let me know if I have missed anyone!

Like Giving Birth

I have finally, as of this week, given birth to the baby I have been carrying since shortly after my arrival at post.

Get off the floor...it isn't THAT kind of baby!

No, what I have given birth to is a project that we are calling a Mobile American Corner.

The Mobile American Corner builds on the idea of a traditional American Corner in that it contains information about the United States and our diplomatic mission to share with overseas audiences. Where the Mobile American Corner differs, however is that it is an original mobile platform (designed for iPad but soon accessible via iPhone and Android) application through which the Embassy puts this kind of extensive information on the U.S. into the hands of the user along with an invitation to actually participate in the Embassy’s public diplomacy.

The Mobile American Corner is well-suited to Estonia, a tech savvy and well-wired country that gave birth to such innovations as Skype and is a world leader in e-governance. Our goal has been to broaden our reach among these internet savvy consumers by creating an interesting, interactive format that would keep users engaged for hours exploring and engaging the United States.

I can't take credit for the original idea, but I can certainly take credit for what it has become. Since shortly after my arrival, working with the text, the graphics, and the developer has consumed much of my time.

The app contains information on U.S. government, culture, geography and plus specific information about our embassy as well. It has videos like that of President George H.W. Bush restoring diplomatic relations with the Baltic countries in 1991. Embedded into the text are links which can direct the user to more information on topics ranging from Congress to the Prohibition Movement, to U.S. food and music. And one particularly cool part is that the app has a page that lays out key elements of the U.S. diplomatic agenda with Estonia and lets users comment, argue and participate in the development and execution of our public diplomacy.

We rolled out the project in two parts. First, we did a Steve Jobs-like presentation at Solaris, a local shopping mall and teen hangout. And yes, by we I mean I did one. No, you can't see the pictures.

Then we took one of the Mobile American Corners to one of the most remote corners of Estonia, to Setomaa, the lands of the Seto people. The Seto are a religious minority living on both sides of the Estonian/Russian border. Their king is charged with protecting their language and culture, and when he meets with dignitaries, he dresses in traditional clothing: a hand-made shirt with the embroidered designs of his people encircling the collar, as well as woolen pants and overcoat, all made by hand from sheep raised by his people. Over his shoulder is draped a traditional bag made of sheepskin.

We visited him on Monday as part of a two-day Ambassadorial visit to the southern part of the country, and left at the Seto cultural museum one of the Mobile American Corners. Those are his hands exploring the app in the picture. And of course, leaving the app there makes two points: one, that the app lets us reach the most remote places. And two, the app is particularly relevant in E-stonia, where inside that traditional sheepskin bag was a laptop and inside their traditional cultural center was wifi access.

We are also have a contest via our facebook page for residents of Estonia to take a picture of "A Piece of America in Estonia." From the most "liked" photos in three age categories, we will select winners to receive a new iPad with the app pre-loaded onto it. We are already seeing a dramatic increase in our number of followers. (You can follow us too...we won't mind, really).

Our goal is for this app to be available to all embassies around the globe...but wait, there is more. We also want anyone to be able to download it free. Because revolutions like the Arab Spring took place by smart phone. And when people seeking democracy want inspiration, we want them to have to look no further than the American Corner...in their pocket.

There is still more to do...last minute tweeks to the app, adjustments for iphone and android...and then of course there is the July 4th party where we will present the winners of the contest with their ipads.

But that is the easy part...the birthing was the hard part...

I will say I am pretty pleased with my new Public Diplomacy baby.

Promising Signs on the United Front

So there seems to have been some movement on the issue of our traveling with our pets.

This week, the Department put out a cable saying we could now use non-contract carriers to fly if the contract carrier (read: United) doesn't allow pets to travel as excess baggage. It also said that there may be exemptions to the Fly America Act, which requires we use a U.S. airline even if there is a cheaper non-U.S. one, for those of us going to, leaving from or transiting through the E.U. (because the Open Skies Act allows folks in those categories to fly E.U. carriers if it is cheaper because to prohibit it would be a violation of WTO rules).

AFSA has created a link where you can read the cable here.

In addition to this, people are getting the word out. A new facebook group called Fabulous Foreign Service Pets have been created where people can post pictures of their FS pets. And the photo blog At Post has rededicated itself to FS Pet pictures.

People are tweeting about it copying @United (though I think they are actually @UnitedAirlines, which is what I have been using...along with the hashtag #UnitedSucks).

And there is a new video of pictures of FS Pets on YouTube.



And finally, a fellow blogger heard second-hand that a person was able to book her pets as checked baggage, and that when the person asked the Customer Service Rep about the policy of forcing them to go as cargo, she was told that the CSR had gotten a memo a week ago changing the policy.

So maybe United is doing the right thing. Maybe even for the right reasons, though I suspect it is more to do with the combination of bad press and the threat of losing a lot of government (read: full-price fare) business.

United Airlines Screws the Pooch

I didn't make this, but I wish I did.



"United doesn't care about America. United cares about money."

Boycott United Airlines!

Another Reason To Love Estonia

Every place on the planet has its share of jerks.

So it isn't uncommon to see a swastika painted on a wall in any big city in the world. Because there are bigots everywhere.

But in most places, the grafitti is either left in place, scrubbed off (hopefully by the offender), or painted over.

But around the corner from my house, someone had a different approach...and I love it.

Pet Lovers, Boycott United Airlines

Nick Kralev writes a great piece on United Airlines' new pet policy.

He writes:

"Nearly 3,000 U.S. diplomats have urged United Airlines to extend to them a waiver from its more expensive and “unfriendly” new pet travel policy that the carrier has granted the military, the diplomats’ union said. While it took United just days to exempt the military, it has been mulling the State Department’s request for weeks.

The biggest hurdle appears to be the lack of understanding by United’s management — as is the case with most people — what the Foreign Service does, and why diplomats’ service to their country is no less important than the military’s. That’s exactly why — long before this issue arose — I decided to write my upcoming book “America’s Other Army.”

[...]

It seems United’s management doesn’t think that American diplomats make any sacrifices when serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, the Congo and many other extremely dangerous places. Not all diplomats are posted to London and Paris — not that those “cushy” in most people’s minds posts are not dangerous, judging by the 2005 London terrorist attacks or last week’s murders in the French city of Toulouse.

By many accounts, PetSafe has been very successful domestically. United takes care of the pets without using third-party vendors, it automatically transfers the animals to connecting flights on its own aircraft and keeps them in air-conditioned facilities during layovers. Although the pets are checked in as cargo, there are no customs or other bureaucratic formalities, so the service is not too expensive.

However, that doesn’t work internationally most of the time. Very few diplomats take a nonstop flight to their new post. In some cases, they make two or even three connections. In each city, they are now forced to leave the passenger terminal, walk or take a taxi to the cargo terminal, collect their pets, recheck them in — often on a different airline, which could add more fees — then return to the passenger terminal, go through security again, and finally arrive at their next gate. By the time all that happens, they may well miss their connecting flight. Even worse if a single parent with small children is trying to accomplish those tasks.

Because of the so-called Fly America Act, the federal government must book its employees on U.S. carriers — on full-fare tickets. Foreign Service members and their families often end up on United, and many of them are elite MileagePlus members. The State Department and its 50,000 employees around the world have supported United for decades. Not to mention that one of the missions of the Foreign Service is to help create and expand business opportunities for U.S. companies, and airlines tend to benefit from that significantly."

You can read the whole piece here.

And after you do, tell all your family and friends to Boycott United.

Where Have You Been?

Latvia, that's where!

One of the reasons I have been out of pocket is that the three Baltic Public Affairs Sections had an offsite in Riga. And since I took my iPad instead of my computer, blogging would have been challenging.

The offsite was incredibly useful...we got to meet a bunch of our colleagues for the first time, reconnect with others (one of them is an A-100 classmate of mine...and a friend as well!). And there were a bunch of great ideas shared...some I plan unabashedly to steal!

It was my first time to Latvia, but definitely not my last! There are so many things there I had no time to see but that I really want to.

But the one thing I did get to see...er, eat...Ze Donats!



I hear they are coming soon to Tallinn. Can't happen soon enough.

But in the meantime, I brought some home for my wife and I to share.

In related news, I learned, when someone asked my wife in Estonian if she liked the donuts, what the Estonian word is for donut. And also that the cafe where I have been eating for seven months is named "Donut Cafe."

Sigh.

Pet Lovers: Unite Against United Airlines

So here's another reason United Airlines sucks.

Lots of you have already seen how United Airlines doesn't consider the service of Foreign Service families to matter when it comes to flying our pets with us when we PCS to a new location. Their new rules, from which they have granted the military a waiver "in recognition of the commitment made by members of our military and the family members (including the four-legged ones) who share in their sacrifice" but not the Foreign Service families who serve alongside the military, could make prohibitively expensive to keep our pets with us.

Because our service, even though we too are on government orders, even though we too put our families in harm's way for the needs of the country, doesn't count.

But now, there is one more part to their announcement. Sure, United says, we will give the military a waiver (but not those pesky diplomats, since the 3,000 letters we received is a drop in the bucket compared with all the military), but we are also going to start breed-specific restrictions as well. You can find the list of breeds here. And there is no waiver for that.

United thinks it can get away with this because they don't think we will buy our own tickets. And they don't care even if we do. Because they assume mostly people will try to figure out a way around it. And even if we don't, we are small. There are only about 11,000 of us total in the Foreign Service. And probably the number of military owning a restricted breed is similarly small. So who cares if we don't get to take our pets with us.

But we have families. We have friends. And we need to let them all know how United disrespects those who have devoted their lives to the service of the country, often at great personal cost. And get them to tell their friends, because I know the pet lovers in this country outnumber those who don't.

Ask them to write to United. And ask them to boycott United.

I will not be flying United again if I can help it. I will buy my own ticket if need be because the cost will be lower than letting the government pay full refundable fair for me and me just pay for my pets to be shipped back separately.

Please stand with those who serve and don't fly United.

Why I Won't Be Flying United

As some of you may have heard, United Airlines has changed their rules so that flying with your pet is now MUCH more expensive. Basically, their new policies on pet travel restrict options, raise costs and pose enormous practical problems for the safe and timely transfer of pets at transit points where a change of plane and carrier is required. As in, just about every PCS any FS family will ever make. AFSA said the likely difference to Foreign Service families would be instead of paying around $250-$400 per pet, families would have to pay as much as $1,000 and $4,000 per pet.

United has, kindly, granted a waiver to members of the military traveling on permanent change of station orders. Although all the specifics are not clear, it appears that the main elements of the waiver are (1) optional use of professional pet shipper; (2) waiving of $40 fuel and security charges; (3) flat rate* for cargo under United’s PetSafe program; and (4) United will assume responsibility for the transfer of pets to the connecting airline. Without the waiver, the traveler has to somehow accomplish this on his or her own, coping with getting to a cargo terminal, collecting a crated pet, take it to the connecting airline and do all this within the transit time allowed. (*the flat rate for cargo appears to be much higher than the rate for accompanied excess baggage.)

So AFSA started a letter writing campaign, and 3,000 people, including me, wrote in asking that the waiver also be extended to members of the Foreign Service too. Because we are serving too. We are PCSing too. We are on government orders too.

And the response they got back? Well, all of us individuals got the standard "Thanks for writing. Your letter is very important to us. We'll look into it." But their real response to AFSA was from United's Senior Manager for Marketing, Customer Service and Business Systems. He said that United developed the waiver for the military "in recognition of the commitment made by members of our military and the family members (including the four-legged ones) who share in their sacrifice" and intends to limit this "special process" to military families only.

I guess that we don't make a special commitment. We and our families don't sacrifice. We don't serve.

The Fly America rule passed by Congress requires that if the government is paying for the ticket, the passenger must fly on an American carrier. This means that most of our tickets are either on an American flight or an American codeshare flight. And when you are on a codeshare flight, you fly by the rules of the codeshare company, not the company actually running the flight. I learned this trying to get my parrot on the United codeshare flight with Scandinavian Airlines. Scandinavian allows parrots. United does not. So if I got a ticket through United, I could not bring my parrot.

What I learned in all of that is that most of our codeshare flights are with United. And that means following United's rules. But what I also learned was that while Fly America means if the government pays for my ticket, I have to fly on an American airline if available, it doesn't mean I have to let the government pay for my ticket. I can buy my own. And at an additional up to $4000 per per moving cost, it is cheaper for me to buy on a foreign carrier to get myself and my pets home than to let the government buy the ticket for me. And because it is a moving expense for my job, I can take it off my taxes. So it isn't even saving the taxpayer money for me to buy my own ticket.

So unless United changes its policy to include the other people who are serving this country and PCSing on government orders, I will be buying my own ticket. And I will certainly avoid buying tickets on United for my vacations if I have to jump through these hoops in order to PCS. In order to serve.

And that is why I won't be flying United. And I hope you won't either.

I'm Kind Of Like a Drug Dealer

Only the really sad middle-man kind who never makes any money because he consumes the product.

On my list of things I always miss about the U.S. is one of my drugs of choice...Girl Scout cookies (the other drug of choice is Diet Mt. Dew of course).

So when it is Girl Scout cookie time, I try to appoint myself drug dealer...find a source, offer the product to other, who always buy in. (This year, my sources was Jen and her daughter K over at The Dinoia Family. Thanks Jen!)

It is kind of a disease really.

It started when I was a kid...I was never a Girl Scout, but I was a Brownie (the sort of entry level of Girl Scouts...I think there wasn't a Girl Scout troop once I was old enough but I am not certain. It could have just been that I was protesting because I wanted to be a Boy Scout - they DO get to do much cooler stuff than the Girl Scouts).

Still, my lack of camping badges aside, there is a warm place in my heart for the Girl Scouts. They were founded in the South (Savannah), and they have been gay friendly WAY before it was cool to be gay friendly (actually, it still isn't cool to be gay friendly in the South, except maybe in places like Folly Beach, SC (my favorite place on earth), who just passed a non-discrimination ordinance...they were pretty inclusive even without the ordinance, even back when I lived there twenty years ago...but I digress).

So while I wasn't a Girl Scout, I was a Girl Scout camp counselor (that was a cool job!), and because they had long since been gay friendly, I was allowed to tell two girls there who were struggling with their sexuality that they were okay. That there was nothing wrong with them, and that if it ended up that they were gay, they would still be okay with nothing wrong with them. One girl was being picked on because she was so boyish, and I was able not just to make her feel better about herself but to demonstrate to the other girls that bullying wasn't going to be tolerated and that this girl was just fine. And because I was the counselor with the cool activity (I ran the ropes course...the girls called me Rambo), they started treating the boyish girl better.

I feel good about what I did there. And I feel good about supporting the Girl Scouts now when they are being attacked by the far right for things that are flat out not true.

Of course, all of that good feeling could be the drugs talking. But I'll take it. I'll also take another box of Thin Mints please.

It Takes A Visitor

...to make you go out and do what you have been meaning to do.

We had company this weekend, our third visitor in the seven months I have been here (making it three times as many visitors as we had during our whole tour in Jerusalem...people seem more interested in coming here!) This time is was a friend from area studies (and before that, the A-100 yahoo group) who is currently serving in the Balts. She was here for consular leadership day and stayed an extra night to check out the sights (I originally typed sites, but considering where we went, that would have been okay too).

So Kiek in Der Kok (or peak in the kitchen) is one of the more famous of Tallinn's Old City towers. I have meant to go in there since I did my language immersion a year ago and had my picture taken by it. Actually before that, back when I drew a picture of it from a photo I had seen. And since it is right by Vabaduse Valjak (Freedom Square), I see it regularly and never manage to go in. My wife took her dad when he visited, but I was working and didn't get to join. I even took Noostie for a walk by it once, but never went in.


Well the trip was worth the wait. Tallinn knows how to do museums (lots of fun, creepy stuff in this one, like a torture rack, an executioners sword...and a nerf pig on a spit), and if you walk all the way up the windy original steps (or you can take the new, safe ones, but where is the challenge in that?) you can see why it was such a good defensive tower. You can see everything from there...we got some great views of the Old City...I could even see my apartment from there.



I hope you are planning to visit...there are some other places I need to visit, but clearly I need a push!

ATTENTION PET OWNERS: AFSA Appeal to United Airlines

From AFSA President Susan Johnson. As one of many pet owners in the Foreign Service, I urge (beg, plead) you to write.

AFSA Appeal to United Airlines

Include U.S. Foreign Service in New Pet Policy Waiver for U.S. Military

Dear Foreign Service Colleagues:

This is a call to collective action now on behalf of Foreign Service pets and their owners/families. See the sample e-mail letter to United at the end of this message immediately after my signature.

AFSA has engaged with the Department of State and United Airlines regarding United’s new policies on pet travel which restrict options, raise costs and pose enormous practical problems for the safe and timely transfer of pets at transit points where a change of plane and carrier is required. The likely difference to Foreign Service families would be instead of paying around $250-$400 per pet, families would have to pay much more and in many cases between $1,000 and $4,000 per pet.

United has granted a waiver to members of the military traveling on permanent change of station orders. Although all the specifics are not clear, it appears that the main elements of the waiver are (1) optional use of professional pet shipper; (2) waiving of $40 fuel and security charges; (3) flat rate* for cargo under United’s PetSafe program; and (4) United will assume responsibility for the transfer of pets to the connecting airline. Without the waiver, the traveler has to somehow accomplish this on his or her own, coping with getting to a cargo terminal, collecting a crated pet, take it to the connecting airline and do all this within the transit time allowed. (*the flat rate for cargo appears to be much higher than the rate for accompanied excess baggage.)

AFSA invites Foreign Service pet owners (and their friends) to participate in an important collective action e-mail campaign to United. If we join together we can have an impact. For maximum effect, we want as many e-mails as possible to be sent during a 48-hour window starting as soon as you receive this e-mail and ending at 5:00 pm EST on Friday, March 9. We ask that you copy AFSA at member@afsa.org so that we have a central record of the number of participants in the action and can follow up. Otherwise, we won’t know how many of you joined in to make a difference and any needed follow up will be more difficult.

To make our collective voice heard, if you are a pet owner, past, present or future, or you believe that civilian federal employees traveling on permanent change of station orders should be given the same waiver accorded to our colleagues in uniform, we are asking you to click on the link below and send a message to United, urging them to extend the waiver program to members of the United States Foreign Service traveling on official transfer orders. Please make sure that your message is cordial and to the point; you should identify yourself as a United States Foreign Service employee or family member.

Sincerely,
Susan R. Johnson
AFSA President

Here is a suggested message that you may copy/paste and personalize (briefly) if you wish.
---------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Smisek – As a [member of the Foreign Service/spouse or family member of a U.S. Foreign Service employee], I welcome your decision to grant a waiver of certain parts of the new United pet policy to members of the U.S. military on permanent change of station orders, and I urge you to grant the same waivers to America’s Foreign Service traveling with their pets when they are on official “change of station” orders.

Extending the waiver would demonstrate that United recognizes the service of those who work to advance and protect America’s interests abroad, and would modify a policy that unfairly penalizes members of a career service that requires its members to be available worldwide, who rely on and feel deep responsibility to their beloved animal companions. This policy will cause serious hardship, both financial and emotional, to members of the U.S. diplomatic service and their families when they are assigned to official stations abroad and traveling to and from their official station on government orders.

This is a fair and common sense solution and we urge you to extend the waiver to members of America’s Foreign Service, for the benefit of our animal companions who are such important members of our families and our lives.

Sincerely,
[name]

Click here to send an e-mail to United.

(If the link does not work for you, please send the message to customerrelations@united.com, Tom.Billone@united.com, Jeff.Smisek@united.com, and member@afsa.org.)

Streik!

That is not a typo.

It is Estonian for strike. As in a work strike. Which is what they are having today.

Roughly a third of the country's teachers are striking demanding a pay increase. They currently make less than the average Estonian salary and want a 20% pay hike to bring them to that average.

In support of the teachers, the public transits are also striking. At least they say they are. So we were warned of no buses or trams to get to work this morning and horrific traffic.

I didn't notice much traffic, but to be fair, I take side streets to work. And not ones that lead anywhere most people need to go.

I also noticed buses and trams running. They tell me that a few are running, but with no schedules. So people who want to use them just have to wait at the stops in the cold and hope one comes by. Which would kind of suck...

But in all, the strike has seemed pretty orderly to me.

Which isn't surprising. This is a pretty orderly place (one of the many things I love about it).

In other news, Happy Women's Day! I arrived to work to find three lovely tulips on my desk. It was a pleasant surprise. My staff is pretty awesome!

I also bought flowers for the women in my section (after I got to work and remembered it was Women's Day, because I kind of suck).

They Pay Me To Do This

One of the things we do as representatives of the United States overseas is to support American businesses and ways in which they can cooperate with the host government.

Yesterday, this meant helping organize an event where General Dynamics could show off its Piranha III, an armored personnel carrier it thinks could be of use to the Estonian military.

The idea behind the event, which was attended by high level Estonians as well as interested defense folks from other countries, as to let them get really hands on with the vehicle, including getting to take rides in it.

Which of course, also meant the rest of us got rides in it. In the snow.

It was very cool.

I was the one yelling, "Run over the snow bank! Run over the trees! Run over those people!"**


**No people, trees, nor snow banks were harmed during the making of this event nor the writing of this blog post.

Private Life? What Private Life?

Another thing you give up in the Foreign Service is any expectation of privacy.

We are on duty 24/7, especially when we are overseas. And you may even be being "observed" in the "privacy" of your own home.

Got a blog? Don't say anything that contradicts our official foreign policy. When you sign up, you do so giving up your right to object publically to our foreign policy. If you can't do that, there are better jobs for you. (Domestic policy is fair game, however. Thank god!)

Got a Facebook account? Make darned sure, no matter how strong you think your privacy settings are, not to post anything that might be embarrassing if say, your mother or your Ambassador or the Washington Post were to read it.

For that matter, if you wouldn't want people to know about it, just don't do it.

A recent article in the Washington Post's "The Loop" demonstrates this (and judging by the number of "shares" by my friends on Facebook, is generating a lot of buzz too). According to the article, the State Department can now discipline Foreign Service personnel for having affairs, even if they are conducted off duty.

And you know what, I don't really have a problem with that. For this reason: if it would embarrass you for your mother or your Ambassador or the Washington Post to know what you were doing, you might consider doing whatever you have to in order to cover it up. And there are people in a lot of places where we serve who would just LOVE to blackmail you.

The military has long since had a policy along these lines, and I imagine for the same reason. We don't need vunerabilities to blackmail and we don't need black eyes on the services.

I know there are a lot of folks who will disagree with me, and say that what we do offduty is our own business. And maybe that is true when we are stateside. And certainly they need to clarify the policy and take it on a case-by-case basis. But really for me it comes down to, if you wouldn't want people to know, just don't do it.

Why FS Life Is Hard

One of the reasons we in the Foreign Service get so little sympathy is because people think we have such a great life. Oh, who cares if you take a pay cut to live overseas. You get to live in these great houses in cool places rent free!

It is true that we live in our houses overseas rent-free, and that sometimes the houses are nice. Sometimes they are not. Unlike most Americans, we get no say in where we will live. We get assigned a place at post and usually that is where we will live for our entire tour. Like it or not.

But the real hardship of the Foreign Service is not what you get but what you give up.

And the hardest thing to give up is almost every important milestone in your family's life. You don't just miss birthdays but usually weddings, religious celebrations, births, and most poignantly, deaths.

This was driven home for me yet again yesterday when I learned that a friend from the Service lost his father in the tornadoes that hammered the Midwest and southeast over the past few days.

In a way, he was "lucky" in that he was posted to DC at the time. So he was able to get home to his family quickly. But I have had friends who lost one parent while overseas, flew home for the funeral, got back to post and lost the other parent within a week.

The Department is great about giving us the time to go home when things like this happen. But nothing replaces being able to be there with your family. Nothing replaces getting to spend the last precious weeks or moments with a loved one. You never get that back.

I think about this with every birthday and Christmas that I spend away from my nieces and nephews. They are changing so much and I am missing it all. I think about it with every family gathering I miss. I love my family and I miss them.

It is a sacrifice I make to serve my country, but it is one of the hardest things about being in the service.

We Interrupt Our Normal Topic...

Sorry for the interruption of the usual topics. But you all know I am an archaeologist as well as a diplomat, so...

You have probably read some of the uproar recently about a couple of new shows that essentially glamorize looting of archaeological sites. If you have not, I recommend you check out Archaeologists Protest 'Glamorization' of Looting on TV over at Science Insider on Science Mag.

The article states:

"On 20 March, Spike TV will premiere a new show called American Digger, while a show called Diggers on the National Geographic Channel made its debut 28 February. Both shows "promote and glorify the looting and destruction of archaeological sites," Society for American Archaeology (SAA) President William F. Limp wrote in a message posted earlier this week to the SAA listserv.

The premise of American Digger, which is being hosted by a former professional wrestler, was laid out in a recent announcement by Spike TV. A team of "diggers" will "scour target-rich areas, such as battlefields and historic sites, in hopes of striking it rich by unearthing and selling rare pieces of American history." Similar locales are featured in National Geographic's Diggers. In the second episode, set in South Carolina, Revolutionary War and War of 1812 buttons, bullets, and coins were recovered at a former plantation."

After you have checked out the article, I encourage you to consider signing the petitions circulating protesting these shows. You can find one of them here.

Jason Ullner: I work for Uncle Sam, and I’m proud of it

The Washington Post had a piece yesterday by Jason Ullner, a fellow Foreign Service Officer, entitled: "I work for Uncle Sam, and I’m proud of it".

In it, Jason echoes the frustrations many of us have felt (and blogged about) regarding the current climate in the states of using federal employees as the whipping boys over our budget problems.

He writes:

Like many federal workers, I have sacrificed: a high-paying job in the private sector; a year of my life (and the first six months of my daughter’s life) spent in Iraq; long hours; high stress; pay freezes. I’m not complaining; in fact, I quite enjoy my career and my life in the Foreign Service. Yet when I hear our politicians talking about “fixing” Washington, I often wonder to myself: whom would they like to “fix?” Is it the guy I see on the Metro every day, heading to work at the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that our food is safe? Is it the woman going into Commerce Department headquarters to support U.S. companies abroad? Or do they mean the thousands of people who support our troops overseas? How about my fellow Foreign Service officers, who put themselves in harm’s way in Baghdad, Kabul, Damascus and hundreds of other places around the world?

[...]

So to all our politicians, I implore you: Stop using the government workforce as a political football. Just stop. It demeans you, it demoralizes us, and it is counterproductive to drive away the best and brightest from working for the betterment of this country.

We don’t do our jobs for glory, or money or power. We do them — and do them well — because we take pride in our work and pride in representing the United States of America.

You can ready the entire piece here.

AFSA Guidance on the Personal Use of Social Media

AFSA released the following memo on the sue of social media, including blogs. Well worth a read, though it restates what we have seen before. Lots of it is common sense.

Digger

AFSA Guidance on the Personal Use of Social Media

We are fortunate to live in a world where innovative technology allows us to communicate in new and wondrous ways. Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs now allow us to communicate instantaneously with potentially thousands of “fans” and “followers.” Just as the State Department and the other foreign affairs agencies have embraced these new communication tools, many of our members are using innovative ways to connect with audiences in their private and professional capacities.

AFSA supports the use of social media. But any form of communication – via social media, telephone, e-mail, or just old-fashioned conversations – is governed by social norms and etiquette, and requires good judgment and common sense. Anyone who has ever said something they wish they hadn’t, tried to recall an e-mail sent in haste, or deleted a comment on Facebook understands the impact that the spoken and written word can have in our personal and professional lives. Electronic media – particularly anything broadcast over the internet – presents its own unique perils and challenges. As the saying goes, “What happens on the internet, stays on the internet.”

AFSA is currently examining the evolving issue of the use of social media by Foreign Service employees. In the meantime, we offer these words of advice to any of our members who are currently or planning to use social media, particularly blogs:
Read the Existing Regulations. The current regulations regarding the use of social media can be found in 5 FAM 790 “Using Social Media (pdf).” Although we understand that some of these rules with their cross-references to other FAM cites are confusing, we strongly recommend that any AFSA member using social media – especially where the lines between professional, personal and private use may be blurred – read them and if you don’t understand something – ask.

Avoid Divulging Private and Confidential Information. Here is where many people run afoul of the regulations. Be sure not to divulge any information that includes confidential or personally identifiable information. Examples of these include but are not limited to visa cases, information about other individuals, or classified information (for example, linking to WikiLeaks.)
Remember that you are a Foreign Service USG employee. Even though you may have the required disclaimer on your blog, be aware that the public still may not differentiate between your official and private views. You should be mindful of the weight of your expressed views as a U.S. government official, particularly when your blog uses the “hook” of your Foreign Service connections to attract readers.

Review Your Privacy Settings. Make sure you are aware of the privacy settings of the social media platform you are using and how to adjust them. Platforms such as Facebook often change these settings without informing users. Periodic review of these settings is important, and we recommend having them set to the highest levels. For blogs, you may even want to consider restricting access so that only your family, friends and colleagues have access.

Use Good Judgment. We can’t emphasize this enough. As we noted above, all forms of human communication require good judgment, tact, etc. And what happens on the internet, stays on the internet. When in doubt, leave it out.

Contact Us If You Have Problems. If you are an AFSA member and are approached by management or Diplomatic Security regarding your use of social media, be sure to contact us so that we can assist you with any legal or other issues.

We hope the above information is useful. We do want to hear from our members regarding this evolving issue. If you have a concern or opinion regarding the use of social media, please let us know via www.afsa.org or call us at 202-338-4045. For assistance with issues related to social media, please contact our labor management office at 202-647-8160 or e-mail AFSA’s lead attorney on the issue, Raeka Safai, at SafaiR@state.gov.

I Never Saw A Protest

I can't tell you how many people, including my wife's parents, questioned our sanity for going to Greece while they were having lots of protests.

But we never saw them. Luckily for us, they announce their protests so that they can get the most people possible. So we just stayed away from the areas with planned protests. We did see some people carrying a large banner once, but we were in a cab headed away from that area.

What we did see, however, were things on my bucket list. Namely, the Acropolis and the Parthanon.







But I got to see more. Like the Temple of Hephaistos.





And the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion.


It was a very cool visit!

Something Else I Love About Post...

When you come back after a trip and people say "Welcome back!," it doesn't feel like a curse.

You might have noticed I didn't post much last week, and that when I did, it was in white (don't go look now, I already fixed it!). That is because it is really hard to blog with an ipad and I didn't take my laptop with me to Greece.

Yep, I was soaking up the sun in Greece (the folks there are convinced that it is FREEZING there, but the temperature was a good 30-40 degrees warmer than it is here, so it felt awesome to me!

We met up with a friend from Jerusalem (who is now serving in Athens) at the Athens airport and headed straight to Chania, Crete. OMG the water there is the most beautiful blue! We stayed at the Casa Defino, which I highly recommend! They kindly upgraded us to the penthouse suite, so we had a private balcony with a nice view of the water.


We spent the weekend there, eating at little restaurants around Chania and wandering around the Old City.





Our friend opted to get the fishies to eat her feet, a "spa treatment" that is apparently all the rage there. I opted to watch and take pictures.

How does post make me happy? Let me count the ways!

I am unbelievably lucky.

Jill over at The Perlman Update asked us each to talk about what we liked about our CURRENT post for this week's FS Blog Roundup.

There have been times when I would have been hard pressed to come up with ANYTHING I liked about my post.

And perhaps I am, six months in, still in the honeymoon phase in Tallinn. But I love pretty much everything about post.

* I love my job. I get to do interesting work every day. And I have a great Ambassador who seems to trust my judgement. And who is great with the media. And who is just genuinely nice. You can't underestimate the importance of a good boss.

* I love that I have a fantastic team. No exaggeration, they are all rock stars. And my other coworkers are a great group of folks. While I have my favorites, there is not a single person I dislike. Definitely not the case in the past!

* I love Tallinn...so much interesting to do, places to go, restaurants to eat in...now featuring life with my wife! I love how walkable the city is. I love that I get to use my language. I love that Estonians, who everyone said were cold and too reserved, are actually warm and friendly, especially if you have studied their language. And I love that they are E-stonia!

* And I love that I am finally getting to live in and travel Europe. I remembered as I travelled through Munich the other day that the leather jacket I was wearing was the one I wore when I visited Germany for the first time nearly 20 years ago (yes, I am cheap). And it was on that trip that I told myself that Europe was a place I could enjoy living. And enjoying it I am...this weekend I enjoyed it on the island of Crete!

Seriously?

The fire alarm went off again.

At 10:30 on Thursday night.

When I had to get up at 4:50.

Really?

False Alarm

My nightmares tend to follow one of three patterns. Two have no discernible cause, but the third definitely does.

Every since a fire alarm salesman came to our house when I was about five and showed a scare-tactic film about people without smoke alarms dying in fires, I have had nightmares about fire.

I had one Sunday night. A house two houses from me was smoldering and the one next to me started burning. By the time I grabbed a water hose, it was engulfed, and I told my wife we had to get home and get the pets because I knew ours would be next.

We got home and I called the fire department. They knew about the fires but were nonchalant. They would get there eventually, they said.

I woke up with my heart just pounding. I got up and checked the house and all the pets to make sure they were okay. Everything was fine, but the only thing that enabled me to go back to sleep was making a detailed evacuation plan in my head for how to get me, my wife and all the pets out in case of fire.

The dream didn't feel like a premonition. But when at about 11:10 pm two nights later, the building fire alarm went off, it sure felt like one!

My wife and I got up and put on our clothes. She went and got the at carriers and I got the bird carrier. We calmly loaded the pets into the carrier and went down seven flights of stairs and into the snow. It took us maybe five minutes. Luckily, we seem to share a brain in crisis...neither of us panicked. We just got it done.

On my way out of the house, I grabbed my external hard drive and the garage door opener.

Once outside, I used to garage door opener to enter the garage from the outside and I ran in and got our car. We then loaded all the pets into the car to protect them from the cold.

Lucky we did...we were outside for about an hour before the security folks cleared the alarm and let us back in. The fire department never showed. Also a no show...ANY Estonians. The only other folks to evacuate were someone from Finland and someone from Lithuania. Also a no-show...the neighbor who set off the alarm with a pot on the stove...she didn't bother to let those of us standing in the snow know that there was not really a fire.

At any rate, my take-away from this is that having a plan really helps. That if something bad happens, both of us will be calm and do what we need to do to get our family to safety.

I feel better knowing that.

I suppose an hour in the snow is not too great a price to pay for that.

Global Post: State Department makes sea change on LGBT rights

There is a nice piece in the in the Global Post about all that Secretary Clinton has done for the global LGBT community.

State Department makes sea change on LGBT rights

[...]

“The State Department has gone from the world’s principal advocate for anti-gay policy to one of the great leaders for LGBT rights,” said David K. Johnson, a professor at the University of South Florida and the author of “The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government.”

[...]

Amen. And as someone who directly benefits, thank you Secretary Clinton!

You can read the whole piece here.

Dealing With The Blogroll

I see my blog as doing three primary things: telling my dad what I am up to, covering LGBT issues in the Foreign Service, and helping recruit good people to join the Foreign Service.

A big part of that last one is my blogroll.

Which blogger has now decided to screw around with.

Sometime a few weeks back, they decided to have an arbitrary limit on their links gadget. I think that limit is 166. Who came up with THAT number?? Anyway, what that means is that while my blogroll of well over 300 blogs still works, I can't edit it. At all. Which means I can't remove double listings. Can't delete some blogs that have been completely deleted. And most importantly, I can't add new blogs.

So I made a new one, just below the old one, with the oh so creative title of "More FS Blogs." New FS blogs (or old ones that I suddenly find) will go there. As will the "graduates" from the Future FS Roll.

In other news, the weather here has warmed up a bit. Never in my life did I think 18F would seem warm, but after -25F, it seems positively balmly.

M and I took advantage of the "warm" weather to head out to the Tallinn suburb of Viimsi to take some pictures. I'm glad we did...the frost of the trees was magical and had melted by later in the day. Also cool are the ice and snow covered rocks in the frozen waters of the Baltic. And at the Viimsi Open Air Market, we got to see sled dogs...because it is that cold here!

Drawing From The Same Well

I know I sound like a broken record. But seriously, how long do federal employees have to be the country's whipping boy?

Yes, I know we have to solve the debt problem. I know we need to make cuts.

I also know that they already cut Foreign Service Officers' pay when we go overseas (by about 8%). I know that they are talking about cutting it further (by another 16%).

I know they have already frozen our pay for two years. I know they are also talking about freezing it for another one to three years. Meaning no cost of living increases for up to five years.
I know that is already cutting hard into my retirement.

And now, they want to freeze our annual step increases as well.

This isn't about the money now. I am by no means well off, but I can live on what I earn.

This is about several things.

First, this lowers the amount I will receive in retirement because retirement is based on my highest few years' salary. And they won't retroactively give me credit for what I would have earned.

Great you say, but at least you can expect a pension from your employer.

That is true. But one of the reasons I am working in this career, instead of making the approximately 25% more I could expect to earn in the private sector is because I like the security of a pension. This is a choice I made with my retirement in mind. If they are going to take that from me, I should work elsewhere.

And yes, you probably heard that federal employees are actually overpaid. This is only true among the very lowest paid federal employees. But among those federal employees who are doctors, lawyers, scientists, and yes, diplomats, we earn far less than we would in the private sector. And we do it because we want to serve the country. But we also make a conscious choice - lower pay now in exchange for job security and secure retirement.

If you take away the job security and the secure retirement, people will leave. Great you say, we need smaller government. Fine, but I bet you'd be surprised how much you need some parts of government. The Foreign Service, for example, is far from overstaffed. We are stretched thin. And we are the ones who help you out when you get robbed overseas or lose your passports. We are the ones who work with governments to forge agreements to keep our businesses competative and our military out of wars. I assure you, we are worth far more and save far more than we cost.

And when we leave, we will have to be replaced for that very reason. But it costs a lot more to recruit and train a new person, even at a lower salary if you are willing to forego experience, that we cost currently.

And here is the final point. Constantly whipping on those who are serving the country is not going to save you much. We are an easy target, but we are a miniscule part of the budget. The real areas for savings are also the untouchables. Just witness the recent wailing and gnashing of teeth over cutting the defense budget. A budget that is as large as it is because we have been at war. Wars that are now coming to a conclusion. It is a natural place to cut. But no one wants to. Because that might mean cutting jobs, and we'd rather cut federal jobs. Because we all know that an unemployed federal worker won't collect unemployment like an unemployed person elsewhere in the private sector...oh wait.

So let's make the hard choices. Let's deal with the debt. But let's recognize that punishing federal workers over and over again won't solve the problem. If you cut our salaries, we will spend less, which will hurt the economy. If you cut our jobs, we will join the unemployment lines and increase the overall unemployment numbers. If you cut our retirement, you make us one more person needed government assistance at the end of our careers.

These things you will do.

But balance the budget? That you won't do.

Because you are only cutting what is easy, what is politically expedient, what looks good to your constituents, but what does nothing substantial for fixing our budgetary problems.

Why Does Water Hate Me?

Yesterday, right as I was about to go into press brief, my phone rang.

It was my wife. I knew this because I set Foreigner's "Urgent" as her ringtone. :D

And it was. Urgent that is.

Our bedroom ceiling was leaking.

Those of you who have been reading a while know we had a ceiling "issue" back in our home in Virginia in July of 2010. And by issue, I mean it collapsed. On us. In bed at 3 am. Because of a leak.

And it took about 3 months before the condo association's insurance refused to cover it, and another 3 months or so before the work was finally done. And during that six months, we had a 10 ft by 6ft hole in our bedroom ceiling, plus another in the office, and the hall, and the downstairs living room.

So the sound of dripping, or a report of a leaky ceiling, now instantly spikes my blood pressure.

So I hung up and called GSO. He wasn't at his desk (he's a busy guy, and not only because of me!) so I told my APAO to handle press brief (because I am fortunate to have a really reliable APAO!) and ran upstairs.

We got folks to the apartment quickly. Turns out, the neighbor upstairs had a flood in her kitchen. Which is apparently above our bedroom.

The damage appears minimal. They will have to replace part of the ceiling, but luckily M was home and was able to clean up before it damaged her clothes (part of the leak was over the closet) or the floor. So at least there is that. Now it is a matter of the neighbor's insurance and the landlord and her insurance and the embassy all sorting it out. Thankfully, I can stay out of all that, but I will have to endure repairs.

This latest water incident comes on the heels of the boiler for our building, which is apparently not even in our building, dying, leaving us with NO hot water for a few days. And let me tell you, with the temps these days, you need a hot shower to thaw out!

You've seen those stories of eastern and central Europe being in a hard freeze? That's us. Today, the high is supposed to be -6. The HIGH. The low is supposed to be -24. Fahrenheit, not celsius.


And let me tell you, that is really frickin' cold.

Awesome Super Bowl Anti-Bullying Ad

LGBT issues and U.S. Policy” with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Rights, and Labor Daniel Baer

In case this doesn't work (I'm still trying to imbed the video), you can see the video here