Craziness is my life!

I recently asked my Mom if she knew of somewhere that had a machine that could just transport me to December. The last two months, and the one to come, have been insane. Primarily due to my job. Bear with me while I vent here.

We are finishing up the project at Fort Lewis. The buildings actually are done, the furniture movers are currently in there, and the soldiers are chomping at the bit to get in. The reasons for the insanity:

First, the mechanical systems in the buildings are essentially requiring four different groups to cooperate to solve the problem of not working like they are supposed to. And for whatever reason, they've all decided they aren't playing unless they get to do it their way. Nothing like cooperation. The other day on a conference call I had had enough with one of them. He told everyone he was not doing his part unless one particular person from another group was there. When we told him that wasn't possible, he said he wasn't coming then. I basically lit into him, told him I was tired of playing his two-year old, preschool games, and he needed to get over himself and get to the jobsite. Not the most productive thing to do, but I was tired of him. Anyway, they are hopefully going to finally get through this issue this week and we will have properly functioning systems.

The second reason this has been so stressful is the superintendent left back in mid-September. In reality, he had mentally left in June. He hated being in WA, and around June, he had had enough. He basically told everyone to leave stuff that they had found wrong, and hope no one found it. Or he told people to do the bare minimum, enough that it looked done. Which meant after he left, we got to deal with fixing it. And as a side note, this project is a joint venture. My company basically has the contract, and the safety position and my QC position fall under their side. The superintendent job and subcontractors fall under the other side. So, when the super left the site, it meant no one was on site who could technically direct and manage the subs. So it fell on Tim and I to do. So on top of my job, I was now being a superintendent. I spent all my time babysitting the subs, and no time working on my stuff.

The third reason for the stress is the stupidity that is the Corps when it comes time for project closeout. I would bet anything that the people who approve all the final documents have not only never actually worked on a construction site, but have never actually worked on anything other than pushing paper. And I know from working on that side of the fence for a little while that they couldn't care less how stupid they are being. They know they are, and do it on purpose. So far, I've had my O&M's rejected because they didn't like the type of tabs I used, the equipment descriptions were too easy to understand, and I didn't divide the maintenance procedures of a cork board into 6 different sections - safety, extra parts, maintenance, operation, description, and warranty. No joke, they actually wrote these as reasons for rejecting them.

Lastly, the stress of my new project. And not actually the project, just getting there. My management team can't make up their minds on when they need us there. And they don't seem to comprehend that they are completely disrupting our lives by having us go across the country. I understand I agreed to do this, just not on a moment's notice when they've had three months to get this organized. I found out last Wednesday that I have to be in NC for a meeting on 11/15. And they want me there for good at that point. Since no one ever said "we need you here on X date", I made plans for the weekend of Nov. 12th. So, I have this week to finish my current project, pack, and take care of last minute things. Then I will hop in my truck and drive across the country, allowing plenty of time for the chance that I may get stuck somewhere through the Rockies due to weather. When I get there, I will have basically a day to unload the truck, then head to airport to fly back to WA for 3 days. Then fly back to NC for the meeting on the 15th. Yes, craziness......and a few more white hairs in my head.

In the meantime, we did manage to find a beatiful apartment complex to live at. The area surrounding Fort Bragg is a hole, definitely not a place you want to venture out alone very much. Fortunately, all three of us will be in the same apartment complex, and it's gated. Here's the link to it if you're curious:
http://www.thestonegateapts.com/Photos.html
I bought an enclosed trailer so I can take my motorcycle with me. Plus, it gives me a little more room for taking stuff out.

The other thing that was on my plate that I decided to put aside for now is the house. My contract with my useless realtor finally ran out, so she's gone. I spoke with another one on Friday, and he might as well have been punching me in the gut while kicking me in the head. What he said I should list it for literally made me sick. So, given I have too much stress in my life right now, I have decided to put this one off till after Christmas. I have some serious thinking to do - take a credit score hit for a few years for walking on a mortgage, or take less of a credit score hit and a $20k loan to do it "right". I know what I'd rather do. I have to decide if it's worth it.

I think next week is going to be theraputic - a week and a half driving across the country not worrying about anything other than the trailer staying where it's supposed to should be good. I need a little break.