mi vida loca

[jay]

Charming. This morning, I have an email from the FAA, with an agenda and directions to a meeting in downtown Washington, DC in one week's time (8/25), meeting with DoD and the TSA folks regarding aviation system-wide information management (SWIM), a new project. I'm on the agenda. This is the first actual date and place I've seen for this meeting. And I already have travel orders to go to Houston 8/25-27 to a drill design review at JSC. So I've just forwarded the FAA message to my management with a modification request, to send me to Houston via DC, leaving here Sunday.

On top of that confusion, I still don't know if I'm going to Cleveland tomorrow. JL wants me there to defend SWIM's budget against the depredations of the airborne communications and navigation folks. My local management says they are out of travel money for FY03 and that that meeting isn't a priority for them anyway. I'm caught in-between. They may toss the decision to me by offering to fund either the Cleveland or Houston trip, leaving me to decide which program manager/PI to cheese-off...

So, it's Monday morning, and I don't know whether I'm going to Cleveland tomorrow, DC on Sunday, Houston on Monday evening, or which subset of the above. Or all of them... someone will authorize something by the end of the day, I'll take my orders and go. Or not, depending...

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I'm remembering the butthead who chased you into this project, and the pressure you got from management to take it because it would bring them money. And now they're making you deal with a loose-loose situation?!?

They should know that putting you in this situation isn't going to encourage any sense of loyalty to them. If I were in your position, I might let whatever happens to SWIM happen and not defend it unless they gave me some showing personal loyalty. But I know that's probably not your way of doing things, which is something I admire about you a lot. You're well versed in accepting conflict in some areas where I'd just run screaming :-/

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Loyalty? No, they just want to cover themselves, leaving me to take the blame for their lack of support.

I can't just sandbag, though... I feel responsible towards the SWIM project. But I may feel much less inclined to steer a significant amount of funds back to my home organization, when SWIM gets funded. Lack of loyalty cuts both ways, and I bear grudges for a *long* time... their little maneuver and unwillingness to provide $1K in travel support may someday cost them 5-10% of "their" SWIM budget sent elsewhere. Say, a million or so...

And thanks for the compliment :-).