While it might not have been the best idea to go up to Madison to protest Scott Walker considering that I want a government job, I just felt like I needed to. While I'm hoping that it doesn't reflect poorly in my background check when I get to Metro D.C., I'm also hoping that it doesn't rekindle my travel urge. While I was walking the streets of Wisconsin's capital, I said to myself multiple times that I wanted to pay it another visit before I move to the east coast. There are some really nice museums.
I could always hitch a ride up there for the next protest. We got there super early and there was nothing to do but march through the streets. That's when people get arrested. And, well, that's not high on my list of priorities. Especially in Wisconsin nowaday. So I could just skip out on all but the rally. Though that would not be going up there in the spirit of the thing.
Anyhow, here's the government job that I applied for last Wednesday that I never posted the description of and that I'm putting in jeopardy:
| Salary Range: | $46,745.00 - $60,765.00 /year |
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| Series & Grade: | GS-0303-08 |
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| Promotion Potential: | 08 |
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| Open Period: | Thursday, March 03, 2011 to Wednesday, March 09, 2011 |
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| Position Information: | Full Time Career/Career Conditional |
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| Duty Locations: | 5 vacancies - Washington DC Metro Area, DC |
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| Who May Be Considered: | United States Citizens |
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Job Summary:
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our national resources and environment. The agency emphasizes voluntary, science-based conservation; technical assistance, partnerships, incentive- based programs, and cooperative problem solving at the community level. http:///www.nrcs.usda.gov.
This position is located on the Administrative Services Team, National Headquarters Staff, National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), Washington, DC. The incumbent serves as program support assistant and provides administrative, clerical, and office support for the supervisor and assigned NHQ staffs. The position assists in meeting the operational and performance requirements for the Agency. The Supervisory Program Manager supervises this position and provides advice and guidance if significant changes in operations or data requirements occur.
Key Requirements:
- U.S. Citizenship Required
- Time-in-grade
- Relocation is not authorized.
Major Duties:
Performs a wide range of, administrative, clerical, and office support for NRCS service-wide programs. Establishes and maintains tracking records, and the preparation of submission of documents and reports; and a comprehensive filing system; time and attendance reporting, processing, and scheduling travel arrangements for national and international travel, and meetings for team members as required.
Updates, retrieves, and inputs data associated with training, travel, technical reports, etc, in the appropriate database. Ensures necessary documentation is submitted in a timely manner and appropriate procedural policies are implemented; coordinates with appropriate USDA and NRCS offices regarding status of reporting requirements.
Provides administrative support to identify and resolve problems in assigned area. Keeps staffs informed of new capabilities and process improvements. Provides assistance in assembling, compiling and maintaining databases.
Maintains a follow-up system for reports, correspondence, and files to ensure control and efficient accessibility; maintains record control to ensure correspondence and report deadlines are met; keeps current reference materials/files, handbooks, shared files and manuals. Disposes or archives obsolete material/files.
Prepares draft general correspondence, reports, and visual presentations from existing drafts, notes, or oral instructions. Proofreads and assist in editing non-technical documents to ensure proper format, grammar, typographical accuracy, and conformance to procedural style.
Provides assistance on specific projects, conferences, and meetings; maintains conformance with procedural requirements. Provides support for designated actions to process in accordance with applicable regulations and guidelines.
Analyzes documents for inconsistencies or missing data. Maintains program filing/case system, adheres to filing requirements, distribution of documents, and intake of completed reports. Schreds/destroys aged reports in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Maintains and keep up-to-date directives, policies, procedures, guidelines, and subscriptions to ensure the office environment is informed; providing accurate and current information on procedural requirements and other matters related to operation and functions of the staff and office. Maintains current directories of key contacts and other distribution lists associated with the office.
Assist employees in locating websites, directives, and information systems concerning employee benefits, career programs, and employee development.
Actively supports the Civil Rights policies are translated into appropriate actions related to the position's duties and responsibilities.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Specialized Experience for GS-08: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing administrative duties in a professional office setting answering phones, greeting visitors, responding to general inquiries, typing and formatting correspondence, managing incoming mail, ordering and maintaining office supplies, and maintaining electronic and paper files. Experience preparing travel, procuring and maintaining office files, and collecting budget information, also experience using office automatic software.
Other than that bit of rabble rousing, it was a pretty quiet week. I didn't get much done in the way of organizing my move, I spent the week recovering from an especially spendy Fat Tuesday. It's a good thing that holiday only comes around once a year.
Here's how I "spent" last week:
TUESDAY, MARCH 8 (
$55.50)
1:10 p.m. Smak-Tak - $20.00. Since I had the entire day free on Fat Tuesday for the first time in my adult life, I decided to find a Polish restaurant that took a while to get to. This one in the middle of Jefferson Park acutally got a Michellin recommendation. I've had better pierogi closer to home in Avondale, but it is quite good. And the atmosphere is hard to beat.
2:39 p.m. Oak Mill Bakery - $18.00. I used to bring paczki into work every Ash Wednesday because I didn't want to wake up too early on Tuesday. This would be only the second time I brought them somewhere to be consumed on Tuesday. This is a chain with a location in Wicker Park, but I didn't know it at the time.
7:10 p.m. Farragut's - $17.50. While the $2.50 beer was flowing freely, I only had to buy one. We were celebrating an engagement so someone was buying. The rest of the expense came from the fact that I had pasta delivered from nearby Ranalli's.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 (
$9.33)
11:05 a.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free. In my new vow to get to the gym a 100th time before I leave, I fought through my hangover and upset stomach and did so. When I was done sweating the grossness out, I felt better. The urge to use the new Foursquare 3.0 that had rolled out the night before
8:08 p.m. Walgreens - $9.33. My desire to spend no money on Ash Wednesday after my craziness on Fat Tuesday was overcome by the fact that it felt like the two remaining paczki I had eaten with lunch were burning a hole in my stomach. And that I was nearly out of soap. The Pepto Bismol I bought was a gift from above.
THURSDAY, MARCH 10 (
$87.79)
4:20 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free. I was dragging all day due to the fact that I still felt horrible from the two paczki the day before. I was not enjoying life. Even the gym did not help.
6:12 p.m. Kohl's - $63.51. I heard a commercial on the radio when I was waking up that Dockers were on sale at Kohl's. When I got there, the sale price on Dockers wasn't great, but wandering further back into the store, there was a clearance rack where all men's pants were up to 85% discounted! Combined the two pairs of pants I bough normally would have been $113.00 before the sale. And I desperately needed new pants. I'll have to come back for a bargain suit coat.
7:20 p.m. McDonald's - $5.28. The Filet-O-Fish was back and I just had to get one. I can't remember the last time I ate at a McDonald's for dinner. It wasn't bad.
7:40 p.m. Logan Theater - $4.00. I found the third Narnia movie every bit as bad as I found the first two. It's weeks like this that make me want to give up seeing a movie at the Logan every week until I move. So horribly juvenile.
11:26 p.m. Rocking Horse - $15.00. Another Thursday night where I hadn't planned on going out, but I did anyway. This was a particularly late and drinky night since it was somebody's birthday.
FRIDAY, MARCH 11 (
$25.00)
12:16 p.m. Chicago Cultural Center - Free. There was a trad Irish band playing in the main performance area, The Boils. They were very entertaining. I should really have gotten down here more during my unemployment but I'm so used to not being able to make lunchtime shows from when I worked in the West Loop, I didn't even think about it. I also saw the Vivian Maier exhibit. It was alright. I just love candid street more.
1:29 p.m. Noodles & Company - Free. I had a coupon from the last time I had went to this location. This time I got the penne that I had been craving after Fat Tuesday. It wasn't the greatest, but it was filling and free.
3:19 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free. Going this close to the Flogging Molly show might have been a bad idea, but it made for a great accomplishment. It was the first time I had ever been to the gym three days in a row. I'll have to pull this off a couple more times to make it to 100.
8:27 p.m. Congress Theater - $25.00. Groupon was temporarily my favorite site when they put Flogging Molly tickets on sale for this date on discount at $18.00. The show was every bit as amazing as the last time they played the Congress in 2008. If not better. I couldn't avoid getting one Guinness. But it wasn't a drunken night as I was there alone. Not like The Pogues.
SATURDAY, MARCH 12 (
$24.26)
9:40 a.m. Belvidere Oasis - $3.85. Getting up early to go to the protest in Madison was hard enough. Eating beforehand would have been harder. I'm glad I didn't since, apparently, the RSVP for the bus was not optional. Thankfully, some people ducked out and I got a spot. Eating at corporate McDonald's twice in one week didn't even register to me. It was too early.
12:58 p.m. Shakti - $7.39. After I stood around for a bit watching the small farmer's rally from behind the stage, standing on snow (at the behest of a guy I had met on the bus who was eager to see the stars of protest), I needed to warm up. I had seen a button place on State Street and so I walked back until I found it. They had so many Scott Walker protest buttons, it warmed my heart. Though not my feet.
1:22 p.m. Fair Trade Coffee House - $7.75. While it was much like a Starbucks in terms of feel, I did appreciate that this place stood behind the protesters and got them in and out with coffee quickly. I did not appreciate how mediocre my cheddar sandwich was. In Wisconsin.
3:07 p.m. Wisconsin State Capitol Building - Free. I didn't go inside. That would have been an invitation to get arrested, after all. I politely listened to speakers for a while until I got really cold again. I definitely saw enough and cheered enough to justify my spot on the bus (which was, technically, $5.00 but my new friend paid) but there were a lot of people with stronger constitutions than me.
5:06 p.m. Irish Pub - Free. I ended up finding my new friend while waiting for the bus before it arrived. We ducked into this pub for a Guinness or two. He paid because I was unemployed. Had I been back in Chicago, I would have had the same, but I probably would have paid a lot more.
7:11 p.m. Belvidere Oasis - $5.27. On the way home, I was definitely more awake than on the way there. A group I sat next to ended up discussing a lot of hotly charged political topics from very different perspectives. And after taking my anti-corporate Green stand, I couldn't avoid getting Taco Bell. I'm an addict.
SUNDAY, MARCH 13 (Free)
3:05 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free. Even though my legs hurt from standing and marching all day, I figured that I needed to get back into the swing of things so I wouldn't get lazy again.
MONDAY, MARCH 14 (
$23.50)
10:56 a.m. El Charro - $5.00. I had planned on starting to get organized, but it was a free day at th Field Museum, so I got distracted. And I got my usual pre-museum food of Huevos Rancheros.
1:10 p.m. Field Museum - $2.00. At the end of my second free day, I realized there really wasn't much I hadn't seen the first time I was there while getting lost. Though it was good to see it all at a slower pace and in context. I like this museum but it's kind of depressing seeing all of the taxidermed animals and such. The money was to check my backpack.
5:04 p.m. Drew's Eatery - $10.00. While I love Hot Doug's, Mr. Sohn did let me down by getting rid of the veggie corn dog. Drew's Eatery still has it. And it was delicious. They also have an item that Doug's never had - a veggie Coney dog (with veggie chili). I'll probably go back to Doug's before I move, but I definitely want to go back to Drew's. Even if it is slightly more expensive.
5:43 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00. There's an adorable little indie coffee shop on the same street, Beans & Bagels. I will probably never go to it because it closes early. This forced me to the Starbucks down the street. But the weather was good enough for their lemonade tea that I love so well.
6:33 p.m. First Slice Pie Cafe - $2.50. It was Pi Day (3.14) and this was the only place that came to mind to get the delicious treat. They had slices on sale for $1.00 as well. They're usually $3.00, so while they're good, I don't know if I can afford them.
So that's
$225.38. Not horrible considering that a lot of that was slacks. And those are going to be priceless once I find work. Still, it's definitely a gluttonous amount that I'll need to give up during Lent. Except for trying out new restaurants. I've already got some plans to do that. My total money spent while I've been unemployed is $1618.23.
