Observations on the new job.

I joined the Forest Service this year and am so far enjoying my experience as a Federal Employee for many reasons, not least of which that they recognize federal holidays and that if I work on said holidays I get paid BANK. But anyway....some observances about the forest service:

1) I never knew what bureaucracy was, until.... I reinjured my back and it took Joy an hour to find the workers comp paperwork on the SHIPS database.

2) You. Must. Drive. Standard. Also: know what a dually is, what a flatbed is, how to heat up "bulbs" or "lamps" or whatever on a diesel, etc.

3) Sharpening your tools, packing and unpacking your camp, driving to and from your worksite, and preparing for your next hitch are all part of your work day, and not done on your personal time (cough, mcc, cough cough).

4) Certification is just a formality. I definitely do not credit my knowledge of felling to the guy who stabbed himself in the finger while trying to teach us how to disassemble the chainsaw, nor to the guy who actually certified my felling while his brain was seemingly in a far off place. MCC, thank you for your proper training, even if it didn't come with a pink laminated certification slip (you guys should teach the forest service, honestly).

5) My crew members are all competent, need very little training or teaching, and when they are told what to do, do it immediately and do it well. I guess this is what it is like to do trails professionally.

The weirdest thing to me about the Forest Service (from the perspective of my former trails training in the MCC) is that the FS is truly a job whereas the latter is an experience. We just seem to be more mechanized in the FS- we do what we need to do and move on to something else without reflection. The MCC takes a fuller view of people's lives, which is what it is intended to do. There is more awareness of experience, development, personal relationships, activities intended to boost morale, and moments designed to focus learning. I liked all of these qualities in the MCC- I think that they provided a good cushion for moving from a mostly sedentary and indoor life into an active outdoor one. But I'm also glad to have graduated, so to speak, from that more coddled lifestyle into one that is about work, that pays me well, and that is fast paced enough to not make me impatient.

I also think that Joy did a really good job of hiring. I have an exceptional crew. MCC serves, in a lot of ways, to provide a pathway to people who are having difficulty finding one, oftentimes due to behavioral issues and other personal oddities. So you have to deal, as a leader, with people who lack maturity, lack common sense, and also lack experience. All of that is okay. But again, I'm glad to have moved on from it. I'm just glad to be around people who know what they are doing and who were also hired, notably, for having good personalities in addition to skills.