Post Catch Up Series...

Surprise! We're leaving Chennai in less than a month. I've had a bit of a doldrum in my blog posting over the last few months. I guess now's a good time to explain why (aside from my just being lazy). 

Almost immediately after returning from R&R, I received news that my departure date was being pushed forward to help cover a staffing gap at my next post. This effectively cut me from almost 9 months remaining in Chennai... to about 5. I've quit a handful of jobs in my life, and I can tell you, impending departure has a way of sapping your motivation. In an effort to not slow down at work (at least until I'd finished the major projects I was working on), my blog appears to have suffered.

Anyway, that's a long story to explain that between now and my departure date (April 1), I'm hoping to publish an article a day to clear up the backlog of drafts I've accumulated this tour. Hopefully then I can start fresh on home leave or in Buenos Aires!

Hardship Differential

As of today, the hardship differential for Consulate General Chennai has increased from 15% to 20%. This percent represents several things, including extra (incentive) pay, second-tour bidding 'clout,' and student loan repayment eligibility. Since it went to 15% right before I arrived and is changing back to 20% right as I leave, I have to assume this is just an indication of how much I improved morale. Sorry to leave you all in the lurch, so to speak. As a parting gift, I give you 5% more money!

If I sound a little bitter... it's probably because I am. Chennai has only improved in the last two years, which means the people that arrived the year I did spent nearly our entire tour under represented by our hardship differential. Of course, there are worse things. For example, two of the other posts on my original bid list have had terrorist bombings in the last two years. I think I'd rather miss out on a little money... than hear bombs exploding, given the choice.

Anyway, long story short. Congrats to my Chennai colleagues.

Hail/Farewell

Each month during transfer season, the Consulate has a ceremony to welcome new employees (or arrivals) and say farewell to those departing (the job, or post). I was farewell'd today. Below is my (approximate) farewell speech.

"I’m not much for formality or for public speaking, so I’ll be brief… and probably sappy. In many ways, I feel like I’ve barely gotten a chance to know Chennai, but it’s already time to leave. Although I’ve been here nearly two years, it still seems like yesterday that I was ordering dosas by pointing at other people’s plates and running downstairs to see my first middle-of-the-night parade. My son recently told our nanny that we’re leaving to go to Argentina, but that he’ll come back to visit her soon. That’s a pretty bold promise mfor a three year old, but honestly, I hope he’s right. Over the last two years, Chennai has become our home and it’s never easy to leave home.

On a happier note, I’d like thank everyone here, especially those in my section, for being so welcoming during my tour. I know it’s hard to have new officers cycling through every two years, especially when many of you have been doing this for decades. However, you tolerated my newness and naiveté with good nature and what I can only hope was just the occasional laughter. Before arriving to post, someone at FSI told me that the people in Chennai are exceptional, and I complete agree. I will miss working with you all and can only hope my future colleagues are as capable and as friendly. Thank you for a wonderful first tour and I hope to see you again."

Benefits: Now and Then

Following up on my previous comments on pay, I figured I should outline some differences in the benefits... Then I realized that I generally don't care about the majority of benefits offered by employers. Not to sound privileged, but I have a young, healthy family and many of the small differences in benefits plans don't actually hold much weight for me. I have private term life insurance so the difference between 2 or 3 times my annual salary in life insurance, or the difference between health plans offered by Aetna or Blue Cross Blue Shield... just doesn't drive my employment search.

So what is important to me? Well, I have a young, healthy family that I want to spend time with. Similarly, I joined the Foreign Service to see the world. Travel and Vacation time (sometimes combined) are the benefits that matter most to me.

My last job had great benefits for a private company. I worked for a well-funded government contracting company, in a high-demand sector, which created a "buyers" market when it came to employers. My family's healthcare coverage was free (both sides paid for by the company), I got a company branded clothing allowance, free coffee, things like that. However, when it came to leave (as is always the case for hourly-paid-contract-positions), all of the companies were fairly standardized: 10 Holidays, 15 Vacation days, and 5 Sick days. Maybe one would mix it up and call it 10 Holidays, 20 "Flex days," but it always totaled up to 30 days.

Thirty days per year is a lot of leave by some standards, but... really isn't that much leave. In addition, if you tried to take any big trips, you'd never hear the end of it. I took 3 weeks off to go to New Zealand over Christmas... and was still hearing about my "exorbitant time away from work" 10 months later (when I eventually left that job.)

The Foreign Service gives me the standard U.S. Government leave plan: 10 American holidays, 13 vacation days, and 13 sick days. However, in addition, I get up to 10 local holidays and an extra 20-30 days of home leave every 2 years. Similarly, when I've traveled for work, I've gotten travel-comp time (similar to vacation time, but Post specific) equal to the time spent travelling (outside of work hours). Finally, I also get inclement weather days. At my last job, if the weather closed the building I worked in, I was invited to take leave or "work extra" to compensate later in the month. During training, I got 2.5 snow days due to bad weather in D.C. On top of all that: upon three years of government employment, I even get a bump up to 20 vacation days per year.

Let's work all that out. At my last job I got an annual 30 days of leave (25 discounting sick leave). Full stop. Now I get an annualized 56-61 days of leave (if I use all of my sick leave) or 43-48 days discounting sick leave. In addition, forget being frowned upon, it is actually required that I take a 4-6 week vacation between posts. On top of that, at my current post I am entitled to an R&R... so one trip's flight is paid for.

All-in-all, it's been a busy year for me. Between travel-comp and regular comp time (pre-worked hours), I've taken 33 days off, in addition to holidays, without using any annual leave. Not too shabby. 

Flooding in Chennai. Emergencies in the Foreign Service.

I've been out of communication for awhile, due to the extreme flooding in Chennai (pictures below, courtesy/stolen from https://www.facebook.com/robertdilinger). I have a handful of posts backlogged, and I'll start posting them now, but before that I think I should comment on the recent situation in Chennai.

This is my first major natural disaster. I grew up in Florida, so there was always the threat of hurricanes, but it never manifested (while I lived there). In every sense of the word, this was a disaster. The death toll is currently in the 300s and there are an estimated 1.5 million displaced (at time of original writing... probably changed by the time I actually finished and published). That's as many people as the total population of San Diego or Philadelphia. Many of local staff and some of our American officers were flooded out of their houses.

I (personally) was very fortunate to be largely unaffected. We lost internet for a week and experienced regular power outages, but our house remained high and dry. I live on the corner of some major roads and my car was able to drive through the water on them (even at their highest). I did have a brief scare when a car passed me in the other direction and his wake lifted my car up and put it down a meter (yard) to the side. I guess I can market it for resale as half boat / half car!

Back to my regularly scheduled programming.