Why is it so hard to do something the right way?

One thing I never seem to learn, or keep re-learning if you’d rather, is that in government work, if you want something done expeditiously, you’d better walk that crap through yourself. Paperwork is lost, people move or retire, policies change, required forms get added, but what is most often the case is that the person who you most need to pay attention to your project does not share your sense of urgency. And I don’t mean that you’re after some unreasonable time table. I don’t mean that you dump some project on someone’s desk and ask for it later in the day. No. I mean that you expect someone to do their job in a reasonable and timely manner. That, is the problem I seem to keep running into during my 15 years of working for the government.

While most of us have an understanding of things that can sit for a bit and things that need handling quickly, there are always those that just put things off for far too long. That’s where I’m at right now. I’m still waiting to finish a pet project I’ve been nursing the better part of a year-and-a-half. One dude. Just one dude is really holding this up. I mean, I didn’t think it’d be faster to learn how to do his job so I could get this done, but now I’m wondering.

I’ve finally got my project to the point where it’s kind of out of this other guy’s hands, but he’s going to be involved in finishing it up and I guess I’m just going to have to be on his ass every day. I hate having to be that person, but I’m sick and tired of this project just sitting around.

I understand that it’s government work, but dude, it is still work.