Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Project Management Gone Bad
We are a one car family. And since Wife is a stay-at-home-mom she gets the keys. Quite frankly this arrangement is just fine with me. Most of the time. Each morning I get up, and once showered, shaved and dressed I head out the door to the bustop a half mile away. The bus takes me to the metro station where I board a train, take it three stops, get off, transfer to a different line, take it to my stop, get off and take a shuttle bus to my building. Coming home I do the same thing only in reverse. Door-to-door it takes about and hour and fifteen minutes. Just as long as it would take if I were to drive (maybe less) except this way I don't have to deal with traffic, parking, etc. In fact, most days I sit on the train and enjoy a book. I read about one a week and it is the only time I have to myself to read since when I am home there are all sorts of domestic adventures to tend to.
As I said earlier, this works fine most of the time. Let me back up about 8 weeks to set the scene.
There is some sort of a bus shelter replacement program going on in my area. They take down old ones and put up new ones. Even if the old ones work fine (my tax dollars at work). Several weeks ago MY bus shelter disappeared. Not a trace of it left save the holes in the concrete pad made by the bolts that held it in place. Not a big deal really since this was about 8 weeks ago at a time when we had not gotten any rain for a record 6 weeks. But I thought to myself it will rain eventually. We will need a shelter here. Long story short after a few weeks of being shelterless I was able to contact the person in my county responsible for this entire project. Turns out the contractor who removes shelters was a little overzealous and did not coordinate with the PM or the contractor who replaces shelters. (Yeah, there are two different contractors, in typical fashion there is a Remover and a Replacer.) The Removers were waaayyy ahead of schedule (imagine that, a contractor ahead of schedule). The Replacers were not close to being ready to replace the old shelter. I explained to my buddy on the other end of the line that it isn't a big deal since we havent' gotten any rain and, at the time, there was no forecast for rain. Could they just replace the shelter soon so I don't get rained on? Yep, no problem, we will fast-track it for you. Call me back in a week and let me know if a new shelter is up.
I left a message a week later.
I left a message two weeks later.
I left a message three weeks later.
Finally, I get my buddy back on the line. Turns out there is no official record for the bus shelter ever being there. It isn't in their "inventory". "Trust me," I tell him, "There was a bus shelter, I've been waiting under the cover it provides for nearly two years now."
"Are you sure?"
"Mmmm hmmm. Pretty sure I was waiting under a bus shelter."
"I'll have to drive out there personally and inspect the site."
"OK, but when do you think the shelter will be put in place?"
"Well, first I have to confirm that there was one to begin with and then if that pans out, a couple days."
"How about I call you in a few days and let you know if there is a new shelter in place? I don't want to just call you with complaints, I want to let you know that the work has been sucessfully completed." I figured that the promise of praise might provide some incentive.
A few days later as I make my way down the street to my corner what reveals itself in the dawn's light but a shelter! I actually did it, I got the shelter back! There they were, three walls made of steel and plexiglass. And what's that? A bench too! God truly has been good to me. A bench! As I walk closer and closer to the shelter - my shelter - I realize that not all was revealed in this half-light. My joy turns to chagrin. I cross the street. I get to my corner. I stand in my bus shelter and look up. Perfectly framed by the steel rectangle that is the support for the shelter's roof is the sky. Yes, I have the three walls but no roof. I start looking for Kafka.
As I said earlier, this works fine most of the time. Let me back up about 8 weeks to set the scene.
There is some sort of a bus shelter replacement program going on in my area. They take down old ones and put up new ones. Even if the old ones work fine (my tax dollars at work). Several weeks ago MY bus shelter disappeared. Not a trace of it left save the holes in the concrete pad made by the bolts that held it in place. Not a big deal really since this was about 8 weeks ago at a time when we had not gotten any rain for a record 6 weeks. But I thought to myself it will rain eventually. We will need a shelter here. Long story short after a few weeks of being shelterless I was able to contact the person in my county responsible for this entire project. Turns out the contractor who removes shelters was a little overzealous and did not coordinate with the PM or the contractor who replaces shelters. (Yeah, there are two different contractors, in typical fashion there is a Remover and a Replacer.) The Removers were waaayyy ahead of schedule (imagine that, a contractor ahead of schedule). The Replacers were not close to being ready to replace the old shelter. I explained to my buddy on the other end of the line that it isn't a big deal since we havent' gotten any rain and, at the time, there was no forecast for rain. Could they just replace the shelter soon so I don't get rained on? Yep, no problem, we will fast-track it for you. Call me back in a week and let me know if a new shelter is up.
I left a message a week later.
I left a message two weeks later.
I left a message three weeks later.
Finally, I get my buddy back on the line. Turns out there is no official record for the bus shelter ever being there. It isn't in their "inventory". "Trust me," I tell him, "There was a bus shelter, I've been waiting under the cover it provides for nearly two years now."
"Are you sure?"
"Mmmm hmmm. Pretty sure I was waiting under a bus shelter."
"I'll have to drive out there personally and inspect the site."
"OK, but when do you think the shelter will be put in place?"
"Well, first I have to confirm that there was one to begin with and then if that pans out, a couple days."
"How about I call you in a few days and let you know if there is a new shelter in place? I don't want to just call you with complaints, I want to let you know that the work has been sucessfully completed." I figured that the promise of praise might provide some incentive.
A few days later as I make my way down the street to my corner what reveals itself in the dawn's light but a shelter! I actually did it, I got the shelter back! There they were, three walls made of steel and plexiglass. And what's that? A bench too! God truly has been good to me. A bench! As I walk closer and closer to the shelter - my shelter - I realize that not all was revealed in this half-light. My joy turns to chagrin. I cross the street. I get to my corner. I stand in my bus shelter and look up. Perfectly framed by the steel rectangle that is the support for the shelter's roof is the sky. Yes, I have the three walls but no roof. I start looking for Kafka.
posted by Anonymous, 8:41 PM
2 Buffaloes were bitter enough to post comments:
Ha! Brilliant story, from the heart of bureaucracy in America! I'd have probably read it sooner, but I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday and took the afternoon off. Perfect way to start this morning, though, with an amusing anecdote about going to work.
Matt, did you ever ask the bureaucrat how the Removers knew to take down your shelter if it never appeared on any inventory? Removers might be zealous from time to time, but they seldom perform outside the scope of their contract.
I'm assuming Major League Baseball made a call to the Replacers and insisted they go without a roof until the World Series is over.
Matt, did you ever ask the bureaucrat how the Removers knew to take down your shelter if it never appeared on any inventory? Removers might be zealous from time to time, but they seldom perform outside the scope of their contract.
I'm assuming Major League Baseball made a call to the Replacers and insisted they go without a roof until the World Series is over.
I'm thinking the comment about standing "under" the new shelter with an umbrella could be the funniest visual of 2005!