At this point, I’ve started this blog post at least three times, stepped away because I wasn’t happy with the first couple of sentences, only to come back a day later with the situation on the ground completely different. I finally have some time to sit with my thoughts a bit more and maybe make a bit more of a coherent post.
If you’ve looked through my website at all, you’ll have seen that I’m a Federal government employee. The flurry of Executive Orders during the past two weeks have been deeply troubling. Many of these orders ask Federal employees to do things that are at best, immoral, and, at worst, potentially illegal. Orders and memos from the Whitehouse and OPM are also full of rhetoric that drips with contempt for people who have spent their careers serving the public good. However, these E.O.’s have to filter down through the hierarchy above me before I actually see what will be asked of me. For now, I’ll wait and see what happens in my office.
All that above said, this is probably one of the last times that I will post publicly about the state of my office life. I feel like there are people looking for any excuse to remove people from Federal service, and I don’t want to give them ammunition because I am a human being with opinions. My time working with the Federal government has been the most rewarding part of my career. I’ve been given an opportunity to grow my skills and serve the public interest, making life better for others. I hope that I can continue in service for the rest of my career.
Moving on to other topics, I competed in the Yeti Chase 5K last weekend, and took third in my gender category with a time of 21:16. The course was snow packed, preventing me from running faster. I have another race on February 16, and I’m hopeful that course conditions will be a little better then. Training is going well. In contrast to previous years, I’m including at least two days of strength training per week. I’m also giving myself more time for yoga and stretching. All told, I’m running a little less this year, but I’m hopefully that including cross training activities will show some big benefits down the road. Potentially, those benefits will not be in terms of my running times, but in my ability to maintain my fitness as I age. If I can at least maintain my Bolder Boulder time from last year, I’ll earn one of the “old fart” shirts for getting a time that is less than my age. I’m still working with the goal of a sub-40:00 time, but I’m not going to be disappointed if I can’t make it.
I’m not sure how to wrap up this post. I’m worried about my friends, my job, and myself, but I’m going to keep pushing through, doing something kind for someone as often as possible. I’m not your boss, but I recommend trying to do the same. Small acts of kindness may not save us, but they will give folks the energy to keep going.
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