September Ain't September Anymore

The Old Me Accepting An Award From Lt. General Flowers

Since I worked in Contracting for the Federal Government, for the past quarter century, I've been driven by the Fiscal Year calendar - my year has gone from October to September, rather than the usual New Year's Eve party to Christmas hangover that most people go by.  And September was always the harshest month. 

You see, budgets being what they are (tight), and Federal rules being what they are (strict), September is the last chance to get money spent.  Well, really the whole last quarter is kind of frantic, but September is when it really kicks into high gear.  If you're in Contracting, you live on No-Doz chased down with Red Bull (or in my case, Diet Rock Star), desperately trying to make sure you get everything out the door by midnight on September 30th.

I'm finding myself a little at a loss this September - it's the first since I've retired, and it just doesn't feel right to not be counting down (73 requisitions to go!)  For 20 years or so (before I went to the dark side of Systems Administration), I was pretty much the guru of "Simplified Acquisitions" - that's Army-speak for anything under $150K, or in September, that's "oh, thank the gods of Budgeting, we managed to save enough money to finally replace these steam-powered PCs - what do you mean, you don't have time to put together a solicitation?  There's still 2 hours left!"  Every year, we'd put out a memo telling everyone to get their requirements in to us by July 15th, and every year, we'd have people saying "Oh, we didn't think you meant us!". 

I used to have a recommended "bribe" sign outside my cubicle as a way to break the tension - "In order to get a requisition through at this date, we recommend XXX"  I'd start with "Tell us we're pretty" on September 1st, working my way through the Diet Coke and a box of Twinkies phase on September 12th or so, and ending up with "A time-machine and the blood of a male unicorn" on September 29th.  Let's face it, mid-September, a good laugh is hard to find, and you'd take what you can get.

But this year... the only thing I have to count down is days until my next Dr visit.  No stress, no begging, no hair pulling out... but no sense of accomplishment, either.  I miss being able to help people out (while cursing them under my breath).  Heck, I miss the numbers - I miss reports, I miss spreadsheets, I even (and I never thought I'd say this), I even miss the hourly calls from Division saying "Are you guys ready to close yet?"  I'm not saying I'd want to go back, even if I could (my body definitely doesn't miss it), but... I feel proud of what I accomplished, back in the day.  I guess I miss that me... the one that could take a last minute request and find a way to make it happen.