Got the news last week

And it sound sounds like they’ve definitely decided to let Dan go. I wish it hadn’t worked out this way for him. Had high hopes that they’d keep him on there as a tech after I left. Looks like Dan definitely needs a new job now and unfortunately he’s down to about a month to find it. It’s a cruddy place to be, but at least there’s still a few more weeks before he has to have something in place. More later. Until then, though, please don’t forget to hire my friend Dan.

Not a “good enough for government work” kind of guy

We’ve all at least heard of the typical “government” worker. You know the one I’m talking about. The one that does just what he or she is told to do–nothing more or less. Watches the clock, making sure to take every 15 minutes break, go to lunch on time and leave exactly at quitting time. Dan is not that person.

Dan is the kind of guy who works through lunch (when nobody’s looking) because he wants to get the job done on time. He enjoys working outside the scope of his official job description. He understands “other duties as assigned” can mean just about anything that needs to be done…in fact, he doesn’t hesitate to just get something done when he sees the need. Need help setting up a conference room? Dan’s there and on the job. What about that pile of boxes in the corner…need those broken down and taken out to the recycling bin? Dan’s got it.

In my eight plus years working in state government, I saw plenty of people who did their job “to government worker standards.” Dan always went as far above that as he was allowed. That’s why you should hire my friend Dan.

Been silent for a while, but I’m back on my mission

At the beginning of the year I started a new job with a private, for-profit company for the first time in my adult working career. Leaving the court where I worked was a hard decision for me for lots of reasons, not the least of which being that I was forced to leave my good friend, Dan.

One of the things that made leaving a little easier was the hope that my leaving would provide the extra money in the budget to at least give Dan a few more months at work–which in turn might possibly allow him to maybe work out some small form of a retirement. As of right now, though, three weeks into January, nothing has changed that I know of. Dan is still on track to lose his job in May and my old position remains unfilled.

Anyway, this post is mostly to let Dan know that I’m still thinking about him, that I’m still hoping things work out and to remind him that if he needs a reference or just someone to listen over a cup of coffee…well, my phone and email haven’t change.

Oh, and by the way, dear reader, I do hope you’ll hire my friend Dan.