Yesterday and today have been very quiet. The course has been on their first TEWT (tactical exercise without troops) for the past two days.
When the students and rest of the staff are up here my office is a constant parade of people, most of whom have some sort of problem. Usually, the problem is easy to fix, which I find more annoying than the hard problems. People are so lazy they do not even make the most rudimentary effort to solve their own problems. A few days ago, someone came in my office to tell me that the internet was down. I sat down to check out the problem and noticed that the little icon in the tray showing the internet status was not there. The guy could not get the site he wanted and didn't even bother to check if the dial up was connected.
The majority of questions I get have to do with various upcoming classes. Let's face it, I am lazy. I am not going to review in detail the requirements for some class that I am not responsible to teach. The person who is responsible should be doing that. Yet people often come up to me asking questions about classes they are responsible for, as if I have memorized the course and every class in it. We all have the entire course information on CD, so if they ask me a question, I have to pull up the files and figure out the background before I can attempt to answer. Since my only knowledge is what is in the files, I end up agreeing with them that the answer to their question is not in the files or that the files are not clear. Then we usually have some lengthy discussion of how the class should be taught or where the missing information might be found.
I guess I should be flattered that I seem to have this reputation as the "answer man" but I cannot figure out how I got it. It's not like I was here last year and know from experience what is supposed to happen. Everyone asking me these questions are senior in rank to me and know their students better than I. They are in a better position to figure out what to do then I.
Back to TEWTs. How do they work? We set up a scenario where the bad guys are attacking us and the students are told to come up with a plan for defending that area. They present that plan to everyone and discuss it. I am not involved in this portion, so I have stayed up in Newcastle. The place is just about empty, and I have to say, I am enjoying the quiet. I think that, if I were to live in Jamaica, I would find a place near the top of the mountain. The weather is not too hot for a cold climate guy like me and you get away from all the people. Kingston is crowded and it stinks, usually of diesel or burning garbage.
I can see why Ian Flemming moved to such a place like this to write the Bond novels.
No comments:
Post a Comment