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Stay safe out their Goons.
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Aug 9, 2013 11:52
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Bidding while waiting for promotion results is really taxing my sanity. Why do they do it this way? Why?
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Aug 9, 2013 19:53
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One week until I know where I'm going -- I have a feeling that Composure Under Fire and practicing speeches will not make the time pass any more quickly.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:29
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Composure under Fire is awesome, because it's one of the first times you'll get to watch most of a room full of highly accomplished people (yourself included) fail at something. Yeah, some people will do well but if you're really getting into it like we were, mostly everyone will "get got." You'll never look at the daily press briefings (which you really should subscribe to, they're quite interesting) the same way again.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:48
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Lahore consulate now shuttered as well (though separate from the reasons the other 19 closures happened for, apparently). Things seem to be a little uncertain right now. Hope you all are staying a bit perkier than usual for the time being.
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Aug 10, 2013 00:11
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AKA Pseudonym posted:Bidding while waiting for promotion results is really taxing my sanity. Why do they do it this way? Why? Yeah, I hated that last year. Even with the MSI it was still a pain in the rear end.
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Aug 10, 2013 13:38
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whoo, typhoon warning!
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Aug 12, 2013 00:52
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What is a Consular Agent and how do you become one? Are they part of Foreign Service? Paid? By State? My friend had to drop some documents off at a "US Consular Agent"in Acapulco and said it was some tiny dinky office in a hotel that didn't look official and the guy had a prodigy.net email account.
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Aug 12, 2013 15:16
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problematique posted:My friend had to drop some documents off at a "US Consular Agent"in Acapulco and said it was some tiny dinky office in a hotel that didn't look official and the guy had a prodigy.net email account. Uhhhhhhh...what documents your friend provide? I've seen some pretty ghetto-rigged consulate setups, but if he is using a prodigy.net account I seriously doubt he is actually representing the US Gov.
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Aug 12, 2013 22:39
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Apparently...http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/edirectory.html posted:Consular Agent in Acapulco http://photos.state.gov/libraries/merida/231771/PDFs/Consular%20Quarterly%20June%202011.pdf posted:Alex, who has been working at I guess he's an official employee, but not an FSO.
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Aug 12, 2013 22:52
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Check Embassy Mexico City. Looks like there's an agent in Acapulco matching those details. E:f,b
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Aug 12, 2013 22:52
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Xandu posted:Apparently... Huh...look at that. Glad it's not a scam.
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Aug 12, 2013 23:16
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Bruxism posted:Huh...look at that. Glad it's not a scam. Yeah, we have a few of those around the country here too.
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Aug 13, 2013 01:31
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That seems sketchy as hell, though, sketchy enough that it might keep some folks who need to go there away. At the very least, the agents could have .gov email accounts, right?
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Aug 13, 2013 02:59
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SCRwM posted:And on Flag Day we got.... So I met you at the pool today? Did not recall your post assignment at the time but went thru old post to check. Unless there is some other Georgia posted IMS at the Oakwood!
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Aug 13, 2013 03:34
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Bruxism posted:Uhhhhhhh...what documents your friend provide? I've seen some pretty ghetto-rigged consulate setups, but if he is using a prodigy.net account I seriously doubt he is actually representing the US Gov. They have a few here too. Not 100% sure on what they do. Investigate passport/visa/fraud, perhaps.
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Aug 13, 2013 06:41
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They just provide consular services to places were a consular section might be tough to reach. Lots of them on island nations that don't have an embassy for example.
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Aug 13, 2013 08:03
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oh, well. we've got 7,000 islands here, so that really explains it..
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Aug 13, 2013 09:55
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Ofaloaf posted:That seems sketchy as hell, though, sketchy enough that it might keep some folks who need to go there away. At the very least, the agents could have .gov email accounts, right? Depending upon multiple factors, he may not have consistent access to OpenVPN, hence the sketchy email address through his ISP.
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Aug 13, 2013 13:22
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Who still uses Prodigy though....I used to use them 20 something years ago.
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Aug 13, 2013 13:58
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Nobody has ever questioned my GiodoDepartmentofStateNoReally@aol.com address.
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Aug 13, 2013 14:46
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Diplomaticus posted:Who still uses Prodigy though....I used to use them 20 something years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_(online_service)#In_Mexico quote:In Mexico, Prodigy Internet is the main ISP with an estimated 92% of market share. It is also the leader in WiFi (hotspots) and broadband (DSL) access. The broadband service is called Prodigy Infinitum and is available in speeds of 512kbit/s, 1024 kbit/s, 2048 kbit/s, 4096 kbit/s and 20480 kbit/s.[19] The installation and DSL or fiber optic modem are free and it is no longer necessary to sign a two-year service contract. Prodigy Internet in Mexico is part of Telmex (Teléfonos de México) and its sister company Telnor (Teléfonos del Noroeste).
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Aug 13, 2013 19:36
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Packed out!
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Aug 13, 2013 19:45
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So that's where the hundreds of dollars in hidden hourly charges for playing MUDs from my childhood went....
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Aug 13, 2013 21:50
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psydude posted:Depending upon multiple factors, he may not have consistent access to OpenVPN, hence the sketchy email address through his ISP. Seems like a low bandwidth webmail service would be a good idea. It doesn't need to be state.gov, just something a little more confidence inspiring than a prodigy account. When people have to turn to goons to verify that government official is legit you're really inviting a lot of problems.
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Aug 13, 2013 21:57
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AKA Pseudonym posted:Seems like a low bandwidth webmail service would be a good idea. It doesn't need to be state.gov, just something a little more confidence inspiring than a prodigy account. When people have to turn to goons to verify that government official is legit you're really inviting a lot of problems. I'm somewhat surprised they don't have a FOB, but I know those can be rear end on slow connections.
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Aug 13, 2013 22:11
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A low bandwidth email service would be helpful for AF. Instead we have Outlook Webmail.
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Aug 13, 2013 22:18
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Diplomaticus posted:A low bandwidth email service would be helpful for AF. Instead we have Outlook Webmail. It's cool, they tested it at Main State and one of the annexes, should work anywhere in the world.
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Aug 13, 2013 22:24
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Diplomaticus posted:A low bandwidth email service would be helpful for AF. Instead we have Outlook Webmail. All of which is probably hosted at ESOC East. Because Cloud!
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Aug 13, 2013 22:25
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There's literally not words to describe the rage I felt on TDY in Nairobi fairly early on in my assignment when I spent no joke 45 minutes logging in to my webmail only to find out that they had lost my car shipment. I hit reply to formulate some sort of rage response, which took 15 minutes just to load up the reply window. A cooling off period was probably a good thing but at some point, that "helpful delay" turns into its own form of rage. -e- can you tell that I'm still mad from the excessive use of the word rage?
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Aug 13, 2013 22:28
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Tonight on the Miltary Channel at 10PM: SECRETS OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY. This is all I can think of (and sorta wish what was going to happen). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYKDZIFhRI
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Aug 13, 2013 23:13
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Homie S posted:Tonight on the Miltary Channel at 10PM: SECRETS OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY. Haha
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Aug 14, 2013 01:08
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Diplomaticus posted:So that's where the hundreds of dollars in hidden hourly charges for playing MUDs from my childhood went.... Gemstone 3? Because I played that one.
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Aug 14, 2013 02:41
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Diplomaticus posted:There's literally not words to describe the rage I felt on TDY in Nairobi fairly early on in my assignment when I spent no joke 45 minutes logging in to my webmail only to find out that they had lost my car shipment. I hit reply to formulate some sort of rage response, which took 15 minutes just to load up the reply window. A cooling off period was probably a good thing but at some point, that "helpful delay" turns into its own form of rage. When I first started here, we were still running a T3 over to Main State. IRM was pushing hard for us to migrate our exchange mailboxes over to the remote datacenter (I guess because they needed a reason to justify spending untold fortunes on building it), and most of the executives and senior managers at the FSI were all for it and so they were the first to have theirs moved. Well as it turns out, trying to retrieve mail from a remote server for several hundred users first thing in the morning tends to burn through 44 megabits in no time. Didn't take long before the ES/SES types moved their mailboxes back and finally approved the request for a Metro E line. psydude fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 14, 2013 04:40
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AKA Pseudonym posted:They just provide consular services to places were a consular section might be tough to reach. Lots of them on island nations that don't have an embassy for example. They provide SOME consular services, and they don't have to be US citizens - they fall under LES category. They mostly do things like accept passport applications and provide prison visits if needed.
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Aug 16, 2013 00:10
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Strudelmeyer posted:So I met you at the pool today? Did not recall your post assignment at the time but went thru old post to check. Unless there is some other Georgia posted IMS at the Oakwood! Nope I'm the only one (was there with my kids).
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Aug 16, 2013 01:28
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BTW - for anyone who is transferring from another agency to DOS, when they say "everything transfers", that is not true. Been spending the past few weeks trying to get straigtened out why my dental/vision/dependent care/FSA have not been taken out of my check...
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Aug 16, 2013 01:32
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I recall from HR that the only thing that doesn't transfer is Health Benefits. This is because FS has some of the better (if not best) plans in the Government. Then again the same person also told us that we were tax-exempt. (note: you are not tax-exempt)
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Aug 16, 2013 02:45
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There's always that feeling of nervousness walking out of the local bank carrying 15,000 in cash from your car sale. This is also heightened as this area is known for its quick nappings, muggings and other crime (1 block from our apartment).
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Aug 16, 2013 18:58
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:55 |
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TCD posted:There's always that feeling of nervousness walking out of the local bank carrying 15,000 in cash from your car sale. No cashiers check?
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Aug 16, 2013 19:07
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