My first day back was … interesting. It took up to an hour for people to log in to their computers. After about 90 minutes of clearing through my backlog of emails and making some replies, I noticed that I had 4 emails in my outbox, meaning that for some reason, the system was unable to send them. After leaving a message with IT services and getting a call an hour later, I spent about 45 minutes with my IT specialist and gave up when I had a meeting. Interestingly enough, when I returned, everything was working again. The IT person had made some tweaks. Apparently, some certificate had expired during my 35-day furlough. Meanwhile, I had some other certifications that had expired and I had to get them restored. Finally, there were notices posted EVERYWHERE telling us NOT to sign into our time and attendance system. Our Agency is doing them centrally so that everyone can get their two missing paychecks on Thursday.
On the other hand, we were treated like returning victorious warriors. We were feted with donuts, home made muffins, coffee… and then pizza for lunch. Our Agency Administrator stood by the elevator banks, greeting everyone personally as we entered. He later walked through the building chatting with all the staff. It was something.
I also actually got some actual work done. It felt good to be back.
My Furlough Diary 