Here we go again..

In addition to taking care of returned white uniforms I have also been responsible for the following:

Maintaining a list of all uniform items that are available for pick up. Officers order their uniform items on-line but then come in to Resources to pick them up. Shipments come in from the uniform company on a daily basis.
In the uniform closet boxes are stored on shelves while bags are sorted in large FedEx bins in alphabetical order by the person’s last name. Each shelf is labeled with a letter and number. The first shelf is A and the top shelf is 1, the shelf below that is 2, and so forth. So a box on the first shelf at the very top would be labeled as “A1”. When new items come in I record the person’s name who the package is for, their work location, the date (when the package came in on), and the package’s location. All bags are labeled as “Floor Bin”, so we will know that they are in one of the FedEx boxes.
Keeping the closet organized can be incredibly time consuming because inventory has to be taken several times a week due to the fact that so many people work in Resources, all handing out uniforms. Often times people forget to remove officers’ names from the pick-up list thus making it appear like we still have the items days later. Likewise the bags get disorganized and are therefore difficult to find. What I tend to do is:

• Take inventory of all items in the closet, alphabetizing simultaneously.
• Recording information regarding new packages and then storing them.
• Up-dating the uniform list stored on excel.
• Printing 3 copies of the list and sending copies of the up-dated spreadsheet (via e-mail) to others in the office.

It’s not the best system in the world, but it has worked rather well so far.

To be continued in my next post!

Confusing, eh?

I’ve been in the same place for almost five weeks now and I feel completely settled in now. I still think that I should rotate to other departments so I can get a general overview of what really goes on behind-the-scenes at TSA, but that doesn’t meant that I’m not perfectly content where I am at right now. To give you a better idea of what exactly I’ve been up to I will try to outline what goes on in Property Management.

I’m sure some of you frequent travelers will remember that TSA officers stationed at security checkpoints used to wear white shirts, but on Septermber 11th (2008) a new set of uniforms was rolled out. Instead of stark white, the uniforms are now royal blue. Since the blue uniforms were rolled out all checkpoint officers have had to turn in their old white uniforms. I’m pretty sure the due date came and went and there are still so many uniform items that have yet to be returned. Some people still have uniforms from the original roll out, old patches and everything.

Property Management has been busy making and regularly up-dating a list of all the people that still owe white uniforms. What I’ve had to do in regards to the white uniforms:

• Log returned items when people turn things in. This includes finding their uniform paperwork, recording all returned items (stamping, signing, etc..), and making them a copy of said paperwork.
• Remove names from THE LIST, when they have returned all items they were issued from the white uniform roll out.
• Remove all patches from the uniforms so they can be disposed of. The patches get shredded and the “shirts” get disposed of I believe. (There isn’t much left once four patches have been removed) Some sweaters are being donated to the homeless once the patches have been carefully removed with some dreadful knitting/crocheting tool.

Dealing with white uniforms is only one of the many things the Property Management Team deals with, I’ll explain another task in my next post.

Pretend you're excited too..

I got to see Air Force One earlier today! Not the silly cargo plane but Air-Force-One! I barely left my Terminal in time to get to another Terminal's parking garage in time to see Air Force One make its u-turn and prepare for take off. It's a beautiful plane but for some reason didn't strike me as particularly big. Likewise there weren't any twin-rotor helicopters and the F-16s weren't visible. I think the F-16s usually depart from a base and then escort Air Force One once its in the air, so presumable the two that are accompanying it today came from Luke Air Force Base.

There were several other people standing close to me that were also filming the take off, you can even see one guy in my video clip that has a really good camera.

I think I started panicking a bit when the bus ride between the Terminals took much longer than it usually does. I didn't realize that people were stopping to take pictures of the plane, essentially just freezing the flow of traffic. At the end of the video clip you can actually catch a glimpse of the road with all the vehicles at a complete standstill.

I think its exciting..

This week has been pretty cool due to the fact that the All-Star Game took place on Sunday and President Obama flew in this morning!

The All-Star Game and all the hoopla surrounding it meant that there were incredibly high passenger loads for the last couple of days. And do you know what the game meant for me? (besides more work) It meant that I got to see celebrities! Sure, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm tempted to be all nonchalant about it, but why pretend.. I love seeing celebs! There is something strangely intriguing about it. Anyway, I didn't recognize too many people. A co-worker/friend of mine kept ooh-ing and aah-ing, saying that tons of former basketball players (hall-of-fame'rs and so forth were coming through) but my celebrity knowledge is limited, when it comes to athletes. People I saw: Boris Diaw, Donald Faison, his girlfriend Cacee Cobb (ie. Jessica Simpson's cousin *lol*), and Mena Suvari! Funny thing is, I ran in to Mena in the food court, quite literally! :-o

I wish I could have gone to one of the All-Star Events, but I really couldn't with work/internship keeping me busy and sleep-deprived.

Now lets talk about something even more exciting! I've never actually seen Air Force One, only the bulky C-17 that carries all the president's cargo. (like Cadillac one)

A C-17, they're enormous!

I would love to see an Air Force One landing, because the whole process is apparently quite a sight to see. Before the plane lands F-16 fighter jets apparently clear the runway of any debris that could pose a threat or be something else entirely. I posted a clip of President Obama arriving at Chicago O'Hare last week via Air Force One. Instead of F-16s there were large twin-rotor helicopters clearing the runway.

I had to work this morning, other wise I might have waited for Air Force One to arrive. Since President Obama flies out again tomorrow morning I think I'll try to catch a glimpse of his plane or even just the C-17 during one of my breaks.

Tada!

Didn't go to work and essentially called-off from my internship. Kids, this is what happens when you don't sleep and spend 12 hours a day at the airport. Just imagine how many sick people roam the airport; so many opportunities to get sick!

Bound To Happen

I’ve had a sore throat for quite a few days now. Thought I might get sick and sure enough, today it finally kicked in!!

• I have a sore throat
• I can’t breathe
• I may have a fever

Throw in a stomach ache and I think that covers it. I feel so sluggish right now, its ridiculous! I hope I can get over this super quick instead of having to deal with it for several days. I can’t take more than one day off from work without needing a doctor’s note. Likewise it wouldn’t be so great if I called off from the internship. Anyway, if only I could get some more sleep. (6 hours just aren’t enough)

So tired!

I feel like I should be up-dating more often. (much more often!) I actually have things I want to post and discuss on here; no joke, I've caught myself thinking ,"that would make for a great post!"

I just don't have the time to sit down and crank out a good post. Yesterday I "worked" 14 hours and today I "worked" 11 hours and I'm completely drained right now. Regardless of what anyone says, this is work! It just happens to be un-paid. I'm not sure why people assume that because its an un-paid internship it must also be super easy.

Anyway, here's my first "internship" picture. It shows my walk to work! (ie. the 3 minute jog from the employee lot to the main terminal) The Airport is a world of its own at night, its completely deserted and actually quite beautiful. I wish I could post more exciting pictures.. But I don't think there will be too many internship pics since upper management wouldn't approve. :o/