Got my orders (1st version) from our travel section today. At first glance they looked good and then I saw the obligated perdiem for travel lodging meals and essentials. 40K. Yep thats right 40 Large. After I did the Happy Happy Joy Joy dance in my cubicle reality stuck in it ugly good for nothing head. I realize that their is no way Uncle Sugar will pay me an extra 40 Grand during a wee little six month African Sojourn and if I let things stand as is I would be tieing up 40K of the travel budget that couldn't be used for anything else until I got back and filed my final travel claim. That damn conscience of mine (I try and I try, but I just can't make it go away. Must be my christian upbringing I had as a child. Now days I pay through the nose to keep my spawn in private christian school so they can have the benefit of strong moral character, ethical behavior and gasp....integrity). Well I went over and informed my travel clerk that it was incorrect and I was not entitled to perdiem for lodging at all and am only entitled to half the standard Meals and essentials rate for my destination because it was field conditions with lodging and meals provided.

I was met with the standard civil service dead fish stare.

I continued on unabated, I explained that if she didn't fix the accounting we would be holding a years worth of travel money for our whole command hostage for six months.

The dead fish stare continued.

I told that she needed to fix it and she finally fessed up what was already obvious: It the orders didnt follow the normal everyday expected pattern she had no idea what to do.

Finally, I just asked her to open up the travel program on the PC call up my orders and we would work on it together. A couple of hours later and three modifications, the orders were complete.