tuesdays in turkmensitan: the indecision

I left California seven weeks ago to the day. I expect to be here for three more weeks. It's part scheduling and part work. Wait, it's all work, which is what is driving the scheduling and the need to stay the extra time. Part of it is client coverage and part of it is tenders. I really, really, really, really dislike working on tenders. Bids are great. Tenders are not so great. We turned bids around all the time when I was in Texas. The nature of the clients and the work environment demanded relatively high-frequency bidding. You won some, you lost some and that's how things worked. Tenders are for with much bigger stakes like multi-year contracts. You win, good. You lose, mini-disaster. The uncertainty of the whole process is what I dislike so much. Maybe we win, maybe not. Damn you Schrodinger's tender! We won't know the result until the envelopes are opened, the bids reviewed, and then some decision is rendered, hopefully without too much State Agency meddling and money under the table.