Holding pattern

I have good news and bad news. I can't really explain them separately, though, so I'll have to go through them topic by topic.

First, the Foreign Service stuff. I passed my Chinese test in early January, so that vaulted me to the top ranks of the registry. However, due in part to my termination at JEL and the fact that I filed my taxes late for 2004 and 2005, I was found "unsuitable," subject to appeal. I submitted my appeal a few days later, and that's in process now.

Hopefully, the biggest reason for the Board of Examiners' finding was the tax issue. Thinking it wasn't any big deal because I didn't have any U.S.-based income for those years, I didn't file my returns by the time of my security clearance interview in April. My interviewer informed me of my error at the time, and I got everything taken care of soon after, but the Board apparently didn't have that information.

I say "I hope that's the biggest reason" because it's easily remedied. Correcting perceptions about my termination from JEL would be much harder.

In the "bad but potentially irrelevent" category, I took the Foreign Service Oral Test (fifth time) on January 24 in San Francisco. Disturbingly, I failed, and failed badly (my second worst score). This may, however, be irrelevent if my appeal goes through.

Lastly, I have the Presidential Management Fellows final assessment on February 15 in Chicago. Like a cross between the LSAT and the Foreign Service Written Exam, it's three sections measure critical thinking skills, English usage, and personal accomplishments. I could say a lot more about this, but I'll wait and see if I get into it first.

Until then, it's wait and see, but if the first week of March ends and nothing happens, I'll have to come up with a whole new plan.