Omg. So sorry to hear this. Tom always answered my questions and he was the main reason I bought my m11/9 10 years ago. Condolences to his family. If anyone has info about a funeral or where to send flowers, please share.
All gov agencies run the same. Contractors doing the majority of the work, lower grade civs coming in second, and higher grade civs sitting in meetings all day. All anyone cares about is a promotion, whether that means actually doing work and taking credit for someone else's work is another story.