How Long Will The Shutdown Last? (Dec 2018)

[93henfan]

I'm not in a crisis. Just a lot of uncertainty, and that part SUCKS. If they said, "hey, you'll be shut down until April 1," for instance, people could plan accordingly. The ones with no savings, for instance, could just cut their losses and immediately go look for another job. The vast majority of us, though, have a lot invested in our careers and our skills might not necessarily be translated to the private sector, so what do you do? You're pretty much compelled to wait.

I know. I went through the 2013 shut down/sequester. That sucked and it was 16 days (IIRC).

In the mean time, have you thought about a life of crime to pay the bills/pass the time?

I've been through every shutdown since I started with civil service in 2001. I don't recall being impacted by shutdowns when I was in the Marine Corps in the 90s. I know my mom (career civil service) got shut down under Clinton, but I really don't remember ever sitting home as a Marine.

I was with DoD in the 2013 shut down and they managed the furlough by having us work four days a week for 16 weeks (ultimately ended much earlier) and receive 80% pay during that time. The Pentagon was able to shift funds around to make that happen.

And of course, I've also had my pay frozen for four of the last nine years by Trump and Obama, while the private sector has flourished.

[Ibanez]

I know. I went through the 2013 shut down/sequester. That sucked and it was 16 days (IIRC).

In the mean time, have you thought about a life of crime to pay the bills/pass the time?

I've been through every shutdown since I started with civil service in 2001. I don't recall being impacted by shutdowns when I was in the Marine Corps in the 90s. I know my mom (career civil service) got shut down under Clinton, but I really don't remember ever sitting home as a Marine.

I was with DoD in the 2013 shut down and they managed the furlough by having us work four days a week for 16 weeks (ultimately ended much earlier) and receive 80% pay during that time. The Pentagon was able to shift funds around to make that happen.

And of course, I've also had my pay frozen for four of the last nine years by Trump and Obama.

I was a non-essential contractor in 2013. I was told to stay home. Then that night I was told to come in b/c they needed a budget and risk analysis of how the sequester (and the loss of 40-60% of funds) would hurt the program. That was back in my Booz Allen days.


Gotta say, that sequester actually helped some projects. Ours (TacMobile) learned that we were doing so much work we were under no contractual obligation to perform. Millions of dollars worth of work that we could stop doing and diver that money to actual mission critical work.

[Ibanez]

Federal workers get screwed at every turn, it's sad.

[JohnStOnge]

Good GRIEF we agree on something. No doubt. We'd be a LOT better off right now if he was the President instead of either Clinton or Trump.

And he’s got about as much chance of being president as I do...so, as long as we’re living in la-la land, I’ll go ahead and throw my hat in the ring.

The only reason he's got little chance is that he can't get through a primary controlled by the types of nut job voters that would vote to nominate somebody like Trump. Once he got to the general election he'd be very formidable because he's actually reasonable as well as qualified. If you had a national election tomorrow where the choice was Kasich or Trump Kasich would win in a landslide. He'd also beat Clinton but not by as much.

The Republicans had everything fall right for them last time and squeaked by. And yes, in historical terms it was squeaking by. He won the Electoral College with 56.5% of the Electoral votes and the historical average for Presidential Election winners is 71.3%. His win ranks 46th of 58. More importantly, his margins in the key States that got him over the top were very thin. 1.2 percentage points in Florida, 0.2 in Michigan, 0.7 in Pennsylvania, and 0.8 in Wisconsin. He did not get a majority of the vote in any of those States.

They got by. But the Republicans have a problem in that during most years candidates that can get through the Republican primaries are going to have issues during the general election because the Republicans have a problem right now with a critical mass of their base being ignorant, hateful nut jobs.

[Chizzang]

I know. I went through the 2013 shut down/sequester. That sucked and it was 16 days (IIRC).

In the mean time, have you thought about a life of crime to pay the bills/pass the time?

I've been through every shutdown since I started with civil service in 2001. I don't recall being impacted by shutdowns when I was in the Marine Corps in the 90s. I know my mom (career civil service) got shut down under Clinton, but I really don't remember ever sitting home as a Marine.

I was with DoD in the 2013 shut down and they managed the furlough by having us work four days a week for 16 weeks (ultimately ended much earlier) and receive 80% pay during that time. The Pentagon was able to shift funds around to make that happen.

And of course, I've also had my pay frozen for four of the last nine years by Trump and Obama, while the private sector has flourished.

Then go get a fucking real job cha-chi...
Jeezus you sound like a Liberal apologist



Boot straps

[JohnStOnge]

BTW I just saw an example of what I was talking about during interviews with Iowans about Steve King. The guy asked this woman about the terminology "White Supremacy" being offensive. The woman took on the typical, angry Trump-supporter tone and said she doesn't think it's offensive and that people who do need to get a spine. People like that make up somewhere between 30 and 40% of the Republican base right now and it's a problem for the Party.

[93henfan]

I've been through every shutdown since I started with civil service in 2001. I don't recall being impacted by shutdowns when I was in the Marine Corps in the 90s. I know my mom (career civil service) got shut down under Clinton, but I really don't remember ever sitting home as a Marine.

I was with DoD in the 2013 shut down and they managed the furlough by having us work four days a week for 16 weeks (ultimately ended much earlier) and receive 80% pay during that time. The Pentagon was able to shift funds around to make that happen.

And of course, I've also had my pay frozen for four of the last nine years by Trump and Obama, while the private sector has flourished.

Then go get a fucking real job cha-chi...
Jeezus you sound like a Liberal apologist



Boot straps

It's funny listening to a little faggot like you talk tough.

[Chizzang]

Then go get a fucking real job cha-chi...
Jeezus you sound like a Liberal apologist



Boot straps

It's funny listening to a little faggot like you talk tough.

Triggered..?
And where exactly is the tough talk in my post - I'm having trouble finding it
If by tough you mean "truthiness" well there is some of that

BTW:
The economy is booming - everybody is hiring
if you would like to get paid then take some responsibility for yourself
and THAT is the Republican answer to your very own situation



truth

[Grizalltheway]

[93henfan]

Not really.

I've invested in a career in my niche field. I've educated myself to the point of a masters degree and hundreds of hours of continuing education to stay current. I'm in very high demand when politicians aren't holding me hostage over a border wall. Chizzang couldn't do my job, unless he had spent the requisite years learning the trade, roughly 10-15 years for my job and I have 23 years of federal service; it would be complete Greek to anyone walking in off the street. It's a highly specialized and difficult job, reading the Federal Register daily and staying current with the proposed and final rules, various acts of Congress, and the entire legal framework for overseeing the federal contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements process. Unfortunately, it's so specialized that it doesn't translate well to a job at the same level of pay in the private sector, because private contractors operate at a lower, for lack of a better word, cognitive level. Because of inherently governmental functions, we can only let them do certain things. Private contractors do things like basic purchasing and some slightly higher levels of contract specialist work like drafting contract documents and doing limited negotiation. They don't do obligations (the job of a federal contracting officer) or provide oversight of contracting officers and create acquisition policy (my job as a senior Procurement and Policy Analyst).

So I'm stuck waiting. I don't have any other viable option.

[Grizalltheway]

Not really.

I've invested in a career in my niche field. I've educated myself to the point of a masters degree and hundreds of hours of continuing education to stay current. I'm in very high demand when politicians aren't holding me hostage over a border wall. Chizzang couldn't do my job, unless he had spent the requisite years learning the trade, roughly 10-15 years for my job and I have 23 years of federal service; it would be complete Greek to anyone walking in off the street. It's a highly specialized and difficult job, reading the Federal Register daily and staying current with the proposed and final rules, various acts of Congress, and the entire legal framework for overseeing the federal contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements process. Unfortunately, it's so specialized that it doesn't translate well to a job at the same level of pay in the private sector, because private contractors operate at a lower, for lack of a better word, cognitive level. Because of inherently governmental functions, we can only let them do certain things. Private contractors do things like basic purchasing and some slightly higher levels of contract specialist work like drafting contract documents and doing limited negotiation. They don't do obligations (the job of a federal contracting officer) or provide oversight of contracting officers and create acquisition policy (my job as a senior Procurement and Policy Analyst).

So I'm stuck waiting. I don't have any other viable option.

Don't doubt any of that man. I just like the meme.

[93henfan]

I'm not on a boat.

[GannonFan]

Any compromise outcome of all of this should be a means of never allowing a government shutdown (i.e. regular employees being furloughed and/or forced to work without pay for an unspecified period of time) to happen. Just make it a law that we can't do this and we don't do this again. It serves no purpose and is just the result of well-off people who aren't impacted to cause unnecessary harm and stress to people who aren't as well-off. It shouldn't even be a part of the political negotiation table.

[Ivytalk]

Not really.

I've invested in a career in my niche field. I've educated myself to the point of a masters degree and hundreds of hours of continuing education to stay current. I'm in very high demand when politicians aren't holding me hostage over a border wall. Chizzang couldn't do my job, unless he had spent the requisite years learning the trade, roughly 10-15 years for my job and I have 23 years of federal service; it would be complete Greek to anyone walking in off the street. It's a highly specialized and difficult job, reading the Federal Register daily and staying current with the proposed and final rules, various acts of Congress, and the entire legal framework for overseeing the federal contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements process. Unfortunately, it's so specialized that it doesn't translate well to a job at the same level of pay in the private sector, because private contractors operate at a lower, for lack of a better word, cognitive level. Because of inherently governmental functions, we can only let them do certain things. Private contractors do things like basic purchasing and some slightly higher levels of contract specialist work like drafting contract documents and doing limited negotiation. They don't do obligations (the job of a federal contracting officer) or provide oversight of contracting officers and create acquisition policy (my job as a senior Procurement and Policy Analyst).

So I'm stuck waiting. I don't have any other viable option.

In my 37-year legal career, 93, I had to research the Federal Register and/or current and proposed federal regs maybe half a dozen times. In each case, it was excruciating. Having read your post, I have all the more sympathy for your position and your achievements.

See you in Seaford on 2/11.

[Grizalltheway]

I'm not on a boat.

That's your problem. You should be.

[93henfan]

I'm not on a boat.

That's your problem. You should be.

I know.

[93henfan]

See you in Seaford on 2/11.

I do want to check that out.

[Chizzang]

Not really.

I've invested in a career in my niche field. I've educated myself to the point of a masters degree and hundreds of hours of continuing education to stay current. I'm in very high demand when politicians aren't holding me hostage over a border wall. Chizzang couldn't do my job, unless he had spent the requisite years learning the trade, roughly 10-15 years for my job and I have 23 years of federal service; it would be complete Greek to anyone walking in off the street. It's a highly specialized and difficult job, reading the Federal Register daily and staying current with the proposed and final rules, various acts of Congress, and the entire legal framework for overseeing the federal contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements process. Unfortunately, it's so specialized that it doesn't translate well to a job at the same level of pay in the private sector, because private contractors operate at a lower, for lack of a better word, cognitive level. Because of inherently governmental functions, we can only let them do certain things. Private contractors do things like basic purchasing and some slightly higher levels of contract specialist work like drafting contract documents and doing limited negotiation. They don't do obligations (the job of a federal contracting officer) or provide oversight of contracting officers and create acquisition policy (my job as a senior Procurement and Policy Analyst).

So I'm stuck waiting. I don't have any other viable option.

tl/dr... ^



I'd hug your fat ass right now just for the Trump lolz

[93henfan]

tl/dr... ^



I'd hug your fat ass right now just for the Trump lolz

Nothing of substance to add, as usual.

[Chizzang]

tl/dr... ^



I'd hug your fat ass right now just for the Trump lolz

Nothing of substance to add, as usual.

With all due respect...
The Cemetery is full of highly specialized and irreplaceable dead people - and yet here we are



We're all just workers among workers - get over yourself you pompous windbag

[93henfan]

Nothing of substance to add, as usual.

With all due respect...
The Cemetery is full of highly specialized and irreplaceable dead people - and yet here we are



We're all just workers among workers - get over yourself you pompous windbag

Man, you either have skipped the entire thread or your reading comprehension is extremely poor. I think I've said I'm non-essential about 500 times so far in it. That angle is spent. Look for a new one.

And I'm the pompous windbag? That's rich. You're about as pompous as they come.

[Chizzang]

With all due respect...
The Cemetery is full of highly specialized and irreplaceable dead people - and yet here we are



We're all just workers among workers - get over yourself you pompous windbag

Man, you either have skipped the entire thread or your reading comprehension is extremely poor. I think I've said I'm non-essential about 500 times so far in it. That angle is spent. Look for a new one.

And I'm the pompous windbag? That's rich. You're about as pompous as they come.

Thank you for recognizing my specialty (I'm flattered)



If you're non-essential
why write a 500 word thesis on how important you think are ..?

Just asking (for Trump)

[93henfan]

Serious question: Anyone here ever driven for Uber?

[AZGrizFan]

Serious question: Anyone here ever driven for Uber?

Never done it but not a bad idea 93...

[93henfan]

Serious question: Anyone here ever driven for Uber?

Never done it but not a bad idea 93...

My problem here is probably population density. This place is tumbleweeds when it's not beach weather.