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Tenmile · (This post was last modified: 12-20-2009 06:22 PM by Tenmile.)

Quote:Federal government offices in the Washington region will be closed on Monday. Nonessential government workers will be granted excused absences.

Dang. I was all ready to work...from home.

tigerdeaconmom · 12-20-2009, 06:28 PM

Well, Tenmile this will just give you more time to comment here then Wink

Must be really, really, really bad up your way?

TimTerpT · 12-20-2009, 06:30 PM

Unless things have changed significantly since I worked there(long ago!), the D.C. Government has the most incompetent municpal workers in the country. The only thing they do with any efficiency is send out tickets from traffic cameras and they are able to get that right because they outsource the job!

Tenmile · 12-20-2009, 06:42 PM

Actually, I was somewhat surprised by the news. We live in a pretty seriously rural spot but our road has been clear all day and we're completely dug out. How bad can it be elsewhere?

Maybe the idea is to stimulate the local economy by turning a bunch of Feds loose in the stores Monday!

jws · 12-20-2009, 07:11 PM

Wonder what it would take to keep it closed for another three years...

Wolf · 12-20-2009, 09:39 PM

(12-20-2009 06:30 PM)TimTerpT Wrote: Unless things have changed significantly since I worked there(long ago!), the D.C. Government has the most incompetent municpal workers in the country. The only thing they do with any efficiency is send out tickets from traffic cameras and they are able to get that right because they outsource the job!

Yep. The DC Government is pretty dang bad. From my 20 some year experience up there, the DC Government was a microcosm of the Fed. That is, if you have punched the clock for the day, you are working. Don't have to do squat. Just punch the clock and you're working. That is reality of the greater mentality inside the beltway.

Tenmile · 12-20-2009, 10:58 PM

(12-20-2009 09:39 PM)Wolf Wrote:
(12-20-2009 06:30 PM)TimTerpT Wrote: Unless things have changed significantly since I worked there(long ago!), the D.C. Government has the most incompetent municpal workers in the country. The only thing they do with any efficiency is send out tickets from traffic cameras and they are able to get that right because they outsource the job!

Yep. The DC Government is pretty dang bad. From my 20 some year experience up there, the DC Government was a microcosm of the Fed. That is, if you have punched the clock for the day, you are working. Don't have to do squat. Just punch the clock and you're working. That is reality of the greater mentality inside the beltway.

Wolf, I think you are describing an imaginary straw man.

The DC I know is the hardest working town in the country. It has the nation's highest percentage of two-earner households. It has one of the nation's longest average commutes. The federal workforce in DC is highly educated: practically everyone I work with is either an attorney or holds a PhD. Government workers are patriotic, engaged, believe-in-what they're doing people, taking work home every night and burning use-or-lose vacation time at the end of the year because they just never take vacations. Many of us live and breath our work.

Some people wish we were a bit less diligent...

Goldfish · 12-21-2009, 12:08 AM

I have to agree with Tenmile. I worked the Fed for 18 years. I've never seen such a dedicated bunch of people in my life. I was in the science agencies and the knowledge base was incredible. Truly, these people are the lifeblood of the commerce and transportation federal agencies. Every move and decision they make involves the public interest and please don't forget, yes the pay and benniess are great but these people chose to be public servants.

Yes, there are deadbeats but they also exist in private industry as well. The typical "Government worker" persona is definitely not an accurate description.

Wolf · (This post was last modified: 12-21-2009 06:38 AM by Wolf.)

(12-20-2009 10:58 PM)Tenmile Wrote:
(12-20-2009 09:39 PM)Wolf Wrote:
(12-20-2009 06:30 PM)TimTerpT Wrote: Unless things have changed significantly since I worked there(long ago!), the D.C. Government has the most incompetent municpal workers in the country. The only thing they do with any efficiency is send out tickets from traffic cameras and they are able to get that right because they outsource the job!

Yep. The DC Government is pretty dang bad. From my 20 some year experience up there, the DC Government was a microcosm of the Fed. That is, if you have punched the clock for the day, you are working. Don't have to do squat. Just punch the clock and you're working. That is reality of the greater mentality inside the beltway.

Wolf, I think you are describing an imaginary straw man.

The DC I know is the hardest working town in the country. It has the nation's highest percentage of two-earner households. It has one of the nation's longest average commutes. The federal workforce in DC is highly educated: practically everyone I work with is either an attorney or holds a PhD. Government workers are patriotic, engaged, believe-in-what they're doing people, taking work home every night and burning use-or-lose vacation time at the end of the year because they just never take vacations. Many of us live and breath our work.

Some people wish we were a bit less diligent...

I hear ya. I had two S.I.L's that worked for the Fed. Both professionals and both very "high-up" in their respective branches. That's all I will say about them. I lived and worked there for a long time. I know what the work force is like. There are some very hard working people there.

However, once you get below that layer, and the layer you describe, that may or not be so true. My many dealings with DC government, of which I had many, were almost always a bad experience. I am not comfortable getting into or citing details.

You're right and you're wrong. I was describing a straw man, unfortunately, NOT imaginary. Look. I know there are hard working folks in DC and w/ the FED. However, there is a propensity of the system to turn the blind eye to those that don't do ##(# because they know they can't be fired or it is too hard to get rid of the slackers.

TimTerpT · 12-21-2009, 07:25 AM

There is a HUGE difference between D.C. municipal workers and employees of the federal government that work in DC!

Tenmile · 12-21-2009, 07:29 AM

Wolf, why do you insist on making comparisons between federal workers and DC government workers? I'm really mystified. Help me out here.

Goldfish · 12-21-2009, 09:53 AM

Wolf, I will agree that they can't touch those workers who are beyond lax with a 10-foot pole. In 18 years, I only saw 3 clueless workers fired and that took 6 months of paperwork and diligent monitoring to get 'r done.

***Tagterp*** · 12-21-2009, 11:22 AM

(12-20-2009 06:22 PM)Tenmile Wrote: Extra day off for Feds

Quote:Federal government offices in the Washington region will be closed on Monday. Nonessential government workers will be granted excused absences.

Dang. I was all ready to work...from home.

Are those off with pay" Are they required to use paid leave? Or is this a Christmas bonus for the federal employees group, growing under Obama by 10,000 plus per month?

AllBiz · 12-21-2009, 11:50 AM

(12-20-2009 07:11 PM)jws Wrote: Wonder what it would take to keep it closed for another three years...

+1

Wolf · (This post was last modified: 12-21-2009 12:20 PM by Wolf.)

(12-21-2009 07:29 AM)Tenmile Wrote: Wolf, why do you insist on making comparisons between federal workers and DC government workers? I'm really mystified. Help me out here.

>>>El Linko1<<<

Quote: From above link The federal government does at least one thing well: It generates red tape. But not one inch of that red tape appears by accident. In fact, the government creates it all with the best of intentions. It is time now to put aside our reverence for those good intentions and examine what they have created--a system that makes it hard for our civil servants to do what we pay them for, and frustrates taxpayers who rightfully expect their money's worth.

>>>El Linko2<<<

>>>El Linko3<<<

>>> El Linko4<<<

>>>El Linko5<<<

>>>El Linko6<<<

>>>El Linko7<<<

>>>El Linko8<<<

>>>El Linko9<<<

>>>El Linko10<<<

Let’s cut to the chase. I apologize for implying that Fed workers are “lazy”. The problem w/ the Fed is not the workers, but the system they have to work in. Much like DC. AS I SAID in my first post, I consider DC to be a microcosm of the Fed. There are good eggs and bad eggs. However, the system say in the Fed causes people to work long and hard at many inefficient tasks, red-tape procedures, while adhering to an over-burden of regulations that will not, in its present form allow any streamlining.

The Fed worker, God bless his/her soul, is just caught up in it. I apologize for associating the "mentality" w/ the individual. It is the "mentality" of a flawed and extremely inefficiently run Federal Government. And yes, the DC government in my opinion is a microcosm of the inefficiencies of the Fed.

Tenmile · 12-21-2009, 12:21 PM

(12-21-2009 11:22 AM)Tagterp Wrote:
(12-20-2009 06:22 PM)Tenmile Wrote: Extra day off for Feds

Quote:Federal government offices in the Washington region will be closed on Monday. Nonessential government workers will be granted excused absences.

Dang. I was all ready to work...from home.

Are those off with pay" Are they required to use paid leave? Or is this a Christmas bonus for the federal employees group, growing under Obama by 10,000 plus per month?

These are with-pay absences for which no leave is required to be taken. Monday's closure only affects workers planning on being at work, not those already scheduled with vacation time.

BTW I put in about 3 hours of work today anyway...

***Tagterp*** · 12-21-2009, 04:32 PM

(12-21-2009 12:21 PM)Tenmile Wrote:
(12-21-2009 11:22 AM)Tagterp Wrote:
(12-20-2009 06:22 PM)Tenmile Wrote: Extra day off for Feds

Quote:Federal government offices in the Washington region will be closed on Monday. Nonessential government workers will be granted excused absences.

Dang. I was all ready to work...from home.

Are those off with pay" Are they required to use paid leave? Or is this a Christmas bonus for the federal employees group, growing under Obama by 10,000 plus per month?

Thanks

These are with-pay absences for which no leave is required to be taken. Monday's closure only affects workers planning on being at work, not those already scheduled with vacation time.

BTW I put in about 3 hours of work today anyway...