Maintenance & Restoration

ZachO · 12-23-2018, 06:13 PM

Things may have changed, Pat, though I'll admit I'm not sure. I remember talking to the refuge manager last winter, and I thought I remembered him saying he was already on vacation in Hawaii when the government shut down, and they called him to tell him he had to come home because he couldn't be that far from his duty station when the government was shut down. Doesn't make a lot of sense but this is the government we're talking about...People were sitting around the office last week talking about whether they'd be able to take a Christmas vacation they had planned. Something with needing to be around to hang a sign, put a voicemail message and email message up saying the gov was shut down, and not being able to go a certain distance from their duty station in case the gov opened back up and they had to change the messages. Like I said I don't know the specifics but there's something going on messing with some people's vacation plans.

Some BLM land is a bit more developed. The general word seems to be "if there's a gate or a door that can be locked, it's probably closed. Anywhere that can't be locked is open". That would include most BLM land, but some areas that are especially popular have been developed into recreation areas and can be shut down during a...shut down.

slowpat · 12-23-2018, 07:00 PM

ZachO, that sounds odd, but who knows? Things change. Usually a person of importance has an underling designated to take care of things whilst he/she is off on vacation.

I hated being in the office long enough for the zombies to be pounding on the windows wanting to buy firewood permits. The answer was No. At least they were trying to be legal about it.

gordon2 · 12-23-2018, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowpat

....In every shut down so far, employees have been paid for the forced time off. It's the paycheck to paycheck folks who are hurt during the shutdown. Otherwise, it is a staycation.
..

A "staycation" paid for by the taxpayers. You said it. Little gets done yet employees are paid (later) the same as if productivity was normal. A federal Government shutdown does not save any money.. it actually costs taxpayers more. That is the insanity of this, and of the people that "we" elected to lead us.

slowpat · 12-23-2018, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gordon2

A "staycation" paid for by the taxpayers. You said it. Little gets done yet employees are paid (later) the same as if productivity was normal. A federal Government shutdown does not save any money.. it actually costs taxpayers more. That is the insanity of this, and of the people that "we" elected to lead us.

And federal employees are also taxpayers. Nobody has said that a shutdown saves money. It is obvious that it does not. I'll stand with calling it a staycation for some employees, they have no choice in the matter.

ZachO · 12-24-2018, 09:29 AM

Yeah. If I still care enough (

) after the holidays, I'll ask what the deal is. Even a "lowly" range tech was talking about having to stay within a certain distance of the duty station if the shutdown happened.

I worked for the Forest Service a couple summers back and heard about the summer before when there was a shutdown. Everyone was off for two weeks, then got paid for that time, just like you guys are talking about.

Right, a shutdown happens because the budget can't be agreed on, which means money isn't approved for uses, which means government has to stop operating. Not about saving money.

Well, whatever the deal is, Merry Christmas!

slowpat · 12-24-2018, 11:58 AM

All I know is that a shutdown is a time of confusion--different interpretations of what to do are rampant.

I drift here a bit, but way back I was on a fire crew that was thrown together. There were very few actual fire people on it. Most were not but we were permanent, older employees. After two weeks, we were sent to Pendleton, OR for a day of rest. We wanted to do laundry and beer, mostly the latter. We were in the rodeo grounds and fenced in. The security guys told us we had to stay put, them's the rules. We knew the real rules and climbed over the chain link fence to freedom, and beer. No repercussions as we called their bluff. After our escape, the "closed camp" became open. This is kind of an example of people in authority trying to BS others.

ZachO · 12-24-2018, 12:23 PM

There may be more to it, but I just talked to a refuge employee and his take was closer to yours on the shutdown. If you're already on annual leave, you can be gone. It's only if the government shuts down, then you decide "hey might as well get out of town" that you're out of luck. If you didn't already get leave approved, you need to stick around in case things open back up. Sounds like it's probably still the way you remember it.