Anyone else impacted by this?
As a federal employee, I am currently sitting at home, well, cleaning up my house. No work = no pay. Needless to say, I don't mind an extra day off after a tough 50K but if this goes on much longer I won't be able to pay the bills.
Donate to my NYC Marathon fundraiser for Every Mother Counts!
NYCM: 11/4/2018
Uh oh... now what?
The wonders of the economy and the finances of government. My summer job (state park) that supplements our not-quite-properly-planned retirement fell under the axe last year. I went from 40 hours to 18 hours a week. This is the second summer of it. When September 1st came I entered the "any day can be the last" phase.
It (government) enters a new level of silliness -- it appears volunteers can no longer use power equipment (financial constraint in liability), so, for the first time in eight years I will not do trail maintenance during the off-season.
Hope your "vacation" is short.
rgot
Le professeur de trail
Not directly affected but a friend of ours, who works for the gov't, was in Colorado for a 2 month training (for Military Police I think). He was a mere 3 days from graduation. Because of the shut down, the training is done and all of the students/cadets have no place to stay. They have to scramble to find flights home - paid for by themselves. Thanks to our wonderful gov't!
Hope this gets "resolved" soon for you TnC and everyone else involved.
Makes me envy the folks that live off the land and are content instead of relying on gov't to sustain.
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
DH is an 'essential' employee, but cannot get into his workplace since they are shutting down the garages, air conditioning, etc. so he is currently working from home. And they've spent most of the last week contingency planning for the shutdown, further adding to the costs. Multiply this across all departments in all the agencies and the fact they've had to do this planning more than a few times in the past few years... Nice to know our hard earned taxes are going to such good use, eh?
We have friends that are double federal incomes in the household, or single parent feds. I hope this is resolved quickly for all our sake, but especially those that will feel even greater hardships than the average american.
DS is in the PA Air Guard but is on active duty for training right now so he falls under the Federal Gov. Overnight his Bank account was credited with his normal pay so he should be good for the next two weeks.
I just wish that none of the politicians that are voting to shut down the government would get paid a dime for the time it's shut down, and that includes any back pay. I won't say what I think about the idiots in government, it'll probably get me in trouble.
Faster Than Your Couch!
Yesterday, I talked to my dad on the phone, and he told me that he and my sister were planning on visiting us. My dad's plans were to go to Atlanta, and drive up north on Blue Ridge Parkway, through the National Parks there. We planned to meet them somewhere in the D.C. area. I have not seen them in years, and I am so excited about these news. As my dad is an entomologist, visiting the National Parks in order to find his insects is the main purpose of the trip.
Now, with the National Parks closed, and tourists having been given a 2-day notice to leave the parks, the whole trip is at stake. My dad might cancel the trip, and with my sister working full time, it won't be likely that they can reschedule it. The timing is also crucial to finding the right insects, even just one or two weeks later can turn the endeavour into a failure, so rescheduling might even be out of question at all.
I am really mad, and I hope things will resolve very soon, but my gut is telling me that the shutdown might drag on longer than we all wish for.
I hope so much to see my dad and my sister soon again!
Run for fun.
DH is an 'essential' employee, but cannot get into his workplace since they are shutting down the garages, air conditioning, etc. so he is currently working from home. And they've spent most of the last week contingency planning for the shutdown, further adding to the costs. Multiply this across all departments in all the agencies and the fact they've had to do this planning more than a few times in the past few years... Nice to know our hard earned taxes are going to such good use, eh? We have friends that are double federal incomes in the household, or single parent feds. I hope this is resolved quickly for all our sake, but especially those that will feel even greater hardships than the average american.
We are also a double federal income household....my fiance and I work for the same agency. This is not uncommon at our agency either. I am glad we don't have kids, I can't imagine how difficult this will be for parents who both work for the fed. govt. The only consolation I have right now is that they are trying to push a bill through the house right now to ensure backpay for federal employees.
I will only say that we are the only Western democracy that can vote to spend money but not vote to borrow/finance to support that spending.
Whether it will get me in trouble or not, the issue is that many elected officials do not wish government to work (like electing anarchists or having an atheist Pope). Due to gerrymandering, there are many districts, especially for non-urban seats, that are safe so that elected officials do not have to respond to the citizenry at large in their state or district, but only to the most extreme wing of their party. I somehow thought the founders had warned against unchecked factionalism .....
Not affected there, I hope that this is over soon though for all those that are affected.
Not to make light of it but I did notice that the Google Doodle for today is about the 123rd anniversary of Yosemite National Park, but today it's closed.
2/17/24 - Forgotten Florida 100 Mile, Christmas, FL
One reason why withholding paychecks from Congress won't work is that they don't need them. They're all millionaires, and the congressional salary they receive is a pittance compared to what they have in their bank accounts. Politicians are so out of touch with the average American, they have no idea how most of us live.
Take Charge. Train Harder. Suck Less. No Excuses.
Refurbished Hip
Everyone is affected by this, whether directly or indirectly, but I really feel for those of you who can't work, or are stuck working without pay. They are shutting down maintenance of our National Scenic Trail for the time being, even though it is maintained by volunteers.
As part of the shutdown of the federal government, the National Park Service’s Volunteers-In-Parks (VIP) program is currently suspended. This program provides important medical and liability coverage to those volunteering on (or on behalf of) the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
A lack of this coverage exposes volunteers to the responsibility associated with tort claims and medical costs that could result from any injury or accident that occurs while volunteering.
Because volunteer safety is a cornerstone of the Ice Age Trail Alliance, until further notice all Ice Age Trail volunteer activities will cease, including (but not limited to):
Volunteers may resume these activities once the shutdown ends and the VIP program resumes.
The Ice Age Trail Alliance greatly regrets the need to make this decision. One of the few things that exceeds our respect for the efforts of volunteers is our desire to ensure that all volunteers are able to work safely with the protection offered by the VIP program.
Running is dumb.
Irish Luck
Ugh. TnC, I'm really sorry that you are impacted. I have a good friend who works for the GPO in DC (the start of the Federal fiscal is usually her busiest time of year) and she decided that until she returns to work, she is going to be a full time advocate for brain tumors and cancer awareness. While it won't help pay her bills, she's taking it all in stride as improving awareness and increasing funding for brain tumor and cancer research are her real passion. She's viewing it as an opportunity while furloughed. Lemons > Lemonade.
BT survivor since 2003. Trail runner since 2009.
I think brain surgery stimulated my running nerve and made me into a trail runner. I'm grateful for both.
I thought it was going to postpone us closing on this new house because it is a VA home loan. Thankfully, it did not. But, it has put some folks I know who are federal employees in a bad situation. I think Congress should have their pay suspended until they get things going again.
I don't know enough about Obamacare (Obamascare?) to speak about it, but I do know that people must be able to engage in discourse to make things work. Right now, things are about as bad as I have seen them.
LB2
That is true.
Lake Okhissa down here in SW Mississippi (I am just across the line in Louisiana) is closed due to the USFS shutdown. However, I do plan to call in sick on Monday and run my ass off all through those woods. Mid 50's are the temps for Monday.