Shutdown Log Day Thirteen

[Arcadia]

To not even be allowed a vote and not even be given control of your own city's tax dollars. Be grateful that your state and local governments aren't allowed to be held hostage like this as well. A special privilege only those of us in DC get.

That is more yucky than the money politics here. Sacramento is having a "tiff" with the Education Secretary anyway over standardized testing.

My parents in Asia has the shutdown mess on their local tv news and newspapers. They are probably more updated/current on the news than me.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm not going to update the title until Monday, but the weekend report is that it's not amusing anymore. DH is getting cranky. This morning he voiced his displeasure over the state of the laundry. Never mind that today is Laundry Day, it took everything in me not to point out that he's had four whole days to focus on laundry if it mattered to him. I'm pretty sure my glare said it all. Apparently, his office has accustomed him to a level of deference that he's not getting at home. Sorry, Babe, I'm still working here. Help if you want. Do your own thing and stay out of my way if you want. Micromanaging MYoffice isn't a choice.

 

(I feel better now :-)

[Kerileanne99]

I guess our situation is slightly different, and I am so sorry for all of you whose families are really suffering. I wish the best for you.

 

I am a US Army veteran, in a wheelchair and considered 100% disabled. Although benefits were paid to veterans on Oct 1st, they are not expected to be paid in November unless the shutdown is ended...that is bad enough.

However, I have been at the VA hospital quite a bit this week as I recently had hip surgery. I have also just found out that I am pregnant! (Yay!)

But it will be considered a very high-risk pregnancy, and since such things are contracted to civilian facilities, we may be waiting a bit. This seems to be the case with many at the VA waiting on external consults. The VA workers that are there are just too overworked.

In addition, our house is in the process of being converted for wheelchair use, and because this is partially funded by a VA grant? We may be sitting in a construction zone waiting for a while.

 

My hubby teaches at a large university, and because we are quite near FT. Hood, there are many veterans attending on programs such as the GI bill or Vocational Rehab. They are not going to get their funding if his continues, and the VA Regional office here is already struggling to function. The office itself will be primarily closed as well.

I know so many, many veterans from casual contact at the VA. Many of them were struggling before this, but this could tip them over the edge. The homeless population here is directly correlated to access for veterans to programs, especially mental health. I am so worried about how this will affect their long-term health as well...😞

[LibraryLover]

Did anyone see Colbert marry a couple who had their wedding shut down because it was supposed to be held this weekend at the Jefferson memorial? If not, it's worth a look. :)  lol  I needed that laugh because this 'slimdown' has me very agitated.

[TXMary2]

But then there'd be no constitutional way to resolve the problem.

 

I'll try to to get too political, but I am a bit sick of the supposedly bland sentiment that everyone is to blame or we should throw them all out. I would like to have congress men and women who do have some experience actually. Not that anyone lets me vote.

 

I am not saying they shouldn't be replaced, I am saying that everyone there now, with the exception of maybe two people, need to be fired.  I understand we need government, but we don't "need" what we currently have. 

[Farrar]

I am not saying they shouldn't be replaced, I am saying that everyone there now, with the exception of maybe two people, need to be fired.  I understand we need government, but we don't "need" what we currently have. 

 

But if we replaced them all, they wouldn't have experience, which was part of my point.  I am never against a politician based on having experience.  I'm against the ones I disagree with.  Whenever there's a large influx of new House members, business in the House slows down.  That's been historically true for many, many years.  It's because it takes awhile for new members to learn the ropes and learn to compromise.  They're like children new to preschool who have to learn to share the toys.  To extend the metaphor, sometimes one of them learns to manipulate the class so well they start hoarding the toys and need to be voted out, but I really don't want to vote out the members who have learned to share and compromise, skills you get from experience typically.  

 

I understand that many people don't agree with this.  That they blame everyone equally and think there should be term limits for everyone.  I just disagree and don't find it to be as mild and obviously agreeable a sentiment as many others do.

[Shannon in TN]

But if we replaced them all, they wouldn't have experience, which was part of my point.  I am never against a politician based on having experience.  I'm against the ones I disagree with.  Whenever there's a large influx of new House members, business in the House slows down.  That's been historically true for many, many years.  It's because it takes awhile for new members to learn the ropes and learn to compromise.  They're like children new to preschool who have to learn to share the toys.  To extend the metaphor, sometimes one of them learns to manipulate the class so well they start hoarding the toys and need to be voted out, but I really don't want to vote out the members who have learned to share and compromise, skills you get from experience typically.  

 

I understand that many people don't agree with this.  That they blame everyone equally and think there should be term limits for everyone.  I just disagree and don't find it to be as mild and obviously agreeable a sentiment as many others do.

 

I see what you're saying, and I do agree that there is a learning curve with every job - not just government.  It does help to have those experienced there to help the new people adjust and learn the ropes.  

 

What I have a problem with are those who have been in for decades.  They started in the 70's and 80's and it's just not that world any more.  I'm sure many of them have changed and adapted, but many are stuck in the "old way" of doing things and just aren't open to change.  I believe there's enough overlap in the election cycle to allow for term limits to end on different election years.  Some will stay while others move on. 

 

.... and I had more to say but my mind just went ADD on me and I have no idea where that train of thought went.

:blushing:    :leaving:

[5LittleMonkeys]

We will know this coming Friday if dh will be furloughed or not.  He works for a contractor at an AF testing facility and they said they only had funds to support two weeks...that was a week ago.  No back pay for us.  No savings to speak of due to ridiculously high medical expenses for my youngest. Our insurance will last until the end of the month and then will be gone until dh goes back to work (we can't afford dh's insulin without insurance)...then he'll have to work two weeks before getting another paycheck.  

 

I heard someone on the news the other day saying that this shutdown wasn't really a big deal...they are apparently so far removed from the reality of the middle class that they can't possibly be expected to represent it effectively.  

I see what you're saying, and I do agree that there is a learning curve with every job - not just government.  It does help to have those experienced there to help the new people adjust and learn the ropes.  

 

What I have a problem with are those who have been in for decades.  They started in the 70's and 80's and it's just not that world any more.

 

Do you know how many house members were first elected in the 1970s?  Nine. Out of 435.  There's also one in the sixties, and  one in the fifties(!).  Granted, power comes to those in the House with seniority, but there aren't many house members with this much seniority.

[QueenCat]

 

I heard someone on the news the other day saying that this shutdown wasn't really a big deal...they are apparently so far removed from the reality of the middle class that they can't possibly be expected to represent it effectively.  

 

So very true............... and a big part of the problem!

[KungFuPanda]

We will know this coming Friday if dh will be furloughed or not.  He works for a contractor at an AF testing facility and they said they only had funds to support two weeks...that was a week ago.  No back pay for us.  No savings to speak of due to ridiculously high medical expenses for my youngest. Our insurance will last until the end of the month and then will be gone until dh goes back to work (we can't afford dh's insulin without insurance)...then he'll have to work two weeks before getting another paycheck.  

 

I heard someone on the news the other day saying that this shutdown wasn't really a big deal...they are apparently so far removed from the reality of the middle class that they can't possibly be expected to represent it effectively.

 

That's such an annoying attitude. They'd change their tune if someone just stole a week's wages from them. That's the mortgage payment! Two weeks? Mortgage plus other bills. In three weeks you start cutting into the food and gas budget. At what point does your health insurance disappear? Some of us will NEVER see that money again. It's just gone.

[KungFuPanda]

Uh-oh. Back-to-work emails are hitting my town. "Call for details" but phone lines are busy. Waiting . . .

[Mrs Mungo]

Most of the DoD civilians are going back to work tomorrow.

[KungFuPanda]

Lot's of govt workers are directed to return tomorrow. Contractors have been directed to a website that is . . .

 

Wait for it . . .

 

Down due to the shutdown. Ha!

[VeteranMom]

Dh's boss called today to say dh is expected back on the job tomorrow.  I guess the civil service Pentagon employees are now considered "essential".  Not sure if dh will be paid on-time yet.  We haven't received much information. 

[Anne in CA]

Two months ago our family bought a restaurant close to the middle of Lassen National Park. Due to the campground closures we are certainly losing some business, but we are still fairly busy. I don't know how much longer we will be this busy without the park being open, but it is hunting season and that helps.  Lassen is the least visited national park in the country. However, there is a Mount Lassen in Europe and people from German and Switzerland feel a deep connection to this mountain and many of them come to visit it. It is very sad to see that they have wasted their vacation to come here when the park is closed. Not to mention the money they have wasted. The Europeans I have spoken to are being pretty stoic about it for right now. I don't know when people will start to get angry here. There are still some Forest Service people at work, law enforcement and so on. I feel badly for the young people not working and not getting paid. The ones I have met here are nice people.

[Farrar]

Argh.  At the library today they told us that they'll be shut down by the end of the week if it's not resolved because the money in the city's coffers will run out and we're not allowed to access the rest of our money.  That, as I said before, is local money.  So that means no more trash collection, no more city parks, no more rec. centers, etc. by the end of the week.  No marriage licenses here either.  You can't get married in the city at all.  And I have no hope it will be resolved by the end of the week.  Grr!  I need my trash collected!  I need my library for schooling!  People in love should be able to marry!  (That one obviously doesn't effect me, it just ticks me off.)

 

Supposedly the city is already removing the trash from federal lands like the various parks that are "closed" but which have no way to keep people out.  The federal government can't do it.  Because they're "shut down."  Grr....  Grr...  If they don't pick up my trash, the alley rats might get big enough to attack.  I'm just sayin.

[NicAnn]

We are/were full time travelers. Most of our friends live in RVs full time and depend on the national park system for their lodging and income by working as camp hosts. This is turning out to be an issue for many already.

 

Blessing to those dealing with this!

[KungFuPanda]

DH got recalled today, so around noon he reluctantly put on his pants and trudged off to work because recalling him meant something went horribly wrong that the 'essential' staff couldn't fix. I politely and supportively waited until he'd left to do a little jig.

 

It's not over, but it looks like they want him to come in until the contract expires at the end of October. Actually a lot of people were recalled today. It's looking like the federal version of How Many Steps to Kevin Bacon, where Kevin is the military.

[blessed3x]

DH was called back yesterday afternoon.  He is now back at work, but like everyone else will not be paid until this is over and the budget is passed.

 

On another note:  the bats were removed yesterday, attic cleaned and disinfected, and screens were put up to keep them out.  Apparently, we have 2 chipmunks -not squirrels- in the chimney and attic.  He also put an exit door up so they can exit but not enter through. Hopefully this is eliminate the problem.  All of this for $800 with no money coming in. :crying:  Gggggrrrrrrr. But, at least it is done.  :hurray:

[QueenCat]

Argh.  At the library today they told us that they'll be shut down by the end of the week if it's not resolved because the money in the city's coffers will run out and we're not allowed to access the rest of our money.  That, as I said before, is local money.  So that means no more trash collection, no more city parks, no more rec. centers, etc. by the end of the week.  No marriage licenses here either.  You can't get married in the city at all.  And I have no hope it will be resolved by the end of the week.  Grr!  I need my trash collected!  I need my library for schooling!  People in love should be able to marry!  (That one obviously doesn't effect me, it just ticks me off.)

 

Supposedly the city is already removing the trash from federal lands like the various parks that are "closed" but which have no way to keep people out.  The federal government can't do it.  Because they're "shut down."  Grr....  Grr...  If they don't pick up my trash, the alley rats might get big enough to attack.  I'm just sayin.

 

Absolutely ridiculous......... especially the trash and marriage licenses part!

[MBM]

One-half of my husband's staff has been recalled. The other half are unofficially working at home until they get recalled. No one wants to deal with the mess they'll have when they get back.

 

I asked dh about interagency work. He said it's pretty common. For example, he used to oversee the investments for a large fund (in the billions), and on the days he'd make the investments, he had to coordinate the transactions with the Dept of Treasury. These had to be done at certain times, almost to the second, so Treasury people had to be available for the call. The agreements are either Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) or agreed-upon correspondence that indicates an agreement is in place.

 

He is also able to switch his entire staff over to a different source of funding, so if necessary, he could do that at some point. They would then get paid and be able to function as if everything were back to normal.

[MomatHWTK]

Very frustrated wondering when we will get paid.  It is going to be messy if all my auto-pay bills have no $ to cover them.  I am thinking of getting a loan now. 

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

[Farrar]

Very frustrated wondering when we will get paid.  It is going to be messy if all my auto-pay bills have no $ to cover them.  I am thinking of getting a loan now. 

 

Ugh.  This is my fear for people - that it will end up driving people into debt.  :(  I'm sorry.

 

We're so lucky that dh works for a company that contracts with the government, but is really stable and funded for now.  There's very little chance he'll lose income or have it delayed.

[Parrothead]

Luckily?  Our truck got backed into a couple weeks ago.  Today the money to fix the damage was deposited into our checking account.  The amount is almost equal to dh's take home pay for the next pay period.  We will survive into November now, but the truck won't get fixed.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

been on furlough since Friday.....He's gotten alot of yard work done and my kiddo seems to follow the belief that when dad's home it's time to play......hopefully I can get them to go to the park later and get some real dad/son time in....... ;) 

[Acorn]

Dh should be able to work as usual now.  I was scared because as a contractor he wasn't going to get a back pay offer.  They were going to offer them comp time/admin leave that they would have to work off in overtime.  I imagine that someone could say they would rather have the time off without pay, but dh was saying that he has a project deadline that must be met so he has to be working.

[blessed3x]

These two links are to Defense.gov and DFAS regarding pay for those furloughed.

 

From this, we will get paid a partial paycheck (through 10/1) next week if you are a civilian federal worker.  The following pay check will depend on your furlough status. I am hoping Congress will pass the back pay before then, but at least this is something coming in.

 

I hope this helps a little....   :grouphug:

 

 

[5LittleMonkeys]

Unless something big happens today dh will be furloughed as of Monday.  AND the alternator just went out on the van. :cursing:  :crying:   I've been calling around to find out if we can get food from our local food banks since whatever extra money we would have had after the essential bills were paid out of his last paycheck now has to go to fixing our only vehicle instead of towards food. 

 

I don't understand how those responsible can get away with holding jobs hostage to get what they want.  Seems to me that this borders on terrorism.  (And yes, I know that's probably a gross exaggeration...but I'm mad and scared right now...)

[SweetMissMagnolia]

dh talked to work this morning and he's to come in this afternoon----hope this is back to "normal" whatever that is..........

[MBM]

My husband is at work and was supposed to work on Monday, which is a federal holiday, but he just furloughed himself for that day. LOL.

 

 

[5LittleMonkeys]

Dh just got the word that they are shutting down the base for next week.  It's a testing facility so it takes them some time to shut everything down and finish up certain tests so they said they can't wait until the last minute.  On the plus side his specific company is offering to advance it's employees 1 week of vacation (which will have to be paid back as they earn more).  That means no lapse in pay since it seems this whole mess will be (hopefully) resolved this weekend\early part of the week.  

 

So, considering the situation this hasn't worked out badly for us after all - but I know there are those out there that have been out of work and won't be getting back pay or vacation pay. :(  So senseless.  Nothing was accomplished. 

[MomtoCandJ]

Well Michigan officially has no WIC, tried to get some juice for dd and couldn't use the card :( this stinks, thankfully I had some cash to get it for her but now we don't have really any money until Tuesday when dh gets paid. I feel really bad for the families that depend on WIC for formula, especially if they need the more expensive kind.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

Well Michigan officially has no WIC, tried to get some juice for dd and couldn't use the card :( this stinks, thankfully I had some cash to get it for her but now we don't have really any money until Tuesday when dh gets paid. I feel really bad for the families that depend on WIC for formula, especially if they need the more expensive kind.

 

 

I believe that the EBT system was down at some point today ....due to computer glitch (ugh.)

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/10/12/computer-upgrade-blamed-for-nationwide-ebt-system-shutdown-on-saturday/

 

 

According to this government website, WIC is funding for a few more weeks.

http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-2942_4910-313700--,00.html

[Arcadia]

Well Michigan officially has no WIC, tried to get some juice for dd and couldn't use the card :( this stinks, thankfully I had some cash to get it for her but now we don't have really any money until Tuesday when dh gets paid. I feel really bad for the families that depend on WIC for formula, especially if they need the more expensive kind.

The EBT system is back up now.  It was down when we went to burger king for their free fries for this weekend promo on the way home.

 

"Xerox announced late in the evening that access had been restored for users in the 17 states affected by the outage, hours after the first problems were reported.

"Re-starting the EBT system required time to ensure service was back at full functionality," spokeswoman Jennifer Wasmer said in an email." (usatoday link)

[MomtoCandJ]

Thank you, the cashier at Walmart had said that the funding was cut so the cards wasn't working anymore. I haven't had much of a chance to look into. Thankful that the people who need are not being cut off. Oh and I found money in the washer so we are not as broke as I thought :)

[kiwik]

Blessed3times - at least your dh didn't take it into his head to try and deal with the bats and the chipmunks.

 

From the other side of the world - we are scratching our heads and thinkin - how.the.hell.is.that.possible?

 

Hugs to all - like many of you I am living too close to the edge to deal with what you are without disiaster - and all our welfare systems and medical systems are government funded anyway.

[LibraryLover]

 I am so angry. This is bs.  It's a war against poor people, and in the end, poor people always lose.

[QueenCat]

I wake up sick to my stomach every day thinking about those suffering. I am so angry. This is bs.  It's a war against poor people, and in the end, poor people always loose.

 

Sadly true..............

 

[Farrar]

And the deal to end it fell through.  Seethe...

[LibraryLover]

Sadly true..............

 

 

And pretend I spelled it correctly, Lose.

[LibraryLover]

Just makes one want to curl up in the fetal position and have a good cry.

[blessed3x]

Blessed3times - at least your dh didn't take it into his head to try and deal with the bats and the chipmunks.

 

From the other side of the world - we are scratching our heads and thinkin - how.the.hell.is.that.possible?

 

Hugs to all - like many of you I am living too close to the edge to deal with what you are without disiaster - and all our welfare systems and medical systems are government funded anyway.

 

:lol:   Very true. Something else to be thankful for since that definitely would have been disastrous! 

 

 

And so you know, we are also wondering how this is all possible.  Every year they know this time is coming and they will need to make a budget. It is not anything new.   :confused1:

[kiwik]

I really hope they get it sorted soon.

 

The people who say it is not a big deal may feel differently when their trash starts to pile up.

[lovinmomma]

We have a family member that works for homeland security (not sure if he is contracted or what?). He reported to us that he is still expected to come to work (obviously). No pay. He has lost all of his saved up paid time off (I don't understand this part). Any absences and he will be considered AWOL and suffer severe consequenses. He quipped "hope I don't get sick".

[Tammyla]

My dh is also Essential required to work everyday with no option for taking sick or annual leave.  I called him a volunteer, but he's actually an unpaid employee with no benefits.  We did rec. our mini-paycheck and no further money will be comming in unless and until Washington does its job.

 

( I'm actually considering trying to go back to work; jobs here are not easy to find though.)

 

 

We have a family member that works for homeland security (not sure if he is contracted or what?). He reported to us that he is still expected to come to work (obviously). No pay. He has lost all of his saved up paid time off (I don't understand this part). Any absences and he will be considered AWOL and suffer severe consequenses. He quipped "hope I don't get sick".

 

[Heather in Neverland]

I REALLY REALLY need to file an N600-K for my dd's citizenship or we won't get to go home next summer AGAIN.

 

This has got to stop.

[Farrar]

Deal?  Deal?  C'mon...  (insert fingers crossed smiley)

[QueenCat]

Deal?  Deal?  C'mon...  (insert fingers crossed smiley)

 

Let's hope so!