Zshot

Oh Stanley, Where are you???

I should point out that my experience with civil service is with the Department of Defense. I agree that there are some things that is in the governments best interest. And there are things that I think that it is in he best interest of the government to have federal employee. From what I have seen, contractors have proven to be the best choice for "maintaince" type contracts (heating & air conditioning, plumbing, janitorial, cooks, mechanics, transportation, electrical, computer maintaince, network adminstration and maintaince, etc...) Federal employees tend to be better at Administrative (clecical, personnal, contracting, budget, accounting, supply, finance, management, where ever institutional knowledge is needed, etc...) I like being a government employee.

Great news!!!! :D-->

Vickles, The government does try to find jobs for displaced employees. Sometimes there are no jobs available that they are qualified for... Sometimes, these employees decide to try to work for the company that gets the contract (sometimes thinking that they have job security). Sometimes companies and the government lose sight of value when they only look at the "bottom line".

Sounds like my Mom as well... I wonder if they/we are related?

Kit asked a very good question: “Is the government switching to contractors so they won't be liable for long-term employees and the seniority/tenure/health liability?” The government is not going to come right out and say it. But, I believe the answer is yes. Government Employee vs. Contract worker employee A government employee actually works for the government. A contract worker employee works for a company who has a contract with the government. 1. This is a political “shell game”. When a politician says that they are ‘downsizing the government work force’, This could mean that they terminated the position held by the government employee and replace the position with a contract worker employee. Sometimes (but not always, nor is it required), this contract worker could be the same person who held that position, but no longer works for the government. 2. Government workers, usually have better benefits (to include health care insurance, retirement, sick leave, vacation time, union representation etc.). The contract workers benefits will vary from company to company. For example a company that has a lot of “high end” government contracts (such as Northrop Grumman or Anteon) will have better benefits (and pay) that the company that handles the janitorial contracts. 3. Most government contracts (for services) are “one year” contracts with built in “option years” as part of the contract. The government can (and usually does) renew the option years up to 4 option years (for a total of 5 years). Then the government must put the contract out for other company’s bid for that contract. If Company “A” does not have the contract renewed with government and company “B” gets the contract. Company “B” has the choice of hiring the now displaced employee’s from company “A”. Because of this process, it is possible that a person who has performed the same job (with various companies) for the past 17 years, has no more seniority or pay than a person just starting out in the workforce (1st job) with less than a year experience. 4. It is easier to get rid of a contract worker employee than a government. 5. Contract workers sometimes (depending on the job) get more take home pay than government employees. Not because they are “worth more”, but they don’t have as much job security nor (usually) benefits as government employees. 6. From my experience, government workers tend to be better at their jobs than contract worker employees. Government employees usually have a long-term vested interest in knowing their job and being good at it. Contract worker employees tend to have a greater turn over rate. 7. The government thinks that having contract workers will save the government money in the long term because of retirement benefits. 8. Little or no short term savings by having contract workers. Each company that has a government contract keeps a percentage of the amount of the contract to cover there “overhead” as well as making a profit. 9. The companies that are awarded government gain the most by having contract worker employees. 10. The people who work as contract worker employees as well as the displaced government employee are the ones who lose the most in this process. 11. In my biased opinion, another loser in this process is the taxpayer. They are not getting a better value by having contract worker employees vs. government employees. And yes, you will find some outstanding contract worker employees as well as finding a few government employees who are slugs. In general, I think the government employee is a better value.

Hap, What you said about checking out your credit score is VERY important. I got my credit score through equifax. They will also assist if there are things on your credit report that accurate. I found that I had credit card accounts that were still open (even though they were paid off and I haven't used them in years). They gave me the phone numbers, then I closed these accounts. Managing your credit is an important part of managing your finances. The better your credit score the better the interest rate you can get on major purchases (such as a car) to everyday credit cards. Because of my credit score, I have a better interest rate on my credit cards than some people I know who make more than me.

If she is in Arizona, she might be in the Phoenix area. I don't think she is in the Tucson area.

It is good to be cautious. My mortage is with country wide home loans and I have not had any problems. One of the things I do is verify payments via there web site (as well as verifying against my bank statement). about every 6 months I do a printout of my transaction history from the countrywide web site and keep it in a file. The transaction history report not only shows the payments and additional principle that I have paid, it also shows payments from my escrow account (house insurance and property tax). A good mortage company should let you monitor your account via the internet. Maybe this is just me... I like knowing that my mortage company has an office (with real people) a few miles from my house. If there were a problem I prefer to talk to someone "face to face". When I first baught my house (and when I re-finance for a better rate :D-->), The final paperwork was handled and signed at the office of the Title Company. This is very important. If you have a question, make sure it is answered to your satisfaction before you sign anything. (as a disclaimer, I have a VA home loan. This is providing me with additional safeguards.)

(((((((((((((PSALMIE)))))))))))))))))) It's good to see you flapping about!!! :D-->

Stanley must be taking the senic route.... He still isn't here.

Of course in twi we had fun: 1. "witnessing" 2. string chairs 3. cleaning for a meeting 4. cleaning up after a meeting 5. hitch hiking 6. Learning to live with people you never met before... etc...

Ahhh yes... the waivers.... Here is a list of benifits of being a "member" of USRA (U.S. Racquetball Association): You'll Get: a 1 year subscription to RACQUETBALL Magazine (six bi-monthly issues) USRA.ORG and RacquetballMagazine.com websites Membership Card Official "Rules of Play" Tournament "eligibility" as a member Secondary accident insurance Local event entry forms State Association publications (where offered) National ranking services Access to instructor, coach and referee certification programs Access to Elite Training opportunities Special Membership pricing on most USRA products (USRA Store) usra web site My GAWD this does sound a little "green cardish"..

Since someone asked in chat... The tourney that I will be playing in is in Tempe, AZ. 4-6 March Arizona Racquetball

So Raf... Do you think you will find your way to Southern Arizona sometime in the near future?

It is terrible, if fact criminal when people use there "position of authority" to con someone to have sex with them. There is no excuse to abuse someone phyically, mentally or sexually. It sounds like that bc abused this poor girl both mentally and sexually.

Radar, I hope that you have a fantastic Birthday!!!

On the flip side... This happened to me a couple times... A "VERY" strong relationship was developing with different wc girls at different points in time... Because I had no desire to go wc... I was dumped. I know that they did marry somebody in the wc. I hope that they are/were happy with the decisions that they made. Every once in a while I still think about them and wonder... What if?...

As many of you know, I enjoy playing racquetball. I have a contract sponsorship with ProKennex Racquetball. In early March I am going up to Tempe, AZ for the State Singles Racquetball Tournament. Here is a list of expenses: Entrance fee: $65.00 (this includes a T-shirt and lunches) Hotel: $65.00 per night Other meals, drinks and entertainment: (won’t go there) ;)--> :D--> Fuel for car: about $40.00 1 day vacation from work A couple private lessons between now and then: more than a few beers… --> All for the chance to bring home a $10.00 dust collector…I mean trophy. A point that I am getting to is: Because I am not in twi, I can do things that I enjoy, and not have to justify the cost to anyone, which is priceless. :D--> :D--> :D--> Preparing for and going to racquetball tournaments is a better use of my money, than giving that money to twi.

Stanly still hasn't meade it here... I am wondering if met some girl and is in Vegas elopping (SP)?

JT, I think that Paul N. got out after the LOYality letter thing... While in the military, i was "encouraged" to wear my class "A" uniform at big meetings. Which I didn't mind (it saved me from buying a suit). The leaderdang liked to have the military folks stand & be recognized. At the time, I thought was neat. Looking back, I feel that we were being used. By have military there, they must have thought that we gave them some degree of credibility. Much like politicians like to use the military now... It seemed that most BL, LC, & RC didn't want to mess with us to much. We were there "window dressing", and we were/are leaders in our own right. The people in the military know how to follow orders. But, we are also taught to think for ourselves. I think the twit leaderdang knew that they could only push the folks in the military so far. To this day, nobody has gotten "in my face" more than the DI's at Fort Leonard Wood when I took Basic Training back in 79. (back then, the DI's were Vietnam combat VET's). I should also mention, during my wow year, we were supposed to be military outreach wow's. I was the only one in my "wow family" that had any connection with/to the military.

To quote Garfield... Big Fat Hairy Deal...

JT, After my wow year I decided to go active duty in the Army. I didn't know (or cared), who was who in the twi leaderdang zoo... While on active duty, the only twi clergy that I was in contact with were Paul N*rcro$$ and W*lfgang Schne!der. I never had a problem with either of them. I actually enjoyed the times I got to hangout with Paul.

This only happened once while I was a wow in Bossier City, LA... The LC (St*ve H@rr!s*n, i think) came up to "check up" on us. He started to try to get in my face about me not haveing a job at the time... I just gave him the "are you nucking futs" looks, and when he finished, I asked him he he could tell something that I didn't allready know? He looked like he wanted to smack me, but thought better of it (I am 6'5" tall and was in the army reserves at the time). My "wow family's" jaws dropped, and they said nothing... When the LC left, I said, 'what a f'n @$$h*le'. They all agreed with me, even the FC. (the following day, I said to myself... f*** the rules... I applied for and got a full time job doing apartment maint. and painting.)

No good deed ever goes un-punished... It's sad that you can't do a good deed without getting sued.