BillsWatch Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 As a government contractor, I should tell you all that your government is actually MORE incompetent than you could possibly believe. Even worse it is more incompetent than DC Tom believes and it has nothing to do with political parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I'll speak for many, because I worked in it for 4 years. Civil service. It was maddening. Nobody would think of lifting a finger to economize; the worry was how to concoct a spiel to get funding for the next budget, and being concerned about accomplishing anything was only voiced by some powerless saps. They got trotted out from time to time for window dressing purposes, then were shoved back into their box until next year's begging. If you are a sadist at heart, government work is the place to be. As long as you know the laws, you can belittle, harass, mess with - anything goes. Because almost nobody quits - it's about marking time until retirement. ObamaCare - the folks deciding whether you get treatment, live or die - eh, we will have our funding reduced if we allow too much. Oops, gotta go to lunch. We'll have a meeting later. You think government workers are bad, try government contractors. http://www.propublica.org/scandal/military-contractor-abuse/ Griend has a son in Iraq and the examples of contractor abuse are worse than you can even imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I would love to hear some "behind the scenes" stories from folks in retail or food service. You do not really want to know what goes on in kitchens or canning factories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 As a government contractor, I should tell you all that your government is actually MORE incompetent than you could possibly believe. I believe you because I have a hard time getting a handle on large abstract number$. A friend was a management analyst in the 70's at Picatinny Arsenal in NJ. He was not successful because his suggestions for waste reduction often included reducing the staff, but his "superiors" wanted justification for MORE, not less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 ...canning factories. Tis my profession and sorry to say no real dicrepancies. The brand name stuff is actually different and generally more expensive, ingredient wise than the generic stuff. Everything gets cleaned to the microbiotic level. We have enough inspection agencies; USDA, FDA, AIB, not to mention our co-packers, to ensure everything is up to snuff to their ridiculously high standards. If you are eating most salsas or pasta sauces this side of the Mississippi and even some west of it, you are getting a good product. Did I mention it's my job to ensure all of the above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Tis my profession and sorry to say no real dicrepancies. The brand name stuff is actually different and generally more expensive, ingredient wise than the generic stuff. Everything gets cleaned to the microbiotic level. We have enough inspection agencies; USDA, FDA, AIB, not to mention our co-packers, to ensure everything is up to snuff to their ridiculously high standards. If you are eating most salsas or pasta sauces this side of the Mississippi and even some west of it, you are getting a good product. Did I mention it's my job to ensure all of the above? You forgot to mention that, according to sanitation regulations, there are allowable amounts of rodent parts and other foreign materials in canned and frozen products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebug Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 The computer guy you called to fix your PC, likely created the virus you are asking him to get rid of. I keeps the work coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 The computer guy you called to fix your PC, likely created the virus you are asking him to get rid of. I keeps the work coming. I actually suspect the major antivirus software companies secretly fund malware distribution. One thing for sure, many PC troubleshooting companies (and individuals) recommend and install what makes them money, not what is necessarily best for you. My policy is to charge ONLY for my services. Anything I need to procure for a client is supplied at cost. I even refuse to be a reseller of some products I love, and use all the time. The slightest perception of impropriety (if only by me) is something I go out of my way to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebug Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I actually suspect the major antivirus software companies secretly fund malware distribution. One thing for sure, many PC troubleshooting companies (and individuals) recommend and install what makes them money, not what is necessarily best for you. My policy is to charge ONLY for my services. Anything I need to procure for a client is supplied at cost. I even refuse to be a reseller of some products I love, and use all the time. The slightest perception of impropriety (if only by me) is something I go out of my way to avoid. I agree 100% on all of your post. I don't sell parts or software (I will pick them up for the client) that way they can't B word at me or ask me to replace the part due to failure 6 years later. It's just easier that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 As a government contractor, I should tell you all that your government is actually MORE incompetent than you could possibly believe. True. The majority of govt. workers are decent folk, but they learned long ago that if you want to do something as simple as buying pencils, you have to deal with several pounds of regulatory text, record everything in perpetuity (FOIA), find out which Congressman's direct appropriations must be honored (they change monthly, perhaps daily), check and see it the Section 8 of the fair contract laws are followed, and then see if the exemptions that toss fairness into the ditch so that minority and women fronted outfits get the cash preferentially. So much for equality under the law... Then there are those that walk down a hall and quietly say "Mr. Contractor - you didn't wash my car and cut my lawn last week. You didn't visit me when I was on vacation in Jamaica last month. I guess I'll have to review your payment schedule - there might be irregularities that we need to investigate. Have to watch out for the taxpayer, you know. Just doing my job." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Here here...I work in screenprinting as well, but at a supplier who ONLY sells to distributors. Well, for 21 more days...then I'm heading back to the blank wholesale industry, where I'll sell to people like YOU Good relationship with those people. My only gripe, which can't be helped by the distributors, is that all shirts come from overseas now. Haiti, Honduras etc. Quality isn't the best. The best shirt, imho, is made here in the states but too expensive for us to compete. Sad. I'd love to use them. Who are you going to be working for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assquatch Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 You do not really want to know what goes on in kitchens or canning factories. Those are the exact things I was hoping to find out by starting this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 There are fewer people in Hollywood who know how to read a script well than there are who know how to write a script well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Most people who work in the financial services industry, really are only interested in servicing their own finances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 There are fewer people in Hollywood who know how to read a script well than there are who know how to write a script well. Word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelloNewman Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 As a government contractor, I should tell you all that your government is actually MORE incompetent than you could possibly believe. That I beleive 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede316 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 As a government contractor, I should tell you all that your government is actually MORE incompetent than you could possibly believe. And wastes more of your money than is possibley imagined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 The gov't takes slack and in many case rightly so... But, I also take umbrage to it... I don't see any of the rampant waste people are complaining about. I do see other issues though. I am just on the wall 24/7/365 making things run smoothly. It can run the range from hard to very easy and boring... I can find a lot of time to post and still be 120% on! Everybody knows exactly what I do... That is no secret... Like I said I am at it on all three shifts over the course of about 6 weeks each swing. What actually happens at this type of navigational lock (a controlling lock and works (dam))? People always talk about the Great Lakes and diversion of water. Well that is exactly what is happening for the bulk of the mission. Everytime the lower sector gates (lock) are opened, on average anywhere from 750,000-3.75 million gallons are being diverted for navigation from Lake Michigan down to the MS river and the Gulf of Mexico never to return (well that is if the river keeps heading away from the Lake... The canal can get higher than the Lake sometimes and we call that "reverse flow"... We don't like that and tend to button up things so pollution doesn't head back into the lake!) Do the math say 40 times a day on average, greater or lesser at times per day... That is what is happening. That water can be for one 16' bassboat or it can be used on 9,000 ton of cargo with 25 yachts alongside of it... Doesn't matter. All FREE of charge for anyone wishing passage 24/7/365. This controlling works keeps the fluctuations of Lake Michigans elevations isolated from the canal on the other end and also supplies the canal with water. Debate the worth of water that is diverted on face value... Yet on an economic scale over 10 million ton of cargo, 1,000's of empty vessels, and 10's of thousands of pleasure craft annually enters into the nation's economy is handled through this one facility alone. Now times that by 7 more facilites further down river at gradually increasing commerical cargo tonnage and declining empty vessels and pleasure craft. One facility built in 1960 for about 10 million dollars (1960 dollars). A 60 day closure would hit the economy for about 18 million dollars (2009 dollars). There has been no rehab in almost 50 years. Things have been running the same with mimimal overhead/staffing/maintainence budget since 1960, all the while with increasing amounts of shipping that transits the area. Did I say too much? Of course not! It is all publically found information. Just thought people should know what goes on in one area of your gov't. Also a little known secret why the inland waterways are free of charge/toll and why say the Welland Canal (Canada) isn't center around precedent and believe it or not of all things The Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Art. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and, in no case, shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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