Listen, it's one of the frustrations of the job. There's a guy in my agency that sleeps in meetings. In other agencies, people come to work in sweat pants. There's unprofessional behavior and stupidity no matter where you go, regardless of enterprise. The GS series does offer unprecedented employment protection, but really no more than any other unionized jobs.
One of the curses of the GS system is that it doesn't encourage people to achieve, because time in grade is king. Almost everyone that is of this discussion is excepted service. That means that they can and are fired at will for poor performance.
My comment was about the exact attitude displayed in a response. "I pay your salary". Bullshit. You pay 1:300,000,000 of my salary. That, and the general public is simply not qualified to make the kinds of decisions involved. Absolutely, they have a right to be heard, and if they don't express their opinion to their elected official, then they are negligent in their civic responsibility.
In response to flooey, I agree that the citizenship is our customer. However, our government in its current form exists mainly to protect people from themselves and others. You can't do that by consensus of the masses. You do what your conscience tells you is right, regardless of outcome.
As a civil servant and a part of the system that protects you, I can answer. No, we don't fucking work for you. No civil servant works for you. We work independently for your benefit, funded by your legally mandated contribution to the organization that we call government. Just because you pay taxes doesn't mean that the government is in your direct employ.
It's not our job to convince you of anything. It's our job to protect you from you and other assholes who would seek to do you and the rest of us harm. It's by rule of majority - that means we keep everybody safe, and disregard the snippy rantings of part-time quarterbacks. In interests such as these, the safety of all outweighs the convenience of the one. Just as you think we're too dumb to protect you, we think you're too dumb to protect yourself.
Trust me, in that I don't like this any better than anyone else, but unless you've got some sort of magical solution that you're willing to offer up, then shut your suck. Either that, or we'll start a new line in the airport for select flights with no security just for you. We'll put out tons of publicity about them, and you won't have to show ID or anything. All you have to do is sign a waiver of liability for the operator/government and pay a $50 premium for added insurance costs. That work for you? How about we relocate your place of employ to the Sears Tower, or maybe the Capitol so you'll feel just as safe as those people will with those flights in the air?
By the way, a suckling woman is a baby girl. Perhaps you meant lactating.
I work in a similar agency to the one your mom worked in.
The thing most folks don't realize is that most special agents really don't need an e-mail address for anything other than administrative stuff. Their use of an e-mail account will have almost no impact on their day to day investigative work (in that they don't need an e-mail account to get the job done). Most of the things that need to be done can be done with a connection into our network and the use of web applications.
An internet-enabled phone is absolute tits on a bull for an investigator.
Totally with you on this one. MS is a master at playing the media totheir own benefit. Personally, I think the whole "shortage scare" is a huge scam. Does anyone really think that MS is going to lose out on the profits to be made in the next 2 months?
Seriously, how many kids will get 360 I.O.U.s under the tree? None. Parents have X available to spend on Christmas toys. If they can't get a 360 and spend part of that X on it, they'll spend it on something else. There won't be a $500 purchase in April after that. MS knows this, man.
What they want is people snatching these things off the shelves as fast as possible between now and the end of the year. If they dole out just enough units to meet demand, but leave relatively few lingering on shelves, that's exactly what will happen.
Outstanding. As an FYI, the US Census Bureau conducts a surveying operation called the Consumer Expenditures Survey that gathers data that is fed into the CPI on a monthly basis. I used to manage the data collection process for TX, AL, and MS. A TON of man hours go into collecting that data.
Essentially, they ask households to save every receipt for every expenditure for everything over a monthly period, and collect it 3 times. They also do a weekly survey for two weeks. As I said, huge amounts of labor for both the Census as well as the respondent.
Agreed, and I would argue almost worse. The SES level guys that I interact with are usually pretty bad. They always demand the newest stuff.
Worse than that, they're always having thier offices painted or buying new furniture or artwork for the walls, etc.
The thing that really irritates me about the whole thing is that they do it with little or no regard to cost. The believe that they're entitled to it. That may be fine in private business, but totally unacceptable in public service.
Spot on. The other part is that the request for the toilet seat stated that it should be able to touch a human ass without freezing it at -10 degrees and still be cool to the touch at 125 degrees. Also needs to be equally comfortable for both sexes and should have a service life of 75 years.
Totally agreed. If for nothing else, DW is an extremely valuable tool for me to untangle the mangled mass of crap that FP generates for the idiots that use it to create stuff that they send to me.
I've always liked it because you have to know what in the hell you're doing to use it properly.
That's the thing, though. I *could* hack it if I wanted to, but I don't think I should have to. I just want the full capability for what was sold to me.
Exactly. If it's anything like the DirecTiVo box, it will suck like nothing has ever sucked before. I thought I was getting a fully-functional Series 2 Tivo for DirecTV. Not even close. The whole Home Media Option was disabled. It's got everything that it needs to use that option, but the custom kernel that DirecTV pushes out to the box has it removed. Assholes.
When I called to inquire, I was told by a very disinterested rep that, "we might enable it some time this year". Such bullshite.
I live in VA. Long guns don't have to go through the process. However, pistols can only be transferred between FFLs - ATF rules, not state. Lots of people do it like you describe, but it's illegal, according to the ATF. The only exception is a transfer between family members intrastate. I've only bought stuff interstate, though.
For example, my dad gave me a Beretta 70. He lives in TX. He had to take it to a FFL in TX, who then sent it to my shop in VA. My shop then had to do the background check on me.
I do have my CCW license, and that's indicated on the background check, as well. All my guns aren't registered, per se, but there is a record of each transaction, complete with weapon serials on the Federal check. VA doesn't require weapon registration.
Amen. It's far from "easy" or "unrestricted". Try transferring a gun some time. You can't even send it yourself. You have to go to a licensed firearm dealer who will then send it to another firearm dealer. The receiving firearm dealer then runs you through the system on their end. Also, for the record, when your background check is run, it shows just how many gund you have purchased, when you bought them, and the serial numbers of each and every one of them.
With that said, I also use my gun(s) for personal defense and have qualified at expert level with each and every one of them. That means that I don't have to rely on the police to defend myself or my family, and I can do so with minimal harm to anyone other than the intended recipient of the rounds I deliver downrange.
I'm going to become an eBay Bond Enforcement Agent.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put down the FRESH!!! LIKE NEW!!!!!! set of Star Wars glasses and come with me. Don't make me spray you! This is what happens when you jump bond."
Same thing they do here, assbag. The Navy doesn't routinely protect shores. They're sea-based force projection. The coasties protect the harbors and enforce embargos, etc. They are an arm of the MILITARY, after all. They're not the fscking Merchant Marines.
I don't do this kind of stuff any more. Not worth my time to do it, and get stuck with the problem. I just refer them to CompUSA, where for $100, they get a fixed labor cost.
It's a win, win for me. They get their equipment fixed and I gave them good advice on where to take it. FWIW, I don't work for CompUSA, just spend there.
There are also models that will fit on a full-size pistol's accessory rail on the frame that are pretty inexpensive. However, you can't carry one in anything but a tactical holster when one is equipped. When they're integral to the grips or recoil spring guide, they're usually well over $300. It's a pretty common sentiment that the money is better spent on ammo for practice, because if the laser goes out, you better be able to put rounds on target anyway.
Different community, but same concept. I do volunteer work for the city's Fire Department.
Bartended before, as well. A side benefit when I was single was that tons of chicks are available to bartenders. If I didn't want a career (or health benefits, frankly) I'd still be doing it.
No shite. I remember when there weren't ads on MTV (and good music, but that's OT). HD has taken a turn for the worse in the same fashion. One of the benefits of HD content was that there were no ads made in HD, so I found myself watching HDNet or Discovery HD just to avoid ads. Now, some bastard has filmed Circuit City ads in HD, and they play them all the time. Now think about when you used to go to the movies with no previews and no ads. It's an evil cycle...
Yeah, I've got a similar story. We live in a "fringe" neighborhood. My neighbor on one side is a local PD officer, and parks his city vehicle between our houses. Never been bothered by the local thugs. Also helps that I test our alarm every month, usually in the evenings when people are out and about.
Even with all that, some asshole threatened my wife when she was walking the dog the other day. Let his pit bull out to the end of it's leash (which landed it around 2 feet from my wife) and let it snap and bark at her and our dog while laughing his ass off. This guy and his crew were always in the park at the same time every night. So, the next night, I put on my open-carry sidearm (S&W Sigma.40) and took the dog for a walk myself. He was there with the dog. The dog didn't leave his side, and he hasn't bothered her since. I believe his quote to me at the time was, "So, that's how it's going to be?" My response was, "That's how it's going to be." Neither of us have spoken a word to the other since. As a matter of fact, I've been seeing less and less of that group around lately.
As a former research psychologist, the only thing I can say is that a behavioral psychology class will be the most useful class (besides personal finance) that you can take. A good, solid, understanding of operant conditioning will prove invaluable. At the very least, you'll never have problems training your dog or kid to do exactly what you want.
The reason I say kid is because simple stuff like that generally isn't effective on adults. If psych chicks were manipulating you, they were doing it with the carrot of the commodity known as @$$, rather than their knowledge.
Slashdot Mirror
SKU: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_Keeping_Unit
Listen, it's one of the frustrations of the job. There's a guy in my agency that sleeps in meetings. In other agencies, people come to work in sweat pants. There's unprofessional behavior and stupidity no matter where you go, regardless of enterprise. The GS series does offer unprecedented employment protection, but really no more than any other unionized jobs.
One of the curses of the GS system is that it doesn't encourage people to achieve, because time in grade is king. Almost everyone that is of this discussion is excepted service. That means that they can and are fired at will for poor performance.
My comment was about the exact attitude displayed in a response. "I pay your salary". Bullshit. You pay 1:300,000,000 of my salary. That, and the general public is simply not qualified to make the kinds of decisions involved. Absolutely, they have a right to be heard, and if they don't express their opinion to their elected official, then they are negligent in their civic responsibility.
In response to flooey, I agree that the citizenship is our customer. However, our government in its current form exists mainly to protect people from themselves and others. You can't do that by consensus of the masses. You do what your conscience tells you is right, regardless of outcome.
As a civil servant and a part of the system that protects you, I can answer. No, we don't fucking work for you. No civil servant works for you. We work independently for your benefit, funded by your legally mandated contribution to the organization that we call government. Just because you pay taxes doesn't mean that the government is in your direct employ.
It's not our job to convince you of anything. It's our job to protect you from you and other assholes who would seek to do you and the rest of us harm. It's by rule of majority - that means we keep everybody safe, and disregard the snippy rantings of part-time quarterbacks. In interests such as these, the safety of all outweighs the convenience of the one. Just as you think we're too dumb to protect you, we think you're too dumb to protect yourself.
Trust me, in that I don't like this any better than anyone else, but unless you've got some sort of magical solution that you're willing to offer up, then shut your suck. Either that, or we'll start a new line in the airport for select flights with no security just for you. We'll put out tons of publicity about them, and you won't have to show ID or anything. All you have to do is sign a waiver of liability for the operator/government and pay a $50 premium for added insurance costs. That work for you? How about we relocate your place of employ to the Sears Tower, or maybe the Capitol so you'll feel just as safe as those people will with those flights in the air?
By the way, a suckling woman is a baby girl. Perhaps you meant lactating.
I work in a similar agency to the one your mom worked in.
The thing most folks don't realize is that most special agents really don't need an e-mail address for anything other than administrative stuff. Their use of an e-mail account will have almost no impact on their day to day investigative work (in that they don't need an e-mail account to get the job done). Most of the things that need to be done can be done with a connection into our network and the use of web applications.
An internet-enabled phone is absolute tits on a bull for an investigator.
Totally with you on this one. MS is a master at playing the media totheir own benefit. Personally, I think the whole "shortage scare" is a huge scam. Does anyone really think that MS is going to lose out on the profits to be made in the next 2 months?
Seriously, how many kids will get 360 I.O.U.s under the tree? None. Parents have X available to spend on Christmas toys. If they can't get a 360 and spend part of that X on it, they'll spend it on something else. There won't be a $500 purchase in April after that. MS knows this, man.
What they want is people snatching these things off the shelves as fast as possible between now and the end of the year. If they dole out just enough units to meet demand, but leave relatively few lingering on shelves, that's exactly what will happen.
Maybe a Tornado fuel saver would help.
Essentially, they ask households to save every receipt for every expenditure for everything over a monthly period, and collect it 3 times. They also do a weekly survey for two weeks. As I said, huge amounts of labor for both the Census as well as the respondent.
Agreed, and I would argue almost worse. The SES level guys that I interact with are usually pretty bad. They always demand the newest stuff.
Worse than that, they're always having thier offices painted or buying new furniture or artwork for the walls, etc.
The thing that really irritates me about the whole thing is that they do it with little or no regard to cost. The believe that they're entitled to it. That may be fine in private business, but totally unacceptable in public service.
Spot on. The other part is that the request for the toilet seat stated that it should be able to touch a human ass without freezing it at -10 degrees and still be cool to the touch at 125 degrees. Also needs to be equally comfortable for both sexes and should have a service life of 75 years.
Totally agreed. If for nothing else, DW is an extremely valuable tool for me to untangle the mangled mass of crap that FP generates for the idiots that use it to create stuff that they send to me.
I've always liked it because you have to know what in the hell you're doing to use it properly.
Don't go ahead and get the non-HD DirecTiVo. The fuckers at DirecTV have crippled it so that it won't run the Home Media Option.
Buy an actual TiVo instead.
Signed,
Duped Series 2 DirecTiVo owner.
That's the thing, though. I *could* hack it if I wanted to, but I don't think I should have to. I just want the full capability for what was sold to me.
When I called to inquire, I was told by a very disinterested rep that, "we might enable it some time this year". Such bullshite.
For example, my dad gave me a Beretta 70. He lives in TX. He had to take it to a FFL in TX, who then sent it to my shop in VA. My shop then had to do the background check on me.
I do have my CCW license, and that's indicated on the background check, as well. All my guns aren't registered, per se, but there is a record of each transaction, complete with weapon serials on the Federal check. VA doesn't require weapon registration.
Amen. It's far from "easy" or "unrestricted". Try transferring a gun some time. You can't even send it yourself. You have to go to a licensed firearm dealer who will then send it to another firearm dealer. The receiving firearm dealer then runs you through the system on their end. Also, for the record, when your background check is run, it shows just how many gund you have purchased, when you bought them, and the serial numbers of each and every one of them.
With that said, I also use my gun(s) for personal defense and have qualified at expert level with each and every one of them. That means that I don't have to rely on the police to defend myself or my family, and I can do so with minimal harm to anyone other than the intended recipient of the rounds I deliver downrange.
Actually, guns were designed on the concept of hurling material at animals, both human and otherwise. Just like a crossbow......
I'm going to become an eBay Bond Enforcement Agent.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put down the FRESH!!! LIKE NEW!!!!!! set of Star Wars glasses and come with me. Don't make me spray you! This is what happens when you jump bond."
Same thing they do here, assbag. The Navy doesn't routinely protect shores. They're sea-based force projection. The coasties protect the harbors and enforce embargos, etc. They are an arm of the MILITARY, after all. They're not the fscking Merchant Marines.
Captains are issued Sat Phones. That's how I keep in touch with my buddy.
I don't do this kind of stuff any more. Not worth my time to do it, and get stuck with the problem. I just refer them to CompUSA, where for $100, they get a fixed labor cost.
It's a win, win for me. They get their equipment fixed and I gave them good advice on where to take it. FWIW, I don't work for CompUSA, just spend there.
There are also models that will fit on a full-size pistol's accessory rail on the frame that are pretty inexpensive. However, you can't carry one in anything but a tactical holster when one is equipped. When they're integral to the grips or recoil spring guide, they're usually well over $300. It's a pretty common sentiment that the money is better spent on ammo for practice, because if the laser goes out, you better be able to put rounds on target anyway.
Different community, but same concept. I do volunteer work for the city's Fire Department.
Bartended before, as well. A side benefit when I was single was that tons of chicks are available to bartenders. If I didn't want a career (or health benefits, frankly) I'd still be doing it.
No shite. I remember when there weren't ads on MTV (and good music, but that's OT). HD has taken a turn for the worse in the same fashion. One of the benefits of HD content was that there were no ads made in HD, so I found myself watching HDNet or Discovery HD just to avoid ads. Now, some bastard has filmed Circuit City ads in HD, and they play them all the time. Now think about when you used to go to the movies with no previews and no ads. It's an evil cycle...
Yeah, I've got a similar story. We live in a "fringe" neighborhood. My neighbor on one side is a local PD officer, and parks his city vehicle between our houses. Never been bothered by the local thugs. Also helps that I test our alarm every month, usually in the evenings when people are out and about.
.40) and took the dog for a walk myself. He was there with the dog. The dog didn't leave his side, and he hasn't bothered her since. I believe his quote to me at the time was, "So, that's how it's going to be?" My response was, "That's how it's going to be." Neither of us have spoken a word to the other since. As a matter of fact, I've been seeing less and less of that group around lately.
Even with all that, some asshole threatened my wife when she was walking the dog the other day. Let his pit bull out to the end of it's leash (which landed it around 2 feet from my wife) and let it snap and bark at her and our dog while laughing his ass off. This guy and his crew were always in the park at the same time every night. So, the next night, I put on my open-carry sidearm (S&W Sigma
As a former research psychologist, the only thing I can say is that a behavioral psychology class will be the most useful class (besides personal finance) that you can take. A good, solid, understanding of operant conditioning will prove invaluable. At the very least, you'll never have problems training your dog or kid to do exactly what you want.
The reason I say kid is because simple stuff like that generally isn't effective on adults. If psych chicks were manipulating you, they were doing it with the carrot of the commodity known as @$$, rather than their knowledge.