I'm officially on furlough as of COB tomorrow. Probably for the next 2 months.
Posted by
CovingtonCat
Jul 28 '11, 16:49
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Technically, I'm out now since tomorrow is a scheduled day off. The furlough isn't for lack of work. It's because Congress chose not to fund us for the work we have. And we have *lots* of work. Calls were already coming in, asking whether we got correspondence. "Yes, but it may be a while longer before someone is assigned to it and you hear back." Well, "a while longer" just got longer. Upper management pushed to get the money to avoid a furlough but apparently the mood in Congress is such that the bigwigs in DC won't even ask.
While it's not unusual for there to be furloughs this time of year, it *is* unusual when there's actually work. There are people who were hired in December who've been on furlough since April. Another wave went out a month ago.
I have enough seniority now I could probably get a detail in another department for some or all of the furlough. (Why do they have money and my dept doesn't, you ask? Who knows?) But because of the insurance settlement I'm much better off financially than I was last year. Plus, I'll get unemployment.
(Stupid, isn't it? The Federal govt lays me off so the state can pay me. Then the state borrows from the Feds. Then the state can't afford to pay the Feds back so businesses in the state end up paying higher unemployment taxes. This hasn't actually happened in Ohio yet but I expect more states will be like Michigan, Indiana and S. Carolina and end up owing the Feds before the end of this year.)
Speaking of being better off this year, I'm thinking of visiting Boston. I haven't been back since I moved here nearly 5 years ago. Have to figure out what I'll do with the cats while I'm away. I have a neighbor who would probably feed & water them but I hate asking him to deal with a litter box. I'll need to check out local boarding options.
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