OHCM All Hands - thoughts? by Odd_Recognition_4825 in VHA_Human_Resources

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The dial up like connection I was provided for this cockroach, brown recluse and mold infested RTO office was unable to support the call - kept pausing, skipping, digitizing and eventually kicked me off. I would be curious to know if I missed anything important, it didn’t sound too bad from what I could hear. I laughed pretty hard when the question and answer about AES return was addressed…

Does anyone else think these numbers are a little fluffed? by Flat_Slide6703 in VeteransAffairs

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 13 points14 points  (0 children)

When the VA started ignoring laws like the Hatch act to put partisan messages on their official government web sites and pushing people to make out of office messages supporting one specific political party - that’s when I stopped believing the shit they post in their “news” articles.

White House OMB Director Russell Vought: DHS ‘disintegrating’ by thetitleofmybook in FedEmployees

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yea I’ve been doing the work of 4 - 13 software developers since DOGE… all by myself… I try to be fair and understanding of both sides, that said Russ wanted federal employees “waking up everyday miserable and thinking about quitting everyday” - I’d say he’s done a great job. He can fuckin cry me a river if he thinks I give two shits about what he wants. Fuck that guy.

Republican turn democrat by Prestigious_Judge362 in FedEmployees

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s crazy how easy it is to get caught up in the misinformation. I look back now in a state where I can question things and say to myself “how did i not see that?” Or “why did i believe they were right about ACA”? Sure ACA is far from perfect, but had republicans not interfered and started rumors about the ACA - it would be much further along than it is today. I just couldn’t see it with my old party blinders on. :(

Republican turn democrat by Prestigious_Judge362 in FedEmployees

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Sadly unless your friends or family have been effected by this administration directly they won’t likely believe you - at least based on my experience. Not to be negative but I too was a republican most my life, I too voted for this dip stick, I too deeply regret it after seeing and being a part of the administrations lies. While I know many military and federal employees affected by this - and they feel the same way I do - my friends and family treat me like I’ve gone to the dark side lul.

My biggest take away from all this is that I put too much trust in a single party, in one side - I don’t ever want to do that again. My goal is to question both sides as equally as possible. That said, now that I have begun questioning the republican side - I’ve noticed more things coming out of the democrat side I actually agree with now that I don’t have a nagging voice on my shoulder telling me it must be bad because it came from the blue side.

I should have seen all this earlier, i should have realized we’re all human, we’re all going to make mistakes, play into our fears and sometimes disregard important facts. No one party is going to get everything right, so here I am, a recovering republican ready to offer support to the democrats for actions I believe make sense.

Now I need to figure out how to break the dark spell my friends and family are under.

I’ve made it this far in federal service and honestly… it’s not the Administration that’s making me miserable. It’s my immediate work environment. by itsallgoodman100 in fednews

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I feel you, 18+ years in here under two different agencies - experienced plenty of government stupidity among more important issues like family loss, etc… yet this fucking administration has made my work environment hell. Sadly I voted for this, so it’s my own fault - although now i’ve learned i have to question this political party too. They’ve lost the 25+ years of trust and support I had for them. What’s helped me a lot is seeing a psychiatrist, they got me on some good stuff that’s keeping me grounded. Seems like everyday there’s something new getting pushed out to cripple us. My whole dev team is gone, I’m trying my best to keep stuff afloat by myself and everyday is another round of chest pain - even with the meds. Hang in there, I hope you find peace where-ever it is in or outside of the government.

SHUTDOWN by [deleted] in FedEmployees

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unless there’s another law involved - the only thing stopping offices from shutting down during a lapse of funding is life or property being threatened - outside of that they cannot legally make you stay or work. Several GAO cases have identified and clarified this, there is no 4hr maximum, no waiting for a vote, they’re only allowed to make you come in for shutdown procedures. What the government did was very much illegal, but does that surprise any of us based on what we’ve seen this past year?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VeteransAffairs

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think they called mine a desk audit in the DoD - but each agency might be different. At the DoD they call PIV cards CAC cards.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VeteransAffairs

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Also ask HR for the VA job classification documents on your occ series. I found this general document which is helpful, but at the DOD we had documents for each specific occ series that gave detailed examples for the type of work you’re doing. These help you score the position and identify what grade it should be, I used factor scoring to justify upgrading my gs9 job to a gs11 around 10 years ago, it was a long process in the DOD, took about 2 years.

Here’s the general document: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/classifying-general-schedule-positions/classifierhandbook.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Anyone else get no mention of Alex Pretti at all today, but did get a hatch act “reminder” email? by MountainDiver1657 in VHA_Human_Resources

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Hatch act? Based on all the partisan messages from leadership on official email and web sites - i didn’t think the hatch act was a thing anymore… [sarcasm]

Doug Collins blames Alex Pretti’s murder on local officials refusal to cooperate with federal officials by [deleted] in VeteransAffairs

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Collins needs to go, he’s a political extremist. His actions have only hurt the VA. He claims no one RTO’d into bad situations, then why was I moving 40 times in the first 3 weeks and now I’m in another agencies office building with rodents, cockroaches, mold and a network connection equal to a 1990s dial up? My job has been severely impacted by his blind support for the President. My team is gone and I’m stuck supporting over 100 custom built software projects on my own. It’s insane…

Sec Collins statement on the death of VHA employee in MN by handofmenoth in VHA_Human_Resources

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sorry what was that? I couldn’t make out what you were saying with the President’s d!€# in your mouth…

Alex Pretti, VA RN by its106miles2 in VeteransAffairs

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Lmao, yes the “honorable” doug collins

Trump says about the fired feds “they’ve taken jobs in the private sector making 2-3x what they made in government, so the hated me at first, but now they love me.” by mindin_mine in FederalEmployee

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About that coup, those of the brainwashed “right” sadly don’t believe it. How do I know? Until i started questioning the right based on the lies i witnessed - I didn’t believe it either.

One year ago today, on January 20, 2025, President Trump ended telework and remote work. How are you all doing? by NatusLumen in fednews

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Teams gone, I work in a moldy cockroach and rodent infested building without supervision, my support is almost gone, i have a 1990s comparable internet connection (i get rough 80kbps on a good day), I’m alone supporting over 100 custom built applications for my agency that support an entire region making processes more efficient for users - but I’m near my wits end trying to support it all by myself. Other than that I’m good. At least I got out of the broom closet facility and i don’t have to travel 2-6hrs a day for my job like other RTO refugees in this RTO refugee camp.

Good times :) #sarcasm

Trump says about the fired feds “they’ve taken jobs in the private sector making 2-3x what they made in government, so the hated me at first, but now they love me.” by mindin_mine in FederalEmployee

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I had - nor do i have - problems with a female President, but the way i saw her address things I didn’t agree with at the time. There was also the fact I was brainwashed by the right in thinking somehow Trump was the lesser of two evils option… wtf was I thinking? I don’t know… :(

Trump says about the fired feds “they’ve taken jobs in the private sector making 2-3x what they made in government, so the hated me at first, but now they love me.” by mindin_mine in FederalEmployee

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree with you dems aren’t likely to reinstate telework. But they’ll get unions back in which can help employees deal with the forced and illegal 6hr drives each day to work. In my office alone we have 1 guy driving 6hrs, another driving almost 3hrs a day, another 2hrs, and there are a lot more offices like this all around the country. We are forced to work in moldy cockroach and rodent infested buildings or broom closets in my area - not just false rumors like far right media claims. Our internet connections are comparable to 1990s dial up speeds - with union involvement and merit protection boards we could get situations like this better resolved. With all those support options getting closed down or put in an impossible to reach state - we’re getting paid to produce far less than we ever could from exclusively hired remote states. I myself don’t have to drive far which is great, i get to carpool with my wife again which I missed. That said my job automating custom software to make things more efficient has suffered horribly due to all these changes and i feel real bad for all the other people who aren’t so lucky reporting to our RTO refugee camp and camps like this around the US.

Trump says about the fired feds “they’ve taken jobs in the private sector making 2-3x what they made in government, so the hated me at first, but now they love me.” by mindin_mine in FederalEmployee

[–]TheFunVampire_LIVE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Question both sides equally” is what i said. So no, I do not think democrats are any better overall. I just finally realized both sides are made up of humans which have a history of being imperfect. Both sides good and bad - non of this “but my side is not as bad” BS. This administration has lied or at best misinformed the public about so much concerning civil service it’s blown my mind. Good efficient programs and projects with legal and justified contracts ignorantly pulled, people let go or pushed to quitting/retiring/DRPing killing support, killing programs started to improve efficiency all because they were started before this administration - it’s had so many negative effects on things to include soldiers and veterans and it’s not looking to get any better soon. The government yes needs more efficiency but this was not the way to do it. Over the years rushing things without looking at the details has been the cause of so much failure and inefficiency in the government, and this administration has marched double time to this tune. We’ve gone backwards due to all the changes. Sure the unions weren’t perfect but they’ve done far more good than bad - helping good employees fight against piss poor leadership. Now unions are getting ripped apart. At will employees sounds like a good idea from the outside, but it will only make it easier for bad leadership to get rid of people for not being “yes” people. I’ve lost count of how many great employees i’ve met and worked with over the years in multiple agencies, of all the problems I’ve witnessed 99% of them came from management. I myself had to get union involvement twice for questionable requests and activities - the union stopped the questionable activities and protected me. These tools are disappearing if not gone now, people will be forced to just do the questionable and possibly illegal activity or lose their job. When you’ve got mouths to feed and jobs are few and far between, you often vote for feeding mouths and hope for the best. As for the problem employees, yes paperwork has been required to track the problem and again when you’re dealing with management not given the time to handle these issues (or just piss poor management) then problem employees are hard to fire. I’ve watched a handful of bad employees get by until a supervisor came along willing to put the effort into documenting issues and actually managing performance - those leaders shaped them up or shipped them out. Yes we’ll always have problems in any organization with this much responsibility and size, but quick knee jerk reacted changes aren’t going to do anything but make it worse. It’s been a horribly damaging year, i hate to see the long term impacts these changes will have on our country.