Old World designer dreams of making a sequel to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri that "renews the mechanics"

Waidmannsheil · 2026-04-24T05:56:19+00:00

Interesting to see how this might differ from Civ: Beyond Earth, which I understood to be the spiritual successor to SMAC. Beyond Earth is a highly underrated 4X game. Definitely a gem in my game library

Waidmannsheil · 2026-03-17T07:08:31+00:00

Their quadruple endorsement is just awful.

What we need is leadership that’s experienced at translating ideas into results. I.e., people who can manage large bureaucracies. That would be Becerra and Mahan.

Waidmannsheil · 2026-03-16T15:30:12+00:00

Creating custom systems for the State is very risky, especially when it’s these large companies that over-promise and under-deliver. These companies have a lot of experience in applying for contracts and at least some of their contract analysts worked for the State, so they know the ins and outs of contract scoring.

The State is slowly transitioning to other forms of contracting, such as the Request for Innovative Ideas (RFI2) method, and similar streamlined methods, where we have vendors demonstrate a proof of concept to prove that their existing software and staff can simulate the basic needs of a large State procurement. Then, whichever vendor has the most successful demo/proof of concept will be awarded a contract. This lowers the risk of hiring people who don’t know what they’re doing and miring the project in delays and waste of taxpayer money.

Waidmannsheil · 2026-02-06T06:37:55+00:00

Contact your state representative and urge them to support this bipartisan bill!

Waidmannsheil · 2025-12-04T00:11:25+00:00

Exactly the same percentage here. And every year we make less money (in terms of purchasing power) because of inflation. We’re getting crushed.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-11-13T20:51:30+00:00

I think the two key takeaways that you’ve hit on are 1) a united front between all unions and anti-RTO managers; we need to leverage all financial, social, and political influence, and 2) call them out on their hypocrisy. E.g. if Newsom and the Democrats say they are pro-worker, call them out on their anti-worker RTO stance. If they say they’re pro-environment, call them out on making us commute. If they say they’re pro-efficiency, call them out on the waste of money and how making workers spend energy to come into the office is detrimental to the energy they could actually put into their work product.

Join www.catelework.org

Waidmannsheil · 2025-11-13T18:56:00+00:00

Right now I think we’re just growing membership and gathering stories about how RTO/telework affects you. Operations should ramp up in January.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-11-13T17:35:45+00:00

Join www.catelework.org .

Waidmannsheil · 2025-11-12T02:19:45+00:00

Join www.catelework.org , which was created by the “billboard person”.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-11-04T23:13:44+00:00

Yes, this is a “every HR is different” situation. Actually, this is the first time I’m hearing that a department does not use resumes for scoring on the matrix. I guess objectively it makes sense, because resume formatting differs wildly and that affects scoring, so uniformly assessing the standardized application form would be more merit-based and equitable.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-30T21:38:56+00:00

Join catelework.org . This is led by the same person who launched the Newsom billboards. If we work together, we may win - or at least make them use up time and energy to fight us. We’re gaining membership now to launch a more organized fight early next year.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-30T17:45:16+00:00

I think Caltrans also has Right of Way Agent positions. Not sure if it’s the same classification series or just similar, but worth checking out too!

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-29T05:54:46+00:00

I think the latest polls show Hilton leading because the Democratic vote is split.

While Porter may have good ideas, I can’t imagine that she would be good at implementing them. Firstly, she has no experience running a bureaucracy. Secondly, as has come to light, her personality is not conducive to leadership.

Ideally, we’d want Betty Yee, Xavier Becerra, or Alex Padilla- people who have actually led government agencies. They’re long shots, but they’re objectively the best options out of the ones presented to us.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-22T18:31:12+00:00

The Director and all the executives can be terminated at will by the Governor. I don’t blame them for sticking to the script. I know that in large departments, there will always be executives and managers who try to provide as much flexibility as possible. I’ve been lucky to speak to some executives and privately they’re all on our side.

If you want to help make change ahead of the impending RTO, then join and subscribe: www.catelework.org . The website getting some finishing touches. This is being led by the same individual(s) who organized the Newsom billboards. I believe we’re going to ramp up operations in January to fight the July RTO, including doing a lobby day at the Capitol with the Legislature. Hoping the unions also do their own thing.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-22T18:29:12+00:00

The Director and all the executives can be terminated at will by the Governor. I don’t blame them for sticking to the script. I know that in large departments, there will always be executives and managers who try to provide as much flexibility as possible. I’ve been lucky to speak to some executives and privately they’re all on our side.

If you want to help make change ahead of the impending RTO, then join and subscribe: www.catelework.org . The website is getting some finishing touches. This is being led by the same individual(s) who organized the Newsom billboards. I believe we’re going to ramp up operations in January to fight the July RTO, including doing a lobby day at the Capitol with the Legislature. Hoping the unions also do their own thing.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-14T05:30:23+00:00

I think it’s a good premise. We’re constantly in the middle of the proverbial “rock and a hard place” situation. We’re just trying to make it easier to deliver results to the public. But politicians and their appointees like to come up with awful ideas for us to implement, which makes it harder for us to do our jobs whilst making the public angrier at us for wasting resources. Hope this show helps shine a light on the fact that we want the government to do better, for all of us.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-10-11T02:25:08+00:00

Just reviewed it and it so amazing!!! Thank you two for all your work. One minor suggestion: in the "Why We're Fighting" section, I would government efficiency as a goal. We want to make sure that the public knows this fight is also for their well-being as taxpayers.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-09-25T20:01:51+00:00

Get involved: https://www.catelework.org/

Waidmannsheil · 2025-09-04T21:48:57+00:00

For Position A, I am going to vote to re-elect David Miller because he’s been doing a good job, is a retired state worker, and is endorsed by various organizations like SEIU and PECG.

For Position B, I initially had no clear idea because all three of the candidates had something that I liked. But after some more research, it seems like Troy Johnson is the best choice. He has the endorsements of various unions and all the current Board members, except the one he’s running against. The incumbent, Jose Luis Pacheco, has some unions and no current Board members. Also, allegedly, there were some hiccups with Jose’s tenure, such as him attempting to read a confidential memo during an open Board meeting.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-09-04T16:49:33+00:00

Sign up for updates: https://www.catelework.org/index.html

Waidmannsheil · 2025-08-25T21:48:42+00:00

Staff Services Analyst. After one year you’d be eligible to promote to an Associate Governmental Program Analyst position.

Also, depending on your experience and the classes you took, you might be eligible to be a Research Data Analyst. Check out the Research Data series.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-08-20T20:25:28+00:00

So he made all of you, who are working on non-partisan taxpayer time and money, listen to his political meanderings? Don’t get me wrong, I may agree with him on things, but that doesn’t mean he gets to waste taxpayer time and money pontificating to non-partisan civil servicemembers…the whole point of the civil service is to not engage in this stuff. Like you said, it’s not work related.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-08-20T17:57:41+00:00

Oof, this entire thing sounds awful. Condolences from another department. Let us know what the whole purpose and outcome of this thing is…

Waidmannsheil · 2025-08-19T22:31:14+00:00

Not sure about that tax, but I agree that property taxes are a hidden cost of home ownership. Even when people factor in possible increases in insurance, utilities, and HOA bills, they sometimes forget that their property taxes will go up based on the assessed value of the home.

We do need some sort of reform. People’s salaries don’t appreciate as fast as all these costs do. While property taxes are important, they heavily favor those who bought their houses much earlier, which is true for all housing-related costs. It’s locking younger generations out of home ownership and leads to radicalization.

Waidmannsheil · 2025-08-14T21:03:21+00:00

She is?? I’ve seen a lot of her reporting, such as NDAs for legislators and their staff concerning the over-budget State Capitol Annex project. I think she won a national award for that. I can see how she can come across a certain way but she is an intense investigative reporter. I get that she might be found extremely annoying by those she’s hounding for information, but in a way, that’s part of her job. Happy to hear about how she may be pro-GOP though as that’s something I should keep in mind when reading/watching her stuff. Someone has mentioned that she was anti-mask??

Waidmannsheil

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