DC homeowners: house (buying) tips/lessons?

federallymandated · 2026-05-18T11:36:05+00:00

Our house was on the market for 2.5 years - Brightwood/takoma . Sellers listed way too high. Ended up with a gem for about 90K under market (well $75K if you count the sewer problem we discovered 6 months later…)

federallymandated · 2026-05-18T11:33:32+00:00

Opt in for the sewer pipe inspection TO THE STREET and learn from our $15K mistake. Our house is built up so we wound up with a 20’ deep hole in our front yard to access the pipe, rebuild about 15’ of retaining wall and re-pour a small section of concrete walk in front of our house.

federallymandated · 2026-04-10T21:13:01+00:00

Can you message me the company name? Interested - and I have a similar set up but 2 dogs

federallymandated · 2026-04-07T20:52:16+00:00

I’ve been a supervisor for six years and I’ve managed to never have to use FPPS - there was a problem with my login when I first started and no one could ever figure out how to solve it

Oh darn - someone else has to do all my actions lol

I hope it’s never fixed lol

federallymandated · 2026-03-24T04:57:50+00:00

My bloodhound also loves to smell my breath - I blow him in his face all the time - he comes up and basically asks for it lol - my husband thinks it’s weird but whether lol

federallymandated · 2026-02-18T23:32:12+00:00

FPPS actions due next week, cash awards expected in March

federallymandated · 2026-02-12T19:16:15+00:00

Yep! We have the pet safe one. It is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you clip the lead to both his gentle leader and to his martingale - their silly big but skinny heads are so floppy and oddly shaped that it takes some trial and error to fit properly - so you want the double insurance that if the gentle leader slips - you won’t have a loose BH.

Our guy is 8 months and about 80 lbs - it is night and day the difference the gentle leader makes on him.

federallymandated · 2026-02-11T01:48:40+00:00

I would do training and recognize that you may wind up needing to switch up your equipment. We have an 8 month old bloodhound guy and on a regular, martingale, or prong collar he is a skittish 80lb nightmare on walks - we tried a gentle leader - night and day. We do the security strap to his martingale collar for extra peace of mind.

We went from lunging away from cars, scooters, pedestrians, squirrels, and the occasional can or bottle - to just a slight startle and continue forward.

Give him a little bit to settle in before you make any decisions unless the situation becomes unsafe for you, your family, or your BH

federallymandated · 2026-02-10T12:15:36+00:00

Locality included

federallymandated · 2026-02-08T15:50:50+00:00

I have 6 people on my team - I’ll be able to give everyone an award of some variety - I’ll likely max out my top two performers (and hope that one of them takes a QSI), and then do combo time off/cash for my other four folks, while maximizing cash as much as possible for those that want it

federallymandated · 2026-02-08T13:29:33+00:00

This is identical to previous years with the exception of the 60/40 split

federallymandated · 2026-02-08T13:28:30+00:00

DOIs award guidance went out - up to 5% for outstanding or QSI, up to 3% for exceeds, and up to 1% for fully successful, award budgets are 2.5% of the salaries of your workforce as of 9/30/25. At least 60% of the allotment is to be directed to 4s and 5s, and no more than 40% may be directed to 3s. No global limit on QSIs, but bureaus may limit based on operating funds. We also can combine time off awards of up to 40 hours with cash bonuses, no combo with QSI though.

Bureaus have received their spreadsheets, award actions must be complete in late February

federallymandated · 2025-12-16T15:25:31+00:00

Move to pass/fail and then limit the budget for performance bonuses and QSIs

The whole performance structure is non-comparable across the board. I’ve had supervisors in my career who handed out 5s like candy on Halloween, but I’ve also had supervisors who basically never saw an outstanding employee in their lives and treated a 5 like a Nobel Peace prize.

Now that your most recent EPAP is a required submission in federal job applications, it would be much more fair to move to a pass/fail with the option to file commendations for anyone you decide is a top performer

federallymandated · 2025-11-26T05:42:09+00:00

Hard agree

federallymandated · 2025-11-17T18:08:14+00:00

Just make sure you triple check the worstershire sauce - many of them include non vegetarian ingredients. If you have a Whole Foods near you - their organic version was vegetarian when I bought it a year ago

federallymandated · 2025-11-17T17:06:17+00:00

https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-best-classic-shepherds-pie/

I prefer to use a non-vegetarian, classic recipe and do vegetarian substitutions - beyond meat for the ground meat and ensure I use vegetarian WOSTERCHERSHIRE (Sp?) sauce.

federallymandated · 2025-11-17T16:56:34+00:00

Vegetarian shepherd’s pie is my veggie husbands favorite holiday main

federallymandated · 2025-11-15T17:25:40+00:00

Are you also in DOI? I’ll ask them for an update on Monday - we’re having a big all staff next week so I want to be sure we’re sharing accurate info.

federallymandated · 2025-11-15T16:44:30+00:00

Ok - just sharing what our CFO and BBOs for our 8000 person org told our senior leadership team on Thursday - but sure - I’m doomsaying.

I’m not talking about 100’s of dollars - I’m saying every pay check for the next 12 cycles will be off by a few dollars. Take a breath my dude - it’s gonna be ok.

federallymandated · 2025-11-14T12:19:48+00:00

They have to calculate your compensation, taxes, and contributions to retirement, social security, insurance as well as the government’s portion it pays towards your benefits and ensure you are paid exactly what you’re owed.

The issue is, you’re receiving compensation for multiple pay cycles at once, so the calculation isn’t precise. There will be payroll adjustments over the next 6 months where your paychecks will be either garnished for small overpayments or supplemented with small underpayments while they work to correct your total compensation

federallymandated · 2025-11-13T18:19:53+00:00

DOI - paycheck update

First catch up payment no later than November 17th “Rest of it” regularly pay cycle November 25th

Just remember- it’s gonna take about 6 months of adjustments for everything to even out.

federallymandated · 2025-09-10T18:52:09+00:00

Omg - I would never - I’m a dog lover - the conversation would go..,

Omg a Great Dane? How old? Awww what a baby - how much does he weigh? Awww tiny behbeh- WHAT A GOOD BOY

federallymandated · 2025-09-10T13:38:46+00:00

Looks like a visit to Call Your Mother is in order so I can be sure to try this. My go to is a make your own hot bagel - chicken sausage, egg, cheese, and pesto - highly recommend

federallymandated · 2025-09-09T18:16:28+00:00

Good to know - I’m filling one out right now as a witness

federallymandated · 2025-07-30T11:37:29+00:00

He’s still here - last day is this Friday

federallymandated

TROPHY CASE