Northern weather

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I find it rather appalling that the govt and many private institutions incentivize people to stay home.

It's actually cost effective; close leased very expensive office space, and then people are actually more productive at home not being harassed by arseholes that got promoted into management having reached their level of incompetence. A fair number of that same management got canned 2 years ago and not re-hired - more savings. I've always gotten more done at home - put some music on and I can write for hours.

They get leave for everything and anything nowadays.

Not really true - takes a lot of years before you can accrue real time off and most place in the first year you can be canned for just about any reason w/o being vested in any retirement; Gov't has been doing that for a very long time.

[robert.]

I know a few union IBEW guys. They went to work an hour early and sat in the parking lot. For the first 5 years of their union job they could and would be canned if they were late. What ever their job was that day. They were ready and doing it at 8:00 am sharp. After 5 years it was a whole different game.
also know some bean counters for Merck. Covid opened their eyes. For years they were against work at home. Now they see the light. For the last 6 months they have been preaching it to the top brass. really pushing it hard. To the point where Merk maybe selling off some large tracts of land. prudential sold of part of their Willow Grove campus. That's now a retirement village. A gated community with shops, restaurants and medical care. Work from home id here to stay for a lot off companies.
On the weather side. Rain all day. a good soaking kind.

[gregj410]

Not really true - takes a lot of years before you can accrue real time off

Depends on what your idea of real time off is. Some of these guys pair 2 days of leave to the weekend and consider that real time off.

My son in law worked for the state for less than a year and a half. He landed a job with Verizon, gave his two weeks noticed, took paid leave for those 2 weeks. Apparently you can gift leave to work mates if you have it left when you leave. I believe he gave his brother 2 weeks and still
forfeited a portion of his leave.

[healey36]

The next shoe to drop will be the "transition" of the work-from-home crowd to contractor status. Little-to-no collaboration, no office space, negotiated pay, no benefits, it'll be a boon for corporate America. The ultimate gig economy. It'll be great.

Another inch of rain yesterday with more teed up for today. I'm looking for my water-wings.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...all while teachers and doctors and the entire medical profession continue to report for in-person on-site fulfillment of their chosen duties.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The next shoe to drop will be the "transition" of the work-from-home crowd to contractor status. Little-to-no collaboration, no office space, negotiated pay, no benefits, it'll be a boon for corporate America. The ultimate gig economy. It'll be great.

That shoe is already on the floor; all of my gigs are contract. The states are hating it though - no employees ='s no money for the state. Uber left CA over this dispute.

Another inch of rain yesterday with more teed up for today. I'm looking for my water-wings.

Yea, seriously damp today.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...all while teachers and doctors and the entire medical profession continue to report for in-person on-site fulfillment of their chosen duties.

Maybe......lot of teachers simply quit and did not come back. All I'm hearing on the medical side are big shortages of personnel at every level. Lot of quitting happened there, too.

[healey36]

That shoe is already on the floor; all of my gigs are contract.

Yes, but you're in a different situation; you've got the pension/retirement savings/healthcare as a backstop. The thirty-year-old working stiff with a house and two kids, might not be such a great arrangement. The gig economy requires a level of personal and financial discipline that I suspect many find in short supply.

This reminds me of the push for globalization; that looked great too, in theory.

I find it interesting that the almanacs will predict Nor'easters, but not tropical storms, i.e. hurricanes with landfall. They seem equally problematic from a predictability standpoint.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That shoe is already on the floor; all of my gigs are contract.

Yes, but you're in a different situation; you've got the pension/retirement savings/healthcare as a backstop. The thirty-year-old working stiff with a house and two kids, might not be such a great arrangement. The gig economy requires a level of personal and financial discipline that I suspect many find in short supply.

Sink or swim!

But, it's not my decision on that either - all on employers want to push everyone off onto 1099 contract labor -- they don't want costs the associated with full time employees.

I find it interesting that the almanacs will predict Nor'easters, but not tropical storms, i.e. hurricanes with landfall. They seem equally problematic from a predictability standpoint.

Not really had any hurricanes of any note this year; suspect that they might get pushed later into the calendar...maybe get the snow blower serviced this year!

[robert.]

...all while teachers and doctors and the entire medical profession continue to report for in-person on-site fulfillment of their chosen duties.

Maybe......lot of teachers simply quit and did not come back. All I'm hearing on the medical side are big shortages of personnel at every level. Lot of quitting happened there, too.

Lots of GPs. around here only do telemedicine. Many teachers either retired or moved to online public schools. If you were a teacher in a PA public school. You can switch jobs to teaching in a public online school and not lose any benefits. Your state pension, Seniority, vacation, sick leave and personal days all come with you. I do not know how the salary rate works compared to the job you left. I do know they must pay you a rate based on you years of service. If i were a teacher. I would stay home and teach online.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...all while teachers and doctors and the entire medical profession continue to report for in-person on-site fulfillment of their chosen duties.

Maybe...... All I'm hearing on the medical side are big shortages of personnel at every level. Lot of quitting happened there, too.

Yes, of late, two of my doctors quit/retired:
•head of urology dept. for the hospital and closed his office down.
•my Internist, since the 70’s , simply closed his office and disappeared. I’ve tried to find out if he died but to no avail.

[Mitch]

3 or 4 months back, there was a billboard sign along Rte. 380 advertising for nurses in the Pittsburgh hospitals. $80 per hour!!!!!
Kind of hard to figure why no one would want to snatch that up, and why the shortage in the Pittsburgh area, considering that UPMC (University Park Medical Center) owns most of the hospitals in Greater Pittsburgh and many outlying Urgent Care, cancer and orthopedic centers. I think the Allegheny Health Network only has 4 or 5 hospitals and a few outliers. Why a shortage in Pittsburgh? UPMC is a huge doctor and nurse college. One reason is that RNs are forced to work two, sometimes three, 16 hour shifts per week, and that drags most anybody down after a month or two. Some of this is brought on by the hospitals themselves. It is much cheaper to pay overtime than to put healthcare benefits on new employees, but eventually they need people to get the job done. Doctors eventually get forced into the big hospital groups and have to give up their individual practices or they die on the vine. Healthcare, while quite necessary, is one of the biggest scams there is in the US.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

“Health care...one of the biggest scams...”
I actually never had that opinion. When you are sitting spread-eagle, knees-up, perched on a table in surgery, and your urologist is readying a tube for insertion directly up your urethra , and Godonlyknowz what additional furniture and lighting ,you don’t think of scams. Rather , you are filled with hope , and when the result of such medical care is bloodless, clotless urine (TURP), gratitude is the over-arching feeling. Believe me, sir.

[gregj410]

3 or 4 months back, there was a billboard sign along Rte. 380 advertising for nurses in the Pittsburgh hospitals. $80 per hour!!!!!
Kind of hard to figure why no one would want to snatch that up, and why the shortage in the Pittsburgh area, considering that UPMC (University Park Medical Center) owns most of the hospitals in Greater Pittsburgh and many outlying Urgent Care, cancer and orthopedic centers. I think the Allegheny Health Network only has 4 or 5 hospitals and a few outliers. Why a shortage in Pittsburgh? UPMC is a huge doctor and nurse college. One reason is that RNs are forced to work two, sometimes three, 16 hour shifts per week, and that drags most anybody down after a month or two. Some of this is brought on by the hospitals themselves. It is much cheaper to pay overtime than to put healthcare benefits on new employees, but eventually they need people to get the job done. Doctors eventually get forced into the big hospital groups and have to give up their individual practices or they die on the vine. Healthcare, while quite necessary, is one of the biggest scams there is in the US.

Not to mention being forced to get the ouchy.

[robert.]

Job postings always lie or fail to tell the whole story. Not every nurse that walked through the door will get $80.00 an hour. The fine print probably said. ER nurses or cardiac nurses. One of my co-workers had a son apply for a Walmart job. $18.10 and hour. They told him " that was for a manage position" Stock boy gets $14.35. He took the job. 17 year old kid. Happy not to be in a Mickey d's.
Getting windy and cooler..