Advice for new government employee???

Das Bus · Post by **Das Bus** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:02 pm

OK, So I just got hired for a part time job with Uncle Sam - ok ! stop laughing now! (50hrs a month), and I have to fly out for a training session. My nose & eyebrow is pierced, but I removed them for the initial interview, as well as dyeing my hair back to a brownish color rather than the blue I've been sporting for months.

My question is: does anybody have first hand knowledge of how much individuality the Feds will overlook? After treining I will be on my own in the field, so I figure I can get away with SOME stuff; but I'm just wondering if anyone on the eplaya has been in a similar situation. Nose piercing? Eyebrow ring? How bout a few streaks of color in my hair????

I know this all sounds stupid, but it's been awhile since I've been in the government workforce, and I'm just wondering if their mores have changed.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:00 am

You might start with what you'll be doing and with which government agency. Will you be dealing with people on a regular basis? Rural or urban environment? Office building or remote field office?

Das Bus · Post by **Das Bus** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:57 am

Dude! Your Bananna head thigy cracks me up! Where do you find that shit??? LOL!

Yes, I'll be working with the public. I'm only being cryptic because there's as assjarholejar out there that has previously stated he contacted social security about my disability claim. (which was fubarred a year ago - he just didn't know that).

I just find it funny that the Feds would hire ME! LOL! Although, as crazy as that may seem, I have no record because I'm just that good! ; )

BTW: I met a guy last year at BM, who was supposedly a good friend of yours... I think his name was Mark - but at this late date I'm not sure. Really nice guy, and he had nothing but good things to say about you. : )

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:10 am

Check your pm's Das Bus

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:16 am

Regional office of a smaller agency. In San Francisco. We get away with a lot in comparison to the D.C. headquarters. (the yearly "summer casual" memo used to be a big laugh, cause we dress like that all the time.) I see jeans. I haven't seen piercings that I can remember, nor outrageous hair color.

Wait till probationary period is over to really hit them.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:08 pm

unless of course your undercover then that would be the prerequestist

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:13 pm

And some GOV agencies "overlook" the fact that their employees post on non-GOV websites on GOV time.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:48 pm

I've been working for all the wrong places...!

I wanna work where Helitack works!

B.

misfit · Post by **misfit** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:59 pm

i work nuclear research and medicine for the feds at one of their stellar VA hospitals. no one has spoken to me about my studded appearence, or the fact that i wear my pajamas into work.

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:06 pm

BAS wrote: I've been working for all the wrong places...!

I wanna work where Helitack works!

B.

No, you don't understand. My agency doesn't "overlook" anything, they monitor ALL internet use, everything. All email traffic is monitored, all of it. Cannot even use yahoo or gmail, it;s prohibited. So I cannot post nor look at anything on the net that is not work related. If I do, termination.

misfit · Post by **misfit** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:17 pm

[quote]I cannot post nor look at anything on the net that is not work related.[/quote]

sucks... what a waste of a T3 connection...........

Post by **mdmf007** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:20 pm

I can certainly vouch for Helitack on that - many of the USDA / USDI agencies have had their weenies whacked for letting computer use go rampant. By their very nature many of their field offices are staffed with sometimes 3-4 people. around the year 2000 porn, spam, videos, and email were killing their bandwidth and making the agencies look funny. So they went from one end of the spectrum to the other.

As a contractor that works with every three and four letter agency under the sun, a federal job is the hardest to lose (you usually get transfered...or promoted elsewhere...LOL).... state and county governments are tied for the easiest.

Depending on your locale, the feds also put up with the most when it comes to hair, piercings etc.

Good luck on your new gig. Hope it works out for you.

later all -

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:23 pm

Well, darn. Then again, when I was at the Wisc. DMV we could even get onto the regular internet-- just the State's intranet.

I need to figure out how to win the lottery or something....

B. (whose odds of winning the lottery do NOT seem to be effected by buying a ticket!)

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:25 pm

i work nuclear research and medicine for the feds at one of their stellar VA hospitals. no one has spoken to me about my studded appearence, or the fact that i wear my pajamas into work.

Palo Alto I'm betting.

There is an advantage to working for the government in one area and doing work *for* them in another. Region has a *lot* to do with it and then there's the luck of the draw in so far as one's Boss is concerned. For instance, I work at a pretty big university here in Palo Alto. I'm on staff at that university though a huge amount of the funding for our operations comes from the Department of Energy. Because the university has no real set dress code I can pretty much wear whatever I want. The university respects diversity and recognizes that diversity is often expressed in myriad ways. Bottom line is that if you do your job there's no issue. On the other hand, I worked briefly at Oak Ridge National Lab earlier this year where diversity was measured by what church you went to and which day of the week you decided to tell your favorite race-based joke in the office workplace. It was a pretty hellish experience and I caught a return flight not long after I submitted my two week Shove Your Job notice to my supervisor. Had I stayed there I might very well have been fired at some point for failing to tow the 'company' line or something equally lame. In fact, I was probably fortunate to get out when I did due to a particularly egregious bit of insanity by one of the more disturbed individuals who haunts this board. This particularly spineless piece of human shit made attempts (under the aegis of a 'concerned citizen') to have me *investigated for making public 'Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Material' (an accusation never substantiated BTW.) Fortunately no investigation of any relevance took place and the issue was dropped. Still, I imagine if I'd stayed out in Tennessee that the spectre of having such an accusation lobbed against my person might very well have stayed with me for a few months - possibly years. But again, it's who you work for and where you do the work.

But I digress.

Das Bus, the bottom line is that it really is a crap shoot and if you do the work you were hired to do with purpose, competence and dependability it'll probably work out in the end. Maybe take Mike's advice below especially about starting slow. Hold your cards kinda close to your chest and then come out slowly (but that's just me). Be prepared to ask yourself how much of a nail sticking out of the board you want to be and if your life will be complicated (or compromised) by the possibility of needing to alter or change a part of it that you seem to be invested in. Good luck with whatever choice you make.I just hope you don't end up working with people like this:

[quote]*From a public declaration on another internet web site: Ray, I do admit I pulled your chain a bit back in those days and I enjoyed that. Moving on though you do need to be careful that whatever imagery you post online is not of classified materials, constitutes Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information, or is subject to export control rules. In the past 7 weeks I know for an ABSOLUTE FACT that many of your online images were reviewed by the Oak Ridge Office, and that their Classification Officer was taking a long hard look to make sure none of them violated any of the items I referenced above.

If you want to do some fact checking of your own that an investigation did indeed take place, one that I initited, please feel free to contact Mr. X (my deletion-RMR), ORO's Assistant Manager for Security and Emergency Management at 865-xxx-xxxx or Ms. Y at 865-xxx-xxxx.[/quote]

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:32 pm

Might want to find out what your boss tolerates/appreciates depending on how much YOU care. Even if it's tolerated it could hold you back if that's of concern to you. I'm always very conservative when I start a new job, so that my supervisors can focus on the work I do rather than what I wear. If you're a good employee and you have reasonable supervisors they will likely look past what you're wearing as long as it doesn't pose a danger or hurt performance.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:49 pm

misfit wrote:i work nuclear research and medicine for the feds at one of their stellar VA hospitals. no one has spoken to me about my studded appearence, or the fact that i wear my pajamas into work.

/
Your behind times..Jacko wore that style out when he showed up in court in his jammies..

Das Bus · Post by **Das Bus** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:39 am

Thanks everybody for your replies!
You've been very helpful!

I just rec'd my new hire packet today; could they possibly require any MORE forms to fill out? LOL! Homeland Security has way too much time on their hands!

Oh, and I don't need to worry about getting into any trouble on the computer. My laptop is only capable of tansmitting data to and from the Regional Office.

Gone now, are my professional couch potato days. Now I'm just a part time slacker! : )

Archantael · Post by **Archantael** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:48 am

Another day, another Ray Russ attack. And from his sock puppet, how cute. Here's my take on it.

1: If you're stupid enough to post highly questionable images of yourself in the public domain, you should be prepared for those images to not stay private.
2: When some of those images show a member of the medical staff in a nuclear lab standing right smack in the middle of a marijuana patch...it goes without saying that such imagery might draw some unwanted attention!
3: When the same individual takes pictures from restricted areas deep inside a national lab and posts them online...in this post 9/11 world and with the Los Alamos incidents fresh in some people's minds, they felt an inquiry was warranted.

~~~~~~~~~~
I am only responsible for my own actions.
I will do what I am asked to do in the course of my work.
While I want payback for 4 years of online abuse, I want it in the form of an apology. I doubt I ever get one but that's my goal.
I urge you to seek professional help. It works. (And it's why I was off the boards for a couple of months!)
And last but not least the media is full of stories these days warning people to be careful what they post in the public domain. The Miss Nevada pictures come to mind, college students being advised to not post party pix on Facebook...it's all over the place. You can't say you didn't know better and the only one responsible for your mistake is you. Quit trying to spin this off on me to make me look like some kind of psychopathic nut case. I'm far from it and there's quite a few people on here now that know better and have been very supportive of me.

And before I shut up to watch another feeble attempt at damage control and saving face I apologize to Das Bus for hijacking her thread.

EvilDustBooger · Post by **EvilDustBooger** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:30 am

I could have sworn I`ve heard this all before.

...or maybe it was this.
http://ubu.wfmu.org/sound/dec_francis/D ... _rant5.mp3

Post by **AntiM** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:44 am

The Never-Ending Story, part what? three, four?

Anyway, DasBus, if you have the urge to be creative, well, just wear outrageous underwear. What I did when I was in uniform, scarlet panties made me smile.

Das Bus · Post by **Das Bus** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:47 am

LOL! Thanks AntiM!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:59 am

For those who don't know, Iso builds doomsday weapons for supervillains or is it superheroes?
Resume including certain X-Men characters and so on.

Unless there is something beyond an online dispute that would really make you think someone is a security risk, then what you did is so far beneath contempt I don't have adequate words.
You have probably destroyed your own credibility and security clearance by making allegations, especially if you didn't tell them about your personal feelings, however justified.
I am sure they asked about that.
I don't think you believed any of that was a security threat to anyone.

COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:23 am

The outrageous underwear idea is a good one! While working for the DMV I got use out of a couple pair of boxer shorts I have which have "Kiss Me" printed across the seat. More stuff like that might have joined my wardrobe over time....

Good luck!

B.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:28 am

Which DMV?

And on the outside or not?
There was a digital camera programmed to say 'denied'
whenever you took a picture of an art car.

You could get away with that on the playa, I think.
Although officiousness is always a job requirement.

Archantael · Post by **Archantael** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:34 am

The investigators were told about my online conflicts with him up front and multiple times later on so it would not be a factor in the investigation. Also I wasn't the only one to ask questions, in fact mine was about the 4th inquiry to be filed. The images were the focus and they spoke for themselves. The letters sent to me indicates that the matter is not exactly closed...but I have nothing to worry about and my clearances are intact.

Now that he brought it up, I've responded to the latest smear campaign....let's move on.

And I like the outrageous underwear idea too.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:36 am

Sorry. I should have said the WISCONSIN DMV. Not the Black Rock City. 2006 was my first time, and I didn't want to commit to anything without knowing what I was getting myself into. (Good thing, too. I was pretty sick the whole week....)

I was working for the State government, and they can be strict about what sort of stuff you are wearing.

Sorry for any confusion.

B.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:15 am

Das Bus make sure you become familiar with the whatever civil service retirement plan is available but consider augmenting whatever retirement plan you have with a 401(k). Also, don't expect to be immediately taken into the fold of federal workers if you've changed your appearances too terribly much. Below is about as much as you can expect to get away with and only then because that gold thing over her left eye marginally matches that huge hub cap of an earring.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:57 am

[quote="AntiM"]The Never-Ending Story, part what? three, four?...quote]

I would ask the question "Will it ever end"...

Obviously, the magic 8 ball says...

NO!

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:23 am

Das Bus wrote:Dude! Your Bananna head thigy cracks me up! Where do you find that shit??? LOL!

Isn't that freaky?

Post by **mdmf007** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:37 am

I totally get it - beating a dead horse!!!

and the banana thing bugs the hell out of me. I am sure thats why its there - just to bug me. (BTW Isotopia - whats Banana head saying - i spent ten minutes trying to figure it out)

later all