Equipment Crew- Part III

[Keetman]

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween...

You too! We had our trick or treat postponed..... apparently when the East Coast gets a brutal storm...small towns in Central Ohio get kwazy!





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[irongrandpa]

Northernmoris, how are you & your family doing in the aftermath of the storm? Hope all is well.

[yankeemarko1]

You too! We had our trick or treat postponed..... apparently when the East Coast gets a brutal storm...small towns in Central Ohio get kwazy!

Another theory is that worried parents didn't want to expose their innocent children to the hordes of politicians that have invaded your state. Have you unplugged your TV and radio yet?

[Keetman]

Another theory is that worried parents didn't want to expose their innocent children to the hordes of politicians that have invaded your state. Have you unplugged your TV and radio yet?

Dude.


I'm a political guy..... And I'm over this election cycle.

Living in one of the most contested swing states during a general election cycle is absolute torture.

Tuesday cannot possibly come soon enough.

[Northernmoris]

Northernmoris, how are you & your family doing in the aftermath of the storm? Hope all is well.

Hey.. Thanks a lot for asking. The family is fine. The property etc is fine. We still have no power after 4 days. We have been staying at my in laws. I'll be tossing $200-300 worth of groceries. It could take another 6 days to get back power.

Can't complain though, the area is destroyed even more so to the South. Some people lost everything. Luckily Jersey Shore filmed their last season. The pictures of AC, Seaside etc are devestating.

[twodog]

Hey.. Thanks a lot for asking. The family is fine. The property etc is fine. We still have no power after 4 days. We have been staying at my in laws. I'll be tossing $200-300 worth of groceries. It could take another 6 days to get back power.

Can't complain though, the area is destroyed even more so to the South. Some people lost everything. Luckily Jersey Shore filmed their last season. The pictures of AC, Seaside etc are devestating.

I'm glad to hear that all is well with you NM. Everybody I know in NJ escaped with only uprooted trees and fallen branches being the worst. I even have friends in the shore area (Belmar) that had no problems, but the shore will never be what I grew up with again. All of the old haunts will be gone or rebuilt.

[twodog]

As it worked out, I went ahead and called the Doctor. He's a specialist and was able to get me in Thursday morning...so I just went ahead and made the appointment.

How'd the appt. go Keet ? Ihope all is well since we haven't heard anything yet.

[ExtremistPullup]

Nov 1st Open carry is now legal in Oklahoma with your conceal license.

[Keetman]

How'd the appt. go Keet ? Ihope all is well since we haven't heard anything yet.

Thanks! The appt went well. The doctor didn't even need an xray. There is tenderness with some range of motion, but only with certain moves...I have retained most of my ROM and can walk with little discomfort. I have been icing the area and using compression bandages, so there is still no bruising or deformity. The Doctor feels that it is a pull and gauges the damage by the bruising, reduced ROM, and deformity. Since I have only limited decreased ROM, he says he wants me to stretch the leg and give it plenty of time to heal (3 months) before I start getting carried away with squats and GHR's. I'll probably just wait till mid February or maybe even March. I'm not in this for the ego and I can't afford to be laid up for months. I dread the thought of light duty and have no desire to deplete my sick time.

I'm going to get my upperbody pump on for a few months .

[matrix563]

good news keet


i have a question about united way.

i found this by googling, can i file a complaint with my HR?



In my organization, 100% participation refers to the fact that 100% of our employees must fill out the donation form, even if on the form they choose "No donation". Is that an option in this case?
posted by muddgirl at 10:54 AM on November 6, 2009

A friend of mine had this exact problem at her company -- the pressure was so high she had to go to HR to file a complaint. HR actually put a stop to this within the company after the complaint was filed.
This is one of those times when HR is really your friend.
posted by MustardTent at 10:54 AM on November 6, 2009 [2 favorites]


can i do that? they are hassling me to return the form. i dont' see why i have too if i am not donating.

[OSUDimond]

Nov 1st Open carry is now legal in Oklahoma with your conceal license.

I'm jealous man. My Fobus ankle holster finally got here. First day it was very uncomfortable but today I don't notice it nearly as much. Had to go with an ankle option because I wear athletic clothes to work. I am still debating if I want to pick up something smaller like a BG380 that would be more comfortable to wear to work. When wearing jeans and other pants with a belt I have the crossbreed supertuck.

[KBKB]

i have a question about united way.

I don't know that much about them, but I used to do contract work for a company that tried, in a very heavy handed manner, to get all of their employees to contribute. Being a contractor, I didn't have to participate (and they never tried to make me). But it was a topic of some of the lunchtime discussions between actual employees there. It always seemed fishy to me.

The company that I work for now does encourage charitable giving, but they don't make you participate, nor do they say who you have to give to. They have a matching program in which they match up $750 of charitable contributions per year. I think that's a lot better than being locked into one organization such as the United Way.

With regard to the United Way itself, there have been several scandals over the years where the head of the organization was accused (and in at least one instance, convicted) of misusing funds. When that happened, I decided never to make a contribution to them. Maybe they've cleaned up their act since then, but there are a lot of other reputable charities out there. Plus, I don't like the heavy handed manner in which they've insinuated themselves with some large employers. (The kind of stuff that you quoted is what I object to.)

[ExtremistPullup]

I'm jealous man. My Fobus ankle holster finally got here. First day it was very uncomfortable but today I don't notice it nearly as much. Had to go with an ankle option because I wear athletic clothes to work. I am still debating if I want to pick up something smaller like a BG380 that would be more comfortable to wear to work. When wearing jeans and other pants with a belt I have the crossbreed supertuck.

nice, does that holster have a retention lock on it?

[dumb.bell]

I don't know that much about them, but I used to do contract work for a company that tried, in a very heavy handed manner, to get all of their employees to contribute. Being a contractor, I didn't have to participate (and they never tried to make me). But it was a topic of some of the lunchtime discussions between actual employees there. It always seemed fishy to me.

The company that I work for now does encourage charitable giving, but they don't make you participate, nor do they say who you have to give to. They have a matching program in which they match up $750 of charitable contributions per year. I think that's a lot better than being locked into one organization such as the United Way.

With regard to the United Way itself, there have been several scandals over the years where the head of the organization was accused (and in at least one instance, convicted) of misusing funds. When that happened, I decided never to make a contribution to them. Maybe they've cleaned up their act since then, but there are a lot of other reputable charities out there. Plus, I don't like the heavy handed manner in which they've insinuated themselves with some large employers. (The kind of stuff that you quoted is what I object to.)

I had a former employer that was very heavy handed in this regard. I refuse to give one year just because of the way the pushed you. I had visits from everyone of my supervisors over the issue.

[KBKB]

I had a former employer that was very heavy handed in this regard. I refuse to give one year just because of the way the pushed you. I had visits from everyone of my supervisors over the issue.

That's really bad. It makes you wonder if not participating in those "charitable" programs will negatively affect performance reviews or the possibility of promotion. I'm sure that they say that it doesn't, but if your manager (and their manager) is involved in trying to get you to participate, they may start to think of you as a difficult employee.

To the best of my knowledge, my current supervisor has no knowledge of the charitable organizations that I contribute to. That's the way it should be.

[matrix563]

this is the email they sent:

i really don't think its any of their business. i think i might go talk to human resources just to file a grievance. that way, if they try to mess with me about other things, i can point back to the grievance and say they are messing with me because of what i filed .




As a follow-up to my previous e-mails of October 26, October 29 and October 31 to the supervisors with the names of those individuals with outstanding United Way forms, this is now coming from the Director. As stated before, even if you do not plan to give, that is fine, just complete the form and return it to the Director’s Office. These forms are long overdue and are absolutely due in the Director’s Office no later than 0800 hours tomorrow morning.

Supervisors, if a person is on medical leave, (please refer to previous e-mails for those names), attach a note to the form indicating same and return it as well.

Again, every form must be returned and accounted for.

[KBKB]

i really don't think its any of their business. i think i might go talk to human resources just to file a grievance. that way, if they try to mess with me about other things, i can point back to the grievance and say they are messing with me because of what i filed .

What's the downside to filling out the form? It seems that they've made provisions for not donating. I think I might go that route in order to not piss off your supervisor and the management chain above...

I do understand your position (about it being none of their business) and even agree with it, but it seems to me that filing a grievance with HR might cause you some grief in the future.

[dumb.bell]

That's really bad. It makes you wonder if not participating in those "charitable" programs will negatively affect performance reviews or the possibility of promotion. I'm sure that they say that it doesn't, but if your manager (and their manager) is involved in trying to get you to participate, they may start to think of you as a difficult employee.

To the best of my knowledge, my current supervisor has no knowledge of the charitable organizations that I contribute to. That's the way it should be.

They finally just let me fill out a form with a zero contribution. It was implied that when I made manager that a certain level of contribution was expected. My response was that I guessed I should start looking for another job. It was coincidental but the following year I made manager and quit within a few months of getting the promotion.

[Keetman]

They finally just let me fill out a form with a zero contribution. It was implied that when I made manager that a certain level of contribution was expected. My response was that I guessed I should start looking for another job. It was coincidental but the following year I made manager and quit within a few months of getting the promotion.

Never having worked in this type of job...can someone clue me in on.....why?

It seems rather odd that the company would care one way or another to the point that they'd "expect" a contribution once one made it to management. Donate, don't donate...whatever, just get the form filled out and get back to work??!!!

They used to have a hard sell with us too....I mean, the city actually took firetrucks out of service and forced us to go to the training academy and sit through a UW presentation. That was only my first couple of years, apparently after the bad press UW got, someone decided it wasn't such a good idea to take emergency services personnel off line for such a thing. Now.....they spend thousands of dollars each year individually sending everyone of us a large packet of info....of which I'm certain that about 90% goes straight to the round file.

Never had an issue with being pressured, other than we had to sit through the presentation. Its almost laughable that someone would try to strong arm giving in such a way.

[Hishiad]

My friend works for a company that has their own charity donation...well they release their charity financial information. So his retort has been and will always be "I'm not contributing to any charity that spends 10% of its donations on expenses of an uncharitable manner"


Basically the company created it's OWN charity group and request donations on company time via company emails. Host meetings at work, throws "fundraising events" during work etc. all staff are employed volunteers. So there's really no reason 10% should go to any admin activities/etc. Especially when much larger charities exist that use 3% and less for these things.


http://www.charitynavigator.org/ <- Great place to get more information. We get chunk email constantly about various charity programs where I work. Medic blood drives, relay for life, united way, coat drives etc. I'm all for donating and being charitable, but I'll pick the groups I do it with.

[KBKB]

Never having worked in this type of job...can someone clue me in on.....why?

Only guessing here, but I think there's a sort of competition among large companies who are in the United Way "club". The United Way has yearly "awards" - a trophy - for companies that contribute to the UW. It's not clear to me what the metrics are; it could be total amount contributed, amount of employee contributions, percent employee compliance, etc. A CEO who decides that he wants to his company to win one of these awards will put pressure on the rest of the management chain to make it happen.

As I said at the outset, this is only a guess.

Here's a link though to UW's Spirit of America Award page:

http://www.unitedway.org/pages/spirit-of-america

On that page are lots of photos of smiling industry leaders accepting their awards.

[twodog]

Thanks! The appt went well. The doctor didn't even need an xray. There is tenderness with some range of motion, but only with certain moves...I have retained most of my ROM and can walk with little discomfort. I have been icing the area and using compression bandages, so there is still no bruising or deformity. The Doctor feels that it is a pull and gauges the damage by the bruising, reduced ROM, and deformity. Since I have only limited decreased ROM, he says he wants me to stretch the leg and give it plenty of time to heal (3 months) before I start getting carried away with squats and GHR's. I'll probably just wait till mid February or maybe even March. I'm not in this for the ego and I can't afford to be laid up for months. I dread the thought of light duty and have no desire to deplete my sick time.

I'm going to get my upperbody pump on for a few months .

Great, that's as good news as can be expected ! Now it's time to move the curl bar into the rack Brah !

[twodog]

Nov 1st Open carry is now legal in Oklahoma with your conceal license.

That's great news EP, it's much more comfortable that way. In NC open carry is allowed in most of the state except for a few cities, concealed carry is what needs the permit, go figure . I don't see any open carry near me though.

[twodog]

i have a question about united way.

The company I worked for in NJ was very heavy handed and it eventually caused a large number of employees to stop donating. Eventually the UW set up a program where we could choose exactly where we wanted 100% of our money to go ( they still took a cut out of the company match), and I eventually set it up for things like my local Fire/Rescue which was volunteer. I donated to them anyway and through the company they also got a partial match, so it was win-win for me.

[twodog]

Only guessing here, but I think there's a sort of competition among large companies who are in the United Way "club".

It's the same way as companies have competitions amongst themselves for March of Dimes, the biggest difference is the operating costs where the MOD doesn't take a huge cut to pay their officers exhorbitant salaries.

[matrix563]

What's the downside to filling out the form? It seems that they've made provisions for not donating. I think I might go that route in order to not piss off your supervisor and the management chain above...

I do understand your position (about it being none of their business) and even agree with it, but it seems to me that filing a grievance with HR might cause you some grief in the future.

i don't care about making them mad. they docked my pay because the leave system let me request leave i didn't have cause they didn't update the leave requests. shafted on my overtime that check too. in the end i got the time back i was docked. i'm still not sure why they did that but i'm all for making them mad. they can't do anything to me. they are in figure head type positions. sure they could fire someone but the worst they did to someone that was late 30 times was to give them a week without pay. thats why i say they don't have any real power if thats all they could do to someone that was late 30 times . i don't plan on being here forever its just a job to pay the bills for now.

[dumb.bell]

Never having worked in this type of job...can someone clue me in on.....why?

Pretty much what KBKB said. I believe it was all about hitting different levels of contribution (different levels had different names) and the recognition that went along with those levels.

It just didn't sit well with me that there was an expectation for you to give so that the company could be recognized.

[KBKB]

i don't care about making them mad. they docked my pay because the leave system let me request leave i didn't have cause they didn't update the leave requests. shafted on my overtime that check too. in the end i got the time back i was docked. i'm still not sure why they did that but i'm all for making them mad. they can't do anything to me. they are in figure head type positions. sure they could fire someone but the worst they did to someone that was late 30 times was to give them a week without pay. thats why i say they don't have any real power if thats all they could do to someone that was late 30 times . i don't plan on being here forever its just a job to pay the bills for now.

Seems to me that the HR grievance is the way to go then...

(Sounds like you're not happy in that job anyway.)

[Stasher1]

I'm jealous man. My Fobus ankle holster finally got here. First day it was very uncomfortable but today I don't notice it nearly as much. Had to go with an ankle option because I wear athletic clothes to work. I am still debating if I want to pick up something smaller like a BG380 that would be more comfortable to wear to work. When wearing jeans and other pants with a belt I have the crossbreed supertuck.

I think you'd find the Galco Ankle Lite to be quite a bit more comfortable and more concealable than that Fobus. Swapping magazines to the ones with the flat baseplates would make a difference as well.

[matrix563]

(Sounds like you're not happy in that job anyway.)

sure not .

thats a nice ankle carry osu