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I've commented on HN recently on how ABSOLUTELY EYE-GOUGE INDUCING AWFUL it is to do any kind of software work for the Federal Government. Due to a broken hiri

by JPKab 13y ago

I've commented on HN recently on how ABSOLUTELY EYE-GOUGE INDUCING AWFUL it is to do any kind of software work for the Federal Government. Due to a broken hiring process and union-like job security, it is filled with incompetent morons constantly scheming to find any desperate way they can to demonstrate value. (I of course am talking about the GS-12 and up levels) The men and women who work hard and care are like the proverbial Atlas: they do the work of 15, with the other 14 people in their group using their exurban DC commute to excuse their 7AM - 3PM schedule, of which the first 3 hours of their day is spent surfing the net doing jack shit. And then these fucking assclowns get promoted. These are the people who do things like make major interface and usability changes to a massive healthcare website and just magically expect the contractor (CGI in this case) to be able to do it. They don't give a shit about wasting taxpayer money, because it has no effect on their career at all. Failed projects don't get you demoted or fired, schedule slips are so normal that nobody even bats an eyelash.... This causes any sane person who points out the cost in time and money of bullshit bikeshed type changes to be rolled over by the horde of overpaid lemmings who are trying to yell as loud as they can before they head out at 3pm for their kids volleyball game in Manassas. If this looks like a rant, it is. I hate the GS system. It gives government a bad name, and these overpaid assclowns do nothing but fail, supplying ammo to every Rush Limbaugh in the world advocating for elimination of government. Please, please, if somebody with power is reading this: fix the government hiring system. Fire the lazy assholes who work 5 hour days and pull six figures. Fire the people who think not knowing how to use a computer beyond Outlook doesn't interfere with their ability to perform as CIO of an agency. Fire people who are in charge of projects that go over budget and late. Fucking fire people. Next week I'll be going in and meeting a GS-14 (just promoted for 13) who does NOTHING at work but talk about his motorcycle and martial arts. When tasks are handed to him, everyone else groans, knowing that it will simply not be done. Instead they go behind him and perform the tasks and hope he doesn't find out, cause if he does he will pull rank and humiliate them..... Venting over.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
hga 13y ago
"every Rush Limbaugh in the world advocating for elimination of government" As far as I know a strawman, unless you can come up with some telling quotes. You really think he's an anarchist??? Now, a return to the Founder's vision of a limited government, the pre-Hoover, not counting e.g. Woodrow Wilson during the war era and other Progressive excesses, that's another thing altogether. Which your vent strongly supports. Basically, seriously reduce the size, scope, and most especially control of the Federal government, and return to the spoils system. No matter how bad it was and would be, it's still accountable in a way we can see the Civil Service isn't. And if the Federal government isn't trying to control just about everything, the need for a huge, "professional", "apolitical" (like the National Park Service, anyone???) "Civil" (again, the NPS is our current poster boy) Service is much less compelling. If you can't admit to yourself that the Rush Limbaughs of the country have some good points, you are part of the problem, and will remain so.
- RougeFemme 13y ago
  There are certainly problems with the federal civil service, but how could a return to the spoils system be better? And to a large degree, the civil service still operates very much like a spoils system under the hood, despite all the documentation and attempts to the contrary.
  - hga 13y ago
    Well, if it really operates very much like one, why not make it explicit? As for how it could be better, as I said about, accountability. Let's take a recent partial example: when George H. W. Bush became president, he immediately got rid of every "Reaganite" in the politically appointed/staff/whatever parts that a president has control over. And the nation didn't like the results and fired his ass in the next election.
- nl 13y ago
  >"every Rush Limbaugh in the world advocating for elimination of government" As far as I know a strawman, unless you can come up with some telling quotes. "Conservatives want to eliminate as much government from people's daily lives as possible."[1]. I suspect you'll claim the "as much.. as possible" means the OP is wrong, and I'll claim that the OP said "every Rush Limbaugh" - clearly making a rhetorical point rather than claiming Limbaugh wants to eliminate all government. But then we'd both be missing the OP's point. He has proposed (albeit in a rant) a solution that both progressives and conservatives should agree on: Incompetence should not be excused in government. I'd suggest a fruitful discussion would be to concentrate on that rather than come to the predictable conclusion that people have different views on the role (and hence size) of government. [1] http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moderate_republicans_see_conservatives_as_common_enemy http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moder...
revelation 13y ago
That sounds like an awesome blog, if you expand a bit on the characters ;)
bjornsteffanson 13y ago
This is not a rant, because it's the truth. To outsiders, this attitude seems hyper-negative because it's difficult to comprehend the level of ineptitude found in federal government IT. As a non-national who has done some (very non-sensitive) on-site IT work for the U.S. government, I experienced this firsthand for several years. (And before I get accused of elitism, my home country doesn't necessarily have the answers either.) When all of the Snowden and PRISM stuff broke, my first thought was to chuckle and ask, "How?" Based on my experiences with federal IT workers, it's hard to imagine there is a room of crack coders underground in some basement or deep inside some mountain just knocking it out of the park.
- hga 13y ago
  I've known a couple of NSA programmers in the late-80s and through the 90s, and they were very good to the very best. I don't find it difficult to believe they can manage to get good people ... well, before Snowden et. al. Whoever they got to do the power system for their new Utah site ... failed rather hard.
  - hanley 13y ago
    > Whoever they got to do the power system for their new Utah site ... failed rather hard. Can you elaborate on this?
    - hga 13y ago
      From memory there are regular power disruptions that cost "$100,000" each time. Now checking with Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=nsa+utah+power https://www.google.com/search?q=nsa+utah+power I see/remember this is delaying the opening of the site.
    - zackelan 13y ago
      > The report blames the NSA “fast tracking” the Utah project and thus bypassing “regular quality controls in design and construction.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/10/07/the-nsas-hugely-expensive-utah-data-center-has-major-electrical-problems-and-basically-isnt-working/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/10/07/the-nsas-...
RougeFemme 13y ago
At least, as you indicate, there are some who care and work hard and people groaning and performing the tasks of your GS-14. . .but I feel your pain. . .I've worked on both sides of the fence.
Pxtl 13y ago
Wait, what's wrong with a 7-3 schedule? I mean, the "blowing off the first three hours of work" is one thing, but what's wrong with time-shifting so you can spend your after-work time with the kids instead of traffic purgatory?
- nuclear_eclipse 13y ago
  I think the concern with it is that they were likely coming in early just so they could spend time goofing off before their boss or coworkers arrived and was able to check up on them.
sahil_videology 13y ago
What motivates you to continue to work in that environment?
- JPKab 13y ago
  What motivates me is that I USUALLY don't have to deal with that stuff anymore. I generally deal with other (private sector) clients lately, and one project that is Federal I'm working has such a hard-to-solve problem with such a big payoff that it keeps me motivated.

by JPKab 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

hga 13y ago

"every Rush Limbaugh in the world advocating for elimination of government" As far as I know a strawman, unless you can come up with some telling quotes. You really think he's an anarchist??? Now, a return to the Founder's vision of a limited government, the pre-Hoover, not counting e.g. Woodrow Wilson during the war era and other Progressive excesses, that's another thing altogether. Which your vent strongly supports. Basically, seriously reduce the size, scope, and most especially control of the Federal government, and return to the spoils system. No matter how bad it was and would be, it's still accountable in a way we can see the Civil Service isn't. And if the Federal government isn't trying to control just about everything, the need for a huge, "professional", "apolitical" (like the National Park Service, anyone???) "Civil" (again, the NPS is our current poster boy) Service is much less compelling. If you can't admit to yourself that the Rush Limbaughs of the country have some good points, you are part of the problem, and will remain so.

RougeFemme 13y ago
There are certainly problems with the federal civil service, but how could a return to the spoils system be better? And to a large degree, the civil service still operates very much like a spoils system under the hood, despite all the documentation and attempts to the contrary.
- hga 13y ago
  Well, if it really operates very much like one, why not make it explicit? As for how it could be better, as I said about, accountability. Let's take a recent partial example: when George H. W. Bush became president, he immediately got rid of every "Reaganite" in the politically appointed/staff/whatever parts that a president has control over. And the nation didn't like the results and fired his ass in the next election.
nl 13y ago
>"every Rush Limbaugh in the world advocating for elimination of government" As far as I know a strawman, unless you can come up with some telling quotes. "Conservatives want to eliminate as much government from people's daily lives as possible."[1]. I suspect you'll claim the "as much.. as possible" means the OP is wrong, and I'll claim that the OP said "every Rush Limbaugh" - clearly making a rhetorical point rather than claiming Limbaugh wants to eliminate all government. But then we'd both be missing the OP's point. He has proposed (albeit in a rant) a solution that both progressives and conservatives should agree on: Incompetence should not be excused in government. I'd suggest a fruitful discussion would be to concentrate on that rather than come to the predictable conclusion that people have different views on the role (and hence size) of government. [1] http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moderate_republicans_see_conservatives_as_common_enemy http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moder...

revelation 13y ago

That sounds like an awesome blog, if you expand a bit on the characters ;)

bjornsteffanson 13y ago

This is not a rant, because it's the truth. To outsiders, this attitude seems hyper-negative because it's difficult to comprehend the level of ineptitude found in federal government IT. As a non-national who has done some (very non-sensitive) on-site IT work for the U.S. government, I experienced this firsthand for several years. (And before I get accused of elitism, my home country doesn't necessarily have the answers either.) When all of the Snowden and PRISM stuff broke, my first thought was to chuckle and ask, "How?" Based on my experiences with federal IT workers, it's hard to imagine there is a room of crack coders underground in some basement or deep inside some mountain just knocking it out of the park.

hga 13y ago
I've known a couple of NSA programmers in the late-80s and through the 90s, and they were very good to the very best. I don't find it difficult to believe they can manage to get good people ... well, before Snowden et. al. Whoever they got to do the power system for their new Utah site ... failed rather hard.
- hanley 13y ago
  > Whoever they got to do the power system for their new Utah site ... failed rather hard. Can you elaborate on this?
  - hga 13y ago
    From memory there are regular power disruptions that cost "$100,000" each time. Now checking with Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=nsa+utah+power https://www.google.com/search?q=nsa+utah+power I see/remember this is delaying the opening of the site.
  - zackelan 13y ago
    > The report blames the NSA “fast tracking” the Utah project and thus bypassing “regular quality controls in design and construction.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/10/07/the-nsas-hugely-expensive-utah-data-center-has-major-electrical-problems-and-basically-isnt-working/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/10/07/the-nsas-...

RougeFemme 13y ago

At least, as you indicate, there are some who care and work hard and people groaning and performing the tasks of your GS-14. . .but I feel your pain. . .I've worked on both sides of the fence.

Pxtl 13y ago

Wait, what's wrong with a 7-3 schedule? I mean, the "blowing off the first three hours of work" is one thing, but what's wrong with time-shifting so you can spend your after-work time with the kids instead of traffic purgatory?

nuclear_eclipse 13y ago
I think the concern with it is that they were likely coming in early just so they could spend time goofing off before their boss or coworkers arrived and was able to check up on them.

sahil_videology 13y ago

What motivates you to continue to work in that environment?

JPKab 13y ago
What motivates me is that I USUALLY don't have to deal with that stuff anymore. I generally deal with other (private sector) clients lately, and one project that is Federal I'm working has such a hard-to-solve problem with such a big payoff that it keeps me motivated.