The last day I reported to work was on Friday, December 21, 2018. The third federal furlough of 2018 officially began on December 22, the weekend before Christmas.
The first two furloughs of 2018 were inconsequential in regards to our income. In January of 2018 we were furloughed for (I believe) two days, and in February, we were furloughed over a weekend (which didn’t affect our paychecks at all). They say the third time’s a charm, and it appears with this one, we’re in for another long one.
I wrote a little bit about furloughs back in January of 2018 and before that during the furlough of 2013, when we were off work for 26 days. If you’re not interested in all the boring details, I’ll hit the high notes for you. Susan and I are both non-exempt (the old term was “non-essential”) which means we are two of the 380,000 federal employees prevented from reporting to work. During this time, we are not supposed to perform work for the government, or use government facilities. We are not currently receiving pay, and may or may not receive back pay after the furlough ends.
Sometimes before and sometimes after a furlough ends, congress may or may not propose a bill offering back pay to federal employees, after which the President has to sign it. Whenever people say “traditionally, the President signs it,” my response has been, “the current administration is anything but traditional.” We’re hopeful, but it’s not a given.
Also, something I mentioned in one of my previous blog-related posts (which I since forgot) was that we received our back pay on our first full paycheck after the end of the furlough. The specific numbers get complicated, but the gist is that even after we return the work, we’ll get a small, partial paycheck on the first payday back, followed by a full paycheck along with our back pay two weeks after that. Our last paycheck came on December 26. If I were to return to work today, January 7, my next paycheck (which would be on January 16) would only include the paid holiday days (Christmas and New Year’s) from the last two weeks of December. I wouldn’t receive a full two week’s pay until January 30, meaning we didn’t get paid for over a month. And that’s if the furlough ended today, which obviously it hasn’t. So when February’s bills begin to arrive at the beginning of the month, we definitely will not have been paid yet. If the furlough continues, it’s possible we won’t have been paid by the time March’s bills begin to arrive. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
Back in 2013 I wrote that the first week or so of the furlough was fun — and it was, like a little free vacation… before the dark clouds moved in. By the second week of a furlough, I begin to think weird thoughts. Every day I wonder when the furlough’s going to end, and worry whether or not we have enough money in the bank to get us to the finish line. I start thinking, if things get rough, what am I going to sell, and in what order? Which car could I live without? Which laptop do I use the least? Around the end of the second week, which is today, I start thinking about getting a part time job, something to hold us over and help pay the cable bill and the cell phone bill until our paychecks start coming in. Around that same time you realize that there aren’t a lot of other jobs I could do. Nobody’s looking for a temporary network administrator. I don’t really want to deliver pizzas.
(I won’t lie; it’s not the best time in the world to own two homes.)
The trick is to find ways to entertain yourself and/or use your time constructively that don’t cost money. Susan’s learning to play the ukulele, and going to the gym every day. I need to find a better way to spend my time than watching movies and playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 on my PlayStation Classic. I could be writing — I should be writing — but it’s really hard to stay focused on writing right now.
While I sound all gloom and doom, we can last another 4-6 weeks without selling things and getting jobs delivering pizzas. Some of our co-workers can’t. What’s worse is that some of our good friends who are contractors will probably not receive back pay. That means they’re simply not going to get paid for this time, which is pretty rotten. If you know somebody in that situation, reach out and see if they need a helping hand. They might need a loan for groceries. They might just need someone to talk to.
I guess if I could tell people one thing about being a government employee, it’s that most of the people I work with aren’t all that political. A few of us got together for lunch last weekend. None of us were talking about the state of “the wall” — we were all talking about how we were doing financially, and all the stuff we need to get back to at work. I understand both sides of the argument in regards to the wall, and frankly right now, I couldn’t care less. I don’t want to talk about the wall. I just want to go back to work. Then we can talk about it.*
(*I won’t want to talk about it then, either.)