Marxist Hacker 42's Journal: Grant me the Capital Scarlet W

To be crossposted to Laid Off Land on YahooGroups tonight:

Grant me the Capital Scarlett W (for those who are newbies on LOL or on Slashdot, this is old-timey for I finally found my first permanent position after the layoff in October 2001)! Yes, I know I've been contracting for a couple of years now- but it finally turned into just about as permanent of a position as I could wish for. It's with Oregon Department of Transportation, at the same pay rate as my contract (which means they're saving the contracting company cut for my services, nearly $20/hr), thus actually saving taxpayer money by hiring me on (that was one of the points I made in the Interview). I start June 1. It's been a long hard slog since Wellsource, and it's not quite over yet- I still have to survive a conversion from weekly to monthly paychecks, and a six month probationary period before I get my full benefits, which are somewhat less than they were when my father-in-law was a State Employee a decade ago. But it will be plenty for us. And it will be good for Shannon's budgeting skills to need to return to a monthly paycheck- at least it won't be too painful, we're prepared for it + have her day care money.

'Grats!

[Philip K Dickhead]

'nuff said...

Wow

[Krach42]

Glad to hear. Good to know Oregon is actually thinking about saving the public at least some money. Of course, that's always the thing, each manager saves a little here and a little there, except that all together money just either gets lost, or some way up there manager loses a lot.

So, at least you're helping offset the loss of money in your state ;)

Re:Wow

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I still can't believe they were paying $44.50/hr for my time before this....

Re:Wow

[Krach42]

!!!

They're saving that much by hiring you directly? I mean... wow. That is amazing that they would pay that much just to have you.

Re:Wow

[Marxist Hacker 42]

They're saving only 25.50 of that-they'll still be paying me close to my contract rate of $24/hr ($23/hr). I think I can handle the $1/hr reduction in pay in return for health benefits.....not to mention my "Phase 4 employee" pension consisting of a 6% straight contribution to a 401k that I will be eligible for in 6 months.

Re:Wow

[Krach42]

Ah, well, that still sounds like you're getting off better, and they're getting off better.

I think this is definitely a win-win, and I'm very happy for you.

cool, plus conspiracy info

[zogger]

you are now in a position to keep us informed on that bogus pilot program to charge a per mile driving fee tax using GPS and whatnot. I believe it was oregon pushing this, correct?

Anyway, glad you got some full time employment that you might be able to count on for future planning purposes, always a nice plus with a family.. I am the opposite, I prefer multiple overlapping part time gigs, the "eggs in one basket" avoidance deal. but..my needs and skills are different as well, so there ya go...

Re:cool, plus conspiracy info

[Marxist Hacker 42]

you are now in a position to keep us informed on that bogus pilot program to charge a per mile driving fee tax using GPS and whatnot. I believe it was oregon pushing this, correct?

Yep- 600 cars in Portland are a part of the pilot project, and get a discount on their gasoline in return (provided that they fuel up at a matching pilot station). So far I haven't heard if they're actually saving money at the $.01/mile/ton tax rate over the $.26/gallon tax rate.

Congrats

[Captain Splendid]

And good luck on the switch from weekly to monthly paychecks. Went through that at one job, wasn't easy.