aljustice

[mcb]

Sept 17, 2013 14:57:06 GMT -5 funkyodar said:

Sept 17, 2013 14:47:00 GMT -5 mcb said:

I think y'all needs to lighten up a little bit.

Guilty, your honor.

I mean, we do want civility, cordiality, comraderie, etc., but point has been taken, by all now, I'd reckon.

[privateatty]

Oh, I gotta weigh in on this thread.

When I first started posting six years ago, I knew no one, had no idea what I had to do to become an ALJ and was a bit over-confident and blissfully ignorant of the grief, nail-biting and just plain angst i was in for in the next two years. And that was just the professional side, the personal side of applying for and getting the job is a whole 'nuther story. So, I have an innate sense of sympathy for those who to quote a Judge's handle, 'justfoundthisboard'. And yet, whenver we get a new poster who wants to have us tell him/her what they could find out with the search function in a matter of an hour or less, I get testy. And I am not alone. Why is this?

To use an example some of y'all can relate to these folks are like SSA reps who come into a hearing and have not prepared--and you the Judge have done the work. And now they want you to do their job for them. And of course many do--heck, I've done it. (BTW, I'm not a SSA ALJ--but I read this Board).

Most of the ire is IMHO, directed to those who are ham-fisted as to the form of the query, rather than the substance. Sort of like those Reps who so annoy you. However, sometimes the substance is so lacking (due no doubt to a failure to read anything) that it borders on the ludicrous. No doubt these new posters are good folks with honorable intentions.

But as I used to say to my attorneys in another life--you gotta do the work.

[bartleby]

I gotta say, I agree with MCB, I have noticed in the last month or two a lot attitude among some of the new members, ie, less than a year or so old. Come on guys, we held your hands for a while when you were lost and in the weeds. Most of you still aren't Judges and and yet because you have a year under your belt on the Board you rule? I think not. Now settle down and play nice and be good to your new neighbors. They just might be your boss someday..

[funkyodar]

"Disagreeociates"....classic.

I freely admit I am a master at jumping to conclusions. Its a trait that I'm sure did me well on the recent testing

If aljjustice wasn't trolling, then I also admit I was too much of a "disagree" hole and apologize.

Still, if it walks like a troll, posts like a troll and acts like a troll, then it needs to be called for a troll.

Exjags post did that with civility and cordiality I think. if aljjustice is, in fact, a legitimate seeker of this boards knowledge then welcome aboard.

[aljustice]

I appreciate the feedback as much as I do the support. I am no troll and I come to learn only. I hope those who maintain their skepticism realize this in time. Again, thank you so much to those who see things through my perspective. I do hope we can throw out the hostility and recognize each member as a positive contributor to learn from.

[Deleted]

Wow, I did not know this thread was going to grow this much. I appreciate the support from my fellow anxiety suffering wannabes. I do not want to restate all the reasons why I started this thread, they have been summarized by MPD, Sealaw, SrAtty and Funky. I realized aljustice was a newbie and his posting from this past weekend were out of the ordinary. Like Funky says if it looks like a troll, walks like a troll and smells like a troll then it there is a good chance that it is a troll. I know I am not the only one that got this feeling, especially when aljustice was asking about becoming an ALJ without even having a JD.

I politely asked what his situation was and she responded. I was ok with her response except with the manner he asked her questions since she was the new guy. I added my comment about being civil on this board for her benefit. I do not believe I was rude or hostile and I told her how to go about getting information on this board without coming across as a troll. I think aljustice got the point and apologized and from what I have seen she has gone about gathering her information based on my recommendations.

All was quiet until Top (Tigerlaw) posted agreeing 100% with the points I made but pointed out that my delivery was crass and imputed my Yankee honor! Sorry Top but I tend to be direct when I want to deliver a message—not because I am a Yankee but because that is what I learned in the military as a young field artillery officer many many moons ago--beating the bush sends mixed messages. I tried my best not to be rude to aljustice and thought I succeeded—I do I admit that I was direct and did not sugar coat my messages with pleasantries like Sratty mentioned.

Tigerlaw, this Yankee thanks you for your service.

aljustice welcome to the board, next time the register opens you should be all set to apply.

Condition corrected, now lets get back to trying to figure out when the NORs will come out and when SSA will hold interviews.

[BagLady]

Post-Halloween, pre-Thanksgiving (NORs).

[aljustice]

Sept 17, 2013 18:06:27 GMT -5 @exafjag said:

Wow, I did not know this thread was going to grow this much. I appreciate the support from my fellow anxiety suffering wannabes. I do not want to restate all the reasons why I started this thread, they have been summarized by MPD, Sealaw, SrAtty and Funky. I realized aljustice was a newbie and his posting from this past weekend were out of the ordinary. Like Funky says if it looks like a troll, walks like a troll and smells like a troll then it there is a good chance that it is a troll. I know I am not the only one that got this feeling, especially when aljustice was asking about becoming an ALJ without even having a JD.

I politely asked what his situation was and she responded. I was ok with her response except with the manner he asked her questions since she was the new guy. I added my comment about being civil on this board for her benefit. I do not believe I was rude or hostile and I told her how to go about getting information on this board without coming across as a troll. I think aljustice got the point and apologized and from what I have seen she has gone about gathering her information based on my recommendations.

All was quiet until Top (Tigerlaw) posted agreeing 100% with the points I made but pointed out that my delivery was crass and imputed my Yankee honor! Sorry Top but I tend to be direct when I want to deliver a message—not because I am a Yankee but because that is what I learned in the military as a young field artillery officer many many moons ago--beating the bush sends mixed messages. I tried my best not to be rude to aljustice and thought I succeeded—I do I admit that I was direct and did not sugar coat my messages with pleasantries like Sratty mentioned.

Tigerlaw, this Yankee thanks you for your service.

aljustice welcome to the board, next time the register opens you should be all set to apply.

Condition corrected, now lets get back to trying to figure out when the NORs will come out and when SSA will hold interviews.

Just to clarify I do indeed possess a JD.

[crab]

Sept 17, 2013 16:28:03 GMT -5 bartleby said:

I gotta say, I agree with MCB, I have noticed in the last month or two a lot attitude among some of the new members, ie, less than a year or so old. Come on guys, we held your hands for a while when you were lost and in the weeds. Most of you still aren't Judges and and yet because you have a year under your belt on the Board you rule? I think not. Now settle down and play nice and be good to your new neighbors. They just might be your boss someday..

This resonated with me, Bart, as I too have noticed the vibe on the Board change in the last month and has frankly made me not as interested in participating. I post only for that purpose and not to give any opinion on aljustice or anyone's opinions of him/her. Heck, before this, I thought trolls were the things in the Hobbit that had to be in by sunrise ...

Peace and love folks. Lots of stress going on but I know we can keep this a happy place for everyone to gather and share information.

[JudgeRatty]

Sept 17, 2013 19:57:41 GMT -5 crab said:

Sept 17, 2013 16:28:03 GMT -5 bartleby said:

I gotta say, I agree with MCB, I have noticed in the last month or two a lot attitude among some of the new members, ie, less than a year or so old. Come on guys, we held your hands for a while when you were lost and in the weeds. Most of you still aren't Judges and and yet because you have a year under your belt on the Board you rule? I think not. Now settle down and play nice and be good to your new neighbors. They just might be your boss someday..

This resonated with me, Bart, as I too have noticed the vibe on the Board change in the last month and has frankly made me not as interested in participating. I post only for that purpose and not to give any opinion on aljustice or anyone's opinions of him/her. Heck, before this, I thought trolls were the things in the Hobbit that had to be in by sunrise ...

Peace and love folks. Lots of stress going on but I know we can keep this a happy place for everyone to gather and share information.

Good post! Thanks for the reality check. it's all good.

[ginger]

I like bag lady's assessment of the timing for the nors, but all previous guesses I've seen have had the date closer to December or January. Ms. Bags, do you have some new info that lead you to arrive at the earlier date guess or are you like me just wishful thinking?

[gunner]

Sept 17, 2013 19:57:41 GMT -5 crab said:

Sept 17, 2013 16:28:03 GMT -5 bartleby said:

I gotta say, I agree with MCB, I have noticed in the last month or two a lot attitude among some of the new members, ie, less than a year or so old. Come on guys, we held your hands for a while when you were lost and in the weeds. Most of you still aren't Judges and and yet because you have a year under your belt on the Board you rule? I think not. Now settle down and play nice and be good to your new neighbors. They just might be your boss someday..

This resonated with me, Bart, as I too have noticed the vibe on the Board change in the last month and has frankly made me not as interested in participating. I post only for that purpose and not to give any opinion on aljustice or anyone's opinions of him/her. Heck, before this, I thought trolls were the things in the Hobbit that had to be in by sunrise ...

Peace and love folks. Lots of stress going on but I know we can keep this a happy place for everyone to gather and share information.

I hereby offer to get off anyone's lawn who so requests, though I'd prefer the request be yelled through a screen door and/or from the porch, by someone wearing tube socks and a bathrobe.

[BagLady]

Sept 17, 2013 20:31:55 GMT -5 ginger said:

I like bag lady's assessment of the timing for the nors, but all previous guesses I've seen have had the date closer to December or January. Ms. Bags, do you have some new info that lead you to arrive at the earlier date guess or are you like me just wishful thinking?

Ginger, I'm an outtie, so my timeframe is based on pure speculation and conjecture.  I can't even contribute rumor and hearsay to my analysis!  I looked at the prior timelines and saw that the 2007 invitations to the WD/SI were issued on the same date as ours (7/11).  So I looked at past posts about the testing and it appears that the WD/SI went through 8/24, with about 1250 on the register.  The NORs came out 10/30.  So, having "crushed" the LBMT, I felt qualified to make a guess that NORs will be out after Halloween but before Thanksgiving.

~Bags

EDIT:

P.S.  From past posts, it also appears the NORs came out about a month after testing and interviewing concluded in each of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 endeavors.

[sealaw90]

Sept 18, 2013 8:14:55 GMT -5 @devildog said:

As good a guess as any. Sounds good to me.

Now someone please post a SWAG on the budget issue and how it will affect hiring.

Devildog,
Hot off the presses from the White House - everything you wanted to know about a government shutdown. www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2013/m-13-22.pdf

As to each agency, let's see if a SSA insider will let us know what they hear.   If only we had an OPM attorney who watches this board, I'd love it if they could post because the contractors who are working for OPM on our Phase 3 scoring might be impacted by a shut down.

[bartleby]

If it means anything at all, our office is offering overtime both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.. Remember, your CIC stated there would not be a sequester during his second Presidential debate.. Further, NLRB just hired 4 new ALJ's to replace 6 that they have lost his year..

[sealaw90]

Bart,
    Do you have any knowledge as to why the 6 NLRB judges left?  Did they retire or move on to other ALJ posts?  Kind of curious, considering that we all suspect the big jump will occur in 2014 for FERS retirees.  Especially if we don't get a raise (again).
I noticed that MSPB is hiring as well as Department of Interior AJs.

[bartleby]

NLRB has 40 ALJ's from what I understand. This may be more than 1 years worth of attrition. Some die, some retire, and some just get lost going to work. It seems strange to me that with all of the cut backs, SSA still has overtime pay and everyone is still hiring some ALJs.. As far as I know, SSA did not furlough anyone this year, I might be wrong, but never heard of any..

[funkyodar]

Sept 18, 2013 8:14:55 GMT -5 @devildog said:

As good a guess as any. Sounds good to me.

Now someone please post a SWAG on the budget issue and how it will affect hiring.

There are just too many factors at play to make any WAG a SWAG devildog.

First up is the possibility of a full on gov shutdown. If the honorable morons in congress let this happen it won't necessarily have a direct impact on the numbers of aljs eventually hired, just on the timing. The last time this boneheaded strategy was floated, we all had a crash course in the difference between essential and nonessential employees. For odar hearing offices essential meant just aljs. They were expected to comein and hold hearings without any support staff. We actually had quick sessions where we tried to teach the aljs how to troubleshoot the video equipment, run the copier and "bring cases in" to the system. Given that, I would imagine all personnel with opm involved in testing, interviewing and grading would be considered nonessential and the whole process would be paused.

Then there is the equally moronic debt ceiling debate. If the ceiling isn't raised, the gov defaults on existing obligations. In that event, anything that expands gov obligations, ie hiring, will have to be paused, curtailed or abandoned altogether.

That brings us to the actual budget issues. First among these is the sequester. If that isn't removed or redirected we certainly won't see full filling of vacant alj slots. The recent hiring of 28 when there were 90+ vacancies seems to indicate no more than 1/3 slots will be filled in that reality.

If, and its the biggest if in the history of iffiness, congress actually does its job and passes a budget, ssa could be surprised to find appropriated $ for full hiring. More likely though any budget would still be less than needed for that.

The most we will likely see is another continuing resolution funding at the same levels as last year. That would again indicate limited hiring around the 1/3 they did this year.

Also, keep in mind that the new commissioner has plainly stated that ssa hiring priority is now staff for the field offices that have been subject to hiring freezes for the last sevral years and now have skeleton crews.

Moral of the story is that to have full hiring the sequester needs to go away and congress needs to pass a budget fully funding ssa. I'd say we have a greater chance of seeing bigfoot mating with the loch ness monster than seeing that.

[sealaw90]

Thank you as always Bartleby. ... sometimes I wish I could get lost on my way to work, fall into a sailboat and drift around the bay ... but I digress.
By the way, my agency authorized overtime for our contracting folks so they could spend our sequestered FY13 budget until midnight 30 September.  However, the attorneys who have to review these contracts - we got furloughed.  Obviously lawyers do NOT run my agency!! 

[westernalj]

Also, September overtime typically means that the agency has unused 2013 overtime funds and thus is not relevant to fiscal year 2014.