Mike Causey

Hot Enough For You?

It\'s summertime so get ready for some wag in the office to spend the next three months asking if its hot-enough-for-you. But what happens when a government off...

Federal News Network Staff

June 21, 2010 4:00 am

4 min read

Some years ago I quietly pledged to strangle a “friend” whose standard summertime greeting was the very original: “Hot enough for you?”

Fortunately he stopped.

He got married and I suspect his wife, an upwardly mobile fed, told him (no pun intended) to cool it! Yet another example of the joys of finding a good woman. And listening to her!

Summertime always causes some problems in some federal agencies. Like what happens when the air-conditioner fails? And what is the line between dress casual for the office and an OMG co-worker who lets it nearly all hang out?

But if you think things are hot where you are, in DC, St. Louis, Houston, Austin, Chicago or Phoenix, consider feds who work in 50 degree (centigrade) temperatures. Like this one from a far-away fed:

“I for one cannot wait until next week and summer gets here, so it will finely get warm and sunny here in Kuwait.

“The below is part of the headline story on the Arab Times online.

‘The temperature, meanwhile, soared to 51 degrees Celsius (123.8 Fahrenheit) at around 2:30 pm (1130 GMT) in Kuwait City, the highest this year, according to the state-run meteorological office website. In the open desert at the Kuwait-Iraq border post of Abdali, the temperature soared to 53 degrees Celsius (127.4 F) for the second straight day on Tuesday. It is not abnormal for temperatures to hit 50 degrees in Kuwait, but the big heat wave has arrived early this year.’

“But you should know official temperature is measured 5 feet off the ground in a self aspirating radiating shield (you and I call it shade). There is NO shade in Kuwait. Just for fun we put the thermometer on the sidewalk, it hit 145 degrees at 11:30. The cold water fed out of big white plastic tanks on the roof of my building to my shower, at 6AM is hot enough to put you in the hospital. Just reporting officially the temperature over 50C almost never happens. Radio stations can have their license revoked for reporting such things. The reason; the workers from Sri Lanka keeping the AC (air conditioning) working in Kuwait by law must be sent home if they work outside at 50C.” Freshly Baked Fed

So, honestly, is it hot enough for you? Is the dress code helping? Has your office starting thinking about adding Gatorade to the water supply? Let me know!

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

One in four men in the United States does not own a button down shirt.

It’s the solstice. Happy Summer!

ADDITIONAL PAY AND BENEFITS NEWS ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO
TSP proposes beneficiary rule change
Among the other headlines this morning: New benefits for federal partners, Doctors limit new Medicare patients, and FDA urges consumers to avoid coffee aphrodisiac. Learn more from the Monday Morning Federal Newscast by clicking here.

Rep. Moran: require manager training at all agencies
A new House bill would require agencies to invest significant time and resources in training managers. We talk with Rep. Jim Moran about the Federal Supervisor Training Act of 2010. Read more here.

Federal retirees should consider the Roth IRA
Have you thought about converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA? Should you? Arthur Stein is a certified financial planner with SPC Financial in Rockville, Md., and explains why one might consider making the transfer in the first place. Read more here.

Telework success depends on clear expectations
Telework programs were lauded as one of the only things that went right during the Washington metro area’s blizzards this winter. While most private businesses and government agencies shut down, those with telework programs were able to continue being productive. This was one of the many points talked about during a breakout session at the Senior Executive Associations (SEA) Executive Update conference in Washington earlier this week. Read more here.

ALSO ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO
Web inventor discusses importance of open data
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a pretty important person when it comes to the 21st century. He pretty much invented the World Wide Web, and currently leads to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). He’s also a big proponent of linked data — a concept that he says differs somewhat from open data. Read more here< /a>.

Dorobek Must Reads – June 18
Worried you’ll have no idea what people are talking about around the watercooler this morning? Each day, the DorobekInsider team collects a group of stories that we’re reading to stay in the know. On Friday, we have more info about how that recent SCOTUS decision could affect you on the job.