My daughter got a phone call this morning confirming that the national monument she had scheduled her wedding at for 12/29 will be closed and they can not accommodate her wedding, even with closed bathrooms and an outdoor wedding.
Oh @bajamm that is a shame! What is her plan B? She must be panicked! My daughter got married this past August and I know how nerve-wracking wedding planning is.
I’m so sorry @bajamm. My son is getting married January 20th and I know his fiancee is already stressed to the max. Can’t imagine if she had to suddenly find a new venue. I hope she can find something - Pretty short notice and with Christmas in the middle. Do keep us updated.
OMG I can’t imagine, @bajamm!
Oh, @bajamm, I’m so sorry. So unfair!
The govt shutsdown every day at 5pm est.>>>>>>>
Surely you know this is not true.
I live near Cabrillo National Minument, which has an admission fee if not a member. It’s closed during the shutdown.
Since restaurants and lodges at all national parks are operated by private businesses, they will be open. So there are bathroom facilities. And vault toilets will be open. Campgrounds at Joshua Tree are open and the Grans Canyon is fully open due to some arrangement with the state of Arizona. Boats are still running to the Channel Islands since that is a private business.
When I hear that janitors and security guards now have to decide between Christmas presents for the kids and next month’s rent, that affects me. Direct government employees may get delayed paychecks, but subcontractors get nothing.
I wonder if parking patrol will be furloughed in the ‘closed’ public parks. Somehow that’s hard to imagine… bet those tickets will still be written.
My father was in a union. They went on strike regularly, like clockwork every X number of years. The strike lasted from a few days to two months. If you hold a position where strikes (or shutdowns) are a predictable way of life it is imprudent not to plan for such contingencies.
Seems like the State of Arizona did just that. The state is paying the park rangers at Grand Canyon. Admission is free.
The shutdown will now last at least until Thursday. Congress went home.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/shutdown-day-1-trump-warns-it-could-be-a-long-stay-amid-impasse-over-border-wall/2018/12/22/006ff10c-060b-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html
Hmmm…DH is also taking use-or-lose vacation next week. Wonder how that will shake out?
@bajamm, I am so sorry! Was the reception also going to be in the park, or just the ceremony? What a terrible disappointment for your family!
Since some IRS operations are shut down, would tax cheaters benefit, to the detriment of everyone else?
Thanks everyone for the kind comments. @CountingDown the reception was always going to be at the restaurant. I asked her if we could just move the ceremony there, I didn’t get an answer on that so I guess it wasn’t going to work.
I think the wedding will be in a church. It is not the ocean front wedding she was wanting but she seems to be calm about things.
I read that Governor Cuomo in NY authorized funds to keep the statue of Liberty and Ellis open. IIRC, he did this during the last shutdown. It makes sense because the tourist money coming into NY over winter break could be impacted negatively if the shutdown keeps them away and it’s also good for the local vendors and the MTA, Uber/Lyft, yellow taxis, etc.
My son just made regular at the PO, so I am relieved that his agency is still up and running.
I hope the shutdown ends when Congress gets back into sessio
@ucbalumnus I doubt they will work any overtime to make up any missed time on audits, for example. But I expect the upcoming tax season to result in a lot of calls to them with questions — if this drags on, that could have an impact. Huge new tax law plus IRS phones shut down.
We have family who work for NPS in the western US. All have been furloughed — and they cannot use vacation days (which would be paid) because there’s no emergency funding. There willbe no back pay. Visitors centers at all NPS sites will be closed except for those kept open by the state in which they are located.
Is it political to say that at a minimum, it would be appropriate for Congress to also not get paid?
Thank goodness niece and her H made the choice to not both work for the government after he left the army. At least one will keep working- her job falls into the not essential category (but am I glad some in the government is doing that job).