Hi,
I have friends in the Government Office Building and they told me temperatures reached over 100 degrees in their office yesterday afternoon. They are afraid of retaliation for sending to the media - but I am sending it in because I believe we are working with a very dangerous situation and the only way to improve things is to expose this via media. The Wico Co Health Dept, Daily Times, and TV stations have all visited the office and taken temperatures in the morning when temperatures are much lower. The situation has been frequently dismissed by many as under control, but it is far from the case.
It is now approaching two weeks with no A/C. Employees are not allowed to work from home and if they choose to go home, they must use vacation time. To me, this is beyond unreasonable and inhumane. There is no timeline for getting the unit fixed or replaced, and no one seems to care. The decision makers (executives) are upstairs enjoying full air conditioning since their A/C system is working properly. The outcome would likely be very different if they were suffering through the heat like their lower-rank employees.
Obviously, the city/county officials are so concerned with saving money by not fixing/replacing the A/C unit ..they are not thinking about lost productivity (who can focus on desk work in 100+ degree heat?) as well as cost of probable lawsuits if someone gets very sick or dies.
Thank you.
Publishers Notes: It should be noted that the freon arrived at the GOB today. IF that does not work they will be making arrangements to RENT an A/C System until the City/County can afford a completely new unit. THAT IS A FACT.
42 comments:
Also the elevator in the GOB remains out of service.
Now they know how students at Bennett Middle School felt back in May.
I wish I had a job in a 100 degree building.
Stop the whinning , I'm 68 years old and worked all day cutting down trees to make minnimum wage.
I can buy milk and bread now , I'm Blessed!
Elected officials should be banned from this building.They create way too much hot air.
Grow up Al.
Bring a fan in from home , the moving air helps a lot.
Just a suggestion , maybe you have a small window unit to slide in .
They seem to have a lot of trouble with the air and heat in that building. Reminds me of the wastewater system , Oh well , you get what you pay for , sometimes.
And this is a problem, why? It is exactly what the students and staff at Bennett Middle and a few other Wic. Co. Schools deal with during the school year. If no air conditioning is good enough for our kids, it's good enough for ALL county employees!! Just saying......
Cry me a River.
I do believe the problem is solved.
exactly.. 5:16.. 914 students attend BMS now they know how the students feel.and for everyone that says parents whine and complain about it, Go to the school and sit through a day and you will see!
Isn't it interesting how a short few hours into a power outage, SDHS had portable AC in place to make classes bearable. Yet Wicomico county has been dragging this issue out for weeks.
Owe - you'll get used to the heat in the Government office building.
I install HVAC and the last 7 days I have been in an attic that is literally - hotter than hell. Now that is extreme heat. I haven't taken the temperature readings but the attic fan cuts-in at 90 and I believe it has been around 110 - 115 during the afternoons. I just hydrate very early and by 3:00 p.m. I usually call it a day.
It's really funny about working up in hot attics. When I decide to come down to take a breather - it feels just like I'm in air conditioning even though the outdoor temperature is 90+ Degrees.
Tomorrow I start another job - this one is in the crawl space. There the relative humidity is usually around 100%.
I had occasion to do business in the Government Building a week or so ago. I was in the finance office, and it was sweltering. There were a couple of fans going, but the heat was still almost unbearable. Despite the conditions, the employees were carrying on. I then had to go to have Mr. Pollitt sign off on a form. Maybe his office had A/C, but certainly not the outer office. The lady there looked to be suffering--red-faced and the like. She, too, was performing very well despite the conditions. When I mentioned Bennett Middle, she said that she could "feel their pain."
To Beezer
I agree with you - it is all about perception.
I generally deal with the heat by investing in a fan. It gets me by during the really rough times - but seldom do I require air conditioning.
Generally - air conditioning is for people who are usually overweight or have some handicap or disability. People would be surprised at how much better one feels after they shed a few lbs.
To 6:00 p.m. Posting
I don't think you are going to get a lot of solice about the heat after reading some of the above comment responses.
Be thankful you even have a job especially in light of this economy - even if you have a legitimate complaint about the broken GOB air conditioning.
Freon arrived today, HMMM tell me where it went, Freon is a non consumable gas,it just does it's job over and over and over again. Unless it leaks out.Did we fix the leak?? If so why will it not work as before? Why a whole new system. If not WHY??? MD residents, you need to be asking more questions. Joe you need to be asking questions
Bill B, Why? Everything is a conspiracy, right? Also, as soon as I read the post, I knew it would be about Bennet Middle. Well, they are in there till the first week of June, with windows that open. Not in July, with windows that don't. There isn't a comparison between the two. Even so, why is it the workers fault in the building that BMS doesn't have air conditioning. They don't make the budget, YOUR county council did it. Maybe the teachers could each give up ONE day of pay, and that would pay for AC in Benett Middle.
I'm not aware of anything that is 100% effective.
7:48, the teachers are in there with the kids. How about the parents give up a day too? We could have this licked in no time.
You dont fix a leak by filling it up over and over again, plus its illegal to do so. Not that anyone gives a darn. Find the leak and fix it and be done, for now. Its old start saving for a more efficient way to cool the building. Break it into smaller systems and zones. When they mess up it dont cost and arm and a leg. You gonna have a lot of bulkeading and constructual things to address. My house 67. Aint nothing that is worth getting that is cheap.
8:11, yeah, but the teachers get the next three months off to recover in the AC.
Is it possible that something needed to be dissasembled and all the freon couldn't be rocovered, causing freon to be needed?
It aint rocket science.
Could of fixed it if you didnt buy a fire boat. Dumbass.
8:11 PM
I was referring to the freon.
Stop whining. Teachers and students deal with this for many weeks at a time. The employees at Ollies have no air, construction workers deal with the heat and actually do physical work as do many others. Lot's of us at the Gov office building are not too happy with the heat but please - don't lump us all into this "waa waa they won't let us go home." It's miserable but temporary.
7:48 - windows that open at BMS? You haven't been there in a few years, have you? Almost none of the windows at BMS work properly.
9:09, you haven't been there either for a few weeks and won't be back for a couple of months. The heat is short lived. Hey everybody, it is summer. It is supposed to be hot. Just think back to the winter when we were all hoping for warm sunny days. WAAAAHHH WAAAAAHHHHH.
Isn't the building in question a 'professional' building?
Is it professional to NOT have air conditioning when it is available and warranted?
What year is this again?
i can't imagine how hot it is dressed in full fatigues with 50+ gear strapped to my body
6:05 and 9:09, I realize each of you is trying to be cute, but could you just crawl back into the cool cave you slithered out of and keep quiet? When I was in the GOB, I did not hear any worker there complaining. They took the heat in stride and did their jobs efficiently.
9:50 PM
Not being cute or anything but it sounds like the workers you saw were women?
Got the answer, close the building down and lay off all of the government workers. They don't do much of anything anyway. We'd save a mint and wouldn't have to hear crybabies like this person any more. Dear writer, is this what you're looking for? Don't bring your whining to the media when most people don't want to hear it.
my God that is horrible, and for the person who said "bring a fan" I had to skip the remaining comments if they're all that dumb, I've been in such an office. It doesn't help and to have your papers blown all over the office doesn't either. It's ridiculous, period.
At least BMS can open windows, and if they don't go to school they don't have to use vacation, the only thing they might miss is a drug deal or a good fight.
It's only HOT when it affect that person. When your sitting at home in your A/C collecting welfare it doesn't seem all that bad.
To 6:35
I have a fan right next to my computer. I purchased a Craftsman battery operated fan - (lithium ion). The fan was about $25.00 and the lithium ion battery was about $80.00.
The fan runs all day on that battery and does not effect my paperwork. At the end of the day I unplug my battery and put it in the charger - bingo - it is ready to go the very next day.
It works great and several other of my co-workers are now doing the same.
Wow. What a nation of wusses(?) & complainers we've become! ...and why shouldn't you have to take your own leave if you go home? Just because you work for govern-ment? Those in the private sector would be expected to work. And, I suspect, even if given the option to take their own leave time (if they even get paid leave), most in the private sector would choose to work, maybe for fear of losing their job, but many in government are less worried about that, because it's less likely to happen to them. Because ther are always exceptions to the rule, if you are a government worker who doesn't fit any of these categories, don't take umbrage at my comments. I'M NOT TALKING TO OR ABOUT YOU!
...and to Jaycee, I don't have to imagine, I've had that experience in 100+ degree weather, with no air-conditioning to return to, either, at the end of the day. Thank you for pointing out how our military sacrifice for us far more than other government workers with far less complaining.
Wow, really? The only argument most people have is "now you know how students and construction workers feel." I went to Bennett Middle and Bennett High and suffered through the heat. Here's the thing, school let out early June when it's not even at the hottest point of the summer. I also do believe if it gets to a certain temperature, students were sent home. In the GOB we cannot open any windows (unlike the schools that can). There is no air circulation, except the fans blowing the hot air already in the office. Construction workers know they work outside! It's their choice to take a job, WHERE THEY WORK OUTSIDE! Until you sit here in the heat and know what it's like, no was has any room to tell us to stop crying. All employees at the GOB are very thankful the air is now working today.
Ok, to all you Bennett Middle "my child is burning up too so screw the GOB" people:
Bennett Middle HAS WINDOWS THAT OPEN!!!! The GOB does NOT have windows that open! For this simple fact, Bennett Middle has NEVER reached the temperatures that the GOB reached this week. Moving air means everything when the heat is on. I actually went in the GOB to pick up a permit on Tuesday and it was easily 20 degrees COOLER outside! Also, students aren't in school in July when the nights are hotter and the building doesn't have the opportunity to cool down.
And to the genius that said, "buy a window unit." What do you expect employees to do? Perhaps throw a brick through a window in order to install said unit? Again, the windows in the GOB DO NOT OPEN!
The GOB is a cesspool for germs and disease. Poor ventilation, no open windows, broken A/C and HVAC filters that haven't been changed in years breed sickness! Next time you go in there take a look around and see how grimy the air returns are.
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! Get a different job or TAKE YOUR OWN LEAVE and don't expect taxpaying citizens to pay you for work you don't do! If you choose not to do either of the above, just suck it up and do your job! Just because you are the one sitting in the heat this time around doesn't make you the one who decides who can comment on anything.
Also, look at the black mold in the ceiling tiles. And you wonder why health insurance is so high?
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