Have your LLNL facilities improved since the URS regime (Harold Conner
and minions) took over in 2007? Are your facilities "world class"? How
about the overall appearance of the Lab? Things are improving right?
The budget has a 20% decrease to DOE office of science, 20% cut to NIH. NASA also gets a cut. This will have a huge negative effect on the lab. Crazy, juts crazy. He also wants to cut NEA and PBS, this may not seem like a big deal but they get very little money and do great things.
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Basically with the annual $40 million management fee coming out of the Lab's budget, there is now little money to spend on facilities and new construction. Unless it is funded by Congress as a DOE/NNSA line item project.
Seriously, our building is horrible. The FPOC says there are work orders for the repairs but there is no funding to get them done. Sad state of affairs!! Does anyone in O&B understand that this is where we spend 10 to 12 hours a day?? Do they care? Google, Facebook and others are doing whatever it takes with modern facilities to attract talent and we can't even get a restroom fan fixed!! Sad. I am embarrassed to bring sponsors and clients to my building. It would be interesting to know how many times Harold Conner or Mark Martinez have to send their staff home because it is 90 degrees in their offices.
Maybe there is hope, Mark Martinez hasn't been in charge for very long so hopefully he will figure it out. As a service organization, F&I is hopeless. They have been in a constant reorganization since '07 with nothing to show for it. Nothing. Is there any leadership? Open your eyes Mark!
Unfortunately, LLNL facilities are on a steep downhill slide!
World class facilities??? Yeah, third world.
I can't imagine starting a career here today unless it's just to mark time while I find something better--and that probably wouldn't take long.
Cant argue with the wasteful DOE bureaucracy, but that is just whining about something we really don't control. We do control, however the way that we spend the few dollars that DOE does throw our way. Spend a few minutes and look at the F&I org chart, it is on their pathetic web site. Look at how many people are "managing" vs. "doing", that is where the problem is. They get something like $30M/yr to maintain a fraction of the Lab. Most of that money is wasted on do nothings like Conner/Walls/etc.
Bechtel and URS were to bring facility and operations management experience to LLNL to make us more efficient. We haven't seen it yet. Cutting services does not mean being more efficient. That is like saying if you car drive less you will get more mpg out of your car. Doesn't make sense.
Your feeble complaints are misplaced on DOE.
This is exactly the attitude which makes the US more and more become a third world country. If Google and all the other top work places would run this way, we would already be one.
What is wrong with requesting Lab space, where there is not a mouse trap in every corner, where the roof does not leak on expensive digitizers, where the AC works in such a way that my oscilloscopes don't die? (all this happened to me at LANL). This has nothing to do with whining but all with trying to perform my work in the best way.
But that is probably just way beyond your mental horizon, so go and tell people to SFU.
Probably not Bret, as he has no skin in the game.
More likely Martinez, Conner or Henderson with their panties in bunch because someone is dissing their dis-organization.
On second thought - the post lacks the southern gentlemen tone, so it can't be Conner and the writing style is way too sophomoric to be Martinez.
Must be Henderson. Now THERE is a piece of work!
Give him a call sometime and ask him what his strategy is for your mission critical building. Grab a cup of coffee to drink during the long pause.
The south and west have 1950s vintage asbestos contaminated buildings that are ancient and beaten down, and the NIF area looks like a modern 5 star golf course.
Your lab tax dollars at work.
September 15, 2014 at 8:30 PM
You want to deal with DOE/NNSA compliance people yourself, personally? HAHAHAHA!
Where? Did you mean were? That about sums it up.
A LANSLLNS "setting sun" mentality. To LANSLLNS, it is payday until it is not. No real shareholder risk, carryover, or "skin in the game". What a sweetheart deal for these conjoined LLCs.
Here is an idea, lay off the entire Security Organization, give the gym equipment to LLESA (for the whole Lab to use) then we can get our swimming pool back and maybe a frisbee golf course!
Oh, and give that great looking building to someone that does something useful for the Lab.
September 17, 2014 at 7:43 AM
I started to laugh when I read this, but then I realized you really don't know the difference between "sole" and "soul." However, I still think your advice should have been "vote with your feet."