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Post by Sasquatch on Sept 11, 2023 1:15:47 GMT -5
As many of you know I have been working at Clifty Falls State Park for the last few years manning the North gate, selling passes and extolling the virtues of the park to visitors from all points of the compass. I loved the job; it was the first one I'd ever had that was just what it purported to be-- I had one task, one place to be, one thing to do. No constant urging to go faster. No pressure to hurry up and finish so I could go somewhere else and do someone else's job. Showing up on time ( or at all) was noticed and appreciated. During the covid shutdown and for a time at the end of the season I got a chance to work with the maintenance staff, mowing grass and clearing trails, replacing signs and removing trees. A few full time positions came open and I applied for them, but I wasn't picked. But I accepted the disappointment and bided my time.( Besides, if truth be told I liked the gate job). Then out of the blue a few months ago the Park Manager pulled me into his office and said that another job was coming open and that he thought I should apply for it. ( the guy I got passed over for a year earlier had a serious drinking problem and had finally got the boot.) So I did, and I was offered and I accepted the salaried position Of DOC ( Department of Corrections ) supervisor for the Park. My job will be to ferry a work crew from the adjacent women's prison around the park and supervise them as they do various tasks such as cleaning and weedeating. I have some more training to do but will soon be at it. Interestingly, my second day was nearly my last. The assistant manager came up to me looking as if he had seen Death himself and said he needed to see me in his office. I thought I was getting fired, but the reality was almost as bad. A perfect storm of vacations and personal hardships was going to leave the accounting side of the office completely unmanned for two weeks. I was needed to step into the breach. This may sound like nothing to you all, but if I have any talents math is not first on the list. I had a familiarity of how the gate's financial process operated but as far as the reconciliation and accounting end of it, they might as well be asking me to work on the next Lunar lander. So I got about an hour tutorial from the seasonal office help on his last day before becoming an absurd parody of the interim office manager. He was a good teacher, but Lordy... the credit card receipts and daily reports and the bank deposits... I'm on day three of the crisis and to my amazement I think we have the process nearly figured out, though I am still terrified. I think I have aged a year in the past week. Pray for me!
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Post by Ahawkeye on Sept 11, 2023 3:18:50 GMT -5
Hang in there Sas! Not everyone gets to experience what you are seeing. I think you'll come out better for it. Please keep us posted! I'll be praying for you!
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Post by saltydog on Sept 11, 2023 5:03:07 GMT -5
Congratulations ! I think..... Sounds like your doing great, Hope its a temporary fill in as they said. They know they can depend on you, that's why they ask. You never know what will lead to what. Good luck and prayers for you .
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Post by greghopper on Sept 11, 2023 6:03:57 GMT -5
Interesting…. Never would of thought a State Park would had a DOC job that was full time and that they use prison help every day.
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Post by genesis273 on Sept 11, 2023 7:01:17 GMT -5
Congratulations sir! You've obviously made a good impression.
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Post by scrub-buster on Sept 11, 2023 7:06:40 GMT -5
Congratulations! I'll send you a PM later today when I have more time. We have had inmate work release crews for probably 10 years. There are some things to watch out for and be mindful of.
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Post by Mack Apiary Bees on Sept 11, 2023 7:22:17 GMT -5
Congratulations. They for sure they trust you to be responsible and willing to learn. Good for you and enjoy every minute on your new work adventures.
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Post by huntsemall on Sept 11, 2023 7:35:29 GMT -5
Interesting…. Never would of thought a State Park would had a DOC job that was full time and that they use prison help every day. We had a crew (pre COVID) of 5-6 at Starve Hollow that really helped out mowing and trimming wise. The tree nursery at Vallonia uses them as well. For the most part they provided good help. Every now and then you would get a knucklehead but they usually weren't back the next day.
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Post by featherduster on Sept 11, 2023 7:42:34 GMT -5
Find a job you love working and you will never feel like your working again.
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Post by Sasquatch on Sept 11, 2023 8:18:22 GMT -5
Interesting…. Never would of thought a State Park would had a DOC job that was full time and that they use prison help every day. The DOC part of the title is merely that. I’m a full-time DNR employee that is in charge of the offenders. Our boss is wanting to use them every day we can. I think they have most weekends off. Not sure how many parks use them; I know that Hardy Lake uses people from Madison.
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New Job
Sept 11, 2023 8:51:56 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by greghopper on Sept 11, 2023 8:51:56 GMT -5
Interesting…. Never would have thought a State Park would had a DOC job that was full time and that they use prison help every day. The DOC part of the title is merely that. I’m a full-time DNR employee that is in charge of the offenders. Our boss is wanting to use them every day we can. I think they have most weekends off. Not sure how many parks use them; I know that Hardy Lake uses people from Madison. Ok so this is actually local inmates from county jails then? Guess the “prison” term though me off.
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Post by omegahunter on Sept 11, 2023 9:38:46 GMT -5
Interesting…. Never would of thought a State Park would had a DOC job that was full time and that they use prison help every day. We had this situation for a number of years while I was at INDOT. The prisoners were brought to the district office to do grounds maintenance and janitorial duties. Was going pretty smooth till the guy "managing" the prisoners got too comfortable and a few laws were broken by the inmates and at least one INDOT employee. The prisoner program was terminated, the employee and the DOC manager were fired. Two more Buildings and Grounds positions were created and they are kept busy with normal maintenance and what the inmates were taking care of at the district buildings.
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Post by steiny on Sept 11, 2023 13:13:32 GMT -5
Glad to see them putting the prisoners to work on things like this. Has to be much better for the inmates mindset and health, getting a chance to get outdoors and outside of the prison doing something useful for a while.
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Post by Ahawkeye on Sept 11, 2023 13:46:56 GMT -5
Glad to see them putting the prisoners to work on things like this. Has to be much better for the inmates mindset and health, getting a chance to get outdoors and outside of the prison doing something useful for a while. My thoughts exactly, however, one might keep a close eye on things.
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Post by budd on Sept 12, 2023 9:02:16 GMT -5
I have friends that are pro retriever trainers that are from Texas, they get inmates to help at trials. One has two inmates that help him every day with cleaning kennels, feeding, throwing birds. One that he brings to Minnesota with him was a previous inmate, very nice fella that has helped me on his days off.
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Post by Sasquatch on Sept 14, 2023 17:15:02 GMT -5
The DOC part of the title is merely that. I’m a full-time DNR employee that is in charge of the offenders. Our boss is wanting to use them every day we can. I think they have most weekends off. Not sure how many parks use them; I know that Hardy Lake uses people from Madison. Ok so this is actually local inmates from county jails then? Guess the “prison” term though me off. No, it's a gen-yoo-wine prison, Madison Correctional Facility. It shares a boundary with the park; in fact, a large part of the park's 1,519 acres were acquired from the grounds of the Madison State Hospital, now the MCF.
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New Job
Sept 14, 2023 17:24:48 GMT -5
Post by greghopper on Sept 14, 2023 17:24:48 GMT -5
Ok so this is actually local inmates from county jails then? Guess the “prison” term though me off. No, it's a gen-yoo-wine prison, Madison Correctional Facility. It shares a boundary with the park; in fact, a large part of the park's 1,519 acres were acquired from the grounds of the Madison State Hospital, now the MCF. Interesting…..would of never guessed that.
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New Job
Sept 15, 2023 9:02:51 GMT -5
Post by budd on Sept 15, 2023 9:02:51 GMT -5
Must have been about 25-28 years ago we poured the concrete for the bus station in the Terre Haute penitentiary, they had inmates helping us.
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Post by Sasquatch on Sept 16, 2023 1:32:24 GMT -5
**UPDATE**
Well I have survived thus far, though I'd guess that several years have dropped off of my life from the stress.
One funny story: Since I have a key to the office I came in early a few days ago, the idea being to make sure I could get the safe open early enough to have the money bags ready for the AM shift. I'm already super nervous, flying solo in a world of printed reports, deposit slips, and credit card receipts. I got the safe combo right and the dial stiffened, indicating I had hit the sweet spot. All that remained was an upward tug on the handle and .... the handle broke off in my hand.
As it turns out, the ridiculously thin handle had broken 12 years earlier.( The maintenance man at the time was the current office manager's father, which is the only reason we know how old the repair is ) He had fashioned a metal sleeve that held the two pieces together and this was wrapped with some kind of brown tape. It was really a pretty good bit of hillbilly repair work to hold up that long, only to give way in the grasp of an already bug-eyed office trainee. A pair of giant pliers later facilitated the opening of the ancient safe.
On a brighter note, the office manager came in today to do some last minute stuff before her vacation so I was paroled to work outside. There was a snag with the inmates so I got to work with the "trail boss," a friendly fellow named Kenny. I got to drive a Bobcat for the first time. Although herky-Jerky as expected, it was fairly intuitive otherwise. Getting into it was probably the hardest part. I was about two cheeseburgers away from not being able to secure the pull-down safety bar. Interestingly, the machine was a push-button affair, with a code required for start up. I was able to practice by lurching around the "lay-down yard," a bizarre mixture of lumber, extra equipment, and junk such as discarded toilets before taking a pallet of firewood to the campground. We then bounced down trail 8 in a gator to remove a fallen tree. All-in-all a good day!
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Post by deadeer on Sept 16, 2023 6:47:31 GMT -5
Sounds like a cartoon series is coming soon. Lol. Hang in there!
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