“My former workplace that I described was a state building on city property”
My former workplace was a “state” office building that was leased from a private party.
Over the years, we couldn’t figure out why…
nothing ever seemed to get dusted, and the offices became really grimy…
the lavatories were consistently dirty…
the toilets frequently overflowed…
there was a frequent outage of paper towels and toilet paper…
the A/C broke down VERY often…
and…
there was inadequate parking for handicapped folks.
Then, when black mold started growing in the suspended ceiling tiles as a result of a roof leak, we figured that we would finally get action from the state’s health & safety people. However, as we were told (in hushed tones), because the building was leased from the local state senator, there was nothing that could be done about any of our complaints.
So, not only was the law being violated by leasing facilities from him, everyone had to look the other way regarding the atrocious condition of the building. Truly stomach-turning to have to deal with!
I did some research to try to find out where the LEED group gets its funding, but was unsuccessful. I can tell you from experience that they care a lot more for the environment than they do for handicapped human beings. I also discovered that they’ve screwed so many things up and cost states so much money that some states have actually passed legislation prohibiting the use of their standards in state buildings.
Seeing as this is a car forum, I’ve only addressed the handicap parking issue.
The ADA has a number of requirements for public buildings regarding access. There are requirements for door pull effort needed, ramps, elevators, door openers, and so on. If its not open to the public thats one thing but you can’t have one set of instructions for non-disabled and another for disabled in most cases. If you can’t open a door, might want to contact your local building inspector or advocacy group to make sure the buildings comply. Everybody else has to. I don’t rember anymore what the door pull requirement is but its not very much and most of my normal doors failed. Fine line between a door closer that closes a door fully and latches for security, and one that is easy to open, but the regs are there.
“remember that many of those people you’re trying to humiliate may just have walking disabilities that aren’t obvious”. @the same mountainbike- I have a friend, Marilyn, who played horn next to me for years in different musical groups. She suffered a stroke, but continued to play for a long time after that. She had difficulty walking, so I made a real effort to get as close to the place where we were to play as possible. My wife has coined a new term for getting as close to an entrance as possible. She calls it “Marilyning it”. Marilyn no longer plays the horn, but with the older people that I transport, I am still good at Marlyning it to get as close the performance sight as possible.
Not to change the subject but Goodell really needs to just shut up. What an idiot. The more he talks the more it is clear he is out to lunch on domestic violence anyway. He’s just on CNN now.
@VDCdriver, didn’t anyone contact a local newspaper? They would love to skewer the elected official that neglected his property. I can see it now: “New Jersey’s Official Slumlord”.
Any logical person would have that reaction toward the NFL Commissioner.
However, that does not include Chris Christie, who gave Goodell’s actions and inactions his seal of approval. Maybe he will pick Goodell as his VP running mate.
didn’t anyone contact a local newspaper? They would love to skewer the elected official that neglected his property. I can see it now: “New Jersey’s Official Slumlord”.
Unfortunately, Senator ______ beat everyone to it by dying shortly thereafter.
I almost vomited when I read the obituary listing all of his “selfless” deeds.
Yeah, right.
But handicap acccess is not about only closeness. It’s about ease of accessability.
Our Denny’s was recently re-done and the hadicap spaces are now six spaces farther away !
Yep.
Accessability trumps closeness and the new ramp they build goes sideways…over there…so THAT’s where the spaces are to make it super simple to go from vehicle to ramp.
"Did whoever inherited the property fix it properly? Or even improperly? "
Nope!
My agency moved to a different (newer and more spacious) building, and the state is continuing to pay rent for a building that is now only partially occupied. If you want to know why, you will have to ask the current governor of NJ.
Guys, let’s try to respect Carolyn’s efforts to keep the forum car oriented. She’s been more than generous in her allowing us to wander. We owe her that respect.
I saw a lady parking her car. There was a shopping cart in the spot, so she stopped her car, got out, moved the shopping car behind another car. Then she got in her car and parked in that now empty spot, got out of her car and locked it.
The shopping car return was about 20 feet away, yet she left that shopping cart behind the other car.
What did she do next?
Yup
She walked all the way to the storefront, chose another shopping cart, and went in
I don’t know if this lady was stupid, for not just taking the shopping cart that she moved
Or maybe she was a jerk, because she left it behind somebody else’s car, which meant that it was now somebody else’s problem
Costco is about the same level as Sams Club. Maybe a little higher but similar clientele I think. If you park next to the curb or cart corral, they can only block one side in. Actually, I have to say I haven’t seen much in Minnesota. Once in a while the cart left in a stall, but usually not.
Bing, I have to say that I never saw the kind of selfish and inconsiderate behaviors in your part of the country that I’ve seen elsewhere. People in North Dakota and Minnesota were always nice and always cordial. People of few words, but always polite. Cold physically, but polite.
In my experience, the worst behaviors are in urban areas. Miami, NYC, Hartford, Boston (especially Boston), people in cities just don’t give a darn about anyone else. People in cities couldn’t care less if they damage your car. When I’m in Boston, I EXPECT people to act poorly toward my car. It’s a protective behavior. By expecting the worst, I can protect myself against it.
in the south people are usually polite to each other and strangers too. the more rural the nicer. until you get waaaay out in the sticks, then they are suspicious of strangers, usually with good reason
The absolute worst example of disregard for the handicapped was done by the state of NH itself. They built a new liquor store in Nashua, NH a few years back (in NH the state owns all liquor stores) and in order to get a LEED certification (an environmental organization) they put "hybrid only" parking spaces right in front of the doors and pushed the handicap spots to the corner of the parking lot. That shows not only disregard by the state, but also total arrogance and disregard by the "Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design" (LEED) organization, who promotes these "reserved for hybrid" parking spaces next to the entry doors in building design. It left me with a very negative opinion of the LEED group. Fortunately, the public outcry was strong enough that the state had to go back and reconfigure the parking lot.
I’ve never understood the reasoning behind this. I mean, a hybrid is going to be prowling the parking lot in EV mode, most likely…and a '78 New Yorker isn’t. From a strict eco standpoint, it would be better to get the gas hogs parked most easily, not the cars that burn the least fuel. I also doubt parking priority is sufficient to get somebody to trade cars…leaving smug self-congratulation as the most likely explanation.
The good news is, though, that these hybrid spaces have no legal basis! (in PA.) AFAIK, last time I checked, ONLY HC spots have legal basis…not hybrid, et. al. Thus, I park without qualm in any hybrid spot I see in my F150–“hey, thanks for saving me a space, bud!”
(The ironic thing is that I’ve bypassed the clutch safety switch in my truck, so that it can be moved short distances by the battery-driven starter. I guess I’m (rather technically speaking) driving a hybrid after all!)
