Internet at Work

[UncaBuffalo]

Thought everyone was headed towards giving us access, but recently hit a plant that had just taken the internet away from rent-a-techs...

[Surveyors_mato]

Those of us on the road, often depend on access to keep in touch with family, the world, ect. What plant was this that denied access and why?

[harleygirl]

Due to a big ethics push my company cut off most email, dating and nonwork related etc. internet sites for house techs so no they are not going to allow access to contractors.   :'(It is mostly work related only now. Good thing nukeworker counts as that. I have logged on and let road techs pull up maps etc. We will do that but we will monitor it since it is our jobs on the line. ....

Most plants have libraries, coffee shops or public places near by that offer internet services....

[UncaBuffalo]

Those of us on the road, often depend on access to keep in touch with family, the world, ect. What plant was this that denied access and why?

San Onofre took access away....couldn't argue with their logic - too many rent-a-techs there had been abusing the privilege...

[HousePuke]

I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have it!

[SloGlo]

contractor puters on a site should have nukeworker.com as the homepage.

[Roll Tide]

I think I can prove many companies don't allow Internet at Work for Contract Nukeworkers: The forum statistics show fewer hits, fewer posts, and fewer people logged in for March (with 31 days) than Feb (with 29 days). The difference: Nukeworkers at Outages. Of course, it could be a coincidence because Nukeworkers are searching for last-minute jobs to fill a gap for the Spring season in Feb, but I prefer a conspiracy.

[duke99301]

hey I got it but I got yob that lets me have it!

[nukedawg]

contractor puters on a site should have nukeworker.com as the homepage.

Here Here!

[RADBASTARD]

We do have it here thank god ,but a couple of techs are upset they can't get on their
{smooth young asian boy sites} well I guess we all must make sacrifices in this line of work.
It's sux to be them!

[LaFeet]

Hey RadBastard.... you look sooooo much different now with your hair short than you do in your picture.....

[RADBASTARD]

You should see me in my video.Night vision can do wonders.

[LaFeet]

You should see me in my video.Night vision can do wonders.

I am not to sure if that is legal except in Nevada...

[Mike McFarlin]

LaFeet will never change.  Spanky

[Gonzo]

San Onofre took access away....couldn't argue with their logic - too many rent-a-techs there had been abusing the privilege...

actually, SONGS only thought they took it away...  it was a matter of changing a few settings and you could circumvent the whole thing...   

[RRhoads]

yeah....
At PV..internet access is like the "golden Challis"...but there are a couple of cool temps that will let you on...CGS lets contractors have i-net access..really cool when you work 6-12's ....although personal POP 3 accounts are blocked they give you plant e-mail so folks can just e-mail you directly to work.
Susquehanna has i-net for contractors too & the e-mail set up is the same as CGS.
Seems to me all contractors should have i-net access but use it responsibly

[Mike McFarlin]

Use and don't abuse the privledge.

[RRhoads]

Why should a utility provide contractors internet access anyway?  Surf the net, check your e-mail, whatever, when you get home from work!

sounds like you work at PV!!!!
well...
primarily it's used as a form of mass communication....
makes things a little easier when you have info to put out to 50+ contractors...this works for both house side & a bartlett site rep too.
Another reason is for access to survey #s & HP/ RP log books...
usually these items reside on an intranet...so access is needed for local items.
most places i've been...the above mentioned items are in electronic form.....
so i say again..
why not!
it's a tool...use but don't abuse.

[RRhoads]

well....you shouldn't have to beg to use a computer...
It sounds like your pissed, & right-fully so about the above but are taking it to an extreme.
It IS a means of communication....a way to stay in touch w/ family...
In my opinion, if one were to follow your thought process, there might not be phones available to contractors as well??

[Roll Tide]

Why should a utility provide contractors internet access anyway?  Surf the net, check your e-mail, whatever, when you get home from work!

And why should it be provided to house employees either?

The big rub is when there's a disparity in treatment.

[PWHoppe]

Surf the net, check your e-mail, whatever, when you get home from work!

I think the key words here are "when you get HOME". The problem is they are contractors and don't go home. I myself go to the local library when on the road. However if it's closed, because of the time, you're out of luck. It would seem that the use of the internet is a small thing, as long as it's not abused.

Back in the day I can remember the rent-a-techs using the phones for hours. Then the utilities wanted to ban the use of off site phone lines, now everyone has cell phones. If you don't abuse it, I just think it's a nice thing to have available.

As usual, just my opinion, I could be wrong 

[RRhoads]

And why should it be provided to house employees either?

The big rub is when there's a disparity in treatment.

excellent point!
it just sounds like the internet thing is being abused at a certain place..so the knee-jerk reaction for some, is to want to ban all contractors from using it....as i said b4...use don't abuse!
the quote was this...."check your e-mail, surf the net when you get back to your room after work!"...just sounds like sour grapes & kinda comes off bad.

[Mike McFarlin]

Just go to the library or buy yourself a laptop. You can overcome this problem if you want to. Whinning won't get you site computers. So deal with it.

[SloGlo]

its bin a long time since i wuz ina power plant, operational or udderwiz, so's i gots many questions.  why do they have different operating philosophies for house/contractors?  meabee cause they donb't gotta listen to contractors after the outage.  but it's still only a question, 'k?  why don't the contracting companies supply puters to the break areas for the contractor techs to use?  why don't contractors git blackberrys 'n quit worrying bout computer use for surfing?  do utility sites have wi-fi?  should there be puter areas for people who don't smoke on site, or have the utilities all banned smoking all to gether?

[Roll Tide]

why don't the contracting companies supply puters to the break areas for the contractor techs to use?  why don't contractors git blackberrys 'n quit worrying bout computer use for surfing?  do utility sites have wi-fi? 

I haven't had time to translate all of Slo's questions, so I can only address these:
Contractor computers would be required to hook into the plant LAN; the LAN is what they don't want contractors overloading. Wi-fi, where available, is locked to prevent unauthorized access.

Better stick to Krystal for wireless surfing.