With the shutdown of the United States government going into its third week, we read stories about how "non-essential" employees are being furloughed. That's something well known to state and county employees here in California who have had mandatory furlough days for a while now. What this means is, you don't come to work and don't get paid for furlough days. I suppose furloughs aren't as bad as a flat out job loss, since you are either receiving some income [...]