[mikeash]

That’s oversimplified. Some agencies continue to operate for a bit because they have enough money stashed to do so. For example, the Smithsonian stayed open over the weekend and is apparently open today as well. The EPA will stay open for another week because they apparently have a nice chunk of cash somewhere. The postal service will operate indefinitely because they earn their own money.

For everybody else, a shutdown means you stop working right away. For most people that means the first day they’re affected is Monday because most of them have the weekend off, but people who would work on the weekend have already been affected. There’s no room for a bureaucratic delay or people failing to get the news. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for non-essential people to work during the shutdown unless their job is somehow still funded. Anyone who went to bed early on Friday and went to work on Saturday without checking the news would be told to go home.

[thaumasiotes]

> For everybody else, a shutdown means you stop working right away.

This is not correct; for many a shutdown means you keep working entirely as normal on the understanding that when things are resolved, you'll get paid retroactively.

[mikeash]

You’re right, I forgot to mention that people deemed “essential” in any agency keep on working anyway.

[fhood]

Thank god for usps.

[ateesdalejr]

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor government shutdown stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.