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Messages - jcc273

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1
General Discussion / Re: Interesting take from an interesting source
« on: July 10, 2014, 07:04:18 AM »
I am not blaming companies for what they do because it makes sense for the business.  People need jobs you can pay them that much and it lowers your bottom line.  I would do the same thing.  The guy in the article basically states that is why it won't work because it doesn't make sense to pay employees more if you don't have to.  But raising the wage of you lower paid employees does make sense in terms of economics.  It doesn't make for an equal rise in inflation because you are not raising everyone's wage only the lowest paid workers.  Costs may increase but so will spending, so there is not a 1-to-1 correlation.

Look at his examples it shows that it has been effective before it is just neat to see.  Not saying it would be effective now just an interesting thought and like he states it is basically the responsibility of the business owners at this point so pretty much nothing will happen which is expected.  And his point about luck is a very good one!  A lot of people work very hard for very little and some work very little for very much!

Yeah the government sure does screw a lot of things up haha.  They do need to enforce some rules on business though as has been proven in the past, but unfortunately they don't seem to know when to stop and things go overboard in everything they do : (.  I am sorry to hear that about your father-in-law, the VA isn't doing very well these days : (.

Kids are a lot different these days.  There is a sense of entitlement that (a lot of them) have and I'm not sure where it comes from.  Maybe its the old 3 Generations Rule.

I hate how this country has progressed into the "service" industry.  High paying manufacturing type jobs where an actual product is made have been replaced by lower paying service jobs.  It used to be that immigration was a vital part of the country in that you would need immigrants to work the lower paying jobs and then each generation of their family following would move up the ladder and more immigrants would replace the lower wage jobs.  Now the system is broke and everything is moved overseas.

Yeah usually the people who rally the most for wage increases are the ones who benefit from them, which in large part are the people who don't like to work and have went from minimum wage job to minimum wage job just doing enough to get by.  There are good workers in that bucket too but they are not the ones who make themselves heard because they don't have a sense of entitlement like the others.  The hard workers who make more money or who employ others of course do not want wage increases because the immediate result hurts them!  It will not help me any if wages increase.  I will not make any more and it usually means prices of things will go up!  So i am usually completely against them, but i just thought this guys take was pretty interesting : ).

2
General Discussion / Re: Interesting take from an interesting source
« on: July 09, 2014, 08:02:52 AM »
For the most part I am pretty against the government sticking its fingers in things it shouldn't especially when they involve my personal liberties.  And talks of raising minimum wage in the past I have always been against because my thought is it increases the costs of running a business there by decreasing profits and in turn decreasing employment or increasing prices and just equaling everything out. 

But all I am saying is this guy's article makes some sense to me, but unfortunately it relies on everyone raising wages within a MARKET equally.  For example if in town xyz wal-mart raises its wages but the target doesn't then they just gave themselves a disadvantage because target can basically undercut prices due to the lower costs associated with their labor and pull in the majority of the new business created by wal-marts higher wages.  However, if wal-mart and target raise wages equally then we keep equality in costs between the two AND increase the amount of money the employees have thereby increasing their spending on items from wal-mart and target which in turn increases the profits of both companies to make up for the higher wages and making it a win-win for all parties involved. 

Currently 1 out of 5 wal-mart shoppers are on government subsidies and increasing minimum wage above the poverty line means in many cases they can stop giving our money to away to other people.

The government is necessary and does have its place in this country.  I believe in many cases it extends it reach much too far but it should definitely be responsible for protecting this country and for keeping big business in check.  The only way wages can be increased in a highly competitive market is by a mandate of sorts because otherwise not everyone is going to do the same which will kill the company that does.

You cannot let demand dictate wages because they work hand in hand.  A demand for more employees comes from more business and more business comes from more customers or sales.  But how can you get more customers when your customers are your employees and you don't hire any more or pay them more?  Business creates its own demand.  Boom towns there is something else (oil and gas) driving an influx of people with money and creates a demand for more business, but this isn't something that happens all over these cases are the exception and what happens when after awhile the population stabilizes and we have company A come in and undercut all the prices by paying a lower wage because there is nothing preventing it?  Boom we are just like every other place again.

Imports are a big killer here too.  I work in the electronics industry and our niche is small-medium volume products because the costs associated with having a facility in china and shipping are more than what you save on the cheap labor over there.  Once a customer crosses into the large volume threshold we lose them and you can't blame them because we cannot even buy parts for what they can make the whole board for over there.  Their quality is awful, but for that price it is something you live with.  This is another area where government maybe should play a role.  The goal is to have a strong internal economy that feeds itself.  We need to create our products for our people and be self sustaining society.  We used to be that way but not so much anymore.  Now everything is done outside the country at way cheaper costs making it impossible to compete for a company within the country.  I don't know what the answer is for this, but it just sucks.

I am not in total agreement with raising minimum wage still, but all I am saying is this guys article was interesting and I am no longer in total disagreement on raising it : ).  I was in no way trying to say that the gov. needs to raise wages right now I was just saying have an open mind and read the article, the logic makes sense.  And the example cities (seattle and san fran) speak volumes toward his point.

3
General Discussion / Re: Interesting take from an interesting source
« on: July 07, 2014, 02:13:07 PM »
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Yeah, kinda of. Do you want a high school dropout who can't hold a job running the corporation you collect your check from or somebody that has experience in the corporate world, will grow your company, your paycheck and your possibilities? The latter just might be worth that exorbitant salary.

Not to get into politics here, but I have a few friends who won't take a crap unless the union says it's OK, they hate the rich, period.There is no telling them without the rich investing in startups very well could be no Apple, Microsoft, etc. The rich also invest in pharmaceutical companies for R&D, what life savings drugs may not exist now.

While I do agree the gap is widening I don't think the rich are to blame, more like the government and the fallacy that everybody has to go to college. I read an interesting article a while ago, certain degrees if earned from quite a lot of colleges are money losers right from the start as in the field you got that degree in will never pay enough to justify the expense of the degree. Said people were better off going into a trade instead.

I don't think that article suggests that a lower qualified person runs a corporation or that the rich stop investing in things, it simply suggests that everyone benefits from a hike in minimum wage not just the low income families.  It basically states that by giving people more money they will buy more stuff in turn making you more money.  Makes sense to me, as long as imports are maintained i guess to prevent undercutting from cheap labor.

A raise in minimum wage used to make me nervous about job cuts but a lot of things he says makes sense.  He states that it's something that won't really work if only one company raises wages though and it is basically the responsibility of the government to keep a capitalistic society from becoming a feudal society:

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Capitalism, when well managed, is the greatest social technology ever invented to create prosperity in human societies. But capitalism left unchecked tends toward concentration and collapse. It can be managed either to benefit the few in the near term or the many in the long term. The work of democracies is to bend it to the latter. That is why investments in the middle class work. And tax breaks for rich people like us don’t. Balancing the power of workers and billionaires by raising the minimum wage isn’t bad for capitalism. It’s an indispensable tool smart capitalists use to make capitalism stable and sustainable. And no one has a bigger stake in that than zillionaires like us.

I agree with you on those other points!  I have thankfully never worked for a union, but there is GE plant near where i live and time and time again i have seen them screw their selves out of jobs which are then sent to a new non-unionized plant in Texas.  Just last summer the union was presented with the option to agree to a wage freeze (i forget for how long) or lose 1,000 jobs... guess what they chose : /.  And believe me they are paid well, a wage freeze seemed like it would have been a good choice to me.

I also agree with you on the college issue.  That is something I routinely get pissed off about.  I read a satirical essay about it once (forget the name), but i basically discussed how you would need a college degree to collect garbage before long.  Everyone can't go to college because you need people to do those other types of jobs still.  I always tell younger people unless you know what you really want to do and it requires going to college then don't go because you are just wasting your time and money.  I always say hard work is what gets you places in this world not a piece of paper.

4
General Discussion / Interesting take from an interesting source
« on: July 03, 2014, 12:21:33 PM »
Long article, but it makes a lot of sense.  Surprising it came from a wealthy person:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014_full.html#.U7WLffldWuM

5
Site Suggestions / Re: We need a new Administrator
« on: June 23, 2014, 10:39:05 AM »
Maybe if someone creates a new fake account and posts something super racially offensive or something we can file a complaint with the web host who will in turn contact the administrator to force the removal of said offensive material which will hopefully spawn the removal of the spam as well.... or we could just go over to RSI's new site haha.

6
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....unfortunately, StanleyFads is a bunch of lines of computer code, not an actual person.  :-X

I would be content with the programmer : )

7
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Taken over
« on: June 16, 2014, 10:54:04 AM »
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hmmm  maybe  the  moderator  is  the  spamer   ???

Brilliant!!! its a huge conspiracy!

8
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Tyranny II
« on: June 02, 2014, 10:49:49 AM »
Do i think its right that the government snoops and spies on us? - No

Am i surprised? - No

Do i have anything to hide? - No

So, really i don't care if they watch us.  Doesn't make it right, but i just don't really care.  Always assume someone is watching you anyways and act accordingly is my philosophy : ).

9
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Tyranny III
« on: June 02, 2014, 10:45:16 AM »
Well, i would have to hedge my bets towards Goliath because he was the bigger guy.  But i guess you never know.  The story never describes them with their clothes off ; )

10
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Humor in siganatures
« on: May 23, 2014, 10:58:41 AM »
Alot of folks around me use the 1 to 2 horse "buggy" models.  Cold in the winter and takes awhile to get you where your going, but gets the job done : ).  And they are the new hybrid models that run on hay ; ).

11
Thermoelectricity is a very interesting thought here, no moving parts and simply needs a temperature differential.  Unfortunately i just don't think the temp differential is high enough to get the kind of power you would want : /.  This guy has something interesting going on though:

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/presto-alaska-inventor-turns-wood-stove-heat-electricity

I would like to see him achieve his goal that would be amazing.  Can you imagine how great it would be to be able to both heat and power your whole house by simply burning wood!  Not to mention the catalytic converter makes the output cleaner!  So it's a win win for all groups involved [minus tree-huggers ; ) ]

12
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As an engineer, how do like your Hardy, do you appreciate the value added to your lifestyle by burning wood for heating purposes.

I like the boiler alot : ).  We always burnt wood for heat growing up but always with an indoor wood furnace.  When i bought my current house the previous owner had died in a car accident and the house (and hardy) had just sat unused through the winter : /.  As far as i know the boiler has been there since the house's construction in '86 as there was no other heat source in the house whatsoever.  I had 0 experience with these systems, so i figured i had my work cut out for me getting her running again.  This forum was very instrumental in helping me achieve just that : ).  People were able to answer all the questions i had about what i didn't know, which allowed me to get it fixed rather easily : ).

I was very impressed how well the tank and firebox had held up!  I pretty much just had to replace a bunch of plumbing, the pump, switches, valves, and blower and give her a good cleaning and flush and she has run like a champ ever since : ).  I love the cheap heat, hot water, and not having to haul wood indoors : ).

I love coming to this forum often because i always learn something new about them : ).

13
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I think it was clearly stated enough that it was not all engineers.  There are good ones and bad as with any other profession

In the comment i was responding too i believe it was clearly stated as:

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I've known several engineers over the years, other than a very narrow specific field a larger percentage than not are worthless as tits on a boar hog. No offense

I was not talking about any other comment.  The rest may have clearly stated that but he clearly stated that he thought most are that way.  If he meant everyone he should have said that.

Lumping people in groups by any means is ridiculous, and i personally do not appreciate being rolled into a group and considered "worthless as tits on a boar hog".  That's all I'm saying.

14
Quote
HAHAHA.

I have an uncle that worked for Ford as an engineer, then got his degree in aerospace, worked for Bell helicopter and now Sikorsky. He literally cannot change a flat tire, he'll sit on the side of the road for hours waiting on AAA. This was even before he started college. Same guy that couldn't figure out why CFL's kept burning up in touch lamps. After I pointed out that it said right on the package Do Not use with Dimmer, his reply was that he isn't, there touch lamps.

Neighbor directly behind me used to be an engineer for Bendix aircraft division, thought he might get his skid steer stuck in the lane feeding horses so the idjit tried to go across a freshly planted hayfield instead.

I've known several engineers over the years, other than a very narrow specific field a larger percentage than not are worthless as tits on a boar hog. No offense Neil.

Those things have nothing to do with what you do for a living.  I think the point your trying to make is book smarts do not equal common sense or street smarts.  If you are book smart you can go to school and become whatever, you can learn all the ends and outs of a subject and be an expert on the theory behind it.  Does it mean you can apply these concepts in the field?  No you were simply trained on the subject matter.  Stereotyping "Engineers" as a group that only know how things should work with no practical knowledge is absurd. 

First off there are tons of different types of engineers out there you don't just focus on engineering it is way to broad.  I am an Embedded Design Engineer and design circuit boards, write the software for the microprocessor, support manufacturing of the boards, and support issues in the fields.  I am the designer and i know the full ins and outs of how my design works.  I don't build the board because we have trained and experience solder and electronic techs who are amazing at it and that is what they do.  If there is a problem with a part they will fix it, if there is a wiring issue in the field they will fix it, If the device isn't doing what it is supposed to do then I will figure out why and fix it.  Everyone has there area of expertise, and that is how an efficient business works.  I could do the soldering and wiring but it would take me way longer and look a lot messier because i don't do it on a daily basis.  You talk like the title of Engineer should make you an expert on everything.

The examples you gave of your uncle and neighbor have nothing to do with their fields.  They just prove that neither one has any common sense and your uncle chose not to learn to change his own flat.

The stuff you are talking about "engineers" not being able to do is stuff you have to learn like anything else in life, it doesn't just come naturally because you aren't an engineer.  I can change my tires, replace a transmission, cut wood, grow a small garden, build a garage, install plumbing, install wiring, and fix about anything that moves.  There is also plenty i don't know how to do, for example farming.  I love the idea of farming and have slowly been learning more and more for example just got a flock of chickens but i didn't grow up on a farm or have anyone to teach me so it is something i have to lean through experience as i get older.  Being able to do these things has nothing to do with being an Engineer, they are things i took the time to learn to do myself by trial and error or from my father.  I must admit there is a mindset that goes along with doing the types of tasks you describe.  If you have that mindset you are likely to learn them and do them yourself, but not everyone does in which case they focus their thoughts and learning on other areas and that is fine.  We all learn what we choose to learn.  I know plenty of engineers who can all do this stuff and plenty who can't.  I also know plenty of people who work all kinds of other jobs and there are lots who can do this stuff and lots who can't.  So your generalization is absurd.

15
Hahaha i love how these political threads usually get so off track : ).

It is usually Neal against the world!

I think the government needs to stop trying to be people's "mothers" and worry about running the country.  If i want to get married to 10 women and 5 men then what business is it of theirs? Or if i am a pastor and don't want to marry gay couples because i don't agree then that should be my right according to my freedom of belief. Or if i want to drink a 64-oz soda that's my concern.  And if i want to smoke 2 cartons of cigarettes a day then more power to me!  In fact the last 2 would most likely make me die sooner lightening the burden i would impose on society as an old man on social security and medicare.

They should focus on running an effective country, not people's lives.  Obviously that means restricting liberties in some ways when they clearly violate the liberties and well being of other's, but personal choices should be left up to the individual.

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