For the first 10 years I was in the business I was in a union shop.

which, looking back on it sucked.

Ten years into the business I went to work for a nonunion company and things got immediately better and pretty much stayed that way.

The new employer wanted to keep his company nonunion and knew just how to do it. He paid us a little more than union scale and gave a benefit package a little better than we were getting from the union.

It's been my experience that most people don't want to be in a union. They don't like the politics, the dues and the aggravation.

I've always figured that unions come from employers not valuing their employees. They should because they are the people that make the money for them.

I always considered my job in the big picture to make money for my employer. If I make him money I am valuable. If I don't, I am dead wood. 

Of course I am not stupid, either. I think there should be a reasonable balance between what I am getting and what I am making for the company. During my career I think I got a fair shake and maybe even a little more. 

In my entire career I suffered no layoffs and the truth is they kept me on the payroll when there was really nothing profitable to do. I've sat out a number of three week tours and done nothing but small maintenance jobs and eaten well. In fact had I lived within an hour of the company pier I could have simply stayed home and collected.

On the other hand, I have had tours where out of the 42 watches of a 21 day tour I have worked them all. I suppose in the big picture it all came out in the wash.

We had no reason whatsoever to unionize. We had it too good. In fact at one time a couple of union bosses I ran into told me outright that they couldn't match what we were getting.

What made me write this is someone on the tube in the background brought up the subject of coal company script and how one kept getting deeper and deeper into debt to the company. No wonder those poor bastards unionized!

Still, I do think the unions do the working stiff good because they set the pace as far as wages and benefits go. It gave the place I worked with a benchmark to beat.

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Another day in the life.

I just watched a secondhand store truck haul off a whole pile of stuff from a neighbor's house. 

It was mildly surprising how much stuff they got rid of until I gave it a little thought.

The amount of just plain STUFF we accumulate in a typical suburban house is totally incredible. 

After the fire the wife and I filled two huge construction dumpsters chockablock full and I still have a lot of stuff in the house.

 

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Stop sending money as overseas aid.

It gets stolen, misappropriated, mismanaged and is the most expensive way to help someone.

Send goods instead. 

If a friendly nation needs help sent them food, weapons, uniforms and the needed military equipment. 

Of the billions we have sent to Ukraine I really wonder how much of it was spent on issuing Ukrainian soldiers the needed equipment they needed. My uneducated guess is it was an awful lot less than we sent them.

 

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Ahh, yes. California is madder than hell about strings attached to relief money.

Why? Do they plan on taking relief money from the fed and misappropriating it to give away to illegals and waste of more typical Californian DEI plans and other meaningless social experiments?

(Not counting what they plan on stealing and funneling off to their little buddy-pals.)

That's why there should be strings attached. We want a strict accounting of where the money is being spent.

The California record stinks to high heaven because of the record of misappropriation of the funds they have already had raised by California taxation that have been pissed away. They have misappropriated the monies raised for a reservoir that was supposed to have been built years ago that hasn't because they did something else with the funds, probably stupid social justice plans or some damned thing or another and who knows who's pockets the money wound up in. (Not mine, for sure)

There's a lot of other mysteries, too about where funds went that were earmarked for forestry and fire prevention.

In short before we send California one single dime we want a plan to insure that the funds will be used to aid those that have lost everything (even though most of the people in CA are somewhat responsible for their headaches because they voted those incompetents into office) Still, They're Americans, too and they should not all suffer for the misdeeds and stupidity of their elected officials.

There is no reason whatsoever that the rest of us Americans should be sending California our hard earned tax dollars only to find that the elected officials are not getting the funds to where they should be arriving and instead are handed out to illegal immigrants and/or wasted on meaningless social engineering programs that do absolutely nothing.

I suppose if you made me dictator I'd add another condition to sending California aid. I'd have Californians clean house by any means they feel fit and install some competent leadership.

==================================

As far as sending aid goes to a lot of the Appalachian dwellers in NC, a lot of those mountain people are pretty self sufficient and would likely benefit by getting building materials delivered to their land instead of a check.

This is not a slight, but if you did that those hillbillies would probably team up, trade skills and inside of a year all have better places to live than they did before the flooding.

They're a pretty amazing sort. 

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On defunding NPR

Big Bird is over 55 years old and it's time for him to move out of mom's basement and get a job and take care of himself like an adult.

Of course when the subject of defunding NPR comes up there is the inevitable screech of mothers over losing Sesame Street and so on.

Truth of the matter is that NPR does nothing that can't be done by commercial radio and TV stations. However, by law it can't accept commercial advertising and as a result relies on donations and grants.

It's also politically slanted which is patently wrong. It's supposed to be neutral.

What should change here is that they should be defunded and permitted to accept commercial advertising and become self-supporting. 

I'm sure that the instant it becomes commercial there will be advertisers lining up at their doors. I would imagine there would be an army of toymakers wanting to advertise on Sesame Street.

I'd be willing to let them keep the current equipment to let them get started. Of course it will probably require a new management team because they have never had to turn a profit which will be new to them.

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I remember the time someone threatened to quit

and the Big Boss told him to go ahead and he caved in. It was in the parking lot and I overheard it.

I turned to the Big Boss and said to him, "If I ever say that I will mean it. I'll just pack my bags, shake your hand and leave. I don't like the new policy either but it's not worth leaving over."

He grinned and said to me, "I would expect nothing less of you. In fact I like to hear you're looking for a better deal."

"Everybody looks for a better deal," I replied.

I think that was the day we shared mutual respect. We were open and frank and for the rest of the time we worked together we got along fine. He was a straight shooter and that's good for a LOT.

Some time later we got an extra piece of equipment added to the boat and we were responsible to run it. Both crews figured we should get a raise for the added responsibility and we approached him over it.

He agreed we were accepting more responsibility and said he'd look into it, saying he'd see if the money was there.

Shortly afterwards he went out of his way to meet both crews at once with a folder and sat down and 'opened the books'. The company wasn't getting any more money for the piece of equipment, it had been installed by the customer we had the contract with and we were not getting any extra for having it aboard. We took it on just to continue having the boat on contract for the next two years.

The company was generous with things like that as a whole. Had they gotten extra for it I'm sure we would have gotten a piece of the pie. We asked him for time for a quick conference that just took a couple of minutes. To a man we decided that being the only crew in the company we'd get job security for being able to run said piece of equipment and another thing to add to our resumes. We agreed with him.

It actually proved profitable because of two things. We mysteriously discovered that our paychecks got a few bucks in it under 'misc' and eventually when a downturn came and there were layoffs we were not laid off. We had increased our value by knowing how to run the inert gas machine. Over the next year or two we got tossed a few choice bones we would likely have not gotten.

As far as quitting went, until the day I retired I still considered it as an option but never really considered it because I looked at the big picture. There's more to a job than a daily pay rate.

I probably could have made more money in my check but the expenses entailed with working elsewhere would have eaten whatever pay differential I would have made with stupid petty stuff like looking for a place to park and a million other small things that add up.

Then there were the working conditions and the general company generosity. When you throw in the fact that I got along pretty well with almost everyone it was actually a fairly profitable and comfortable workplace as a whole.

I always respected the Big Boss because he was a straight shooter and was always fair and reasonable. That says a lot for him and the company.

 

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Wow that was fast!

I am already beginning to hear stories about contractors and developers planning to build apartment buildings in the LA area that was hit with the fires.

The more I hear the more I am inclined to think that there's a lot of shady things going on. 

When the governor pleas to the POTUS to stop the disinformation then you seriously begin to wonder. Usually disinformation is squelched by bringing the truth forward.

All I can say is it looks to me like either malice and/or incompetence.

One thing I noticed were fire statistics and it appears that the homeless are responsible for about half of the fires in the LA area which is interesting and to me 100% believable. When you look at many of the homeless they are not rowing with both oars in the water. 

As to be expected, looting is appearing and Newsom claims they will not tolerate it and looters will be arrested. That remains to be seen and my guess is that any that are actually apprehended will have the charges dropped or reduced so the perps pay a $50 fine or something ridiculous by a liberal DA.

There was a time in this country where looters were shot out of hand and that was that. 

Then you have the climate change people trying to blame the whole mess on climate change. Maybe they are onto something.

After all, climate change leads to poor forestry practices which leads to poor fire prevention practices, including not keeping emergency reservoirs full and that sort of thing. This, of course, leads to racist DEI hires in important positions of authority and the whole thing caves in.

I guess we can blame the entire thing on climate change and as the root cause for the LA fire. 

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One of the things trade schools do right

is to teach the business aspect of the trade.

When I graduated from the college prep program back in 1969 I didn't even know how to write a check. 

Granted, it wasn't difficult for me to figure out how to run a checking account but it was never addressed at school. A guy that graduated with my class but had gone through the local Vo-Tech school had learned enough in school so as to enable him to open his own business three years after he graduated and his peers were still in college.

As I look back on life I see that my so-called education didn't prepare me for life at all. To a certain extent I followed the herd. I worked and played and managed to live long enough to collect SS and while I did set up a couple of retirement accounts they were pretty much fire 'em and forget 'em. I could have done considerably better had I paid attention to them.

The one thing I did do was back in '08 when I got tipped off that the bottom was going to fall out of the market was to pull out of the market and put everything into cash and then when the market hit rock bottom I bought back into it again. Still, that was not my idea. A friend in finance tipped me off to do that.

While I've always lived a fairly low key frugal lifestyle and now have no wants I wonder what would have happened had I known a little more and paid more attention to things. Yeah, I know. Coulda woulda shoulda.

Actually life is good and I have nothing to complain about because I have more than what I really need. I never really bothered to amass a huge fortune. Nevertheless, I am now curious as to what I could have done had I paid more attention to the financial end of things.

I imaging that had I amassed a few million I would still be driving around in a 16 year old pickup. 

Now that I think about it a little bit maybe I did make the right choice because I suppose if I spent my life trying to amass a fortune I would not have been able to have as much fun as I did going through life. Maybe I just instinctively picked a happy medium. Who knows?

Still, I think school systems have gotten worse over the years and I have not heard of any finance based classes added to the curriculum. They really should. It would replace the DEI and other crap quite nicely.

 

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The more I see of the California fire the more I see

the possibility of California turning red.

There are a lot of disgusted pissed off people there now and a LOT of questions are being raised challenging the people currently in high places.

Questions are being asked of where monies were spent that were earmarked for various fire prevention expenditures and people are challenging the DEI policies that appear to have put people in positions of power based on their minority status instead of their competence. 

Accusations of the fire department giving large amounts of equipment to Ukraine are surfacing. Reservoirs were not being kept full and numerous other accusations are being made. 

People are finally finding out what happens if you hire DEI people instead of based on simple merit.

People are rightfully angry and it will be interesting to see if California turns red or they simply double down and vote for a different bunch of Democrats.

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Did you ever bother to read the book?

OMG! Trump's off his rocker! He hasn't ruled out a military takeover of the Panama Canal or invading Greenland! He's CRAZY!

My reply was, "Go to the library and get a copy of 'The Art of the Deal' and read it sometime. you might learn something. It's FREE at the local library. You might learn something and not sound so stupid."

"But he's going to seize the Panama Canal!" he shot back. "He said he'd take if back by force! He said that using the military is an option!"

"It IS an option and he has it as the President of the United States," I replied. "It doesn't say he's going to use that option. My guess is he doesn't want the damned canal. He just wants the Panamanians to give us a fair deal."

"But he said,"

I interrupted him. "Get the book. Read it."

"But Donald Trump wrote that book!" was his wide eyed answer.

"Correct. Now read the book and figure out how the man works," I replied. "He knows how to negotiate. Learn something so you sound so stupid."

My favorite Donald Trump story. Negotiating from a position of power.

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Soon Trump will become a convicted felon until his case gets overturned.

Which it probably will.

Hell, the instructions the judge gave to the jury are enough to insure that he was running a kangaroo court.

Speaking of kangaroos, here's a map here regarding ownership of the animals in the United States. Click on the map to see the whole thing.

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An accounting of the fire money I was given.

After the fire a couple of years ago one of the guys offered to set up a Go Fund Me. I was insured and said I didn't need it but he pointed out that insurance doesn't cover everything. I finally gave him the OK and was floored with the results.

It came to a little over $3000 and got to me before the insurance money started flowing in.

I took the part that was over the $3000 and bought myself a steak dinner and a bottle of good scotch and earmarked the $3000 for things that would come up. I desperately needed something like this for morale purposes. I was holed up in a small hotel room with the cat who miraculously survived, thank God.

FYI I didn't swill the scotch down. It lasted me as I was sparing with it. It was my end of the day treat.

A month or so I found out about someone with 3 kids in dire straits and sent them $1000. I won't explain who/what/why here other than they, too, were a fire victim and it hit them a lot harder than I was hit.

I've always had a part part of it forward attitude on windfalls and for sake of argument considered this a windfall. Over the years I've had a few small windfalls and I generally shared them with people.

The one that first comes to mind was when I was broke and found a $100 bill. I instantly took a fellow fisherman that was as broke as I was at the time out with me to eat a decent meal.

That left me with $2000 and I put that aside because I saw a wall coming up in front of me somewhere along the line.

Later after I blasted all the paint off the basement and garage walls it was time for repainting and I hit a wall of sorts. Just looking at the wall depressed me and I decided to sub it out even though I could have done it myself.

The kid down the street was home from college and I knew he'd be interested in making a few bucks so I gave him a call. He's an Aerospace Engineering major and meticulous. I hired him to do the painting and paint he did.

He did one hell of a good job, better than I would have. He wasn't fast, he was meticulous and did a damned good job. I was glad I had subbed it to him. Afterwards he did some more painting upstairs for me and I paid him the $2000 I had put aside to him. It was a total win/win.

Anyway, that's what I did with the money the guys on my favorite website raised for me.

Thanks, guys! 

(And you guys thought I blew it on hookers and blow)

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Social Security should become voluntary.

because a sharp operator can do more than the Social Security Administration can do if they deposited the same amount of money into their own investments.

But there's a catch. You're on your own for retirement. Fail and it's on you. No bailouts with taxpayer money.

I've never been one for forcing people into a program they don't want.

Your call.

What I think will happen over time is many will be successful and it will lead others to follow and Social Security will diminish down to a manageable level.

It won't happen overnight, though.

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Embrace the suck

I was at the eye doctors the other day and he was putting eye drops into my eyes and told me it was going to sting a bit.

I took a quick breath, exhaled leaned back and he put the drops in and it stung. I took in a deep breath and as I exhaled I softly said, "Embrace the suck."

The doctor asked me what that was all about.

I explained that a lot of things suck. Some should be avoided, some embraced. The sucks that will end up making things better in the long run are to be embraced.

My eyes were going to sting for a minute or so and afterwards he'd be able to take good measurements for my upcoming eye surgery and that would bring me closer to having my eyes fixed.

It was a cheap price to pay.

Anyway, he thought about that a minute and liked it and said he wished he had more patients that thought that way.

Historically I have always told medicos I have faith in to feel free to poke, pinch, wiggle, whatever they need to do.

 

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The pizza guy showed up last night.

and when I heard the knock on the door I got up ready to either invite a friend or neighbor in or chase someone off. When I got to the door it was someone I didn't recognize. Then I saw he was carrying a couple of pizzas in the insulated pizza delivery whatever you call that damned thing.

I had not ordered a pizza so I figured the poor bastard was lost. I opened the door and he beat me to the punch. "Sir, are you 653?" he asked.

I deflated in an instant. There's no way in hell I could be angry at some poor guy trying to make a living. I pointed across the street diagonally. "Over there," I said. "It's not your fault they don't have a number on their house. Maybe he's hiding from the mob because he got mistaken for the guy that got their crack house shut down or maybe he's hiding from the law because he's wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Who knows?"

He grinned, "Thanks. I'm sorry for the disturbance," he said.

'Don't be," I said. "It's not your fault. You're just trying to make an honest living. I respect you for that."

He left and wandered across the street, returned to his car and drove off. 

The entire thing was a non event.

There's no way in hell I can slight some poor soul trying to make ends meet. 

I went back to my movie, Beau Geste, the original silent movie.

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There are three movies named 'Beau Geste', four if you count the Marty Feldman 'Last remake'.

The first one was with Ronald Coleman. It's a silent movie and pretty good, all things considered. It came out in 1926.

The next one came out in 1939 and starred Gary Cooper. It's the best one of the three.

In 1966 Guy Stockwell, Doug McClure and Telly Sevalas rolled around in the desert for the third make of it. It kinda sucked.

 

 

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