The Housing Bubble

That’s what you get for overpaying for a shack with no central heat.

HA
We have a great energy star HVAC. Hardly use it. We’re frugal my dear.

A FP is a wonderful memory inducer.

“We’re frugal”

LOLZ

Donkey,

You’re a reckless spendthrift.

I never used my FP for heat until I put in a fan forced iron insert. To think I lived in this house for over 10 years before I switched!? It puts out 65k BTU @ 75% efficiency and the wood I use is free. Home owners can choose how to spend their money on the energy they use. Renters, not so much.

a fan forced iron insert.

Is that a wood stove? My understanding is any fireplace that uses inside air is inefficient. It needs to draw outside air, ie be a wood stove, to be efficient.

A chimney sweep once told me the most efficient way to use a true fireplace in a house is to open the nearest window a crack, which seems pretty crazy when it’s zero degrees outside.

When they say 75% efficiency it just means the wood burns more completely and cleaner with less soot and particulates. The insert is actually a double walled iron box and it does draw air from inside the house but at 1/5 the rate of a open fireplace. One big negative is the ash. I haven’t found a good way to recycle it into anything useful except as lawn fertilizer.

Fireplaces drawing combustion air from inside is a great expense inducer…. Huh Donkey….

“drawing combustion air from inside is a great expense inducer”
By golly you are right! How much does that add to the cost of my free wood?

Comment was directed to The Donkey.

HA
My goodness sweetie pie, grow up. Had a great time in our pool yesterday. I have a life. Evidently, yours is being a vile antagonist.

Just the facts Donkey…. Just the facts.

Now spit it out.

How much does that add to the cost of my free wood?

Whatever the cost is of drawing outside air into your house. In mild temperatures, probably not much if anything, in more extreme temps, the cost can outrun the supposed savings you are getting from burning (even free) wood.

In general, a fireplace will warm the room it’s in, and make the rest of the house colder.

To clarify:

Modern building techniques have created more airtight homes, forcing many stove manufacturers to recommend that their stoves be installed with outside air intake. Outside air ensures that stoves will run more efficiently, and also removes the need for cold air for the combustion process to pass through the living space, thus reducing “draughts”, and improving comfort of the occupants. These designs are called “room sealed stoves” or “external air supply stoves.”
wikipedia

‘Round here a wood stove has to have an outside air supply.

Liberal zoning.

laws.

Whatever the cost is of drawing outside air into your house. In mild temperatures, probably not much if anything, in more extreme temps, the cost can outrun the supposed savings you are getting from burning (even free) wood.

You missed his point, alpha.

If, when he is heating with wood, ALL of the air in the house was heated with free wood (e.g. he was not also running a furnace), then the cost of drawing out that heated air is… wait for it… zero.

If he’s heating the entire house with a fireplace, then there is no added cost. But I don’t think he ever said he was.

It’s nearly impossible to heat a house entirely with a fireplace (at least to modern standards, like not having your pipes freeze) anywhere that has a real winter (extended periods well below freezing). A wood stove may suffice, but not a fireplace.

A wood stove may suffice, but not a fireplace.

He said early-on that he had “put in a fan forced iron insert.”

That is essentially a wood-stove, which happens to fit in an existing fireplace.

The quoted 75% efficiency is better than many stoves; most stoves are in the low 60’s to low 70’s percent efficient.

The quoted 75% efficiency is better than many stoves;

Ah, but that efficiency referred to how well it burned the wood, not whether the cold air pouring into the house through every gap to feed air to the fire (which is what happens if you don’t have an outside air intake) made heating with the insert more or less efficient than heating with a furnace.

made heating with the insert more or less efficient than heating with a furnace.

No, we were talking about the _cost_ of all of that heated air that is drawn up the chimney. With an open fireplace, you are correct—it is hard to generate much heat, and the amount of heated air could make the fire expensive to run (if the furnace was also running) even if you had free wood.

But if you have a good insert, you are not correct. A well-designed insert does as good a job of controlling the amount of heated air that goes up the chimney as wood-stove does. You can definitely heat the whole house with a good wood-burning insert. I know, because I do it.

My rental has one: a Lopi wood-burning insert. When I do burn in it, I don’t run the furnace at all on those days. Yes, the room that it is in gets quite toasty, and the rest of the house is much cooler—but it definitely heats the whole house. It is definitely not a net-negative heat source, even with the cold air that is drawn into the house.

Where do you live, Prime?

Where do you live, Prime?

Seattle. You, alpha?

I should also mention that I try to be responsible about it: living in a densely-populated area, on the west-side of the mountains (which can hold in pollutants), I only burn when the weather is wet enough to do a good job of removing my particulates in short order.

smithers I am the opposite i like it cool/cold during the day, and warm at night or my sinus get so clogged i breath though my mouth and that’s not good…

My fireplace (with catalytic heat exchanger) is my main source of heat (along with sweaters, good insulation, passive solar, incandescent lightbulbs and a dedicated lap cat). The deadfall oak and fruit wood is mine for the cost of operating a chain saw.

Wood ash, as Bluestar notes, makes excellent fertilizer, especially when mixed with decomposed barnyard animal droppings. Soaking ash in water yields lye, which when mixed with milk or animal fat makes soap. And there’s nothing like a lively fire for company when you’re curled up on a cold winter’s eve with a good book.

Not everyone opts for the inefficiency and expense of HVAC.

Seriously, what’s the point of life without a fireplace or fire ring?

Fire is also dangerous. It kills a bunch of people every year. If it saves just one child’s life, it’s worthwhile banning fire. And if you disagree you’re a tool of the NFA (National Fire Association) and hate children.

6/10

“… my father was a bricklayer so we had to have the biggest fireplace on the street.”

Money for nothing and bricks for free.

How do you say SI SE PUEDE in Russian?

Karl Marx’s Communist manifesto - Thanks for morning pick me up.

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”

Gawd, I [really] loathe this phrase. Thanks!

“From each (0.1%er and corporation) according to their ability (to offshore jobs, manipulate the tax code, and buy Congress), to each according to their need”

BS I am atypical. There are about 15 million individual policies sold in the US every year. While it’s certainly not the majority, it’s hardly an outlying case.

Today I pay $430 a month for the entire family (me, wife, 2 kids).

According to the Obamacare calculator, the cheapest option I will have, the “Bronze Plan” will cost $8100 a year or $675 a month. That’s a 57% increase. Just on the premium alone. I’m an evil rich person so I won’t be eligible for any govt subsidies. I have to pay the full boat.

But it’s worse than that. My plan now is an HSA plan. Which means any out of pocket expenses I have are tax deductible. Obamacare outlaws HSAs which means I will be losing out on that tax deduction. I can put $6400 a year into an HSA. At a 28% tax rate that’s a tax savings of $1792. Add that all up and instead of paying 430 X 12 - 1792 = $3368. Next year, under Obamacare I will be paying 675 X 12 = $8100. Well above double my current cost.

And no I don’t use $6400 of the HSA a year. But I contribute to it. It’s kind of like an IRA. The money sits there until it’s needed and earns a bit of interest too.

Didn’t Obama say over and over if you like your insurance plan you can keep your insurance plan? Just another lie.

“WASHINGTON — Many people who buy their own health insurance could get surprises in the mail this fall: cancellation notices because their current policies aren’t up to the basic standards of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
They, and some small businesses, will have to find replacement plans — and that has some state insurance officials worried about consumer confusion.

But supporters of the overhaul are betting that consumers won’t object once they realize the coverage they will get under the new law is superior to current bare-bones insurance. For example, insurers will no longer be able to turn people down because of medical problems.”

I’m willing to bet you’re going to lose that bet.

I love watching the progressive armchair heath care experts serve up the propaganda.

I guess Chairman Mao Obama is recruiting grade school kids, community organizations, Hollywood and professional sports organizations to “promote” the benefits of the new health care law. It’s such a good law it requires teams of Maoist agents to spread the word. Good times.

Today I pay $430 a month for the entire family (me, wife, 2 kids).

What kind of deductible? (I’m guessing at least $5000 per person). Is it the same as under the “bronze” plans?

“What kind of deductible? (I’m guessing at least $5000 per person). Is it the same as under the “bronze” plans?”

You guess wrong, as usual. It’s $7000 deductible for the family. It’s a family plan so everything is at the family level. The bronze plan will have a $6400 out of pocket maximum.
So I pay an extra $4000 in premiums to maybe save $600. And this is supposed to save me money. The perfect definition of Obama math.

And we never come even close to paying that much. I think last year it was about $1500. Which was less than the tax deduction I got via the HSA. And the good thing about paying out of pocket is you can easily negotiate with providers. My kids’ doctor is a prime example. A visit costs $178 if you bill straight through insurance. I struck a deal where I said, I’ll pay you upfront cash $125. You bill that to insurance so it goes towards my deductible. Everyone’s happy. I get a significant discount, the doctor gets paid on the spot.

And there are several items that are not subject to a deductible like annual check ups, shots for kids, annual pap smear for my wife, things like that, which are covered 100%. So really the deductible only comes into play if something major happens.

Now tell me again why I needed Obamacare…I have a plan I like, it covers what I need, I’m perfectly satisfied with it. And didn’t he say 1000 times if I like my plan I can keep my plan? As all things he says, it too had an expiration date.

I want to get on the right-winger health care insurance plan. They always have great, inexpensive ones, that no one else seems able to get.

You get Obamacare because you are going to be older and sicker long before you can go on Medicare and Obamacare protects you from private insurance deciding that you aren’t worth covering anymore or that you are only worth it if you pay 4 or 5 or 10 times as much in premiums. You aren’t paying more for the current coverage. You are paying for being able to stay insured later.

Oh, and so that all the rest of the uninsured/privately insured can live in that world too. And so that those of us in group plans can live in that world. I don’t like living in a country where for millions of people, getting sick means losing everything. Its called having a conscience.

Then you agree that signing over the house to the kids and then wait out the 5 year period to qualify for Medicaid is OK with you………?

“How often did you change plans in the last 10 years, Smithers?”

4 times. Twice I was forced to since I moved to a new state and thanks to the genius of the federal govt, you cannot transfer policies across state lines.

The other two times I just shopped around and found better options. You know that whole free market, competition thingy? It works (or workED) for insurance too.

If you read the propaganda you’d think anyone who ever catches a cold is never to be insured again due to a pre-existing condition. In the past 10 years I had some medical issues. I had two surgeries. Nothing major, but both pretty costly. My wife had complications during both her pregnancies and that stuff was insanely expensive. A conservative estimate I’d say both pregnancies cost $50K. And lo and behold, we’re not bankrupt and both of us are covered by insurance. Imagine that!! Yes we both have the dreaded pre-existing conditions, but not that doesn’t mean we are uninstallable. That’s the great myth that Obama exploited. Not only are we very much insurable, we pay a pretty low premium too.

The Obamacare lapdogs make it sound as if pre-Exchanges it was impossible for anyone to get insurance on their own. It’s really not that hard. There are several websites where you can shop and compare policies. Then apply. Then in a few days you have insurance.

I am assuming the pre-existing conditions were excempted from your new coverage. Some conditions are cut and dried but you can bet the companies would have tried to claim a new condition was related to the old. You’re just lucky - and young.

There are a handful of states where you have protection. Most don’t.

PORTLAND, Maine — Financial losses have prompted Maine Medical Center to offer voluntary buyouts to about 400 employees approaching retirement.

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/06/28/health/maine-medical-center-to-offer-buyouts-to-400-workers/

Well people born rich are lucky too. We should just asses them a 50% wealth tax right off the bat, because other people weren’t lucky. It’s not fair they get to eat steak all the time and I just have to have hamburger..

“I am assuming the pre-existing conditions were excempted from your new coverage….You’re just lucky - and young. ”

Once again, you assume wrong. In all the time I have had personal (ie not under my parents) insurance over the past 15 or so years, be it group or individual I have NEVER - I repeat NEVER - been denied care for anything by insurance. And as I said earlier this includes 2 surgeries one of which required a 3 day post-op stay in the hospital for recovery. This is how insurance works. In the real world that is, not in the MSNBC/Kos propaganda world where anyone who catches a cold is denied insurance coverage and dies on the steps of a hospital a week later from pneumonia.

Obamacare is a $1T+ solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

and thanks to the genius of the federal govt, you cannot transfer policies across state lines.

Or you could lobby for a Public Option like the liberals did. Then you could transfer your policy across state lines, and even across jobs.

“Or you could lobby for a Public Option like the liberals did. Then you could transfer your policy across state lines, and even across jobs.”

LOL. The solution to too much govt is more govt. I love it.

How about just a “cross state option” that conservatives have been pushing for decades? It would cost nothing. It would need zero additional govt bureaucrats to implement. And instead of 2000 pages, it would be a 1 page bill.

And I hate to break the news to you, but individual plans are transferable across jobs since they have nothing to do with jobs. I buy my own policy. I could change jobs every day of the year and my policy would not be affected whatsoever. Why would I need a govt run Public Option to provide me with something that I already have?

I had two surgeries. Nothing major, but both pretty costly.

Something doesn’t wash with what you’re telling us. I personally know people with individual policies whose premiums skyrocketed (100%+) after a non trivial claim (like minor surgery). It isn’t propaganda. If it was, they why did the insurance industry fight removing existing condition exclusions?

Trying to reason with Slithers and Nanners is like trying to teach a drunk transient calculus. It is futile.

Elective means you want it, but you don’t need it.

Polly,

Your definition of “need” is exactly why people don’t want government in charge of their health care. An ACL repair surgery is “elective” . It doesn’t mean you aren’t hobbling around in pain.. Also, from the article:

“while those waiting for medical oncology begin treatment in 4.2 weeks.”

My mom was recently diagnosed with abdominal cancer. Her surger was 2 days later. This was Kaiser.She transferred her care from Kern county to San Diego county after the Kern Co doctors weren’t nice to her. (Prior to the diagnosis). Why do we want to screw with that?

My wife was injured on the job 5 years ago and continues to have cervical issues. Just last week we were fighting with the WCAB to overturn a rejected appeal for botox injection treatment for the migraines she gets. Standard protocol is for the workers comp administrator to deny requests for care. My wife (a doctor) continues to hold up workers comp as one of the main examples of why you don’t want government and law dictating standards of care or of insurance. I agree with her 100%. BTW, in the appeal rejection letter, the reviewing physician stated (paraphrasing) “even though the patient recieved significant benefit from the latest series of botox injections with reduced migrane frequency and intensity, further treatment is not warranted as no evidence of cervical dystonia is present” . Her primary doctor is basically going ballistic because these guys are clearly using any excuse just to deny.

Sorry Mr. Smith, that knee replacement surgery is elective in according to Polly. You want it, but you really don’t need it. Plenty of people get around with just one good knee. Thanks for choosing Public Health Care today, good bye.

Ya I was going to point that out too. I lived in Canada for a number of years and I can tell you that you don’t wait for critical stuff. You might have to wait in line for that hip or knee replacement, but if it’s life or death they take care of you.

And they do a better job of it than they do here - even when you have health insurance.

Anyone who thinks paying more for a product than any other country on earth and then getting the 37th worst quality product is a great deal is a complete moron.

If for profit healthcare is so great, why don’t we do it with our other critical services. Only people who have paid a fire company get the fire put out on their house, etc.

Come to think of it, I believe they did that in Chicago for a while - how’d that work out anyway?

Canada’s health care system is so great, their politicians come to the US for care.

“Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States. CBC News confirmed Monday that Williams, 60, left the province earlier in the day and will have surgery later in the week.

The premier’s office provided few details, beyond confirming that he would have heart surgery and saying that it was not necessarily a routine procedure. Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale is scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/02/01/nl-williams-heart-201.html

See p.8 and behold who #37 is #1 in every category.

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-027766.pdf

Cancer Survival Rates in the US are higher than everywhere else in the world. There is a reason for that. The US has the best health care system in the world. MSNBC/Michael Moore garbage like the US is 37th in the world is beyond ludicrous. Proves PT Barnum right once more.

Look at prostate cancer. The US survival rate is 99.1%. What is it in England? 69.7%. How about Denmark? 47.7%.

Now I ask you Biggvs, when you get cancer, what country would you rather live in? Evil America or a socialist govt run health care paradise like England or Denmark?

Now I doubt English or Danish doctors have inferior training than American doctors to treat cancer. The reason for the high survival rate is in America, your doctor find out you have prostate cancer, the next day you’re in treatment for it. In England and Denmark and Canada (see above) it takes 9.5 weeks before treatment starts. By then it’s too late.

The prostate cancer survival rate in the US is much higher because we diagnose cancers in very old people that are so slow growing they die of other stuff before the cancer gets them. Other countries use evidence based medicine and don’t bother.

My wife (a doctor) continues to hold up workers comp as one of the main examples of why you don’t want government and law dictating standards of care or of insurance.

Medicare is probably the most popular institution in America. It’s also more efficient than private insurance.

mathguy,

Since you’re often championing free markets:
Your wife is welcome to pay for any care she wishes — out-of-pocket. As a doc, she certainly knows this….

Your issue is with the insurers who de facto hold a monopoly over the dispensation of medical care, and whose business model is to deny, deny, deny, delay, delay, delay, delay, obfuscate, weasel, and “lose” paperwork and payments until the patient/physician simply gives up. Sounds a bit like mortgage banking, neh?

Polly, how did you come to your conclusion? The stat was on the percentage of people who survive 5 years, not the percent who don’t die of the cancer in question. Also, the fine print:

“* Survival rates are age standardized. Variations in survival rates across countries reflect differences in detection practice, availability of treatment, and data quality.”

You imply that the differences are because of a difference in age distribution of the sampling.

The difference is more likely because those other countries choose not to treat older folks who are diagnosed (or treat much less aggressively/cheaply).

I had a major falling out w/ one of the blues under an individual policy and w/ the help of an Attorney, they paid.

Ask Alena about the slime her insurance company was, when she had her God awful Bear attack.

One data point does not make a data point. Good health to your FIL. Medicare or group, I bet.

Read “Deadly Spin” by a former Cigna VP. You’ll get a real clue. Dept of Insurance is an eye opener as well.

“One data point does not make a data point. Good health to your FIL. Medicare or group, I bet.”

Wrong. It was evil Aetna actually.

You people truly live in an alternate universe where every corporation is out to get you.

BTW: fun fact…Medicare has a higher rejected rate than any of the major evil private insurance companies.

Keep spinning, Smithers. Your little family is one catastrophic event away from reality. T’won’t be pretty….

Liberals don’t have logical retorts to you Mr. Smithers only attacks.

Give it up man. Unions serve only one purpose….allow lazy unproductive people a chance to keep a job they would otherwise have no hope of keeping. It will take a few more decades but this parasite will eventually die.

Also, where I work the salaried get burned out and most end up retiring early - unless they have some sort of “in”.

The union non-salaried get to work for as long as they like. One guy I know is eighty-eight years old and is still working at the same type of job as I get to work. No way he could do this if he were salaried because the demand on salaried workers is much too great.

If it were true, as you say, that unions serve only one purpose and that is to allow unproductive people a chance to keep a job they would otherwise have no hope of keeping then if would follow that the demand for these type of people would fall off. But, at least where I work, this is not the case. If it were the case then I and others would not be offered as many overtime opportunities as we do now (paid for at a rate of time-and-a-half, BTW).

They are offered that because it’s cheaper than hiring a new FTE. It makes sense to pay a union thug 1.5X hourly wage than bring in a new one. Your pension/benefits cost the same whether you work 40 hours or 60 hours. Paying 2 people 1.5X wage for an additional 20 hours each is cheaper than bringing in a new unionized body and paying him 40 hours and pension/benefits.

And people wonder why everyone is outsourcing jobs. Hmmm….it’s such a mystery.

Barack Hussein Obama….Mmmm, mmmm mmmm.

Blue heck if we used it for the next 50 years until solar wind geothermal becomes very efficient and cost the same…whats the problem its OUR coal, and the money will be spend and recycled in America…

“Younger people often do not have the benifit of knowing what products should be or have been in the past.”

True dat.

“What we have learned from history is people do not learn from history.” - W. Buffett

QUALITY and QUANTITY are lowered/reduced… in order to maintain the customer base.

Indeed, which is why I find “chain pizza” to be inedible and disgusting these days.

I’m 54 so $30,000 was 24 years ago!

Thanks for sharing.

I never knew anything about the world of government contracting until I got recruited into it from my online resume. I’m just worried it could become a career cul-de-sac leaving me with few options if i wanted to or had to leave it.

No problem. I got into consulting a year before the September 11, 2011 event. Veteran consultants say there were lean years in the early 90s and some period in the 80s. i missed those lean years but then they seemed to start about three years ago.

Things work in cycles for the most part. there was too much government spending of the cold war and the first Gulf War used up a lot of resources which had to be paid for. So there were spending cuts. Big defense companies laid off lots of people ore merged and moved employees to cheaper states. i was a federal employee in the 80s and to the mid 90s so I did not get directly affected.

I do think things are going to get worse and more contracts will be cut as the middle east wars wind down. Sooner or later the general public is going to get sick of wars, like they got sick of the Vietnam war, and call for a draw down.

Whether you are a direct hire for a defense contractor or are a consultant through a staffing agency and work in defense, you should beware of the cycles and live far below your means, as if your job will only last ten years.

I am extreme on this but I think no defense worker should ever get a loan for a house. Save up for it and then pay for it in cash. Of course the reason here is due to the down cycles.

goon,

Can you find a niche in Customs and Border Patrol? The Republicans seem to be very excited about doubling the size of that particular agency. And they buy lots of equipment. There will be plenty of contracts to administer - that is what you do, right?

Goon Squad,

One way I combatted the drop in my hourly rate (it’s been going down every year since 2010) was investing in my staffing company stock. The staffing company hires temps, focusing on engineers. Its parent company owns a big IT consulting firm and several health care staffing firms.

Obamacare is scaring small companies to hire temps.

I don’t know how accurate this is, but my own recruiter has been dropping my rates, claiming that’s the market. If so, then perhaps they are getting so many temps that temps are flooding the market and competing for lower rates.

At some point the equilbrium will be reached, when temping is no longer more lucrative than being a direct hire.

This is exactly what happened to me…finally!

So I might be the start of a trend to get out of temping. This will drive the staffing stocks down at some point. I think in a year or two. I’m taking money off the table without hesitation these days. I did very well in my stock and the proceeds are funding my monthly gold purchases.

I love cycles. I take advantage of them!

I’m a direct employee of a very small sub with a medium sized contractor as the prime, this is not temp or term employment. We could technically get dropped if the Fed client chose not to exercise subsequent option years. This is in contract management/administration, part of me wants to stay just long enough to clock 5 years of direct federal procurement experience just to have it as that is a prerequisite for many DoD jobs both as Fed and contractor.

I’m not using much of my accounting degree here, need to get motivated for and pass the CPA exam, but studying for that feels like a second job, ugh.

There are some other certs I could pick up that my employer will pay for, but not sure what would be most beneficial.

And yes, I rent, have been renewing the lease every six months. It’s a nice feeling not having any liabilities that you can’t write a check to cover today if you had to.

Bill,

It depends on the area. In my line of work it’s just the opposite. People are quitting jobs in droves and going indy. Rates are worst are $80-85 and at best are $130-150.

Why the big discrepancy? Well there are a lot of people who believe the HBB type of tripe where everyone in the country is living under a bridge. So when someone offers $80/hr they think WOW!! you bet I’ll take that. Eventually you realize the guy next do you is making almost double what you make and you’ve been played for a fool by a weaselly recruiter who is billing you out at $140/hr.

I’ve been though this game pretty much since I started consulting independently. Recruiters/headhunters make used car salesmen look like fine upstanding members of the community.

Smithers, so it must be my recruiter who is the weasel. Well he played his hand of cards and thought I was loyal. He lost. I was loyal only to my company stock and it’s up high enough.

One thing I was warned about before going into consulting: At every gig there is one or two people who give you the evil eye and hate you because you “make too much money.” Some of the worst of them are former consultants (I hope to not become a hater).

I’m tired of that. I made plenty of money and have plenty of money. I want to be more social and part of a community. I feel too much of a loner. I want to bond with colleagues. Besides in my early 50s, I don’t like living away from the western U.S. for long periods of time anymore.

It really irked me when he dropped my rate from $92 to $85 to $84 and then $80. I know the billing rate is constant. I know he lied to me. It’s not me who should have been loyal. He was not loyal one bit.

Bill,

It’s funny you mention that about people thinking you make “too much”. I embrace that and throw it in their face if anyone ever makes a snide comment. I’m not going to apologize for being successful. In my experience it’s not the people that pay your bill that feel this way or the ex-consultants (which are often one and the same). It’s the 20 year cube dwellers who realize their careers haven’t amounted to anything. Eff ‘em.

I worked in a “real job” for 2 years. I couldn’t take it. The political BS, the us vs. them mentality (workers vs. management), the laziness, the non-stop complaining. I’d shoot myself if I had to be in that environment day in day out for 40 years.

I love doing what I do. I never get involved in any of the nonsense. I only socialize to the bare minimum required while there and act like Switzerland when it comes to any office politics. I do my job and I do it well. I get paid well in exchange. After a few months I go away. And on to the next round. It’s very liberating.

“It really irked me when he dropped my rate from $92 to $85 to $84 and then $80.”

Bill, it sounds as if you need a union.

“I know he lied to me.”

Bill, it sounds as if you need a union.

“He was not loyal one bit.”

Bill, it sounds as if you need a union.

That’s kind of insulting. You’ve just called Bill a lazy uneducated slob.

I allowed it to happen, once again, because of my company stock. Purchase cost: roughly $41,000. Today’s value: roughly $195,000. All bought in the last six years, some batches as recent as March 31. By staying with this same recruiter and stiff arming all the other shops, which, by the way, have been bugging my frequently to go with them, my recruiter got arrogant and overly confident that I would not go.

Union my a$$.

Purchase cost: roughly $41,000. Today’s value: roughly $195,000. All bought in the last six years,

In other words, you came out with a $150K gain. Spread out over the quoted six years, that is effectively a $25K/yr in your total comp.

Another way of looking at it: 25K is almost exactly what you gave up in salary: 2000hrs * (92/hr - 80/hr) = $24K.

BTW, this is an example of a deflationary event, this reduction of tax revenue, but it will no doubt be interpreted as an inflationary event in that the tax rate will have to be increased to make up for the shortfall.

they do it with Water as well conserve OK …

Yep, my local water co wants to increase rates, and they stated it was because of less water use due to more efficient appliances and fixtures and general conservation.

LOL!!

So you pay more for “green” appliances. The sales pitch is, you pay more now, but you save money in the long run by using less water. So what happens? Water prices increase. Meaning your water costs are the same, but with an added bonus of having spent 50% more for the appliances.

Isn’t liberalism awesome?

We have a privately-owned water company (unfortunately).

They’re not talking about taxes, they have to feed the ever-hungry corporate maw. There can’t be less income, just because people are conserving.