1 Sure, Kent Conrad can promise that the payroll tax holiday doesn't raise the deficit - it's off the books! I say declare the whole budget off the books, and stop taxing altogether. That would work, right?

2 Doom: thought I had the new job all sewn up. Turns out the company could afford to offer one of the two positions they want to fill. Of the two I only fit into one. That's the one they decided to delay for budgetary constraints.

Lack words to describe how miserable I am about it.

I took the day off Friday to do some stuff for deal old mom.

Realized on the commute in this morning you could probably tie me to my truck and drag me across a parking lot full of broken glass and I'd probably be happier than being in here.

3 Junk mail is keeping the USPS alive..........
This to infinity. I've thrown away non-zombie mail because it was mixed with the "crap that won't die, or go away" stuff that litters the floor every day under my mail slot.
Phone service has a "do not call" (faux) option, that, even though the market caller vermin ignore, at least gives the delusion of control to the hapless phone owner.
If we could have a "do not inundate me with useless shit" option for the USPS, I think we might be able to reduce the Post Office salary eaters by oh, 80% (based on the amount of shit that hits my garbage can).
Oh yeah, and just think how "green" it would be.

4 Realized on the commute in this morning you could probably tie me to my truck and drag me across a parking lot full of broken glass and I'd probably be happier than being in here. Posted by: Scott J at December 05, 2011 09:09 AM (KC2BE) ================================ Sorry dude. I feel the same way about the job I am currently in. I hate it with a white hot passion. The morale is lower than low and it is a black hole from which I need to escape.

5 This to infinity. I've thrown away non-zombie mail because it was mixed with the "crap that won't die, or go away" stuff that litters the floor every day under my mail slot. Phone service has a "do not call" (faux) option, that, even though the market caller vermin ignore, at least gives the delusion of control to the hapless phone owner. If we could have a "do not inundate me with useless shit" option for the USPS, I think we might be able to reduce the Post Office salary eaters by oh, 80% (based on the amount of shit that hits my garbage can). Oh yeah, and just think how "green" it would be. Posted by: tubal at December 05, 2011 09:10 AM (BoE3Z) great point

6 Who killed the electric car?

Apparently, it was suicide.

7 Sorry ScottJ. I feel for ya.
We are all broke, but only some of us know it.

8 It's been done with multiple cities in Michigan.  Just none as large or screwed up as Detroit.  With a voter base that thought electing the first "hip hop" mayor made sense, don't look for much.   

9 Posted by: Scott J at December 05, 2011 09:09 AM (KC2BE)

Sorry about that, buddy. But there are always opportunities for people of drive and talent, never forget that. If you're simply better than merely competent you're already beating out more than half of the adult population -- the rest is just a combination of preparation, education, will, and a little good luck.

And remember this if you remember nothing else: don't let your working life be your whole life. Don't let what you do define what you are. You work to make other parts of your life possible -- "life" is (usually) what happens to you outside of work. This is not to say that you shouldn't like what you do; it s simply to say that you are defined by more than your job.

Hang in there.

10

Dodd-Frank is only the latest failure in a long string of them from the estimable Barney Frank.

Sarcastic or not, I'm surprised you were able to type that with a straight face, Monty.  I hope you had a tourniquet ready to staunch the blood flow after gnawing your own hand off. 

11 7, most depressing is starting to have thoughts about putting the house on the market.

Ditch that for some two room shack and I could just walk from this place.

I have 5 years experience as an auto parts counterman. I could take one of those gigs and probably be happier than I am here.

12 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

13 Scott J:  I'm so sorry to hear you didn't get the job.  Don't give up, ne? 

14 Monty at December 05, 2011 09:16 AM (/0a60) ================================= What great advise Monty. People pay to hear stuff like this. I have, for 25 years, put work in front of life and now realize that I don't have that much of a life after all. I have to see if I can right this ship. I owe it to my family.

15 Junk mail is keeping the USPS alive,

Spam, it's a breakfast meat and a business plan.

16 And remember this if you remember nothing else: don't let your working life be your whole life. Don't let what you do define what you are. You work to make other parts of your life possible -- "life" is (usually) what happens to you outside of work. This is not to say that you shouldn't like what you do; it s simply to say that you are defined by more than your job

This right here is why I want to move on so badly. This place is a soul-sucking abyss and even though you might see mention of the above you can tell it is only lip service.

What's really stressing is that the place here might have made me atrophy too far technologically.

I can do VB6 in my sleep. We're talking advanced stuff too that adheres to object theory.

I have exposure to VB.Net, C#.Net and Java but don't have the depth I do with VB6. But I have gone out and taught myself to read .tiff tags on my own. I have delivered functional apps in .Net yet no one wants to believe a guy who's been at this for 15 years can do the newer stuff unless he's been immersed in it and done nothing else for the past 5.

17 yeah I figured out that bible stuff a little too late...if you don't believe God wants us to have kids, then you don't know the equipment very well.

18 Posted by: Scott J at December 05, 2011 09:09 AM (KC2BE)

Man sorry to hear about that Scott J.

19 my post office has threatened to start charging me $300.00 each time they remove my mail from my box and hold it hostage. if i don't pick my mail up daily from the teeny weeny mail box it is filled with junk mail....all unsolicited.....when i do the sorting it is 1/4 mail....3/4 crap.......i've even sorted it in front of them and then dumped the crap in their trash bin...

20 I don't see why Detroit being taken over by the state would be illegal. It's happened here in PA, just recently the state took over Harrisburg's finances. I think the Harrisburg council had to vote on it(they voted for it), but I wouldn't see how that would be illegal

21 Europe's problems are the same as ours, pretty much; they're just feeling the pain sooner because they traveled down the welfare-state road further and faster than we did.

Yep, and judging by that story I linked to this morning our congress, including Republicans, still has neither got the message from us or learned any lessons from Europe. We truly are doomed.

22 # 14. I have, for 25 years, put work in front of life and now realize that I don't have that much of a life after all.

I read somewhere, years ago, an article included the statement "don't love your job, it can't love you back." Wall Street Journal, perhaps. The statement really hit me, and I took it to heart. I've tried to make it a cornerstone (one of several, actually), in my life since then. Not "loving/idolizing" your work opens up new ways of looking at what's around you.
On the other hand, my spouse points out that perhaps I'm just a slacker, so who knows?

23 17, yup. I was terrified of being a parent for 10 years after getting married.

Finally HE convinced me it was time and we got to actually try (rather than having our children be surprises).

Honestly, I don't think you "get" how God feels about us until you have children of your own.

24 I have exposure to VB.Net, C#.Net and Java but don't have the depth I do with VB6. But I have gone out and taught myself to read .tiff tags on my own. I have delivered functional apps in .Net yet no one wants to believe a guy who's been at this for 15 years can do the newer stuff unless he's been immersed in it and done nothing else for the past 5.

There are places, but you can't be very selective.  Option one: look for a consulting firm.  I'm not sure where you are, but the one I work for (Sogeti USA) is pretty good.  These are good because they'll hire you for your old experience (legacy apps need to be maintained or migrated), while letting you get more experience in the new stuff.

Option 2: put out your own shingle.  If you're not too concerned about the state of your soul, you can go to places like RentACoder.com (there are others, too) and make an okay income by doing piece-work.  Go to local, small businesses and help them get their Websites and such squared away.  It would be really stressful, but you'd be the master of your own destiny (more-or-less).

Option 3: contract work.  People will hire someone on 3 month contract that they wouldn't dream of hiring for a perm position.  If you're good at it, they'll extend your contract, or you can get a new gig somewhere else.  After about a year of "nothing but" .Net, you'd be considered for permanent jobs doing .Net.

25

oops!!!

I meant to type "Monty" at the top of my post and accidently typed it in the name box.

 

[hooks up IV filled with coffee]

26 That's me at comment 20.  jeez what a schmuck

27 scott for what ever reason you are supposed to be where you are for right now.....and who knows, after the first of the year they may have enough money to hire you....take a deep breath...count your blessings, keep your head down and get your work done...something good will turn up.....

28 monty said : 
The employment problem is structural  which means two things: it will be a project of years and maybe decades to fix; and there are no silver bullets or magical fixes. Politicians of either party who claim that there's some easy path back to full employment are lying, and they should be called on their lies

ugh, so i'll just contemplate how to smoke the care tail pipe without mussing my hair.

29 -e

30 ScottJ
I hope this does not offend you, but I am a firm believer in prayer for any situation.  There is a prayer line (free) that will pray for you, and I always get great results.  If you want to try it the number is 1-816-969-2000.

31 Has Dobert been reading these posts?  Go to dilbert dot com, then go to the 12-03-11 comic.

32 I meant to type "Monty" at the top of my post and accidently typed it in the name box.

I thought my invisible hobo-murdering "friend" had been taking over my brain again. It happens sometimes.

33 Allen, going out on my own is the dream. But I'm not financially where I need to be to deal with the irregular income.

I can get there but need more time. I just cannot abide doing that time in this hellhole.

So I need another FTE gig that'll get me through the next 2-5 years while I get ready to strike it out on my own.

I dipped my toe into doing piece work at the same time as a FTE gig. Can't do it. I value having a life too much.

34

oops!!!

I meant to type "Monty" at the top of my post and accidently typed it in the name box.

Ok, that explains it.  I was sure Monty lived in Minnesota...not PA.

35 I thought my invisible hobo-murdering "friend" had been taking over my brain again. It happens sometimes.

Posted by: Monty at December 05, 2011 09:33 AM (/0a60)

is that what's called ,getting in the mood?

36 And remember this if you remember nothing else: don't let your working life be your whole life.

This is why I retired when I did. I had reached the point where I hated going in to work in the morning. In one of their "deals" that was designed to reduce personnel at one of the union sites they made an early retirement offer, but had to offer it everywhere. That allowed me to be eligible for retirement with medical.

That was all I was waiting for. I jumped on it like some of the Morons here talking about banging some hot chick like a hurricane and a screen door.

So far I haven't regretted it at all.

37

Scott J,  what do you do for a living? Or what do you hope to do?

 

38 I dipped my toe into doing piece work at the same time as a FTE gig. Can't do it. I value having a life too much.

Yeah, it would stink- which is why I don't do it.  Though, I do blog, and if anyone would like to go over there and click on a add or two, I wouldn't mind.

To your situation: I really recommend finding a consulting firm (on that will hire you as an FTE of the firm, not just a glorified placement/recruiting company).  It's better (IMO) than the contract thing.

39 30, I have a great Church family (and biological family) all praying for me.

Saying plenty of my own.

Obviously He wants me to grok something here before He lets me move on. I wish I could get it through my thick skull so I could get some relief.

40 29 -e

Posted by: willow at December 05, 2011 09:32 AM (h+qn

-?-

41 lingerie wholesale sexy corset sexy lingerie wholesale

42 29 -e Posted by: willow at December

What does ~-2.7 have to do with anything?

43 As the father of 4 children, I haven't found it very rewarding or fulfilling. Sorry to be the wet blanket.

44

 Politicians of either party who claim that there's some easy path back to full employment are lying, and they should be called on their lies.

I don't know, repealing Obamacare and a crapload of regulations would be quite helpful.  Of course, that wouldn't be easy for politicians to do but it would help.

Realized on the commute in this morning you could probably tie me to my truck and drag me across a parking lot full of broken glass and I'd probably be happier than being in here.

I am so sorry.  I know exactly and precisely how you feel.  That's how I felt about my old job.  The one bright spot in the hell of last summer for me was walking into my office, saying "Sorry, don't work here anymore" and then walking out without looking back. 

I've hit a major rough patch in my new job but at least in this I know that a.  it'll pass eventually, just have to buckle down and get through it and b.  my boss actually gives a crap and is working with everyone to try to weather this storm.  That makes all the difference in the world.    

45 Kent Conrad assures everyone that Democrats will do it without adding to the deficit.

Deluded is not the word for a Democrat. Liar fits better.

46 Posted by: President Chet Roosevelt at December 05, 2011 09:38 AM (SPGCU)

Then I would say you're the exception.  Not the rule.  My two make me want to tear my hair out, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

47 28 monty said : 


ugh, so i'll just contemplate how to smoke the care (-e) tail pipe without mussing my hair.

Posted by: willow at December 05, 2011 09:32 AM (h+qn

29 -e Posted by: willow

Crypticon, (-e)

48 I have exposure to VB.Net, C#.Net and Java but don't have the depth I do with VB6. But I have gone out and taught myself to read .tiff tags on my own. I have delivered functional apps in .Net yet no one wants to believe a guy who's been at this for 15 years can do the newer stuff unless he's been immersed in it and done nothing else for the past 5.

I know what you mean.
I took "early retirement", then got hired part-time to help with embedded C projects.  C++ experience was a bonus for them.

I've spent the last 6 months teaching them about PHP and Javascript, sockets, and how the Internet actually works.

49 Scott J,  what do you do for a living? Or what do you hope to do?

I consider myself a technologist. I like slinging code but don't want to specialize. I don't mind and in fact relish doing sysadmin stuff as well as building apps.

Probably get the biggest charge out of building apps though.

Thing is this place looks at Sarbanes-Oxley to mean you do ONE thing (write code in my case) and I'm not allowed to do any other aspect of IT. Which of course means I spend more time doing my least favorite thing (writing documentation) so others can do what I could more efficiently do my own damn self.

50

>>Then I would say you're the exception. Not the rule. My two make me want to tear my hair out, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

I'll give you $50,000.00 for 'em.

51 damn it, I'm sorry folks, you guys know me well enough to realize my comments can be torture, filled with errors and stuff.

52 ScottJ- Frankly, there are a lot of companies out there that need help with their legacy systems.  You on LinkedIn?  I probably know someone who knows someone (or on down the line).

53 I'll give you $50,000.00 for 'em.

Or sell them, either.

Though I might be persuaded to rent out their labor.

54 Hey, how am I supposed to get carbon monoxide poisoning from this Chevy Volt?

55
What does ~-2.7 have to do with anything?

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) says 'No' to RINO Romney at December 05, 2011 09:38 AM (8y9MW)

fcol! now what does 2.7 mean!?

56 "How Did EuropeÂ’s Debt Crisis Get So Bad?" I am particularly interested in the assumption that governments wonÂ’t or canÂ’t default. --By Veronique de Rugy

"The northern Euro Zone members want to continue to export to these countries, but they cannot do that and that is why they have no money. They are finding that collectivism doesnÂ’t work. There is no such thing as collective responsibility. These new world order geniuses forget that when you have austerity GDP falls and you have a recession. In addition, it also brings about added inflation, which had and has the ECB very concerned, because their mandate is to keep inflation in check. This then has put the ECB at cross-purposes. This points out why the ECB does not want to act as lender of last resort to governments. Contagion has set in. Stress tests are a scam and meaningless. Dexia passed with flying colors and two weeks later went bankrupt. Due to outright lying by bankers and politicians money is going to be much harder to raise in the future."
Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, Nov.30, 2011

57 suicidal, just another reason to not buy one.

58 Allen, I am on Linked In (Scott Johnson) but I'm not open about my search there. Many co-workers are in my network.

I'm still keeping my search secret because I don't know how this place might react.

They might throw money at me and I really don't want that to happen because I might cave.

Money isn't the issue. Most places I've been talking to involve a $5-10K annual haircut.

59 hands alexthechick a nice cup of hot tea. (see i'm good for something)

60 51 damn it, I'm sorry folks, you guys know me well enough to realize my comments can be torture, filled with errors and stuff.

You know, that comment of yours really resonated with me. I reread it, and I realized that it fit me well, except I substituted the word "comments" with "life".  Yeah, it fits.

61

The employment problem is structural,Â….bla bla bla from the media

I hate it when they use meaningless terms like that. WTF does structural actually mean with respect to unemployment. Are we building a building?

Yes it can be fixed by electing the right people. That is, and always has been the damn problem. Due to the fact that we allow the looters to vote themselves loot we never get the "right" people. There are several things that need to happen to get the economy going again:

1. Get rid of Obama and at least 20 commie Senators and RINOs.
2. Make Bush tax system permanent, including the ones the commies killed.
3. Totally eliminate the main regulatory agencies and start over from scratch. Yes, kill the EPA, OSHA, FDA, and all the rest. And yes, fire all the employees.
4. Repeal Obamacare And every other big spending socialist program. This includes phasing out SS, SSDI, and Medicare/Medicade over time.

Do all that and we will have an economic boom like none we have seen since the late 1800s and the early 1900s before socialism started taking its toll.

But alas, to do that we will have to strip the vote from the looters, so it will never happen.

62 tubal, yeah life's experiences  aren't very pretty lately either.

63 If you work in IT, I'd advise against avenues like "RentACoder" (or whatever they're calling themselves now). It rarely pays off. First, you're bidding against Chinese and Indian coders who will lowball every project because their cost of living is so much lower. And the projects that clients put up are often ludicrous: they want enterprise web-based data-entry systems or storefronts, but want them for $500 and deliverable in a month. Ridiculous stuff like that. Ultimately, someone gets ripped off: either the client (who get less than they wanted), or the coder (who works like a donkey for precious little money).

There are some good IT consultants out there -- I've done subcontracting for several like Keane, PWC, GE, and others, but usually as an independent. Some IT firms will take programmers on full time and job them out, but it means being on the road all the time. And I do mean all the time. When I lived back east, I actually only spent about 3 months in an apartment I paid rent on for nearly 2 years. Otherwise, it was just a place to store my stuff. I was a young man then and the money was good, but ultimately the life wore me down.

IT also tends to be a regionally epicentered gig. It's hard to get good IT work out in more rural/distant areas. Generally, you'll find jobs closer to population centers in geographical areas: upper midwest, midwest, west, northeast, southeast, southwest. Not many firms have really gotten on board the whole "telecommuniting" train (for good reasons*), so you're probably looking at having to move if you don't live near a bigger city.

*"Telecommuting" is horrible in a lot of ways, but the worst is this: you're never off the clock in most cases. Ever. And since you probably work on salary, you don't get overtime. You end up working far more hours than you would if you went into the office and sat behind a desk. Plus it abolishes the line between personal life and work life, which I myself always try to keep separate.

64

fcol! now what does 2.7 mean!?

Posted by: willow

'e' is the mathematical symbol for... some ratio that I can't remember.  It's an irrational number which is (aproximately) 2.7.  If I am recalling, correctly.

Allen, I am on Linked In (Scott Johnson)

Which Scott Johnson?

I can be discrete, I promise.

65 Tom Coburn is a dolt. Shootin his mouth off like that -- shiiiiiit what a fool.

66 "I never fathered any kids (as far as I know), though I think I would do differently if I had it to do over again."

Dude,  never say never.  50 is the new something, and I hear Charlie Chaplin had kids when he was 73.

Just don't be a dick to them.  They're loud, and they don't know how to do anything right, but it ain't their fault.

67 Science has been eroded by getting the government involved. When that happens it is no longer science. It is politics and corruption.

68 I'm in Birmingham, AL and really, really don't want to move. But if push comes to shove I might.

As for telecommuting. I'd love to give it a try. Don't mind the "not off the clock" thing if I get to shuffle my personal stuff in there whenever I want.

Really would love to find a place embracing this: http://gorowe.com

69 some ratio that I can't remember.  It's an irrational number which is (aproximately) 2.7

cough, are you trying to tell me something ?
 Huffs off.

(to cook breakfast)

70 Hahaha... Trump: I've read George Will over the years; he's third rate.

71
Dude,  never say never.  50 is the new something, and I hear Charlie Chaplin had kids when he was 73.

I was 37 when my first was born. Wish I'd gotten started about 5 years sooner. Having a 6 and 4 year old at 43 is tiresome and I'm going to be teaching them to drive in my 50's.

At least my wife is 5 years younger than me.

72 Honestly, I don't think you "get" how God feels about us until you have children of your own.

As a corollary, this explains why so many atheists are childless and egocentric.

73 'e' is the mathematical symbol for... some ratio that I can't remember.

e is Euler's constant, 2.71828....[ad nauseum]

It's the base number of natural logarithms, and is used in pretty much any analog electronic circuit I've ever dealt with.

74 Pronouned 'oiler'

75 I'm going to be teaching them to drive in my 50's.

At least my wife is 5 years younger than me.

Posted by: Scott J at December 05, 2011 09:55 AM (KC2BE)

Teaching them to drive is a harrowing experience...at any age.

76 I'm in Birmingham, AL and really, really don't want to move. But if push comes to shove I might.

You're not that far from Huntsville. You oughta put a line into the various government contractors that do work for NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center. They do a crap-ton of contract IT work (or at least they did way back when I was in the contracting game). Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin generally have local offices there; you should get in touch with them and see what's the what.

77

Dodd-Frank is only the latest failure in a long string of them from the estimable execrable Barney Frank.

FIFY

 

78 72, explain folk like the welfare broodmares like Glenn Beck melted down over Friday.

79 # 63 If you work in IT, I'd advise against avenues like "RentACoder" (or whatever they're calling themselves now). It rarely pays off. First, you're bidding against Chinese and Indian coders who will lowball every project because their cost of living is so much lower.
I'd have to say if IT in some variation is your gig, going the University route is a good option. So much of what they do is "in-house" compared to the private sector. I was involved for 20 plus years. Security + reasonable pay and good benefits.
The trade-off of course is being around some really insufferable self-righteous academic pricks. But the IT people are usually pretty cool (except for the knit cap-wearing ones). They suck too. You can always smear dry toner in the caps, though. Makes you feel better.
Anyway, academic IT is a possible option. With the right bunch, it can be a good bridge job.

80 bbl, homos

81

Teaching them to drive is a harrowing experience...at any age.

Posted by: Tami at December 05, 2011 09:57 AM (X6akg)

I recall learning to drive as being a rather harrowing experience as well.

82 Teaching them to drive is a harrowing experience...at any age.

I had no gray hairs until my middle son started driving. The third (and last??) just got his learners permit.

83 ugh i'm teaching one right now and another is ready to learn.......tension is unbearable........

84 I've sort of shied away from the .gov contract stuff in HSV over the years, Monty.

It's usually feast or famine and that scares me. Might as well be on your own with that.

Plus it's supporting the beast.

Then there's the mind-numbing bureaucracy. It's bad enough in the financial sector. I shudder to think what it must be like doing a .gov contract.

I'd love to do IT for someone in the firearms industry but not sure they really have a need. I've peeked at the websites of the powder and ammo makers and didn't see much.

85 It's the base number of natural logarithms, and is used in pretty much any analog electronic circuit I've ever dealt with.

Posted by: jwb7605 at December 05, 2011 09:56 AM (Qxe/p)

Also used extensively in Nuclear stuff like decay/shielding equations.

86 Can't embrace the doom today.  First winter snow came to this part of Texas overnight. 

87 About work. I used to work all the time. ALL the time. I spent way, way too much time at my work. I worked when I was at home. It played a part in the end of my marriage. For two years now that ending has been playing out in the courts and other venues, and it is ugly and painful and some days I just don't want to get out of bed in the morning. Now I am not going to work that hard. Which is a bit problematic because that is partly what made me valuable. My pendulum has swung back too far, I am trying to get back into the correct balance. But all the drama from prior experience is making it difficult. Not sure what He is trying to teach you, it is hard to know. Sometimes I have a glimpse of it and go, oh, so that's what.... And sometimes its hard to say, well, crap, why not just tell me? In the end, yes, here on Earth we are all doomed. But there is good news....

88 Posted by: Scott J at December 05, 2011 09:53 AM (KC2BE)

If you want to get me your contact info (completely up to you) I have a very good friend who works for Booz-Allen Hamilton, and I'm virtually certain they're recruiting in that area.

Obviously landing any job would be up to you, but he loves his job there, and says they're a fantastic company.

89 Scott J, the way to do gov contract work is to get in as the overhead guru guy at one of the contractors - you don't want to be the guy charging direct to a job. Charging direct is feast/famine, be the man and you can float from contractor to contractor above the churn.

90 You're not that far from Huntsville. You oughta put a line into the various government contractors that do work for NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center. They do a crap-ton of contract IT work (or at least they did way back when I was in the contracting game). Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin generally have local offices there; you should get in touch with them and see what's the what.

Posted by: Monty at December 05, 2011 09:58 AM (/0a60)

SAIC is also in Huntsville and do a lot of programing for large industrial computer systems.

91 ugh i'm teaching one right now and another is ready to learn.......tension is unbearable........

I discovered if they learn on their own vehicle, they get good at it rather quickly.

I found each of my 3 a reliable car under $500, made them pay most of it themselves, and put the title in their names only.

15-20 years later, all 3 kids now appreciate what they learned.

92 Anyway, academic IT is a possible option. With the right bunch, it can be a good bridge job

Interestingly enough one of the ones I'm waiting to hear from is a small consulting firm that is ramping up to sell a soup to nuts admissions and student management software suite to mid-tier, for-profit educational institutions (Virginia College for example).

I think I'd like that one. I interviewed with the founder and he and I had some common ground in our view that good software will always be an artisans sort of thing. It will never be assembly line factory style no matter how much it's tried.

So much money is wasted in software dev. trying to alter it from art to manufacturing.

93 saic is a great co. to work for.....top notch.....

94 "Having a 6 and 4 year old at 43 is tiresome and I'm going to be teaching them to drive in my 50's."

I'm one year ahead of you.  I cannot believe the noise.  It is absolutely incredible.  I want to paper the walls and ceilings with those spiky foam things, but I doubt that would make a useful dent.

And they get up by 0630 EVERY day.  All of them.

I may not make it to my 50's.

On the bright side, infernal combustion and freedom of personal movement will be verboten in ten years, so you really got nothing to worry about.

95

hands alexthechick a nice cup of hot tea. (see i'm good for something)

You're good for bunches of things, sweetie.

(Note to everyone else, see this is how you suck up)

The work/life thing is always good advice.  When people ask why I don't actually practice law, I say I'm buying myself a life and that I'd rather be poor than a junkie alcoholic. 

96 Oh- and new post up at my place, for those interested.

97 my kids aren't too noisy anymore....that or i have hearing problems......

98 whew! I checked out AoSHQ too early this morning and didn't see any doom..was starting to worry. I just checked in again and found it... Now all is right with the world.

99 Allen, I've been meaning to check out your blog.

When I do I'll shoot you my contact info. Might be as late as Thursday.

Pistol match tonight, program at son's school tomorrow night and then Church Wed. night.

100 You know what funds those expensive University computer and biology labs?  Football.  Basketball. Baseball. I deplore the fact that it is so, but nonetheless: it is a fact.
---
Sorry, Monty, but where are the facts in that article?  I saw none.  I was expecting to see data from CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) or a research study from IU's Center on Philanthropy or at least an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed or the Chronicle of Philanthropy -- I saw none.

Even anecdotally, the assertion is patently false.  Who pays for the labs at the University of Chicago? 

When the Penn State scandal hit I did a quick check to remind myself about football programs and confirmed what I'd already heard - most do not make money.  Most lose it.  And even at a money-making place like PSU, the money goes into the athletics programs. 

Yes, taking alumni and donor prospects to a football game when you're having a great football season is a nice cultivation tool, but in my direct experience it is simply not the prime driver for major gifts (typically five and six figure gifts).  Certainly not the prime driver for principal gifts (typically 7 figure gifts and above).  And, in fact, at any place with a major sports program, the athletics director has his own development officers and (often) operates virtually autonomously from the university's main development operation.  The top athletics donors tend to give to athletics, frankly. 

Today's philanthropy in higher education is increasingly a value proposition.  Donors, and not simply corporate or foundation donors but individuals as well, see their gifts as an investment.  They expect to see a clear case for support and be told what the return will be (to the institution) on their investment.  In the case of corporate philanthropy, that can also mean wanting to see that the students graduating from the program will be up to date on the latest and greatest technology that that corporation uses.  IIRC when I was at Purdue one of our largest campaign gifts was from a car manufacturer who equipped a CAD/CAM lab. 

I realize Walter Russell Mead is a respected columnist but he's talking out of his ass in this article. 

101 Might be as late as Thursday.

No hurry.  I get nothing out of it but helping a couple of friends.  Which, granted, is enough- but not enough that I'll pester you about it.

102 I had no gray hairs until my middle son started driving. The third (and last??) just got his learners permit.

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at December 05, 2011 09:59 AM (AQD6a)

My son gave us zero problems on the road.  My daughter....whole other story.  I could have purchased a vacation home with her fines.

103 The company I work for is also headquarted in HSV. They always have open reqs for IT people, especially people with a geospatial background.

87 About work. I used to work all the time. ALL the time. I spent way, way too much time at my work. I worked when I was at home.

I am thinking now that my boys are finishing high school, it's time for me to get back to serious work. I have deliberately taken less lucrative, less challenging work for the last ten years so I could raise them. But the last one's a sophomore in high school and I am thinking I ought to make it while I still can.

Also, it's been a hurtfully long time since anyone told me I looked too young to have teenage kids.

104 #92. What you describe sounds like one of the "good" gigs I was alluding to. Putting aside my natural cynicism (or what our willowy SCOAMF might phrase "a man-made disaster), academic IT seems to be manned by libertarian-type coworkers. With a nice sense of irony. Generally speaking, going to work there can be pretty unpainful, at least in my experience. And the compensation is reasonable. Library systems are always being developed.

105 My son gave us zero problems on the road.  My daughter....whole other story.  I could have purchased a vacation home with her fines.


My two oldest boys (21 and 20) have wrecked six cars between them. That's twice as many cars as I've wrecked in my entire life. And I grew up in snow country!

106 They should have never cut the Soc Sec. tax without screaming 'Dems are trying to kill Social Security eleventy!!!' Now they have cut 130 billion from an already failing program, and the ratchet has clicked so it can never be raised again. Another bipartisan 'win' from the Stupid Old Party.

107 I cannot believe the noise.  It is absolutely incredible.  I want to paper the walls and ceilings with those spiky foam things, but I doubt that would make a useful dent.

I'm with you there. Sometimes I wonder "when do they breathe".

The other frustration is "go do X" and I get about as much response as if I'd just told a piece of furniture to go do it. And I'm not sure ramping up the discipline would work. We're already universally known as "the mean parents" in our circle.

But, then there are moments like when him helping me change a tire was the highlight of his weekend (I put a pic of that on Facebook) and it makes all the frustration worthwhile.

108 My two oldest boys (21 and 20) have wrecked six cars between them. That's twice as many cars as I've wrecked in my entire life. And I grew up in snow country!

And how many have they purchased?

109 I checked out AoSHQ too early this morning and didn't see any doom..was starting to worry.

When things start going so well that there's no DOOM to read about, I'm going to be very depressed.

110 And how many have they purchased?

Exactly.

111 109, or Doom could become so normal that there's not need to highlight it any longer.

112 My two oldest boys (21 and 20) have wrecked six cars between them. That's twice as many cars as I've wrecked in my entire life. And I grew up in snow country!

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at December 05, 2011 10:13 AM (AQD6a)

YIKES!

113 Not that is makes a damned bit of difference, but I've been too disillusioned with the politics of American politics of late to comment on anything.  I would like to say that as my new found status of lurker goes, this is still the best blog anywhere and the commenters (and posters) are unrivaled.  WTG.

That said, I would like to point out the potential bright side of DOOM and that is that if there is a final strand of justice left in this world, Fast and Furious may actually DOOM this administration... at least a part of it anyway. 

http://tinyurl.com/854vce6

114 And how many have they purchased?

In fairness, one of the cars I wrecked was my brother's.

115 Of course, he was in prison at the time, which is why I got to drive it.

116 Scott J, Why aren't you putting your talents to their highest and best use - revolutionizing the online pornographic delivery experience? Industry blahblahblahblahblah software blahblahblahblahblahblahbah .NET blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah... C'mon dude. Selling out to The Man isn't the only option. You have a unique opportunity here. "Touching Those Who Touch Themselves - That's The Scott J. Promise." You've got a built-in client base right here. No. No need to thank me, homie. I don't seek out accolades and the while the terms of my probation don't explicity address pornography, why draw unnecessary attention.

117

Scott J,

 

I donÂ’t know anything about the IT business, but my son was drawn to it.  Before he graduated from high school, he had a number of Microsoft certifications and even had me pony up 10 grand for travel and classes in California for a Cisco certification. 

 

He refused to go to college and started a small business servicing small business networks.  Eventually, a local company that leases copiers bought him out and hired him to run their IT service division.  They handle mainly schools, hospitals and businesses and most have their own IT departments, but they contract a lot of work out.  HeÂ’s doing fine with a six figure salary, bonus structure, company car and a number of other perks. 

 

It sounds like you have training far above what he has, so maybe the key is looking at opportunities that are below your skill level.

118 gregory of yardale lol

119

*I'm knocking on wood.* I have been driving in the DC metro, NC Triangle metro, and NYC for 32 years. I have never had a ticket or a wreck. My mom is 90 and has been driving since she was 8. Major cities, cross country, overseas. She's never had a ticket or a wreck either. My 20 year old has had 2 tickets but both were harassment tickets by corrupt cops.

120 With regards to the cheap luxury article, that reminds me of a trip to Honduras I took about 15 years ago.  I was riding a bus across the country to visit Copan, one of the bigger Mayan historical sites.  The bus ride was very different from one in the US, it was packed with people and a few chickens, but the thing that stood out the most was the lady next to me who was painting her nails. She had a bottle of drugstore nail polish, gold, and almost empty.  Even though the polish was clearly old and not applying evenly, she was diligently extracting the last drops to paint her nails.  I remember thinking that I don't think I've ever even gotten to the end of a bottle of nail polish in my life; I always get a new color before the old goes bad. If I did, I would never use such lumpy polish, I'd just buy a new one. It really made me think about how many "cheap luxuries" we take for granted here.  

121

You've got a built-in client base right here.

I am both horrified and intrigued to ponder what a pron site for Morons would entail. 

On the Social Security front, I saw the whole AARP you won't take our benefits! ad again and, after I was done screaming at the tv, I pondered that position.  I am, very slightly, sympathetic to the position that those who are retired and those who will shortly be retiring have been made promises by politicians regadring those benefits and that those politicians have lied to their faces that the funds are in a lockbox and will be there.  The truth that the money is long spent and that there is no legal right to any specified level of benefit has been, at best, ignored. 

Then I remember that I've been told since I was 18 that any possibility that SS would be there for me is an utter laugh and that I need to plan to fully fund my own retirement while still paying for the Boomers' SS and my bitterness returns.  At this point I don't see how there is any way to avoid a generational war. 

122 120 my daughter recently dropped a red nail polish bottle on the kitchen tile....it shattered and got all over the white trim work.......it looked like a murder scene.....

123 The other frustration is "go do X" and I get about as much response as if I'd just told a piece of furniture to go do it.

My favorite is the teenage boy logic argument. Tell him to do something and then spend twice as long as the task would take discussing why and how to do it. Not arguing, mind, but stuff like the best way to wash the kitchen floor, for example, turned into a discussion of how not to smear the dirt around that went on for 15 minutes.

My sister's older two boys were very good at this, and they quickly learned how to tag team her. She finally resorted to telling them if the chores weren't done she couldn't possibly feed them.

124 To the global left, this is the face of evil.  To everyone with even half a function brain, the global left, as all recent economic evidence so eloquently points out, is fucked up beyond all recognition.

125
Go forth and spend every dime you have and run up the credit cards.  Why not?   If its good enough for the govt, its good enough for you.

PS - don't worry about paying it back, the US never will.  Hey China, suckers!

126 I am both horrified and intrigued to ponder what a pron site for Morons would entail.

Ever since Rule 34 came around, nothing shocks me.

127   One of the lucky ones here, I spent over 40 years in a career that I'd have pursued for free. Couldn't for the longest time get over the fact I was doing something I loved and was being paid for it. I feel sorry for those who are trapped in a job they despise, but claim the money is too good to leave.  That is an evil situation.

  Hard not to feel smug.

128

“I spent over 40 years in a career that I'd have pursued for free.”

Posted by: irongrampa at December 05, 2011 10:30 AM (SAMxH)

 

DonÂ’t leave us hanging.  What did you do for a living?

129 One of the lucky ones here, I spent over 40 years in a career that I'd have pursued for free. It was porn, right? I'm right, aren't I? Now the whole "irongrampa" thing makes sense.

130 I feel sorry for those who are trapped in a job they despise, but claim the money is too good to leave.  That is an evil situation.

I don't feel sorry for them at all.
It's ground zero for the expression about money being the root of all evil.
Choices.  Make some.

131

One of the lucky ones here, I spent over 40 years in a career that I'd have pursued for free. Couldn't for the longest time get over the fact I was doing something I loved and was being paid for it.

I didn't know that you could be paid for leading hobo safaris.  Good for you!

132 expression about money being the root of all evil.

<Pedantry>
It's not 'money is the root of all evil,' it's 'the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.'
</Pedantry>

133 Gotta go and take care of some stuff folks. Ma be back later.

134 Gotta go and take care of some stuff folks. Ma be back later.

Take care of yourself, Vic.

135

It's ground zero for the expression about money being the root of all evil.

Arrrggghhh.  No.  No.  Money is not the root of all evil.  The love of money is the root of all evil.  Sorry, sorry, that's one of those errors that makes my eye twitch.

Your broader point holds true though. 

136 <Pedantry>
It's not 'money is the root of all evil,' it's 'the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.'
</Pedantry>

Kinda makes irongrampa's point, too.

137 The love of money is the root of all evil.

"all kinds" actually.  Today, probably better translated as "many kinds" or "myriad varieties."

Since we're being picky.

138 73 e is Euler's constant, 2.71828....[ad nauseum]
It's the base number of natural logarithms, and is used in pretty much any analog electronic circuit I've ever dealt with.
Posted by: jwb7605 at December 05, 2011 09:56 AM (Qxe/p)

Yes, it is the base number of natural logarithms; no, it is not Euler's Constant. Euler's Constant (or Mascheroni's constant) is an irrational number (0.5772...) and is the limit (as n goes to infinity) of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + ... + 1/n - log n.

139 " money being the root of all evil." Money isn't everything but it's way ahead of anything in second place!

140 Israel's not DOOMed -

http://tinyurl.com/7h6rpyt

141 It's a critical difference. Money is merely an abstract device for measuring value and enabling trade in diverse goods and services. It is neither good nor evil, it's just a tool.

Love of money grants it a status beyond that and turns it into an object in of itself. This is where the scammers show up and make their pitch.

142 The Welfare State? Umm, no. The Derivative State

143 Apparently, for tweenish males, if it is not on a digital screen, it is not visible in their direct field of view. I have 2 10 yo boys and they can't see the clothes that my wife lays out on the bed for them.

144 Well.

I'm certainly getting edumacated this morning.

I feel so picked on that I'm gonna go to the dentist and have him cut my tooth off and replace it with a crown, now.

So there.  That should teach you all a lesson on what happens when you pedanticate me.

145

"all kinds" actually.  Today, probably better translated as "many kinds" or "myriad varieties."

Since we're being picky.

If we want to be incredibly picky, the best translation of the original koine Greek remains all kinds or varities and not myriad or many as is used in the more modern revised editions. 

Hey!  There's something we haven't shot longbows at each other about - KJV vs. all other translations. 

146 One of the lucky ones here, I spent over 40 years in a career that I'd have pursued for free.


Well, I didn't get to be a novelist as I would have liked, but I get paid to write and I get paid pretty well. So, that's good enough.

147
For that period I was the friendly guy who fixed your car right the first time. Started as a yard ape(lowest form of life) at a dealership, and got promoted to the lube rack, then to the floor. It was minimum wage for a while, until I proved it was okay to pay me more.

 The money hasn't been excessive, but always enough.Now, I dabble in restoration with some people,'cause I just can't divorce myself completely.

148 Hey!  There's something we haven't shot longbows at each other about - KJV vs. all other translations.

Ugh, the Book of Mormon would be so much easier to read if Joseph Smith hadn't translated it into faux-KJV.

149 Started as a yard ape(lowest form of life) at a dealership, and got promoted to the lube rack, then to the floor.

One of my son's friends, who happens to be gay, worked the lube rack for a while. Which we all thought was hilarious.

150 Israel's not DOOMed - http://tinyurl.com/7h6rpyt Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at December 05, 2011 10:44 AM (jx2j9) The article does not say, but I'll bet she is a Druze.

151
To the global left, this is the face of evil.  To everyone with even half a function brain, the global left, as all recent economic evidence so eloquently points out, is fucked up beyond all recognition.

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at December 05, 2011 10:27 AM (jx2j9)

Heh. That's awesome.

Second look at Zambia for a vacation spot?

152 143 Apparently, for tweenish males, if it is not on a digital screen, it is not visible in their direct field of view. I have 2 10 yo boys and they can't see the clothes that my wife lays out on the bed for them.

Posted by: blaster at December 05, 2011 10:45 AM (7vSU0)

CAN'T or WON'T?

153

If Obozo wins 4 more years. - expect the dems big lie "employee free choice act" (which is the opposite of the title) aka Card Check to make a come back.

More union dues payers = more money for corrupt democrats. Democrats don't care about the economy - they care about raising taxes and lining their pockets.

154 EOJ, I'd say the pron delivery market is probably saturated. That's one of the oldest gigs in IT after all.

Those DARPA guys way back when claimed to be linking up computers for .mil but in reality they just wanted to swap pron.

155

For that period I was the friendly guy who fixed your car right the first time.

You are worth your weight in gold.  I wish I knew more about cars.  I can change a tire and fill the fluids and change my own oil in a pinch but that's about it. 

156 I think I'm the only one who's interested in the article Monty link asserting that athletics programs motivate university donors, but anyway... I did some research and found several articles/studies (including one commissioned by the NCAA) that conclude there is no relationship between an athletics program's success and giving to the university. 

This one might be the most comprehensive survey of the literature on that subject.  (Link goes to a Google doc)  Here's a pull quote:

As Sigelman and Carter (1979) so astutely observed almost 25 years ago, “the lack of any relationship between success in intercollegiate athletics and increased alumni giving probably matters less than the fact that so many people believe that such a relationship exists” (p. 293).

157 Hey!  There's something we haven't shot longbows at each other about - KJV vs. all other translations.

I grew up reading NKJV and had that up until a couple years ago.

Found out that the New American Standard (NASB) has made the strongest effort to translate from the original languages.

I've also heard the New International (NIV) has some questionable theology. Such as not highlighting the Virgin birth.

158 I prefer the KJV to the NIV, but occasionally I like The Message.

159 I've also heard the New International (NIV) has some questionable theology. Such as not highlighting the Virgin birth.

Ummm... I've never noticed that.  How did you want it highlighted, except by, you know, it being included?

I'm most "comfortable" (read: it's what I had growing up) with the NIV.  I like the NASB, and the New Living Translation.  Nothing beats the KJV and NKJV for reading the Psalms, though.

160

I am both horrified and intrigued to ponder what a pron site for Morons would entail. 

On the Social Security front

Jarring segue, alex.

161 Also, in case there was any doubt: Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

And now: off to a meeting.

162

I was the friendly guy who fixed your car right the first time.

Posted by: irongrampa at December 05, 2011 10:48 AM (SAMxH)

 

Sure wish you were local.  We only have “replacement artists” who start at the front bumper and keep replacing everything until something works.

163 Irongrampa, I have thought about opening my own auto shop over the years.

It's just that there are so many in that industry that are so smarmy.

Not to mention the customers who will do things like bring it in for new plugs then claim it's your fault when they run it out of oil and blow the engine.

When I was a parts guy one of my buttons was u-joints. They'd come in and ask for something specific yet had God knows what kind of cobbled together nonsense.

A couple of hours later I'm writing a refund on a u-joint that's so full of grit from the failed install that I have to throw it in the trash. It would put me in a rage that the owner wouldn't enforce a "no refunds on something we can't resell" policy.

164 Might not be the NIV, Allen. But there are translations out there that just say "Mary became with child" and don't discuss how at all.

You can see all translations on Biblegateway.com. Great site to have a bookmark for on your smartphone if you forget your Bible.

165 Steve if you know IT stuff and want work try clearance type gov contracting. Move out here to Northern VA we got Boeing, Northrup Gruman, ect ect. Check out indeed.com , other sites like that.

166 What version does the Episcopal church use? I get the impression that it's more like a cross between Choose-Your-Own-Adventure and Mad Libs, where you can just fill in the morality b lanks and if you don't like the ending, turn back to page 68 and choose another version.

167 O/T, but you did say "Cold cold ..." and it is the cold and flu time of year. Folks at the Max-Planck Institute have made an amazing discovery that may put Kleenex out of business. Add a little plasma to your mix of remedies! A non-technical, blessedly short article. http://tinyurl.com/7qnkry8

168

I am sort of struggling with all of this stuff in my new job.  I am still SO grateful just to have a job, after being out of work for over a year, and to stay in my field was pretty miraculous.  But the job is not very high-level, and it is definitely a huge step back from what my last job was.  I did not think that would matter much, but it does.  I have never had just "a job" - I have always climbed the career ladder, and always felt my job was important and meaningful.  I did let my work define who I was, for a very long time.  Now I can't do that with this job, and it is disorienting.  Who am I?  I sort of have a life outside of work, but I haven';t really thought about that as defining me. 

169

Found out that the New American Standard (NASB) has made the strongest effort to translate from the original languages.

Yeah, the NASB probably has the strongest attempt to dig into the original language and find the closest modern usage translation.  I don't actually have a huge preference except for when it comes to the Psalms.  AllenG's right, there is nothing quite like reading those from the KJV, well, second to having someone who is fluent in Hebrew reading them. 

Jarring segue, alex.

I am your go to girl for cracktastic segues. 

170 The article does not say, but I'll bet she is a Druze.

Posted by: nevergiveup at December 05, 2011 10:50 AM (i6RpT)

My bet as well. 

171 I mean scott

172 @ 163

  Gotta love the diy'ers, may they diaf. Some people shouldn't be allowed around a vehicle unless they're passengers.

 jwest, that unfortunately is way too prevalent, and I think it stems from the build it as a module thinking, plus some pretty sorry training on both the dealership and manufacturers part. Pisses me to be lumped in with the incompetents, too.

173 The article does not say, but I'll bet she is a Druze. Posted by: nevergiveup at December 05, 2011 10:50 AM (i6RpT) My bet as well. Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at December 05, 2011 11:08 AM (jx2j9) And if not a Druze, and as we said she probably is, for sure a Christian

174 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

175

  Gotta love the diy'ers, may they diaf.

Then again, my car caught on fire after taking it to our (trusted) mechanic. aparently there was a second fuel leak he didn't catch.

176 Democrats will try to extend the payroll-tax holiday.

Does anybody know for sure ?  Your Social Security benefits are based on you contributions. 

Do these reduced contributions lower your eventual benefits ?

If so, it's a very cleaver way to reduce long term benefits.

177 Keep your ear to the ground as the Durban climate change conference progresses. We will shortly begin to be fed a diet of carbon trading doom and double-doom ... again. Just lean into the propaganda wind and remember to only spit over your shoulder, because these people, seeing an economically weakened world, are going to be really pushing this time around. They are going to try to kick the shit out of our common sense while everyone is distracted, I think.

178 Gotta love the diy'ers, may they diaf. Some people shouldn't be allowed around a vehicle unless they're passenger

Careful, I am a DIY sort of guy.

But, I don't try to bring back parts I clobbered through my own fault.

Felt guilty about returning some wiper blades the other day because I shredded one of the packages. But I got the counter person to check and double-check and was still sold the wrong ones.

179 Linked by Drudge:  "Gasoline:  The next big US export"   LINK

So, why isn't a gallon of 87 gas $2.05 at the pump? 

A rhetorical question, of course.  Throw them all out.

180

Europe has gone further down the welfare route than we have, but at this point our situation is actually WORSE than theirs, significantly worse.  Individual EU states are worse, just like we have some really jacked up states (*cough* California), but comparing the EU as a whole to the USA as a whole their debt to GDP ratio is about 85%.  Ours is 100% and climbing at a much faster rate. 

The difference is that the EU can't print money like us. So instead we're printing money and bailing them out, which is what caused the stock market to rally last week.

And the EU has an option we don't.  Or at least it has one we probably would never consider.  They can simply end the EU and let the states deal with their own problems.  Will the USA ever terminate the state charter for places like California?  Turn it back into a territory?  No, we'll bail it out.  The people in TX will be forced to bail them out.

181 Yeah, the NASB probably has the strongest attempt to dig into the original language and find the closest modern usage translation.  I don't actually have a huge preference except for when it comes to the Psalms.  AllenG's right, there is nothing quite like reading those from the KJV, well, second to having someone who is fluent in Hebrew reading them.

Fluency in Greek counts more since all the New Testament was written in it...

Knowing the difference in agape versus phileo in John 23 as an example

182
  Time to do some repair work on the wife's transportation module, exhaust manifold has a split in one runner that can't be welded, so a new one is indicated.  Never saw a Camry suffer that particular malady.
  
    Great car, but I hate the fucker. Enjoy the day, good people.

183
Obama: I wanna say hello to my adopted mother and father, Sonny and Mary Chickenshit.

184 So with Cain "suspending" his campaign (how does that work if he is going to endorse Gingrich today, as Drudge reports?) then that means the Trump debate ( a stupid shitshow that should never happen) will be down to what? Bachmann, Santorum, Perry, Gingrich and Romney? Any chance Michelle and Rick S. can be given the wrong date or address?

185 The people in TX will be forced to bail them out.

Well, that may be the plan.  Implementing it may be somewhat more problematic.

Republicans (currently) run the House, and Texas Congressmen carry a fair deal of power.  Any such bill would have to go through- if not originate in- the House.

Even if they got it through Congress (or did some end-run around it), then you have the very... ahem... independent people of Texas who won't be any too happy with the idea.

186 She must be hotrodding it, irongrampa

I just did a AC condenser on mom's Camry a couple weeks back (took a rock). Was pleasantly surprised how easy it was.

187
don't forget Hunstman

188 So, why isn't a gallon of 87 gas $2.05 at the pump? 

A rhetorical question, of course.  Throw them all out.

Posted by: mrp at December 05, 2011 11:24 AM (HjPtV)

2.05 has to be nearly the amount of taxes alone on a gallon of gas.

189 don't forget Hunstman

Who?

190
Newt just invited John Hunstman to lunch at Cracker Barrel....and a debate over dessert.

191

75

Teaching them to drive is a harrowing experience...at any age.

You've got that right.  Our daughter is 31 and a mother of three, now -- but she still tells the story on herself about when I was teaching her to drive when she was 16:  she put the car in drive rather than reverse and smacked into a parking bollard. Apparently I checked the car for damage but never asked her if she was injured (I don't actually remember the incident).

Teaching her to drive must have been so traumatic that I've tried to blot it from my memory.

 

192 Scott J, I'm in my eighteenth year as an independent. I've taken part-time W2 jobs for clients who could not reach me through a purchase order and gave a go at a partnership for a few years, but the vast majority of that time has been spent project-to-project. Given what you've said about your views of software and the parts of your job that you do not like, my advice to you is that you should strengthen your non-Microsoft skills. Specifically, I would spend time getting up to speed on Java. The problem with the MS technology is not so much with the technology itself as it is with the fact that MS-centric shops are ghettos. The consistent drawbacks to the cult of Microsoft I've seen: 1. Useful information is jealously guarded rather than openly shared 2. To their credit, MSFT makes it simple for just about anyone to make it past their low entry barriers, but that leaves you working with a bunch of people who have no damned business being in the industry 3. (The biggest one) Microsoft-centric shops tend to be run by petty tyrants who never scrape-off the power-user mentality and do what they can to keep their coding/development employees on a short leash I am sure there must be well run MS shops out there. I know there are plenty of really crappy shops centered on other platforms. But I need things to go well to keep my business going, and every time I've worked with an MS-centric shop, the hassle was not worth it.

193 You know what this economy needs? 4 more years of Obama. We will all be unemployed and on food stamps! Watch how well the safety net works! H8ters!

194
Newt just challenged a classroom full of kindergartners to a series of hide-n-seek games.

195 What the rich do when DOOM stares them in the face:

http://tinyurl.com/6vnmt3u

TheyÂ’ll do it here, too.  The rich will simply disappear.  And who is this John Galt of whom you speak?

196
you know, not many people know what a "bollard" is

people see 'em all over the place, but if you ask them what a bollard is, they have no idea

197 TheyÂ’ll do it here, too.  The rich will simply disappear.

They always do.  It's not Warren Buffet and Bill Gates who have to worry about an economic depression.  To some extent, it's not even the "poor" (though, as previously noted: in America, our "poor" mostly aren't).  It's the productive class- the middle class schlobbs like me, and the "working affluent" business owners.

198

Number two just got his license on Saturday. He needs more work--I'm not ready to let him take off just yet. He doesn't seem to have the same feel for it that his brother had. But I can ride with him without the migraine and I haven't hit the pretend brake so hard that my ankle has swelled up in at least a month. Number one son says I taught him to drive by screaming his name and going fetal. Damn fine method if you ask me. (Hubby won't do any of it).

199 195 Colliefornia wants to raise taxes on the "rich" again.Fuck Cali anyway,they voted in Moonbeam Brown,again!!

200 Yet another reason to miss the Super Bowl.

Madonna at Halftime.

201 Do we know yet who, aside from Huntsman and Paul, has decided to skip the Trump debate?

Incidentally, I read this morning that The Trump has a new book hitting this week.

In addition, he has still not ruled out a third party run.

I really don't see any upside to candidates participating in this thing.  I wish Perry, Romney, and the others would come up with a different event -- more of a candidate forum like the ones in Iowa around the time of Reagan's birthday. 

202 Newt looks exactly like Millard Fillmore

203 189 don't forget Hunstman

Who?
________

Hint: O.o

204

185,

True, but when push came to shove this year what did the Republicans (90% RINO it would seem) do?  They first "compromised," aka gave Obama everything he wanted while acting like it wasn't their fault, and then they further stabbed us in the back by voting to raise the debt ceiling.

TARP, the disaster that it was, was, what, about $800B?  And then here recently we learn that in secret, and without any Congressional approval whatsoever, the Fed loaned $7.7TRILLION dollars to banks not only here at home but overseas.

Given the current environment, I'm not particularly confident that states like CA won't be bailed out in one way or another.  How is it that they're able to continue going into debt now anyway?  Who would be dumb enough to loan them money?  Oh that's right, it's the same national and international banks that we know the federal govt won't allow to fail.  So bailing out CA doens't require some act of Congress, it's happening right this second before our very eyes.

205 192, I'm intending to have a harder look at Java.

The curly braces and line terminators used to piss me off but I've gotten past that doing some C# work.

I just wish I could find an IDE that was as slick as the Visual Studio stuff. I've used Europa and it's very clunky by comparison.

206 Colliefornia wants to raise taxes on the "rich" again.

That'll only work for so long.  Firstly, their uber-rich have largely already gotten out of that game (what, you think the founders of Google taking $1.00/yr in salary was altruistic?), and their slightly-less-rich-but-still-richer-than-you-and-me-combined are looking to get out of the State ASAP.

207 'Yet another reason to miss the Super Bowl.' It's called the half time diet. You won't be able to hold down your chili.

208 201 Would be funny if only Newt showed up,he would love having all the time to himself.

209 207 I watch the Puppybowl at halftime anyway.

210
Newt kinda looks like Bum Philips' kid.

211 I watch the Puppybowl at halftime anyway.

Man Card.  Hand it over.

212 208 201 Would be funny if only Newt showed up,he would love having all the time to himself.

I wonder if he did would there be some election rule requiring him to foot the bill for what would essentially be a big commercial. 

213 206 I know,that's why I find it so amusing.California is so boned that NY laughs at them.

214 I'd love to do more doc imaging, OCR stuff. I've been doing that in some flavor pretty much since 1997.

But these days those gigs are usually short term.

215 "Do these reduced contributions lower your eventual benefits ? If so, it's a very cleaver way to reduce long term benefits." Long term benefits? No such thing. There's no money, and the money now being collected will be piled into the same slush fund that consumed the rest. About the best you can hope for is that the system collapses before they start collecting additional "contributions" from your private retirement accounts. Which is why I'm perfectly fine with extending the payroll tax holiday indefinitely. The system is boned, and any further money put into it is not only wasted, it's likely to be looted or spent in damaging and counterproductive ways. I want to keep my earnings, to spend or save or donate as I wish, not "invested" for me in that imaginary piggy bank in the sky.

216

you know, not many people know what a "bollard" is

The thing that blocks off buildings or streets so you can't get a vehicle near enough to splody them. What do I win?

217 Oh and FTL I agree with you about the petty tyrants.

Most every move I've made over the past 15 years has been to escape such. Haven't really connected it to MS-centric shops though.

218 Crooks and Liars (I never read that, is it conservative or liberal?) reports:
On this Sunday's Meet the Press, David Gregory asked RNC Chairman Reince Priebus whether or not Republican presidential candidates should attend the upcoming debate sponsored by the right wing rag, Newsmax that will be moderated by Donald Trump and Priebus decided to punt, saying he'll leave that decision to the candidates themselves.

219 my God dagny my husband won't teach my son either.....everyday after school i let my teen drive home.......if he does well one day....the next day it's like he never driven before.....he's allowed by law to get his license on the 27th of this month IF he passes the test and thinks he's going off on his own that same day......he really is clueless....

220
exactly
you often see bollards in front of gas meters to prevent cars from smashing into them

221 It would be damned hard for anyone to argue that Sweden isn't DOOMed. 

This is just the beginning for Sweden.  In a very few years, this will predominate.

222 I'd love to do more doc imaging, OCR stuff. I've been doing that in some flavor pretty much since 1997. I'm sorry. My comment doesn't really help with any near-term solutions. My point was that hating life and working with an MS-centric shop goes hand-in-hand in my experience.

223

  Gotta love the diy'ers, may they diaf.

Then again, my car caught on fire after taking it to our (trusted) mechanic. aparently there was a second fuel leak he didn't catch.

Posted by: Randy M at December 05, 2011 11:15 AM (vI8R6)

Honest mistakes and missed problems I can deal with. I take a dim view of deliberate sabotage and theft by mechanics. Like the transmission shop that literally dumped a huge handful of nuts & bolts into my car tailpipe, just for shits & giggles. Or the shop that just didn't feel like replacing a bad mass-air sensor so they fully retarded the timing until the car actually ran (as long as you didn't let it idle). Or the once long-trusted (but expensive) shop last year that literally stole the good alternator from my car and replaced it with an intermittent unit while working on an unrelated problem.

224
I got my license within days of turning 16.5.

I could drive by the time I could reach the pedals.

225 221 Let me guess without looking,Swedish women wearing the veil to keep from getting raped??

226

What version does the Episcopal church use? I get the impression that it's more like a cross between Choose-Your-Own-Adventure and Mad Libs, where you can just fill in the morality b lanks and if you don't like the ending, turn back to page 68 and choose another version.

THIS! THIS times 100,000,000,000,000.

I'm a cradle to "last straw with the church was my Priest brother-in-law's affair with a parishioner" Episcopalian.

227 219 Same situation. He's a little better now but....god. He seems to not notice brake lights. A week ago he asks me if he has time to make a left turn across on coming traffic----he had plenty of time so I said, sure-----he makes the turn but never brakes. It was like Dukes of Hazzard without the muscle shirts or the daisy dukes. Holy Shit.

228 Re the driving instruction: I was really fortunate that I learned from my older sister and not from my dad.  I think there would have been a melt down had I tried to learn from my father. 

229 222, your comments are good food for thought though.

Thanks to the moron nation for letting me come here and vent and for helping me out.

This place is one of the things that gets me through the day.

230 I take a dim view of deliberate sabotage and theft by mechanics. Extending this, the one thing this country needs more than anything else is a consistent, well articulated, and well understood body of laws covering the concept of justifiable homicide.

231

196

Sorry -- that was the traffic nerd coming out.  In my former life I was a traffic reconstructionist for my agency.

Well, Mrs. Cop is cracking the whip.  Off to do some Christmas shopping.

[leaves whimpering]

232

The administration of SCOAMF and SCOAMFette.  Not only the worst president in history, but the worst Sec. of State, as well.  Smartest woman in the world ‘my muscular buttocksÂ’.

233
okay, what are those veritcal posts called in railings?

that's right, those are called balusters (some people shorten it to balusts)

I call the top piece to a railing a banister, some people call it the railing

234 226 I left the Episcopalians. They're all obamabots now anyway. We live immediately adjacent to the last episcopal seminary and somehow get their magazine. I sometimes read it to see how far off the reservation they've gone. They've already surpassed Arianism and are headed into some other heresy that satisfies their kinky weirdo libtard changable morals. The priest-tard that married us and said we were not a good match ended up divorced because his wife didn't like the new assignment to Atlanta and spent him into bankruptcy on purpose.

235
Norm Abram knows the proper name to lots of building stuff.

236 BTW, he wasn't having sex with men so he was considered a conservative...

237 234 Satan laughs.

238 Norm Abram knows the proper name to lots of building stuff. That's because he's cool like that.

239
No need for doom, apparently the feds think its okay to launder your drug money.  Its easier to keep your gun export business growing that way.

240 Everyone just needs to buck up. CNN says we are awash in gasoline and now exporting. The DJIA is amazing, and unemployment is going down. Of course that's all bullshit, but WTF.

241
Posted by: FRONT TOWARD LEFT at December 05, 2011 11:48 AM (p7SSh)




Amen.

As an addendum to my previous comment, I have a GREAT mechanic around the corner from my shop that I completely trust. Unfortunately, I tend to have car problems near home rather than work. The mechanics near home are almost universally crooks or incompetent.

242
wanna feel old?

when Home Improvement debuted, you were twenty years younger than you are now

(it ended its run 12 years ago)

243 Okay, it's Noon on the East Coast.  I want a new thread now.

244 Unfortunately, I tend to have car problems near home rather than work. Tow truck if you cannot limp it to your preferred mechanic? Seriously. I have no idea about the distances involved, but the cost of a fuckup--or even worse, a theft that might incur the legal defense costs surrounding your future trail-breaking case into the limits of justifiable homicide--might far exceed the cost of a tow.

245 243 Ace isn't up yet,if he sees his shadow he goes back to bed until 2 pm.

246 wanna feel old?

when Home Improvement debuted, you were twenty years younger than you are now

(it ended its run 12 years ago)

God Love'em...... I remember when Norm Abrams built that first tank for us during the Civil War.....sank alot of submarines with that thing.

247 Also, FTL, the gig I just didn't get would have played to my doc imaging strengths while allowing me to learn more Java.

But the company decided it needs someone stronger in Java first.

I just can't decide if it's worth waiting for.

If they could make me an offer starting sometime in Jan. I'd take it.

248

The priest-tard that married us and said we were not a good match ended up divorced because his wife didn't like the new assignment to Atlanta

There's a lot of that that goes around. The Bishop in Alaska just had his wife leave him and take the kids with her because she didn't want to move to Alaska, she told him she didn't want to move to Alaska, yet they moved to Alaska anyway.

The retired Bishop here in WA is being investigated and may lose his pension because of his affairs with women while a Bishop. (I guess if they'd been men the church would've let it slide).

249
70 years ago today...

Great Britain declares war on Finland (wait, what?), Romania, and Hungary

250 Okay, it's Noon on the East Coast.  I want a new thread  stiff drink now.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) says 'No' to RINO Romney at December 05, 2011 12:00 PM (8y9MW)

Mo better.

251
the 70th anniversary of the Nips bombing of Pearl Harbor is in two days

what's Obama have planned, an apology to the Japanese?

252 195 What the rich do when DOOM stares them in the face:

http://tinyurl.com/6vnmt3u

TheyÂ’ll do it here, too.  The rich will simply disappear.  And who is this John Galt of whom you speak?

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at December 05, 2011 11:32 AM (jx2j9)

And what do countries ultimately do that are experiencing this? Capital and currency controls.

After, of course, the wealthy get out of dodge. Us suckers? trapped. 

George Soros was one of several high level investors that met with the ECB, Fed and others in September, before the decision was made to cut the rate on swaps last week.  One of his pet policies, recommended to the central bankers?

Currency and capital controls.  Trap the fuckers.

253 Afternoon!

Watchuguysupto? No good I'm guessin', right?

254
today is the 1 yr anniversary of the passing of Dandy Don

255 Just got back, opened the thread, the little light came on, and I noticed the baking soda box needed changing. Incidentally,does Ace have Life Alert?

256 242, I was a big Tim Allen fan until he started having temper tantrums back when Newt wanted to cut funding for PBS.

Stopped watching the show after that.

257

258 was a big Tim Allen fan until he started having temper tantrums back when Newt wanted to cut funding for PBS.

Meh.  He's a Detroit Native; he's been brain-washed into believing he only has stuff because the Government gave it to him.  Add to that the fact he gets paid for self-deprecating humor, and you understand why he doesn't understand some basic facts of life.

He's still very funny.

Of course, I haven't bothered to catch his new show- he's also a paid shill for GM, and I'm less-than-okay with that.  I hope GM completely fails and has to declare bankruptcy again. (With all due sympathy for those who work there).

259 New thread!!!! Nah, just kidding....

260

I've always argued that credit is a moral question as much as it is a financial one: you are borrowing money and giving your promise -- your word of honor -- that you'll pay it back.

 

Exactly right.  And this is not be accident.  Credit as we commonly understand it is a product of a distinctly European Christian culture.  One of the hallmarks of Protestant culture, and it needs to be said because we take it for granted,  is that people are responsible for themselvews and their lot in life.  A hallmark of Christianity in general is that your deeds matter and particularly reflect upon you.  There is no collective damnation nor salvation, and in Protestantism, nobody intercedes on your behalf in matters of morality.

Because our immortal souls were at risk, it was inconceivable for someone to renege upon a sacred promise as indicated by a signature or other mark of personal notarization.  Credit existed in large part because people honored their commitments; and they honored their commitments because they had eternity on the line.

Without even the shadow of that moral admonition hanging over the heads of people, it's a wonder that the legal transaction of extending credit can survive at all.

 

261 He's still very funny

Indeed.
"Man, cook outside, use flame, woman cook inside, use magic box. Augh-augh-augh"

262 There is no collective damnation nor salvation

There is in the "church" the SCOAMF attended. He's even used the term "collective salvation" in speeches.

263 (Yes, I'll probably post this again once we get a new thread, since this one seems dead)

Yet more evidence that "The Electric Car is the car of tomorrow.  And always will be."

264 it's a wonder that the legal transaction of extending credit can survive at all.

Which, of course, presumes that it can.  I would submit that the idea of credit- outside of actual business contracts- is in its death throes.  And I'm good with that.

265 Allen, probably the only thing that will make electric cars viable is nuke power and that isn't viable thanks to the greenies and NIMBYs.

266 "The Electric Car is the car of tomorrow.  And always will be."

Sort of like fusion reactors and artificial intelligence.

Sufficiently advanced technologies being indistinguishable from wishful thinking, and all that.

267 This thread smells like an NBA locker room after a double overtime game.

268 Whose turn is it to bail the Ewok out of the pound?  Told him about harassing the Animal Control folks with treestump tasers, but nooooooo...

269 Allen, probably the only thing that will make electric cars viable is nuke power and that isn't viable thanks to the greenies and NIMBYs.

Even that won't work.  You'd need a battery capable of propelling a car for 200+ miles even to compete with the internal combustion engine.  My parents live near Abilene, TX.  That's about 230 miles away from my house.  I can get there and back (presuming I don't do any driving around once I'm there) on one tank of gas.  Current electric cars would require that I charge up at least once on the way (the really good ones) and the Leaf has a range of something like 40 miles.

270

You know what funds those expensive University computer and biology labs? Football. Basketball. Baseball. I deplore the fact that it is so, but nonetheless: it is a fact.

 

It's rubbish. For major universities (i.e., excluding most football powerhouses, which are basically football teams with day care facilities for late adolescents) overheads (60+%) on Federal and industrial research grants are a major source of operating revenue.

And regarding alumni contributions, Ivy League universities do just fine without D1 football programs. And Ivy League football players can actually read. Imagine.

271

There is in the "church" the SCOAMF attended. He's even used the term "collective salvation" in speeches.

 

Indicating it was no Christian church at all, but rather the church of the poisoned mind.

272
Alan Sues is dead.

273 the only thing that will make electric cars viable is nuke power and that isn't viable thanks to the greenies and NIMBYs. hey that's a great idea and lets let the same people who make the CHEVY VOLT build it. That solves 2 things 1) no need for oil 2) when that nuke engine explodes, there will be no one left to bring a law suit.

274 Allen, where they shine is in commuters. 35-ish miles each way for me.

With free or near free charging at both ends (by way of cheap nuke power) it might make a viable solution if the purchase price weren't so many times more that of the IC engine.

275 Went over to "Free Republic" on someone's recommendation, while killing time. The place has a strange ambiance. The comments were edged. What's their bag, -  anybody?

276 With free or near free charging at both ends (by way of cheap nuke power) it might make a viable solution if the purchase price weren't so many times more that of the IC engine.

Yeah, but then if you do want to go further, you have to have a second (or third, or whatever) car.

277 http://tinyurl.com/cg66lns

From the article:

Cherie Anderson runs a travel company in southern California, and she's convinced the federal government is reading her emails. But she's all right with that.

"I assume it's part of the Patriot Act and I really don't mind," she says. "I figure I'm probably boring them to death."

My head asplode.  Some people don't deserve the freedoms they've been given.

278 poisoned mind

The evidence was there. Glaringly so. But 52% decided to ignore it and elect him anyway.

279 MEXICALI, Mexico — Arrests of illegal migrants trying to cross the southern U.S. border have plummeted to levels not seen since the early 1970s, according to tallies released by the Department of Homeland Security last week, a historic shift that could reshape the debate over immigration reform. The Border Patrol apprehended 327,577 illegal crossers along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30, numbers not seen since Richard Nixon was president, and a precipitous drop from the peak in 2000, when 1.6 million unauthorized migrants were caught. More than 90 percent of the migrants apprehended on the southwest border are Mexican Please G-D, 2012 can't come fast enough

280 My head asplode.  Some people don't deserve the freedoms they've been given.

Yeah.  Me, too.  Especially since I'm writing a blog specifically because of people like her.  Now if only some other bloggers would mention me or something.

I love the Moron Horde (or is it Hoard, now?), but if y'all are the only ones reading, that's not going to help much.  (yes, I know, every little voice helps, but it's still discouraging).

281
the Founders believed that our freedom is inalienable

No man or government can neither grant you freedom nor take it away from you.

282 You'd need a battery capable of propelling a car for 200+ miles even to compete with the internal combustion engine. We'll get there one day, and that day is a lot damned further away that it otherwise would be thanks to the billions of good taxpayer dollars chasing the bad down the various rabbit-holes the criminal democrats built to launder treasury money back into their campaign coffers. That one line in Ghostbusters says it all: "I've worked in the private sector. They expect results!"

283 No man or government can neither grant you freedom nor take it away from you.

Well yeah "given" was perhaps not the right word.  People have fought and died for the freedoms we have, and stupid ditzy twits like this are willing to sign it all away. 

284 I am both horrified and intrigued to ponder what a pron site for Morons would entail.

Tentacles.

I don't mind funding the old folks' retirement, but I think they should then allow us to double or triple our 401 contributions, or some other way of letting us save up our own money.

285 With free or near free charging at both ends (by way of cheap nuke power) it might make a viable solution if the purchase price weren't so many times more that of the IC engine.

Naive.

Who sets the rates for electricity?

286 #282

Possibly the most underappreciated line in that movie.

287

Rhodesia?

Ahem, my beloved country of birth was not wiped off the map by a debt crisis...you can thank Carter, Kissinger, Andrew Young and the left wing Eurotrash countries and the UN for their fellacious support of that murdering commie-backed "liberation fighter" called Robert Mugabe for the erasing of Rhodesia.

Whenever you read that Zimbabwe was "once the breadbasket of Africa and a net-exporter", what they mean is "i.e. Rhodesia".

As I say now and then when asked about my deep southern accent - it's from Rhodesia, now a communist myth called Zimbabwe.

Couldn't let you get away with that error Monty my mate!

Cheers.

 

288 Wow this is soo helpful I have been trying to figure this out on my own for a long time now. Hopefully making this change will help encourage discussion on my blog.

289 There are so much to learn from your post here, Uma, well done.

290 Its Pleasure to understand your blog.The above articles is pretty extraordinary, and I really enjoyed reading your blog and points that you expressed. I really like to appear back over a typical basis,post a lot more within the topic.Thanks for sharingÂ…keep writing!!!

291 Out of the box thought for youts age 21 to 35*.

After Navy service, I got my AA in useless studies at a Jr college. Then got a job I hated. By age 28, I was desperate. In 1965, I got a job I thought I could hack until I find a Real Job. Turned out I loved my new job, the pay, the benefits, the independence.

Who knew my experience as an E5 Torpedoman SS, a nearly useless AA, and five years working for the company from Hell made me qualified me for a wonderful career in L.E.?

Everyday at that job was a treat. Or, as I like to say, "I never worked a day in my life" after that.

For youse IT folks, there used to be lots of jobs in L.E. for you too. It's a "Right time, right place, right person" kind of thing. Talk to the Sheriff or Chief, or in a large department, the senior staff commander. Find out what service or application is needed. Make a proposal. Somewhere on the web is a nationwide listing of L.E. jobs available, including staff jobs.

Blessings to all who are struggling with un (or under) employment.

*the max age may be higher for entry level peace officer jobs in some jurisdictions these days. AFAIK, there is no max age for non-peace officer jobs.

292
Wow i really found this to be an interesting read; thanks for sharing