The Vent and Rant Thread

[nomesque]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Small issue compared to Moejoe's, but I had the 6 wks checkup from my last eye surgery today. Got there, examined, everybody got "the look," did lots of tests, had allergic reaction to the stuff they put into my arm and was vomiting a LOT, found lots more bleeding arteries in the retina, macula is more swollen than ever, and did surgery #12, all within about 2 1/2 hours.

I had just gotten back able to comfortably read again. I guess I'll be away from MR again for a while until it heals and I can do this without straining at 150%.

CRAP! Poor thing, I'm sorry to hear this issue keeps rearing it's head I hope things improve soon.

[dreams]

Oh, no, not again, DixieGal! :bigbighug:

..I hope you heal quickly and are back here with us real soon.

[GeoffC]

Moejoe Commiserations and take care of yourself and yours. Memories last forever, and you will have a new life to look forward to....

DixieGal You take very good care - you hear !!!!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Small issue compared to Moejoe's, but I had the 6 wks checkup from my last eye surgery today. Got there, examined, everybody got "the look," did lots of tests, had allergic reaction to the stuff they put into my arm and was vomiting a LOT, found lots more bleeding arteries in the retina, macula is more swollen than ever, and did surgery #12, all within about 2 1/2 hours.

I had just gotten back able to comfortably read again. I guess I'll be away from MR again for a while until it heals and I can do this without straining at 150%.

Love you all!

*hugs* Really sorry to hear that - hope it heals quickly!

[yvanleterrible]

Would you guys stop yellin'? She's not deaf...

[LCF]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Small issue compared to Moejoe's, but I had the 6 wks checkup from my last eye surgery today. Got there, examined, everybody got "the look," did lots of tests, had allergic reaction to the stuff they put into my arm and was vomiting a LOT, found lots more bleeding arteries in the retina, macula is more swollen than ever, and did surgery #12, all within about 2 1/2 hours.

I had just gotten back able to comfortably read again. I guess I'll be away from MR again for a while until it heals and I can do this without straining at 150%.

Love you all!

Wish you a quick and complete healing!

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Would you guys stop yellin'? She's not deaf...

you remember when this all started, way back when, she needed the size to see what good cheer we gave her !!!!

[Nate the great]

This is the rant thread, so I'm going to break my rule on not posting about politics.

The US Treasury Department now owns 61% of General Motors. Could someone explain to me how we skipped right past Socialism and went straight to Communism? Shouldn't we have had a Glorious Worker's Revolution first? I'm really sad that I missed out on the looting.

[poohbear_nc]

The looting was done during the previous administration, when the resources of the workers were paid out as Xmas bonuses to executives who didn't need any more money.

Really - if you opened you Xmas bonus check and saw $15,000,000.00 - would you think you deserved it?

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This is the rant thread, so I'm going to break my rule on not posting about politics.

Not a good idea, Nate. But I feel your pain and everyone else's (on all sides). Me? I was unhappy to see flags flying yesterday in honour of past presidents some of whom I'd rather pee on. I will not say which ones.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This is the rant thread, so I'm going to break my rule on not posting about politics.

The US Treasury Department now owns 61% of General Motors. Could someone explain to me how we skipped right past Socialism and went straight to Communism? Shouldn't we have had a Glorious Worker's Revolution first? I'm really sad that I missed out on the looting.

You are just now noticing this?

You might want to review the definition of Communism, first, as this isn't it.

There was a lot of discussion about this, before, during, and after the fact. It's a question of "Are some enterprises too big to be allowed to fail?, and you won't please everyone no matter what answer you come up with.

The major US automakers are all struggling to adapt to a vastly changed landscape. The salad days when GM's problem was keeping its market share under 35% to prevent anti-trust issues are long gone.

The fundamental issue is costs of production. GM spun off the Delphi automotive division some years back, and a couple of years ago, the CEO of Delphi shocked everyone by entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was a wake up call for the entire industry, and observers were wondering when GM might follow suit. Delphi's problem was simple. It had a cost structure where workers were earning as much as $60/hour in salary and fringes, but had to compete with foreign suppliers whose labor costs were perhaps $10/hour. And to keep costs competitive, the "Big Three" were sourcing based on cost. Delphi had no leg up by being a US company and former part of GM.

Expand Delphi's problem to the industry as a whole. GM is hobbled by extraordinary labor costs. UAW contracts impose pension and health care costs they simply can't afford, negotiat4edf in the days before teh economy imploded. (And GM has two workers retired and collecting benefits for every one on the job. You may imagine where this will inevitably lead...)

The issue faced by the Federal Government was "Which is the worse alternative: assuming control of a large part of GM to keep it alive, or letting it fail?" "Letting it fail" means large numbers of autoworkers in areas that are already economically depressed losing their jobs. Autoworkers who vote, and will lobby their Congress critters to Do Something to insure that doesn't happen.

I'm not particularly thrilled by the notion either, but what would you have the Feds do instead? Let GM go belly up?

I had some interesting conversations with an old friend who is a rabid conservative and felt the Feds should do just that. He's an entrepreneur, and has made his living in a variety of ways over the years. He's under the happy delusion that everyone else can emulate his practice, and letting GM go belly up would simply spawn a batch of smaller, nimbler independents filling the void it left. And so it might, but what happens to all the laid off workers in the meantime? Most would not be able become entrepreneurs and go into business for themselves, a fact that he can't seem to grasp.
______
Dennis

[wodin]

Unemployment, and Congress critters notwithstanding, my sympathies do NOT lay with six figure factory workers when teachers and police people are barely above federal poverty levels!

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This is the rant thread, so I'm going to break my rule on not posting about politics.

The US Treasury Department now owns 61% of General Motors. Could someone explain to me how we skipped right past Socialism and went straight to Communism? Shouldn't we have had a Glorious Worker's Revolution first? I'm really sad that I missed out on the looting.

does that not also mean that you can walk into the garage and drive away one of YOUR cars ?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I'm not particularly thrilled by the notion either, but what would you have the Feds do instead? Let GM go belly up?

Yes, actually.

And Dennis, I was actually making a joke. I would have thought the last 2 sentences would have given it away.

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

He's under the happy delusion that everyone else can emulate his practice, and letting GM go belly up would simply spawn a batch of smaller, nimbler independents filling the void it left.

That was my suggestion a decade ago, when only the rabid GM fans had already seen the writing on the wall. GM started as a collection of independents, and if they'd retained that model instead of going off the cliff in Roger Smith's '82 Citation in pursuit of market share, they wouldn't be in the situation they're in now.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

And so it might, but what happens to all the laid off workers in the meantime? Most would not be able become entrepreneurs and go into business for themselves, a fact that he can't seem to grasp.

Adapt or die, just like the company they were foolish enough to think was "too big to fail" must now adapt or die. Community college and online school enrollment has swelled tremendously over the last few years for a reason. A displaced worker can either learn something new (often on the state's dime) or spend the next 2 years dialing-for-dollars and blaming all their problems on Obama/the unions/corporate America/the Cubs/global warming.

"It's not that simple", you might say...I can say from firsthand experience that it beats the hell out of the alternative.