04-23-2018, 06:49 PM | #32011 | |||
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
Posts: 11,459
Karma: 158448243
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Device: K2, iPad, KFire, PPW, Voyage, NookColor. 2 Droid, Oasis, Boox Note2
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Hitch |
|||
04-23-2018, 07:00 PM | #32012 |
Illiterate
Posts: 10,279
Karma: 37848716
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: The Sandwich Isles
Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro
|
You have those "safe Places" too Dennis? At my house we put them in the safe place, and then they get assimilated by the Bor... uh... house. And then they are safe.
|
Advert | |
|
04-23-2018, 07:05 PM | #32013 |
o saeclum infacetum
Posts: 20,190
Karma: 222235366
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
|
04-23-2018, 07:19 PM | #32014 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,631
Karma: 73864785
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: PDXish
Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices
|
Quote:
Basically, they had to take everything apart before they could get rid of it. Took weeks instead of days to empty her house. |
|
04-26-2018, 11:10 AM | #32015 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
In a few days, I've got an important meeting somewhere in the country. On that day, almost all public transport, in the entire country, will be down due to strikes. A judge has decided today that the strikes will be allowed to take place.
FML. Now I have to either arrange a car and someone to drive me there and back again (and having that person wait for me for at least one, possibly two hours), or reschedule that meeting. ****@$%@^38#%^. And the government STILL can't figure out why NOBODY in the entire $%^@^@%^ country travels by public transport WILLINGLY? There are only 4 types of people in public transport in the Netherlands: - Students, who don't have the money/required age to drive a car - Old people, if they can't / aren't allowed to drive any longer - People who cannot drive a car because of medical reasons (like me: poor vision) - People for whom public transport actually IS convenient, to and from work (a small percentage in the big cities). |
Advert | |
|
04-26-2018, 11:48 AM | #32016 | ||
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
Quote:
(If I were you, I'd reschedule that meeting now, since you would have problems getting to it.) Quote:
Labor issues between unions and the transit authority overall responsible haven't been a problem in decades. The bigger issues are funding. Like any other such effort, it's simply not possible to charge enough for a fare to cover the costs of transporting the passenger. The MTA must get state and federal subsidies, and especially needs subsidies to cover capital costs for new construction and renovation and repair of older stations and track, as well as purchases of rolling stock. Federal funding isn't normally a problem, but the relationship between New York City and New York State is often contentious. State government politics can be described as "New York City tries to get state funds comparable to the amount of state taxes it pays. The rest of the state tries to keep that from happening." NYC politicians elected to state government slots discover the political dividing line isn't Democrat vs Republican - it's upstate vs downstate. There was a city political campaign decades ago, where novelist Norman Mailer and newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin were running for Mayor and City Council head, respectively, with the slogan "Let the rascals in!". Part of their platform was a pledge to try to secede NYC from the rest of the state, and have it a separate political entity. That would have been fascinating, had they gotten into office and tried it. ______ Dennis Last edited by DMcCunney; 04-26-2018 at 02:48 PM. |
||
04-26-2018, 11:54 AM | #32017 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,247
Karma: 35000000
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Pocketbook
|
Quote:
As to Federal funding, I keep wondering why a fraction of my tax dollars go to providing cheap rides in NYC. What is the benefit to Texas? (Or Idaho, or, Ohio, or Florida, or Minnesota or . . . ) Last edited by Greg Anos; 04-26-2018 at 11:56 AM. |
|
04-26-2018, 12:00 PM | #32018 | |
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
Quote:
______ Dennis |
|
04-26-2018, 01:01 PM | #32019 | |
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
I have no idea, but the attempt would have nicely stirred the pot.
Quote:
But Federal funding has amusing moments. Years back, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal. A clerk in the Department of Transportation embezzled $800,000 in Federal funds. He was one of the folks who processed paperwork for block grants for mass transit systems. He embezzled the money by simply changing the name and address the checks were sent to on the forms to his own name and address, and deposited the checks as they came in. He bought a new house and a stock and bond portfolio, and a topless bar in Washington, DC. He came to work in a new suit every day, driving a new car, and would takes his friends on all expenses paid gambling junkets to Las Vegas. When asked about the new wealth, he said it was an inheritance. The roof fell in when a travel agent arranging one of his gambling junkets called his bank to confirm he was good for it. The bank officer who took the call got curious about the large denomination Federal checks that had been deposited, and called the Department of Transportation to inquire. He got busted, and his ill gotten gains confiscated. Confiscated property goes to the General Services Administration pending other disposal, so the GSA found itself the owner of a DC topless bar. ______ Dennis |
|
04-26-2018, 01:13 PM | #32020 | |
Illiterate
Posts: 10,279
Karma: 37848716
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: The Sandwich Isles
Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro
|
Quote:
For what? A train to nowhere that no one will ride? I guess it'll provide a really nice canvas for all the graffiti artists. |
|
04-26-2018, 01:44 PM | #32021 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 8,501
Karma: 64095689
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Harrisburg outskirts
Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1
|
Quote:
Signed, Chicago |
|
04-26-2018, 02:43 PM | #32022 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
Quote:
Quote:
I've notified the people in the meeting that I'll try to get a hold of a car, and if I can't for certain before next Monday, I'll let them know to move the meeting to a later date. Last edited by DMcCunney; 04-26-2018 at 02:50 PM. |
||
04-26-2018, 02:45 PM | #32023 | |
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
Quote:
Similar things happen elsewhere. The MTA in NYC has finally completed the Second Avenue subway. Lots of cynics didn't expect it to ever actually get done. Fundamentally, such efforts serve to get Federal funds into private hands. The beneficiaries are the companies contracted to perform the work, and the workers collecting a paycheck from the contractors. Attaining the end result the project is supposedly for is a distinctly secondary consideration. The longer it can be stretched out on the Federal teat, the happier the companies and workers doing it are. They're getting well paid. (I see a fair bit of that in NYC. The work could be done just as well, a lot faster, and at half the cost by non-union labor, but the trade unions have an interest in preserving union jobs, and particularly union pay scales.) And the contracting process is such that Lowest Bidder Wins. So you get cases where companies bidding on the job submit a bid they know is too low to actually do the work. They assume they'll be able to go back to the well later and get additional funding, because the alternative is halting the project and putting out RFPs to get new bids from others to complete the work. ______ Dennis |
|
04-26-2018, 03:35 PM | #32024 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,247
Karma: 35000000
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Pocketbook
|
My point was - what is the Federal government' reason for involving itself in State and Local projects? Shouldn't it be only concerned for interstate (in the broad sense) projects?
|
04-26-2018, 03:50 PM | #32025 |
Illiterate
Posts: 10,279
Karma: 37848716
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: The Sandwich Isles
Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro
|
Uhhh... we have three "Interstate" highways on a 44X30 mile island in the middle of the Pacific. I think I'd like the contract for the bridge that would put paid to the lie.
|
Tags |
creepy crawlers!, dell computers, monteverdi, thread that never ends, tubery, unutterable silliness |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
I just have to vent... | lacymarie7575 | Sony Reader | 5 | 08-18-2010 07:59 PM |
I need to vent! Booksonboard! Ugh! | Mrgauth | News | 25 | 12-17-2009 09:26 AM |
Why, Oh Why! [RANT] | Vesper | Lounge | 19 | 06-19-2008 11:50 AM |
Am I allowed to vent here? | sborsody | Which one should I buy? | 25 | 06-12-2007 01:30 PM |