The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

First, the cast iron section must be replaced. Unless the builder friend is willing to donate parts and labor and do it free, there might be delays in actually getting it done. I suspect your father may balk at the cost.

Meanwhile, use baking soda and vinegar, and simply don't tell him you did so. How would he know you did it? It's a case of "sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission". and if he doesn't know you did it, no forgiveness need be requested.
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Dennis

This is the Hitch Theory of Permissions.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Around here, that's referred to a "Putting Things in a Safe Place". It's safe, alright. So safe that we can't find it.
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Dennis

I will not admit to how often this happens to us. It's ridiculous. I have something I'm STILL looking for, after two weeks. Urrrrgggghhh. That "safe place" is going to be a real treasure trove, when I figure out where it is, ha!

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

My father-in-law's brother died a few years ago. We found literally thousands of pounds under his bed in notes rolled up and stuffed into cleaned out margarine tubs.

Yup. We found $20 here, $50 there...it was ridiculous. Nice little pot of spending cash, though, which we needed, to pay junk men and all that. I was worried, though, constantly, that I was accidentally throwing out money, (Zoiks!) so it slowed everything down, as we all diligently searched like, EVERY-thing. EVERY-thing that had a pocket, a compartment, a drawer...oish.


Hitch

[wodin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Around here, that's referred to a "Putting Things in a Safe Place". It's safe, alright. So safe that we can't find it.
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Dennis

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.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Meanwhile, use baking soda and vinegar, and simply don't tell him you did so. How would he know you did it?

And maybe a prophylactic dose once a month, or however frequently seems reasonable? Before the drain gets sluggish?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I was worried, though, constantly, that I was accidentally throwing out money, (Zoiks!) so it slowed everything down, as we all diligently searched like, EVERY-thing. EVERY-thing that had a pocket, a compartment, a drawer...oish.

My wife's grandmother was the same way. They found some of those fake aerosol cans with a screw off bottom. They had to remove all of the supply grilles in the wall and floor. They even found money and jewelry inside potted plants, buried in plastic bags in the roots of the plants.

Basically, they had to take everything apart before they could get rid of it. Took weeks instead of days to empty her house.

[Katsunami]

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).

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

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.

Out of curiousity, what are they striking about? (At a guess, working hours and money.)

(If I were you, I'd reschedule that meeting now, since you would have problems getting to it.)

****@$%@^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).

I consider myself lucky. New York City has comprehensive 24/7 public transport. There are subways and buses in NYC itself, and commuter rail lines to points outside the city proper. I can get pretty much anywhere, at almost any time. I don't need (or want) to own a car.

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.
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Dennis

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Out of curiousity, what are they striking about? (At a guess, working hours and money.)

(If I were you, I'd reschedule that meeting now, since you would have problems getting to it.)


I consider myself lucky. New York City has comprehensive 24/7 public transport. There are subways and buses in NYC itself, and commuter rail lines to points outside the city proper. I can get pretty much anywhere, at almost any time. I don't need (or want) to own a car.

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 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.
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Dennis

Shrug. Who knows what the SCOTUS would have ruled?

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 . . . )

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by wodin

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.

What's even more annoying is when the Safe Place is where it logically should be put in the first place, but it's safe because it's the last place we look when trying to find whatever it is.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Shrug. Who knows what the SCOTUS would have ruled?

I have no idea, but the attempt would have nicely stirred the pot.

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 . . . )

The Federal funding covers infrastructure, like stations, track, and rolling stock, not fares. Keeping fares affordable is a city and state tax matter. And "cheap" is in the eye of the beholder. A current subway/bus fare in NYC is $2.75, and there is "Express" bus service to distant locatgions that costs $6.50.

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.
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Dennis

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Shrug. Who knows what the SCOTUS would have ruled?

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 . . . )

Don't get me started, Oahu has been building a 20 mile heavy rail boondoggle for the last 5-10 years now. It serves only one community but everyone else (including you if your a US citizen) is getting to pay for it. It was originally projected to cost ~$3.5Bn, but has soared to more than the Chunnel at ~$10Bn and is likely to top out at more like $13Bn.

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.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

....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.

....
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Dennis

Sounds familiar ....
Signed, Chicago

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Out of curiousity, what are they striking about? (At a guess, working hours and money.)

Working hours and salary, indeed.

(If I were you, I'd reschedule that meeting now, since you would have problems getting to it.)

I'm attempting to arrange a car through my GF, but she has to borrow the one her parents have. She doesn't need one right now, as she lives like 25 minutes walking distance from everything she would ever want (except for me: she needs to take a bus for that ).

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.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by wodin

Don't get me started, Oahu has been building a 20 mile heavy rail boondoggle for the last 5-10 years now. It serves only one community but everyone else (including you if your a US citizen) is getting to pay for it. It was originally projected to cost ~$3.5Bn, but has soared to more than the Chunnel at ~$10Bn and is likely to top out at more like $13Bn.

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.

This happens all over. Boston had an effort called the Big Dig intended to improve transportation routes in the city. It was finally finished, but dragged on and on. Lots of snarky speculation from Bostonians ensued about who was in whose pocket and who was skimming what from the till.

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.
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Dennis

[Greg Anos]

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?

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

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?

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.