I used to pay $15 for a second phone line, and another $17 for dial-up ISP.
So I found wild blue, and for $15 more than I was paying, I get ~80K down, ~700mS ping...
STOP LAUGHING... It's three times faster than the 28.8K dial-up I was getting on a good day.
Now I can hook up the wireless router, and the kids have two computers, and I can surf from my easy chair.
Yes I have friends who get 250K for $20, but I no longer have police helicopters flying over-head telling me to get inside and lock the doors and windows. So I'm happy with this trade-off.
To sum it up, us rural types don't have a crisis, we have a trade-off.
As a friend once said "$19.95 will get you anywhere... With $19.95 you can get a baby U-Haul, load up all your shit, and move anywhere you want".
But in the US, we've been marginalized with stupidity.
Kudos to you too!
I'm on board with that idea, and I blame the press for the sorry state of critical thought in the US. Those goofy shits are more worried about which candidate has the best sex appeal. The best sound bite is more valuable than the whole platform. Now the whole press core is pushing for government run health care.
I'm deathly afraid of government efficiency, red tape, and politicians compassion involved in health care. Only because that system will be the final word. No matter how much it costs, or how crappy it's delivered, government health care will never be unseated. I know what I'm talking about. I've been a Civil Servant (8 months as an intern, 10 years as a contractor), I've seen some shit that would be scary if it involved health care. I've seen $50 for a 1N4001 diode, should cost a buck at Radio Shack. With the government in charge, it will be $200 for a rubber glove, and only go up from there.
Today, US citizens can walk out of any hospital, and into another. Money talks. But not under government health care, you'll be assigned to a hospital. Look at the VA (Veterans Administration), rats, bugs, and mold in the hospital. The reason is these patients can't vote with their feet. Yeah, some Generals got fired... They were not the problem... The Civil Service system is the problem. Think about it, a hospital. Doctors, Nurses, Chaplains work there. These are the most empowered people in the whole US. And they didn't do shit? They were afraid to rock the boat, they were protecting their careers and their buddies by not raising a stink.
Try that in a private hospital. The first time someone's mom sees a rat, a roach, or mold, She'll call Aunt Betty, and the health department will be have them down so fast, your head will swim. An army of ambulance chasers will be printing a mountain of whatever it is they print, and the next thing the hospitals administrators hear will be "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"?
Of course, this is another hard to quantify thing. The problem I see, is that the aggressive driver reduces the quality of life for every one around him. He also increases his odds of becoming a "victim of road rage".
This is a major problem in IT, trying to quantify the expense of the UNIX geeks. If they are doing their jobs correctly (have automated every thing, and done it well), they read a few emails first thing in the morning, and sit around with their feet up the rest of the day.
Of course, the Boss's Boss's Boss, walks through once a week and says "Every time I walk though, these guys are loafing".
It turns out that UNIX sysadmin is one of the thankless jobs. Kind of like a babysitter. The only metric for the careless parent is "Child Protective Services has not called yet". Since UNIX system is closely tied to engineering, a major UNIX outage means engineering failures. Engineering failures mean missed product deadlines, possibly missing the marketing window.
So I guess the proper response, is "How would you like your group to be responsible for a product missing the marketing window? Think that could be a career limiting opportunity"?
This is another problem caused by the infotainment industry. They got cheap, and focused on "national news" this reduced the need for reporters in every city. The result was collecting political power in DC, and weakening power at the state and local level.
I think you and I are the only persons to realize this.
Al Queda struck a magor blow to the American way of life. While not an instant knock down, it may in fact be a mortal blow. More like a bee sting to a person allergic to bee venom.
We Americans have enjoyed almost total security, in that our three neighbors consist of two good friends (Mexico and Canada), and a weak pseudo enemy (Cuba). This being our only injury since the Spanish American war (concluded 1846). December 7 1941 was actually smaller than September 11 2001. The response to the attack is the only thing we Americans could not withstand, a damage to our freedom.
Like a bee sting, the root cause, is an over-active immune response to a relatively minor injury. This is driving a catastrophic systemic failure. The political body is consuming the peoples liberty due to an over reaction by the infotainment industry. Which in-fact creates a dangerous situation for the leadership.
The infotainment industry (facing a loss in power to alternative internet new sources) over-reacted to terrorist acts, causing the politicians to make drastic reductions in freedom in order to appear effective. This in turn provided a positive feedback to the infotainment industry. The infotainment industry in a downward spiral has lost it's past power and glory. With every minor terror threat the press over-reacts again seeking another spike in power. It's a run-away system.
All this over-reaction is causing a meltdown in the public confidence of congress (currently facing a 10% approval rating), the executive branch, and the press.
He's also talking about building in Southern coastal areas of California that have mild temperatures all year. Most homes in those areas don't have air conditioning. They have lots of cooler weather, it rarely gets over 85F there. Now try that pine resin trick in the central valley (Sacramento), on days when it's well over 100F, that trick won't work too well.
There is a reason nobody lives there. That are is better suited for grazing livestock than building permanent structures.
It's prone to magnitude 8+ earth quakes. California earth quake insurance typically has a 50% deductible and only pays if damage is > 90%. So it's basically worthless. Stay with a single floor wood frame structure, they typically survive earth quakes. Don't build on or under any kind of slope. The soils there are really crappy Franciscan (old sea floor), and don't stick together very well. The soils lack potash, and don't grow trees except at upwellings of water (springs and creeks). Fires can race up the canyons in no-time. When you call 911, nobody comes for a really long time. The rocks are serpentine, and contain asbestos (white asbestos is carcinogenic, the other five are not as bad), and serpentine is not very strong structurally.
What is your commute going to be like? Are the roads paved? You'll get lots of rain. Plan the drainage before the house, drainage is not something easily bolted on after construction. But that seems to be a common method. I guess the architect and builder don't care if you get flooded the winter after they get paid.
What is the source of your utilities? Water, gas, electricity, sewer.
The external view of a house is the very least important thing about a house. But it's the place where most people focus. I suggest you draw your own plans... At least the basic layout. The current fad is lots of smaller rooms. Some folks may like that, I'm not one of them. Consider the thing's most important to you, easy to build, or easy to live in. The architect or builder prefers easy/inexpensive to build. They won't insulate the interior walls, but it's a nice thing to have if you are trying to sleep when the laundry is running.
The remote living is more conducive to a stay at home lifestyle. Cuz there ain't no pizza or starbucks around the corner. So you'd better like to stay home with the barbecue and home-brew. If you enjoy hanging out with the friends after work, and getting away most weekends, you're better off staying in town.
If you can't do just about everything yourself, the remote areas are not for you. That includes going back for a chain-saw to clear a fallen tree from the road, or finishing off the deer you hit with the car on your way to work in the morning.
That being said, I prefer the rural life-style. I live where it's five acre parcels, and my nearest neighbors are several hundred feet away. Granted that's not very far, but we're in an oak woodland forest, and you can't see their houses very easily. I'm on the east side of Folsom Lake, and my commute to Folsom is about 35 minutes.
There's a common geek mistake, choosing form over function. Having a lower skin area to volume makes a house a little more heat efficient, but functionality falters real quick. There is a lot of wasted space caused by having curved walls when most furniture is square. Try to hang a picture on a concave surface. Granted a rounded blob looks pretty cool from the outside, but there is a reason very few were ever built.
I think it's the rifling that causes the problem with shot. Spin a cloud of shot, and it spreads out too fast. And a shovel works wonders on snakes. Although my last rattler was killed with a 22LR from my Grandfathers rifle. A came home with a rifle in my hands, and the whole family was checking out by the snake in my wifes carport between our garage and house. My Wife snapped a picture just as I pulled the trigger, and you can see smoke, and the snake going down. I stretched out the skin on a piece of wood, but the dog ate it. It was 27 inches long without the head.
We could always capitulate to the extremists... They've already laid out the demands for our surrender.
What do I care if:
Men can't vote for our government anymore, and Women can't vote at all.
We can't choose our religion. Islam is good enough for me.
Women can't drive cars, be educated, dress as they like, or leave the house without an escort.
/SARCASM
That's pretty much what we are fighting against in the war on terror... Basically the same stuff the American revolutionary war was fought over. Plus some basic Women's equality.
A bullet is more likely to be a spinning projectile... the molten blobs would fan out into a ring due to centrifugal force.
Kind of like "snake shot" for your pistol.
I tried to shoot a possum out of a tree with snake shot... I finally hit him with the wad, and knocked him down. Did him in with a shovel. That snake shot stuff is crap.
One problem I see, is that many IT projects begin with the goal of making the project manager look good.
The proper way to start a project is: How can we fix BAD THING. Instead of the usual "We should migrate this to SAP cause that would look so cool on my review".
Many times IT projects become a destination, instead of a method to reach the companies destination be it ( manufacturing / sales / service ).
This site is interesting to me, as it backs up something I've thought for some time. That is we are seeing man made changes in the local environment around many of the weather stations.
Weather stations, especially older stations are located often at airports. 75 years ago, airports were called aerodromes. An aerodrome is just a cow field with the cows driven off anytime someone wants to go flying for a bit. So the weather stations were located in big empty grassy fields. These airports have evolved into massive tarmac heat islands. However the data collected today is compared to data collected in the past. The changes we are seeing are more due to local construction activity, and not global trends.
It's not about identity theft. It's about the right to be left alone. Even if you do something that brings you to the public spotlight, you still have a right to privacy.
Consider that if you played a major part in a political movement to change some government office. Say close down the local mosquito control office. You will infuriate a whole lot of people. They will get really mad at you. But these are people who have a powers over you, that may have little boundary. Privacy, is about the government not having any personal ammunition to harass you for your un-popular beliefs.
I always find it strange that people prefer a crazy, violent cowboy over a harmless crank or a simpering wimp
A few years back, we had another simpering wimp... He was so focused on being a "man of peace", that it became a weapon that was used against him and the entire US.
The harmless crank's wife has a favorite charity... Music censoring. That kinda puts the fear into me.
As the the crazy cowboy... Even though I voted for him, and I still like him. I prefer to think of him as a brawling frat boy. But who do you want standing up for you when the shit hits the fan?
Wimp & Crank will run away at the first sign of danger... Maybe negotiate a bad peace with groups who think that common people having a choice in government or religion is wrong. And furthermore Church and State should be united.
Brawling Frat-Boy on the other hand. I'll take Brawling Frat-Boy any day. Everyone knows where he stands, he stands and fights to the end.
Ya gotta admit, having the President of the US land a war-plane on a carrier sure sets up the "Holy-Fucking-Shit Batman" on our enemies.
I'm not going to cook it brown just to save myself a tiny bit of risk.
For steaks, the most likely location of contamination is the outside. So a surface browning is sufficient.
If you've ever disassembled an animal, you know why (it's a messy operation). With ground meats, the surface contamination is mixed through the whole body of the meat.
For that reason, I'd rather buy ground meats frozen.
I say good luck and godspeed to this law firm; I hope they beat the DoJ on this one.
Do you feel the same way about all laws, or just some?
Do people you feel sorry for get to violate the laws you dis-like?
Do people you don't like deserve to have different treatment than the people you like?
In the US, we have this little thing call the Constitution that guarantees all people equal treatment under the law. The Government is required to enforce all the laws.
BTW, The company will allow you to work yourself to death. In fact, the culture will setup the conditions for that career track.
Manage your work-life balance. When you find yourself coming in early and leaving late, it's time to take really long lunches. Not in the cafeteria, get a buddy of like mind, and walk to a restaurant across the street to get some exercise. Try to find something a half mile away or more. Flirt with the help, browse the local shops. It may be the only life you get.
Don't ever skip your lunch... Ever, just once leads to a lifetime habit, claim health reasons. When you can't manage your work-life balance. Stick to an eight hour day. Get a hobby that does not involve the PC, get outside and meet people.
Basically, don't let work become your life. Nobody ever regretted "working too little" on their death-bed.
The company won't value your time (the stuff life is made of). In order to save a few bucks, they'll cut back on resources, make you stand-by during the day, then work late at night. Of course this will be presented as an exciting challenge. Everyone else is "on-board", get with the program... NOT!
Hope I didn't come off as too cynical...
Oh Shit... It's Friday night, and I'm surfing/. At least I'm on vacation next week.
In my building, the janitors work for PRIDE Inc. They are mentally disabled, and cannot earn over $2K per year or they lose their Social Security Benefits. They live in group homes funded by their SSI. Going to work for ~$1/hour allows them to buy a soda after work. I know this a friend has an adult disabled brother who lives in a group home, and works as a janitor for PRIDE.
As to the Mexican gardeners across the street. They are usually young single men, they get minimum wage, which in California is a little over $7/hour. This varies by county, I've head the minimum wage in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) is $12.
Farm workers usually earn minimum wage, some are paid piece-meal. Which means a set amount per box harvested, or a set amount for plowing this field. If they are resident on a farm, I've seen minimum wage, plus housing, and garden plot.
As to the Mexicans who work in service jobs, they usually come from very poor areas, rural Mexico. Often their first language is an indigenous language and not Spanish. Without an education, or language skills in either English or Spanish, their options are really limited. I personally know two guys who came here as illegals. They both are college grads, one has a MSEE. Both have great jobs in electronics.
So they could be low paid laborers in a poor country barely surviving, or they could be low paid laborers in a wealthy country and send some money home.
Are they happy working for low wages here? Consider their alternatives.
This is silly, and another example of geeks thinking agriculture is simple.
The practicalities/expenses far outweigh the benefits. Structures for people/business are engineered for those purposes.
Having a few live ornamental plants on the overhead shelves is about the limit.
How do you get pollinators to your plants? First thing you know, someone is allergic to the pollen or having an asthma attack.
If you have an insect pest invasion (ants, aphids), what then? Spray pesticides in an office building? Probably not without a huge lawsuit.
What about irrigation? Using a watering can for the hobby ornamentals is one thing. Installing irrigation (even drip) is another, think spills. What about a leak that flows all weekend. In my office building, we had a cooling water leak that ruined about 40,000 square feet of industrial carpet, and several hundred desks and file cabinets.
Cities use treated water which is expensive and contains sanitizers (Chlorine). Ag water is un-treated ground / surface / rain water. With irrigation, salts will collect in the soil, so you need a tail-water system.
Working in a high priced city is fine for a high paid geek. Put a low pay Mexican farm worker in the city, and he can't even afford to park. How are you going to move materials (soil, tools, waste, product)?
Farmland is for farming, cities are for office structures.
I am a fan if de-centralizing the high density urban areas and into very small distributed towns. You wouldn't have a 9/11 if you didn't have a dense urban area.
With a more diversified setting, a computer geek and an ag worker can live side by side. They would have communication and better understanding. Less stress causing congestion.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been happy with wild blue.
I used to pay $15 for a second phone line, and another $17 for dial-up ISP.
So I found wild blue, and for $15 more than I was paying, I get ~80K down, ~700mS ping...
STOP LAUGHING... It's three times faster than the 28.8K dial-up I was getting on a good day.
Now I can hook up the wireless router, and the kids have two computers, and I can surf from my easy chair.
Yes I have friends who get 250K for $20, but I no longer have police helicopters flying over-head telling me to get inside and lock the doors and windows. So I'm happy with this trade-off.
To sum it up, us rural types don't have a crisis, we have a trade-off.
As a friend once said "$19.95 will get you anywhere... With $19.95 you can get a baby U-Haul, load up all your shit, and move anywhere you want".
Oh it's a mess, but it's a mess created by congress, and I'm not looking forward to them making any more "fixes"
But in the US, we've been marginalized with stupidity.
Kudos to you too!
I'm on board with that idea, and I blame the press for the sorry state of critical thought in the US. Those goofy shits are more worried about which candidate has the best sex appeal. The best sound bite is more valuable than the whole platform. Now the whole press core is pushing for government run health care.
I'm deathly afraid of government efficiency, red tape, and politicians compassion involved in health care. Only because that system will be the final word. No matter how much it costs, or how crappy it's delivered, government health care will never be unseated. I know what I'm talking about. I've been a Civil Servant (8 months as an intern, 10 years as a contractor), I've seen some shit that would be scary if it involved health care. I've seen $50 for a 1N4001 diode, should cost a buck at Radio Shack. With the government in charge, it will be $200 for a rubber glove, and only go up from there.
Today, US citizens can walk out of any hospital, and into another. Money talks. But not under government health care, you'll be assigned to a hospital. Look at the VA (Veterans Administration), rats, bugs, and mold in the hospital. The reason is these patients can't vote with their feet. Yeah, some Generals got fired... They were not the problem... The Civil Service system is the problem. Think about it, a hospital. Doctors, Nurses, Chaplains work there. These are the most empowered people in the whole US. And they didn't do shit? They were afraid to rock the boat, they were protecting their careers and their buddies by not raising a stink.
Try that in a private hospital. The first time someone's mom sees a rat, a roach, or mold, She'll call Aunt Betty, and the health department will be have them down so fast, your head will swim. An army of ambulance chasers will be printing a mountain of whatever it is they print, and the next thing the hospitals administrators hear will be "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"?
Of course, this is another hard to quantify thing. The problem I see, is that the aggressive driver reduces the quality of life for every one around him. He also increases his odds of becoming a "victim of road rage".
This is a major problem in IT, trying to quantify the expense of the UNIX geeks. If they are doing their jobs correctly (have automated every thing, and done it well), they read a few emails first thing in the morning, and sit around with their feet up the rest of the day.
Of course, the Boss's Boss's Boss, walks through once a week and says "Every time I walk though, these guys are loafing".
It turns out that UNIX sysadmin is one of the thankless jobs. Kind of like a babysitter. The only metric for the careless parent is "Child Protective Services has not called yet". Since UNIX system is closely tied to engineering, a major UNIX outage means engineering failures. Engineering failures mean missed product deadlines, possibly missing the marketing window.
So I guess the proper response, is "How would you like your group to be responsible for a product missing the marketing window? Think that could be a career limiting opportunity"?
Federal Government has become too strong
I couldn't agree with you more...
This is another problem caused by the infotainment industry. They got cheap, and focused on "national news" this reduced the need for reporters in every city. The result was collecting political power in DC, and weakening power at the state and local level.
I think you and I are the only persons to realize this.
Al Queda struck a magor blow to the American way of life. While not an instant knock down, it may in fact be a mortal blow. More like a bee sting to a person allergic to bee venom.
We Americans have enjoyed almost total security, in that our three neighbors consist of two good friends (Mexico and Canada), and a weak pseudo enemy (Cuba). This being our only injury since the Spanish American war (concluded 1846). December 7 1941 was actually smaller than September 11 2001. The response to the attack is the only thing we Americans could not withstand, a damage to our freedom.
Like a bee sting, the root cause, is an over-active immune response to a relatively minor injury. This is driving a catastrophic systemic failure. The political body is consuming the peoples liberty due to an over reaction by the infotainment industry. Which in-fact creates a dangerous situation for the leadership.
The infotainment industry (facing a loss in power to alternative internet new sources) over-reacted to terrorist acts, causing the politicians to make drastic reductions in freedom in order to appear effective. This in turn provided a positive feedback to the infotainment industry. The infotainment industry in a downward spiral has lost it's past power and glory. With every minor terror threat the press over-reacts again seeking another spike in power. It's a run-away system.
All this over-reaction is causing a meltdown in the public confidence of congress (currently facing a 10% approval rating), the executive branch, and the press.
Well, all my family is here, all of my grandparents were born here. One line goes back to the 1700s.
Once you get off the coast, and out of the bay or LA, things get substantially less weird, and the house prices drop fast.
But you're still under the thumb of SoCal & bay area politicians stealing the water.
change your lifestyle so it works better with your chosen dwelling
Change your lifestyle to fit your dwelling? I don't mean to be rude, but... Get a spine...
He's also talking about building in Southern coastal areas of California that have mild temperatures all year. Most homes in those areas don't have air conditioning. They have lots of cooler weather, it rarely gets over 85F there. Now try that pine resin trick in the central valley (Sacramento), on days when it's well over 100F, that trick won't work too well.
There is a reason nobody lives there. That are is better suited for grazing livestock than building permanent structures.
It's prone to magnitude 8+ earth quakes. California earth quake insurance typically has a 50% deductible and only pays if damage is > 90%. So it's basically worthless. Stay with a single floor wood frame structure, they typically survive earth quakes. Don't build on or under any kind of slope. The soils there are really crappy Franciscan (old sea floor), and don't stick together very well. The soils lack potash, and don't grow trees except at upwellings of water (springs and creeks). Fires can race up the canyons in no-time. When you call 911, nobody comes for a really long time. The rocks are serpentine, and contain asbestos (white asbestos is carcinogenic, the other five are not as bad), and serpentine is not very strong structurally.
What is your commute going to be like? Are the roads paved? You'll get lots of rain. Plan the drainage before the house, drainage is not something easily bolted on after construction. But that seems to be a common method. I guess the architect and builder don't care if you get flooded the winter after they get paid.
What is the source of your utilities? Water, gas, electricity, sewer.
The external view of a house is the very least important thing about a house. But it's the place where most people focus. I suggest you draw your own plans... At least the basic layout. The current fad is lots of smaller rooms. Some folks may like that, I'm not one of them. Consider the thing's most important to you, easy to build, or easy to live in. The architect or builder prefers easy/inexpensive to build. They won't insulate the interior walls, but it's a nice thing to have if you are trying to sleep when the laundry is running.
The remote living is more conducive to a stay at home lifestyle. Cuz there ain't no pizza or starbucks around the corner. So you'd better like to stay home with the barbecue and home-brew. If you enjoy hanging out with the friends after work, and getting away most weekends, you're better off staying in town.
If you can't do just about everything yourself, the remote areas are not for you. That includes going back for a chain-saw to clear a fallen tree from the road, or finishing off the deer you hit with the car on your way to work in the morning.
That being said, I prefer the rural life-style. I live where it's five acre parcels, and my nearest neighbors are several hundred feet away. Granted that's not very far, but we're in an oak woodland forest, and you can't see their houses very easily. I'm on the east side of Folsom Lake, and my commute to Folsom is about 35 minutes.
The answer to that is easy. concrete dome.
There's a common geek mistake, choosing form over function. Having a lower skin area to volume makes a house a little more heat efficient, but functionality falters real quick. There is a lot of wasted space caused by having curved walls when most furniture is square. Try to hang a picture on a concave surface. Granted a rounded blob looks pretty cool from the outside, but there is a reason very few were ever built.
I think it's the rifling that causes the problem with shot. Spin a cloud of shot, and it spreads out too fast. And a shovel works wonders on snakes. Although my last rattler was killed with a 22LR from my Grandfathers rifle. A came home with a rifle in my hands, and the whole family was checking out by the snake in my wifes carport between our garage and house. My Wife snapped a picture just as I pulled the trigger, and you can see smoke, and the snake going down. I stretched out the skin on a piece of wood, but the dog ate it. It was 27 inches long without the head.
What do I care if:
Men can't vote for our government anymore, and Women can't vote at all.
We can't choose our religion. Islam is good enough for me.
Women can't drive cars, be educated, dress as they like, or leave the house without an escort.
/SARCASM
That's pretty much what we are fighting against in the war on terror... Basically the same stuff the American revolutionary war was fought over. Plus some basic Women's equality.
A bullet is more likely to be a spinning projectile... the molten blobs would fan out into a ring due to centrifugal force.
Kind of like "snake shot" for your pistol.
I tried to shoot a possum out of a tree with snake shot... I finally hit him with the wad, and knocked him down. Did him in with a shovel. That snake shot stuff is crap.
One problem I see, is that many IT projects begin with the goal of making the project manager look good.
The proper way to start a project is: How can we fix BAD THING. Instead of the usual "We should migrate this to SAP cause that would look so cool on my review".
Many times IT projects become a destination, instead of a method to reach the companies destination be it ( manufacturing / sales / service ).
Here's an interesting site on global warming. http://www.surfacestations.org/
This site is interesting to me, as it backs up something I've thought for some time. That is we are seeing man made changes in the local environment around many of the weather stations.
Weather stations, especially older stations are located often at airports. 75 years ago, airports were called aerodromes. An aerodrome is just a cow field with the cows driven off anytime someone wants to go flying for a bit. So the weather stations were located in big empty grassy fields. These airports have evolved into massive tarmac heat islands. However the data collected today is compared to data collected in the past. The changes we are seeing are more due to local construction activity, and not global trends.
It's not about identity theft. It's about the right to be left alone. Even if you do something that brings you to the public spotlight, you still have a right to privacy.
Consider that if you played a major part in a political movement to change some government office. Say close down the local mosquito control office. You will infuriate a whole lot of people. They will get really mad at you. But these are people who have a powers over you, that may have little boundary. Privacy, is about the government not having any personal ammunition to harass you for your un-popular beliefs.
I always find it strange that people prefer a crazy, violent cowboy over a harmless crank or a simpering wimp
A few years back, we had another simpering wimp... He was so focused on being a "man of peace", that it became a weapon that was used against him and the entire US.
The harmless crank's wife has a favorite charity... Music censoring. That kinda puts the fear into me.
As the the crazy cowboy... Even though I voted for him, and I still like him. I prefer to think of him as a brawling frat boy. But who do you want standing up for you when the shit hits the fan?
Wimp & Crank will run away at the first sign of danger... Maybe negotiate a bad peace with groups who think that common people having a choice in government or religion is wrong. And furthermore Church and State should be united.
Brawling Frat-Boy on the other hand. I'll take Brawling Frat-Boy any day. Everyone knows where he stands, he stands and fights to the end.
Ya gotta admit, having the President of the US land a war-plane on a carrier sure sets up the "Holy-Fucking-Shit Batman" on our enemies.
I'm not going to cook it brown just to save myself a tiny bit of risk.
For steaks, the most likely location of contamination is the outside. So a surface browning is sufficient.
If you've ever disassembled an animal, you know why (it's a messy operation). With ground meats, the surface contamination is mixed through the whole body of the meat.
For that reason, I'd rather buy ground meats frozen.
I say good luck and godspeed to this law firm; I hope they beat the DoJ on this one.
Do you feel the same way about all laws, or just some?
Do people you feel sorry for get to violate the laws you dis-like?
Do people you don't like deserve to have different treatment than the people you like?
In the US, we have this little thing call the Constitution that guarantees all people equal treatment under the law. The Government is required to enforce all the laws.
And if someone from the US illegally enters your country, how exactly is that handled?
I really doubt you have an open border policy.
Put me down for Yes, No, No.
BTW, The company will allow you to work yourself to death. In fact, the culture will setup the conditions for that career track.
Manage your work-life balance. When you find yourself coming in early and leaving late, it's time to take really long lunches. Not in the cafeteria, get a buddy of like mind, and walk to a restaurant across the street to get some exercise. Try to find something a half mile away or more. Flirt with the help, browse the local shops. It may be the only life you get.
Don't ever skip your lunch... Ever, just once leads to a lifetime habit, claim health reasons. When you can't manage your work-life balance. Stick to an eight hour day. Get a hobby that does not involve the PC, get outside and meet people.
Basically, don't let work become your life. Nobody ever regretted "working too little" on their death-bed.
The company won't value your time (the stuff life is made of). In order to save a few bucks, they'll cut back on resources, make you stand-by during the day, then work late at night. Of course this will be presented as an exciting challenge. Everyone else is "on-board", get with the program... NOT!
Hope I didn't come off as too cynical...
Oh Shit... It's Friday night, and I'm surfing /. At least I'm on vacation next week.
In my building, the janitors work for PRIDE Inc. They are mentally disabled, and cannot earn over $2K per year or they lose their Social Security Benefits. They live in group homes funded by their SSI. Going to work for ~$1/hour allows them to buy a soda after work. I know this a friend has an adult disabled brother who lives in a group home, and works as a janitor for PRIDE.
As to the Mexican gardeners across the street. They are usually young single men, they get minimum wage, which in California is a little over $7/hour. This varies by county, I've head the minimum wage in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) is $12.
Farm workers usually earn minimum wage, some are paid piece-meal. Which means a set amount per box harvested, or a set amount for plowing this field. If they are resident on a farm, I've seen minimum wage, plus housing, and garden plot.
As to the Mexicans who work in service jobs, they usually come from very poor areas, rural Mexico. Often their first language is an indigenous language and not Spanish. Without an education, or language skills in either English or Spanish, their options are really limited. I personally know two guys who came here as illegals. They both are college grads, one has a MSEE. Both have great jobs in electronics.
So they could be low paid laborers in a poor country barely surviving, or they could be low paid laborers in a wealthy country and send some money home.
Are they happy working for low wages here? Consider their alternatives.
This is silly, and another example of geeks thinking agriculture is simple.
The practicalities/expenses far outweigh the benefits. Structures for people/business are engineered for those purposes.
Having a few live ornamental plants on the overhead shelves is about the limit.
How do you get pollinators to your plants? First thing you know, someone is allergic to the pollen or having an asthma attack.
If you have an insect pest invasion (ants, aphids), what then? Spray pesticides in an office building? Probably not without a huge lawsuit.
What about irrigation? Using a watering can for the hobby ornamentals is one thing. Installing irrigation (even drip) is another, think spills. What about a leak that flows all weekend. In my office building, we had a cooling water leak that ruined about 40,000 square feet of industrial carpet, and several hundred desks and file cabinets.
Cities use treated water which is expensive and contains sanitizers (Chlorine). Ag water is un-treated ground / surface / rain water. With irrigation, salts will collect in the soil, so you need a tail-water system.
Working in a high priced city is fine for a high paid geek. Put a low pay Mexican farm worker in the city, and he can't even afford to park. How are you going to move materials (soil, tools, waste, product)?
Farmland is for farming, cities are for office structures.
I am a fan if de-centralizing the high density urban areas and into very small distributed towns. You wouldn't have a 9/11 if you didn't have a dense urban area.
With a more diversified setting, a computer geek and an ag worker can live side by side. They would have communication and better understanding. Less stress causing congestion.