Random Thought Thread

[Nathan the Machinist]

I guess gas must be really hard to come by. Or the expenses to make it must have gone way up. Or, I don't know, maybe the oil companies that were already making record profits are complete total c*nts

 

[ferider]

I guess gas must be really hard to come by. Or the expenses to make it must have gone way up. Or, I don't know, maybe the oil companies that were already making record profits are complete total c*nts

It also curiously halves in price when being transported from a CA refinery to - say - WY.

 

[WValtakis]

I guess gas must be really hard to come by. Or the expenses to make it must have gone way up. Or, I don't know, maybe the oil companies that were already making record profits are complete total c*nts

It's a racket.

 

[Murphjd25]

Diesel here has gone up $1.13 a gallon in less then two weeks. That’s from the Indian reservation too where I fuel up. I’ve seen it jump as much as $1.50 a gallon at most places.

 

[Big DJ]

"Nathan is an asshole. He shoots squirrels. What a dick"

View attachment 1761984View attachment 1761985


^tried to burn the shop down too



F*cking with my truck was the final straw though


I hate them so much

Don't get me started on squirrels.

 

[Lorien]

the community I live in used to be self sustaining; between a large lumber mill, fishing etc. Well, the mill's long gone, most of our lumber harvesting is mechanized and the raw materials shipped overseas for processing and the same could be said for fishing, but residential housing development is off the hook. Truly a bedroom community where most folk, if not retired, have to drive to work along a mostly two lane highway for a minimum of an hour each way during peak times. Coupled with insane home prices, averaging $700K, and rising interest rates, I'm wondering what things are going to look like around here in the coming years

 

[yoko]

the community I live in used to be self sustaining; between a large lumber mill, fishing etc. Well, the mill's long gone, most of our lumber harvesting is mechanized and the raw materials shipped overseas for processing and the same could be said for fishing, but residential housing development is off the hook. Truly a bedroom community where most folk, if not retired, have to drive to work along a mostly two lane highway for a minimum of an hour each way during peak times. Coupled with insane home prices, averaging $700K, and rising interest rates, I'm wondering what things are going to look like around here in the coming years

Around here there's a major shortage of young people getting into skilled trades

Every shop around here is paying top dollar trying to higher more people.... there are none

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

"Nathan is an asshole. He shoots squirrels.

I'm right there with you. I'll also set up water traps (turns out they can't swim for extended periods in a bucket of water). I'd poison them if I didn't have dogs. Hugely destructive, I'm always trying to figure out how to make them disappear.

 

[WValtakis]

Around here there's a major shortage of young people getting into skilled trades

Every shop around here is paying top dollar trying to higher more people.... there are none

It's like that in the Utility sector too, the operator work force is aging out with very few candidates to replace them.

 

[bluemax_1]

"Nathan is an asshole. He shoots squirrels. What a dick"

View attachment 1761984View attachment 1761985


^tried to burn the shop down too



F*cking with my truck was the final straw though


I hate them so much

BTW, don't know if you've ever gotten into PCP pellet rifles, but the Air Venturi Avenger PCP in .22 with a DonnyFL moderator is a steal (half the price of a Benjamin Marauder Field and Target. The standard Marauder is not regulated. Both the Avenger and Marauder F&T have a built-in adjustable regulator).

Really accurate, and pretty darned quiet (and pellets are still available pretty cheap, especially if you get them at Pyramyd Air, where for every 3 cans, you get 1 free).

***long video, but shows the capability

 

[Mendoman]

8.45$ for regular on the coast of Mendocino county is the single most expensive gas in the country. It’s beautiful country but fuel up before you get there. It is pretty isolated.

 

[Mendoman]

Old North Georgia squirrel solution was to put a pie tin full of Sprite in the attic or wherever they were getting in. I’m sure it attracts all kinds of other problems, such as ants, and I’m not sure it works but I just thought it was interesting. Nothing is probably as effective as just shooting it.

 

[bluemax_1]

Gas prices are one thing. Some of you might remember: not so long ago, some people could only gas up every odd day of the week.

Hoarding "sucks".

You must've missed the photos online of the morons filling plastic bags in the trunk with gasoline.

All they'd need is one of those cheesy mirror balls hanging from the rearview mirror, one mishap and this song

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

Whenever anybody asks me if they (or their kid) should get into the trades or become an electrician I tell them, “HELL NO!”
Damn…. Just wrote and deleted five paragraphs about how I really feel.
Let’s just say being in the skilled trades isn’t worth it these days.

 

[WValtakis]

Whenever anybody asks me if they (or their kid) should get into the trades or become an electrician I tell them, “HELL NO!”
Damn…. Just wrote and deleted five paragraphs about how I really feel.
Let’s just say being in the skilled trades isn’t worth it these days.

I dunno...blue collar has served me and my family very well, far better with my lowly vocational certificate than most of my friends with degrees

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Whenever anybody asks me if they (or their kid) should get into the trades or become an electrician I tell them, “HELL NO!”
Damn…. Just wrote and deleted five paragraphs about how I really feel.
Let’s just say being in the skilled trades isn’t worth it these days.

I would like to hear your thoughts on it?

 

[Blues]

Whenever anybody asks me if they (or their kid) should get into the trades or become an electrician I tell them, “HELL NO!”

Unfortunately, the same goes for law enforcement...whether at the local, state or federal level...by and large. For obvious reasons.

 

[Murphjd25]

A big thing with the trades, is it really depends where you live and work. Theirs good money to be had, but only in some states and cities…I wouldn’t want to do anything else honestly.

 

[yoko]

Whenever anybody asks me if they (or their kid) should get into the trades or become an electrician I tell them, “HELL NO!”
Damn…. Just wrote and deleted five paragraphs about how I really feel.
Let’s just say being in the skilled trades isn’t worth it these days.

I've done pretty ok, I have a review coming up and I'm sticking it to the new owners with how much of a raise I want, I'm lucky to be pretty good at what I do and the fact there's 0 young people to replace me means my stock is sky high right now

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

I’ve been doing commercial/industrial electrical work for almost thirty years. I hold multiple licenses. My state contractors license (necessary to pull permits) costs $60/year to renew. No big deal. City of Columbus wants $300+ to register my state license and another $100 to my insurance to be bonded in Columbus. I’m already insured but Columbus says I have to be bonded also. I already have other monetary and time costs necessary to maintain my state license.
When I was working for companies they always had 401k’s. They used to pay the fees for said plan and match up to some percentage. They have all been dropping their match. Then they started passing the (entire) fees to the employees participating in the plan. On a quarterly basis, half the money I put in my 401k that quarter would disappear in fees. That is not an exaggeration.
Health insurance - everybody already knows. Paying out the wazoo for a crappy high deductible plan. I’ve been walking around for the past ten years with a perforated eardrum because I don’t really have five grand to drop all at once on the deductible. So instead I deal with a few ear infections every year. My hearing is already impaired on that side and fixing the eardrum wouldn’t improve that situation. So not really worth it (to me).
But what it really comes down to is that you can make better money than I make and have better benefits without destroying your body in the process for somebody who considers you expendable. I know guys that have gotten hurt on the job (or off) and then lost everything because they couldn’t physically do the job anymore. And I’d be in the same spot if I ever got hurt. Too much of a gamble. Too little reward.