I drive a 5 year old Hyundai Accent and a 7 year old mini-van.I see your 5 year old Hyundai Accent and raise you a 10 year old Hyundai Sonata. ;)
Seriously, though, I've never understood the obsession with having a new card. I hope to get at least five more years out of mine...
Something we can agree on bugley.
I tend to put over 200,000 miles on a car before I even start thinking about replacing it.
But please, for the sake of all that is holy dude, no matter how desperate you get, no matter how hard the road, please...I do avoid Walmart 95% of the time. I don't get why people are all over it though...their prices are good but not really better than Kmart/Target. I usually do IKEA for furniture stuff and Target for households. I also do BJs (it's like a Costco if you don't have them in your area)...Fakey like buying toilet paper in bulk!. I drive a 5 year old Hyundai Accent and a 7 year old mini-van.
My wife's co-workers are rockin' BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc...luckily she has no real materialism so it makes this whole thing workable.Autism fact. 50% of marraiges end in divorce, parents with an autistic child have a divorce rate of just over 80%. Autism can wreck a family, stay strong and fight being a statistic is my motto.
Good luck bro.
Healer, we've been through a bunch of psychiatrists, psychologists, individual and group therapists. Our son is 20 years old now and has stabilized to the point that he's been able to get a job now and then, and keep it for six months or so. He socializes much better than he used to, but he is still struggling to get some sort of focus on his life. Pretty much every therapist or doctor we see pulls my wife and me aside at some point to say something along the lines of "Whatever you are doing to keep your family together, keep doing it. You don't know how rare it is for me to meet still-married parents of autistic kids." I think it's harder on my daughter than us parents though.
Still, enough commiseration about the difficulties of dealing with autism. One thing I've learned in life is that no matter how bad, or good, people have it, many people will convince themselves that their own lives are uniquely and deeply unfair. I think that's just part of the human condition. As tough as our situation is, it could be worse. And while I would greatly enjoy having a fancy boat and a bigger house, I greatly prefer giving my kid at least a shot at being successful in life.
I think most of the people who sneer at Walmart don't have a much higher opinion of the other big-box stores you mentioned. Walmart just gets most of the attention because its more successful. From what I can tell pretty much all of them sell the same stuff from the same sources and have similar policies. For example, Target was the "target" of a national boycott attempt a few years ago.
I'm not kidding or making up the story about Apple products being made by Chinese child labor. Apple went to court over it. They were "very sorry" when caught, but their "internal audits" apparently weren't dedicated enough to have discovered it themselves, or if they did, they didn't care to fix it until they were caught. The same Chinese electronics factory that Apple uses supplies pretty much every consumer electronics company with products or components they use in their products. If you use a cell phone, computer, tablet or television, there's a pretty good chance you have electronic components in your possession that were assembled by people in violation of enlightened labor laws or policies. Not to mention environmental ones. Making electronic stuff is pretty damaging to the environment. That's one reason I sort of snicker up my sleeve when people use their personal computers over the internet to bash companies like Walmart. Ignorance is bliss after all. But, as I said, it makes them feel better about themselves and that's really all they are looking for.
I wonder how many of those Walmart bashers shop routinely at Amazon.com though. Amazon.com has done more to put small businesses out of business than any other company I know of. I personally know three small business owners who shut their doors because they couldn't compete with Amazon.com, and my daughter lost her dearly loved job at a bookstore for the same reason.
But Amazon.com seems to skate by.
1997 Lincoln Towncar, mo'fos.
Don't shop at Wal-Mart's, myself. I try not to shop, actually, except for used books and drugs. But then again, I don't have kids.
Kids change everything, for sure. I can't even pretend to imagine the challenges posed by autism.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Kids change everything, for sure. I can't even pretend to imagine the challenges posed by autism.
One of the biggest challenges is that every person with autism seems to have a unique set of issues to deal with. Human beings are very complex, and when something is out of whack in the brain, the consequences are so unpredictable that they probably satisfy the scientific definition of "chaotic." There's no one set of medicines, therapies or guidance that works for any significant sampling of autistic people. Every one is a new and unique challenge.
|
I drive a 5 year old Hyundai Accent and a 7 year old mini-van.I see your 5 year old Hyundai Accent and raise you a 10 year old Hyundai Sonata. ;)
Seriously, though, I've never understood the obsession with having a new card. I hope to get at least five more years out of mine...
Something we can agree on bugley.
I tend to put over 200,000 miles on a car before I even start thinking about replacing it.
13 year old S10 and a 3 year old Corolla. Hoping to go 7 more years before having to replace my Chevy.
But please, for the sake of all that is holy dude, no matter how desperate you get, no matter how hard the road, please...I do avoid Walmart 95% of the time. I don't get why people are all over it though...their prices are good but not really better than Kmart/Target. I usually do IKEA for furniture stuff and Target for households. I also do BJs (it's like a Costco if you don't have them in your area)...Fakey like buying toilet paper in bulk!. I drive a 5 year old Hyundai Accent and a 7 year old mini-van.
My wife's co-workers are rockin' BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc...luckily she has no real materialism so it makes this whole thing workable.Autism fact. 50% of marraiges end in divorce, parents with an autistic child have a divorce rate of just over 80%. Autism can wreck a family, stay strong and fight being a statistic is my motto.
Good luck bro.Healer, we've been through a bunch of psychiatrists, psychologists, individual and group therapists. Our son is 20 years old now and has stabilized to the point that he's been able to get a job now and then, and keep it for six months or so. He socializes much better than he used to, but he is still struggling to get some sort of focus on his life. Pretty much every therapist or doctor we see pulls my wife and me aside at some point to say something along the lines of "Whatever you are doing to keep your family together, keep doing it. You don't know how rare it is for me to meet still-married parents of autistic kids." I think it's harder on my daughter than us parents though.
Still, enough commiseration about the difficulties of dealing with autism. One thing I've learned in life is that no matter how bad, or good, people have it, many people will convince themselves that their own lives are uniquely and deeply unfair. I think that's just part of the human condition. As tough as our situation is, it could be worse. And while I would greatly enjoy having a fancy boat and a bigger house,...
no words to describe the immense amount of respect I have for you in keeping your family together. Teared up when I read your kid is able to work now for a few months at a time. I hope he reaches the stage where he van work longer. And you and your wife together through it all? Wonderful. Is your daughter still living at home? Things sometimes improve when the non autistic child moves out and gets a place of their own.
With respect to cell phones and Wal-Mart, there are a LOT of pie in the sky dreamers looking for f financing so they can get a more ethical phone on the market for the former (there was an interesting block-based one up on you tube the other day where you paid for each component you wanted resulting in varying prices for phone and you only dealing with the individual companies you wanted to support), and there are a lot of people fighting Amazon by trying to help smaller businesses get a web presence on the latter.
Freehold, one of the small business owners that Amazon put out of business was my brother. He now has an Amazon seller account and works out of his home, keeping his stock in his garage. He is (barely) still able to pay his bills, but largely because his wife works full time. Back before Amazon he was making enough money in his brick and mortar store that he quit his job as an attorney. Now he's barely scraping by, and he is somewhat bitter that he has to make what he can by hanging on the shoelaces of the very company that put him out of business, meaning he is making THEM even richer.
But markets, economies and societies change and evolve. While I find it painful that the US job market is being affected by the moving of jobs to previously destitute economies like India and China, a growing part of me simply feels like Chinese and Indian people need jobs too, and a world where China and India are developing a vibrant middle class, even at the expense of some of the West's affluence, is probably a better, more stable and happier world. So I find it difficult to be too upset that Indians or Chinese are now doing jobs that used to be done by Americans.
The bottom line is that the world is inexorably moving to a single world economy whether we like it or not.
The elephant in the room around all this conversation is the fact that most of the jobs people do today will be replaced by automated systems within the next 50 to 100 years. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg when we look at the economic impact of technology and world trade.
What will the world do when we have ten billion people and only a billion or so are doing work that actually provides economic value?
It's a big problem to solve.
|
|
But markets, economies and societies change and evolve. While I find it painful that the US job market is being affected by the moving of jobs to previously destitute economies like India and China, a growing part of me simply feels like Chinese and Indian people need jobs too, and a world where China and India are developing a vibrant middle class, even at the expense of some of the West's affluence, is probably a better, more stable and happier world. So I find it difficult to be too upset that Indians or Chinese are now doing jobs that used to be done by Americans.
I feel similarly. It's rough for America, but I can't support the notion that we should be comfortable at the expense of other countries. Growing pains have to be suffered.
Teared up when I read your kid is able to work now for a few months at a time. I hope he reaches the stage where he van work longer. And you and your wife together through it all? Wonderful. Is your daughter still living at home? Things sometimes improve when the non autistic child moves out and gets a place of their own.
Thanks for the words of support Freehold. I long ago accepted that the single great challenge of my life would be dealing with these issues.
My daughter is currently at home, but she has been away at college and spent some time working in Florida and California. She is a great daughter and I am deeply proud of her accomplishments and life choices. But it is fair to say that she does not deal well with her brother. Things are definitely easier to manage when she is on her own. But that doesn't mean "easy to manage" just "easier."
I will say this, and no doubt I will get slammed and attacked again for having the audacity to say such a thing, but what the heck, I'm going to say it anyway.
I socialize, and I work full time. That means I get to know other people, other parents and I hear them talk about their challenges and their struggles.
And I know, I mean I KNOW that they really see their struggles and problems as earth-shaking problems that deserve great sympathy and respect from others.
But honestly, 99% of what I hear people b&@+~ and moan about when dealing with their family and kids makes me just shake my head. I am not kidding at all when I say that the vast, vast majority of what other people call "problems" sounds to me like living a life of ease and comfort in a world without problems. I find myself biting my tongue and thinking "I hope you never have to deal with an actual, real crisis if this is how you handle your daughter having a new boyfriend."
What will the world do when we have ten billion people and only a billion or so are doing work that actually provides economic value?
It's a big problem to solve.
Presumably, global wealth will be higher than it is today (almost must be, by definition). So of course I think the solution is simple -- better distribution (well, simple in theory).
|
Teared up when I read your kid is able to work now for a few months at a time. I hope he reaches the stage where he van work longer. And you and your wife together through it all? Wonderful. Is your daughter still living at home? Things sometimes improve when the non autistic child moves out and gets a place of their own.Thanks for the words of support Freehold. I long ago accepted that the single great challenge of my life would be dealing with these issues.
My daughter is currently at home, but she has been away at college and spent some time working in Florida and California. She is a great daughter and I am deeply proud of her accomplishments and life choices. But it is fair to say that she does not deal well with her brother. Things are definitely easier to manage when she is on her own. But that doesn't mean "easy to manage" just "easier."
I will say this, and no doubt I will get slammed and attacked again for having the audacity to say such a thing, but what the heck, I'm going to say it anyway.
I socialize, and I work full time. That means I get to know other people, other parents and I hear them talk about their challenges and their struggles.
And I know, I mean I KNOW that they really see their struggles and problems as earth-shaking problems that deserve great sympathy and respect from others.
But honestly, 99% of what I hear people b*#$~ and moan about when dealing with their family and kids makes me just shake my head. I am not kidding at all when I say that the vast, vast majority of what other people call "problems" sounds to me like living a life of ease and comfort in a world without problems. I find myself biting my tongue and thinking "I hope you never have to deal with an actual, real crisis if this is how you handle your daughter having a new boyfriend."
Exactly. And at the same time I have a cousin who was born with water on the brain and a host of issues who is now 23 living in assisted care and I saw my aunt raising her. My problems are like fleas to a dog compared to what hers were and still are. I count my blessing every day that my son is as mildly "hit" with autism as he is. Taking him to therapies earlier on and seeing severely autistic kids with helmets and pads to protect them from themselves has given me a ton of perspective. Some days I would drop off my son and sit in the parking lot crying. Not for him but for the other parents and how tough it must be for them.
My sister meanwhile is b*$~&ing about how she can't afford her rent and wants to borrow money and if I look on facebook I can see that she ate out 3 times this week at fancy restaurants, got her mani/pedi, and had her hair colored and styled. Sure, ask us for the money.
Healer, I hear you. Our son is high functioning, and we are truly blessed by how much he is capable of doing in his life. He has a chance at least, which is all anyone can really say. He will have to work much, much harder than most folks to achieve even basic success, but so far he wants to do it, and he's making progress.
Good luck man. Fight the good fight for the invisible victories nobody understands. Those are the most important ones anyway.
I would hope we would have evolved to the point where we could have people working and supporting the rest of the people who don't contribute economically. Possibly rotating the duties of economically sustaining work so that everyone shares the work and profits without having to work year-round.
Or everyone works, just for fewer hours, and the resulting wealth is distributed in such a way that everyone working earns a living wage. Which seems to me to be the best solution. Unfortunately, right now wealth is getting more concentrated, which means ever greater numbers of people will just be unemployed and destitute.
Seems legit. :P
I think the reality of technology that powerful and pervasive is that we need a new economic model, one not based on "making stuff". I don't know what it will be, and I've seen tons of futurist predictions most of which crack me up they are so silly.
I actually think that, of all things, Star Trek might have the most workable model. "Money? What's that?"
I think the reality of technology that powerful and pervasive is that we need a new economic model, one not based on "making stuff". I don't know what it will be, and I've seen tons of futurist predictions most of which crack me up they are so silly.
I actually think that, of all things, Star Trek might have the most workable model. "Money? What's that?"
Heaven knows I don't have the answer. If I did, I'd be rich. But traditional methods of valuing labor seem increasingly inadequate. Especially if we ever reach something like the singularity.
Honestly my most nightmarish fear is that it is the Kim Kardashians of the world who will become the model of a future economic model. With little to nothing that humans can make to sell, we will end up in a world where we essentially are selling ourselves.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What do you think you're doing now?
Hmm... I'll say that among other things I'm avoiding near-fatal levels of cynicism...
I think the reality of technology that powerful and pervasive is that we need a new economic model, one not based on "making stuff". I don't know what it will be, and I've seen tons of futurist predictions most of which crack me up they are so silly.
I actually think that, of all things, Star Trek might have the most workable model. "Money? What's that?"
As our population grows (which Malthusian models suggest it will as long as we keep feeding people who don't work), we will keep doing irreparable damage to our global ecology. In many ways, we've already plucked the easy resources, the remaining resources are going to cost more to extract. By "cost more", I do include "cause more irreparable damage to our global ecology".
So, it becomes more and more important to focus on efficiency and reusability (this is not, I must stress, a perfect solution - there is no perfect solution other than to shrink our global populartion - efficiency and reusability are merely things that will soften the strain a bit).
Our new economy will be based not on production, but on efficient distribution. That requires complexity which our schools just aren't providing an education in (see the Common Core as an example of our schools' failure). It requires risk management, security, the development of polymaths (people who can understand how politics, finance, engineering, etc. all interoperate). Most importantly, it requires school reform.
You know, I hear this all the time, that utilizing the world's resources necessarily means that the ecology will suffer in direct proportion to the utilization of resources.
Of course this is directly contradicted by the evidence of resource exploitation and utilization in the USA and the West in the past 50 years, where increased exploitation has occurred at the same time that environmental impacts have been reduced. And technology will just improve that record in the future. The USA, for example, is far cleaner today than it was in 1965, and is getting cleaner all the time.
This idea that resource exploitation necessitates ecological damage is a matter of faith, not science or historical evidence.
The rest of this comment seems to me to completely miss the point about the reality of technology and automation making most jobs obsolete. It's not about distribution of resources, it's about HOW WE DECIDE to distribute resources in a world without jobs. Technology and automation will take care of the actual distribution once policy decisions are made about who gets what and why.
I also do BJs
You may start getting PM's from Anklebiter...
Of course this is directly contradicted by the evidence of resource exploitation and utilization in the USA and the West in the past 50 years, where increased exploitation has occurred at the same time that environmental impacts have been reduced. And technology will just improve that record in the future. The USA, for example, is far...We've been exporting our production overseas for most of the past 50 years - into countries which are not so heavily regulated - and, so, while the US is cleaner, global pollution is much worse.
As for the assertion that there will be no jobs of any kind in the future (assuming I understand that to be the assertion), even if that were to happen, it won't happen until the singularity, which will be in the -distant- future (assuming it happens, which is a matter of faith).
And those "overseas" countries are learning the same lessons and will take many of the same actions. Pollution and ecological damage actually happens to be a somewhat self-correcting problem since it is in humanity's best interest to not crap in our pantry.
I above stated that it is likely that ten percent of the eventual population will end up in "productive" jobs, so nowhere did I or anyone else say "all jobs will go away."
I'm not sure what you think the "distant future" is, but I am 95% certain that the singularity is closer than you think.
Depends on what version of singularity you mean, certainly the original sense (that 'humans' are no longer recognizable to us as human) I don't think it's that close.
When I refer to the Singularity, I am referring to the Ray Kurzweil version, which Ray defined as the point of technological impact that would be so profound that it is impossible to predict what was on the other side.
I think we're probably within a hundred years of that. Frankly I think that the main thing stopping us from achieving it is energy technology. Fusion technology or mini-thorium reactors implemented across the world would, I think, be the key event that will trigger the singularity.
We'll see. If I'm right some of us will live to see that day. If I'm wrong, oh well.
We're also seeing "Free Trade" agreements that subject a countries internal regulations to international jurisdiction. Only when they infringe on business, of course.
I wonder what it's like going through life constantly hating on the very things that drive the world's wealth and prosperity...
We're also seeing "Free Trade" agreements that subject a countries internal regulations to international jurisdiction. Only when they infringe on business, of course.I wonder what it's like going through life constantly hating on the very things that drive the world's wealth and prosperity...I often wonder the same thing about conservatives.
But then I may have a different take on what drives the world's wealth and prosperity.
And note that "Free Trade" agreements aren't the same thing as free trade, necessarily. They're just called that.
Do you really think that allowing companies to sue countries over environmental or labor regulations in special courts outside the countries in question that are required to base their decisions on costs to investors, not on sovereignty or the well-being of the local population are what drives the world's wealth and prosperity?
What, exactly, have I hated on jeff? What snide comments have I made about any institution or ideology?
I haven't. You have. And your response to being called out on it is to accuse me of YOUR behavior in the hopes that simply accusing me of it will convince people that it's true.
It's not. I am willing to look at things without a predetermined notion about "business" OR "government" being the problem.
Because my view of the world is that business performs a valuable service and so does government. Sometimes they conflict and there are things to work out, but neither of them is "good" or "bad." Both are just collections of human beings trying to do what they believe is in the best interest of themselves and their customers/constituencies.
For every corrupt businessman I can find a corrupt government official and vice versa. In most cases if a country is having problems with some business "raping" them, it's because there are corrupt government officials allowing it and profiting from it.
Anyway, it's pointless trying to be reasonable and rational on the internet. Take whatever naive and simplistic view of the world that makes you feel superior to other people. Again, I really don't care.
We're also seeing "Free Trade" agreements that subject a countries internal regulations to international jurisdiction. Only when they infringe on business, of course.I wonder what it's like going through life constantly hating on the very things that drive the world's wealth and prosperity...I often wonder the same thing about conservatives.
But then I may have a different take on what drives the world's wealth and prosperity.
And note that "Free Trade" agreements aren't the same thing as free trade, necessarily. They're just called that.
Do you really think that allowing companies to sue countries over environmental or labor regulations in special courts outside the countries in question that are required to base their decisions on costs to investors, not on sovereignty or the well-being of the local population are what drives the world's wealth and prosperity?
What, exactly, have I hated on jeff? What snide comments have I made about any institution or ideology?
I haven't. You have. And your response to being called out on it is to accuse me of YOUR behavior in the hopes that simply accusing me of it will convince people that it's true.
It's not. I am willing to look at things without a predetermined notion about "business" OR "government" being the problem.
Because my view of the world is that business performs a valuable service and so does government. Sometimes they conflict and there are things to work out, but neither of them is "good" or "bad." Both are just collections of human beings trying to do what they believe is in the best interest of themselves and their customers/constituencies.
For every corrupt businessman I can find a corrupt government official and vice versa. In most cases if a country is having problems with some business "raping" them, it's because there are corrupt government officials allowing it and profiting from it.
Anyway, it's pointless trying to be...
You have also made snide comments regarding My political views in the past.
Again, I don't really care.For someone who doesn't care you sure talk a lot.
I just like to talk. Or type. Or whatever. And when someone says something silly, I like pointing it out. I don't care what people glom onto in order to give themselves a sense of superiority, but I don't mind poking holes in their inflated egos. It's a hobby when I'm bored between meetings.
Justin, it wasn't the "Free Trade" reference that triggered my response to thejeff. It was his casual "only when they infringe on business" comment which I interpreted as a general slam on business. That's in part due to other comments from thejeff in this and other threads.
You have also made snide comments regarding My political views in the past.
In the heat of battle I might have, but I don't offer such comments casually or unprovoked. And I suspect what you see as my "snide comments" are probably times when I have taken accusations pointed at one ideology and demonstrated that they apply equally to other ideologies.
I really don't care much what your ideology is, but when you or others start slamming ideologies you oppose I tend to point it out.
I do it both ways, by the way. I defend liberals when conservatives attack.
On these boards it's generally the other way around though. In my experience anyway. This little exchange would be a good example. Jeff makes a comment that I believe demonstrates his personal animosity towards business, and I point it out and jeff responds with a general attack on conservatives, even though I said absolutely nothing about progressive or liberals or whatever label is the "in" label today.
Justin, note that when I disagree with you that I don't resort to condescension or *laughing* at you. I just state my case and tell you where I disagree. I suppose we will learn which of us is right in 40 years or so. If I'm still around, I'll admit if I was wrong. But if I turn out to be right, I still won't *laugh* at you.
Jeff, I think your general attitude about business has been established already. But perhaps in this case you have a point and I allowed past comments to color my interpretation of your intent. It's possible. If so I apologize for this particular exchange.
Jeff, I think perhaps our last two messages crossed. I'll admit that I jumped the gun on this one and should have let your comment go without my own admittedly snide comment aimed at you personally.
I need to be better than that. Not sure why I did it either, I'm actually in a pretty good mood today. I can't claim to have been provoked either by you or by circumstances.
I sincerely apologize and wish I had watched my tongue better. Or fingers. Whatever. :)
Justin, note that when I disagree with you that I don't resort to condescension or *laughing* at you. I just state my case and tell you where I disagree. I suppose we will learn which of us is right in 40 years or so. If I'm still around, I'll admit if I was wrong. But if I turn out to be right, I still won't *laugh* at you.I'd never laugh at you. I was laughing at your comment. Well, I'd laugh at you if you were belligerantly stupid, but you're not and I've never known you to be.
I'm afraid that I don't quite recognize your distinction between laughing at me as compared to laughing at "my comment." That's a distinction without a difference as far as I can tell.
But c'est la vie. You see it one way, I see it another. I think we are closer, you think we are further. Time will tell. I will make this point in support of my contention that 100 years is probably more than enough to get there. 100 years ago we had barely begun to utilize automobiles, airplanes were a shocking sight and electricity was barely in use outside of lighting a few homes in rich neighborhoods of a few cities.
100 years from now? Hard to even imagine based on that comparison. Certainly people 100 years ago could barely fathom where we are now. I think it's fair to say that things will change more in the next 100 years than in the past 100 and the past 100 years has proven to be about all the human race can handle.
I am not a millionaire because the week that the powerball was my numbers was the week I didn't buy a ticket because I was broke. ;_;
If you liked NAFTA, you'll love the the TPP!
.
Post your Top Ten List of "How To Become a Millionaire":
.
1. Be born one. (that'll do it)
.
Post your Top Ten List of "How To Become a Millionaire":
.
1. Be born one. (that'll do it)
2. Stop wasting time on the Paizo forums and do something that will earn money. (You're given about 120,000 billable hours in your lifetime. At $10/hr, that's $1.2MM.)
.
3. Start a religion.
.