…don’t need no durn “Rail Clamps”, if you go Battery/RC…
This message of “Political argument” is provided for your entertainment by a distant, associate member of the “Battery Mafia”, of North America, North Eastern division…way far North and 3/4’s East.
Fred Mills said:
…don’t need no durn “Rail Clamps”, if you go Battery/RC… This message of “Political argument” is provided for your entertainment by a distant, associate member of the “Battery Mafia”, of North America, North Eastern division…way far North and 3/4’s East.
Fr. Fred Thank you, I need the periodic reminder. However, since I already have a ZIMO system for my smaller scales I decided that ZIMO in the garden will be just fine. 
I think??!!?? 
But when the time comes for my rotary, that will be battery powered with RCS, including the pusher engine that will be required. The rail clamps are used for the turnouts, they are home made but you know how hard it is to get good help and how QC is a problem with some people.
Hmmmmmmm … yes now I remember! That was one of the reasons to go to handlaid turnouts.
Kevin Morris said:Steve Featherkile said:It's in the implication of the quote you selected: ************* Lazarus Long's input...Kevin Morris said:Kevin, with respect, can you please explain your statement? Where do you find the hatred and anger?
You people are so full of hatred and anger at your fellow humans. It's frightening.Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded – here and there, now and then – are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
Without even getting into the historical and philosophical problems with the main body of the quote, the last line; the referrence to “bad luck”, is incredibly judgemental and accusative. It suggests that you view humanity as a vast majority of people sitting around lazily and filled with resentment at those who have “worked hard and got ahead”.
I’m not dismissing the “luck” bias entirely. I personally have been told I’m “lucky” for having a good job with a good salary. Apparently the 8 years I spent at university had no bearing on my subsequent good luck. But such attitudes are rare, in my experience.
I find in the long run it’s pointless to argue with people about their political views, but from my weeks of lurking here before joining, your opinion generally came across as reasoned and intelligent. It therefore surprised me to hear/read such statements.
I guess you don’t read Robert Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land, and many others. Lazarus Long, a character from another book, was given to ironic statements to demonstrate a higher wisdom. “Avoid strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors…and miss,” is one of my favorites.
The small minority of truly creative people are often despised, witness the widespread resentment of Bill Gates, despite the many good things he does outside of Microsoft. People make their own luck, as you have done, and as I have done.
I am astonished that you think that I view “humanity as a vast majority of people sitting around lazily and filled with resentment at those who have “worked hard and got ahead”.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most folks work hard. But there is a class of people that think that they are “owed” a living, just because they draw a breath. It is a small, but very vocal group, and very much a parasite. That class I do object to. I think you do, also. They are the ones who say that you are “lucky.”
Hummmmmmm for a non RR topic interesting. Later RJD
R.J. DeBerg said:RJ
Hummmmmmm for a non RR topic interesting. Later RJD
Just wait 'til the song about the “Little Red Rooster” is started, that will be one more twist. 
Steve Featherkile said:Kevin Morris said:Steve Featherkile said:It's in the implication of the quote you selected: ************* Lazarus Long's input...
Kevin, with respect, can you please explain your statement? Where do you find the hatred and anger?Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded – here and there, now and then – are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
Without even getting into the historical and philosophical problems with the main body of the quote, the last line; the referrence to “bad luck”, is incredibly judgemental and accusative. It suggests that you view humanity as a vast majority of people sitting around lazily and filled with resentment at those who have “worked hard and got ahead”.
I’m not dismissing the “luck” bias entirely. I personally have been told I’m “lucky” for having a good job with a good salary. Apparently the 8 years I spent at university had no bearing on my subsequent good luck. But such attitudes are rare, in my experience.
I find in the long run it’s pointless to argue with people about their political views, but from my weeks of lurking here before joining, your opinion generally came across as reasoned and intelligent. It therefore surprised me to hear/read such statements.
Kevin,I guess you don’t read Robert Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land, and many others. Lazarus Long, a character from another book, was given to ironic statements to demonstrate a higher wisdom. “Avoid strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors…and miss,” is one of my favorites.
The small minority of truly creative people are often despised, witness the widespread resentment of Bill Gates, despite the many good things he does outside of Microsoft. People make their own luck, as you have done, and as I have done.
I am astonished that you think that I view “humanity as a vast majority of people sitting around lazily and filled with resentment at those who have “worked hard and got ahead”.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most folks work hard. But there is a class of people that think that they are “owed” a living, just because they draw a breath. It is a small, but very vocal group, and very much a parasite. That class I do object to. I think you do, also. They are the ones who say that you are “lucky.”
I once read a Robert Heinlein novel but it was so long ago I can’t remember the plot or the title.
I agree with you on Bill Gates. I have a grudging admiration of Gates, but then I also have a grudging admiration for Warren Buffet, as well as Fidel Castro (though for different reasons).
But I don’t necessarily agree with you on the concept of making one’s own luck. It was a genetic accident that I was born with the capability to do well at university. And it was an accident of birth that I was born in Australia (unstead of, say, Uganda) and lived in a time when university tuition was not only free but the government paid a living allowance to students on the premise that University tuition should not only be for the rich.
Luck plays a big part in life. If you’re born in a trailer park in Arkansas to Billy-Bob and Loleen, you’re going to have a much tougher time of it than if you’re born in a Boston mansion to a Kennedy. OK. There’s the “American Dream” where anyone can rise above their apparent fate (eg, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey), but the Boston child woud have to work equally hard to lose their priveleged position.
And when it comes to “playing the system”, I like to know how much of my tax money goes in welfare to the poor and whether it equals the amount of my money that goes to subsidies to the rich. Which are the parasites?
Cheers (time for a Scotch)
Kevin
PS: I tried to shorten this to just your last comment but I kept getting error messages. Sorry if this post looks long winded.
Subsidies for the rich???
Oh, you mean the people who take the risks and create the jobs so the kid born on the wrong side of the tracks can make a decent wage?
I don’t mind some of my tax dollars going to back up that “rich” man. Or spending some of my tax dollars to entice the entrepreneur to come to my community to start his factory.
Make mine Bourbon, preferably Maker’s Mark. Neat. No ice.
And yes, you did make your own luck. You could have chosen to throw away your God-given talents and sit on your hands, sucking at the teat of the Guv’mint. You chose instead to use what you were given to make something of yourself. That is what is meant by “Making your own luck.”
I think that we agree more than we disagree…
Steve Featherkile said:
Subsidies for the rich???Oh, you mean the people who take the risks and create the jobs so the kid born on the wrong side of the tracks can make a decent wage?..
And yes, you did make your own luck. You could have chosen to throw away your God-given talents and sit on your hands, sucking at the teat of the Guv’mint. You chose instead to use what you were given to make something of yourself. That is what is meant by “Making your own luck.”.
People don’t “create the jobs so the kid born on the wrong side of the tracks can make a decent wage”…they start businesses to further enrich themselves. There’s nothing wrong with making a buck, but don’t try to make it into something noble…In fact, I know of one guy who was griping long and loud about HIS greedy employer cutting his healthcare, but when asked about what kind of healthcare he supplied the employees of HIS side business, said,“I don’t provide healthcare, it’s their problem” Kind of a double standard, maybe?
Sure there are some lazy poor, but there are an awful lot more busting their butts just to try to keep their heads above water. Are there selfish, greedy, arrogant rich folks who want to justify themselves and their actions by saying that if you’re poor it’s all your own fault? yep, seems there’s them too.
Mik,
If you choose to stay where you can only make $10.00 an hour, then you are making your own luck. You can choose to move to someplace where your talents will be more richly rewarded. I have done that on numerous occasions.
I agree, no business is created to give some poor slob a living wage. They are created to enrich the creator (of the business). That is why you created your business, wasn’t it? In the hope of creating wealth for yourself? An important side effect of successful businesses is that they do create jobs that pay a good wage.
Go find one.
Steve, I think you may be a little out of touch with reality and the workforce. Spokane is a prime example of an area that fails to provide adequately for it’s workers in the manufacturing and service industries. Here it’s minimum wage, minus tips for service workers and 8-12 an hour for manufacturing. That is not a living wage. And as far as subsidies to bring in new jobs…Bah. The companies bring in all their own high paid employees from elsewhere and give the locals the minimum wage jobs. Unions are gutless because Washington is a right to work state. The reality is, as has been said before, there are a lot of GOOD people working their a$$ off and not getting what they deserve for their efforts. And going elsewhere isn’t always an option either. How can a family afford to move elsewhere if they can’t afford gas to drive across town? There are thousands of families right here in Spokane that are living from day to day and NOT living above their means that come up broke at the end of the month without a penny to save. THAT IS REALITY.
Warren Mumpower said:Warren,
Steve, I think you may be a little out of touch with reality and the workforce. Spokane is a prime example of an area that fails to provide adequately for it's workers in the manufacturing and service industries. Here it's minimum wage, minus tips for service workers and 8-12 an hour for manufacturing. That is not a living wage. And as far as subsidies to bring in new jobs...Bah. The companies bring in all their own high paid employees from elsewhere and give the locals the minimum wage jobs. Unions are gutless because Washington is a right to work state. The reality is, as has been said before, there are a lot of GOOD people working their a$$ off and not getting what they deserve for their efforts. And going elsewhere isn't always an option either. How can a family afford to move elsewhere if they can't afford gas to drive across town? There are thousands of families right here in Spokane that are living from day to day and NOT living above their means that come up broke at the end of the month without a penny to save. THAT IS REALITY.
Not much different North of the border.
I thought my ears and eyes needed a tune-up when I first heard about the “Sunshine-Tax” here in the Okanagan Valley. Until about a year or so ago employers thought the great weather here was a perfect reason to pay minimum wage. If possible as a part time position with fewer or no benefits for the employees.
But from what I’ve gathered talking with people, those guys who work those jobs don’t seem to have a lot of time to enjoy the weather. Funny how that works.
Guys, I agree that the "Sunshine Tax should be a non-starter. It is Bolshevic (this being a family site, I can’t write what I really want to write but the sound is similar and involves the male of the bovine species). That said, why do the “evil employers” get away with it? Because we let them. I have turned down some jobs in the past because they did not want to pay me what I think I am worth. It is called negotiating. In each case, the “evil employer” met me more than half way, and we had a long and fruitful relationship, i.e. we both made money from the deal. I set my demand higher than I knew the position was worth, and allowed the “evil employer” to save face by not giving me what I asked for.
If you sell yourself short, and accept the lowball offer from the “evil employer,” you are making your own luck. And you deserve whatever you get. Of course he is going to lowball you on the offer, that is his job! He is in business to make money, and you don’t do that by paying people more than they are worth. OTOH, you don’t make money if all you have are employees who accepted the lowball offer. They will be grumbling about how “evil” their employer is, rather than being as productive as they can be. I know of one employer who, if the prospective employee accepts the lowball offer out of the gate, will try to find a way not to hire the fellow, figuring (correctly in my book) that the employee will be more trouble than he is worth.
Don’t tell me that you can’t pick up and move to find a better job. Yes, it will be tough in the short run, but in the long run, you will be much better off. That is how I got to Spokane, there were no jobs worth having in my field in Bellingham, WA, a much better place to live, IMHO. I put everything I had into two U-Haul trucks and carted them across the state. It cost me less than $300.00. I did the same thing when I moved from Sandy Ego to Wenatchee, WA. I couldn’t find a job worth having in Sandy Ego, so I looked elsewhere. Then I moved there.
It is all in the “want to,” as one of my Drill Instructors once said. He said a lot of other things, but as I mentioned above, this is a family site. If you want to bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen. If all you do is sit back and whine about the “SunShine Tax,” then you will get what you deserve. I notice that HJ did not accept the reality of paying the SunShine Tax and formed his own company, which seems to be doing quite well. HJ made his own luck.
madwolf
Steve Featherkile said:
Subsidies for the rich???Oh, you mean the people who take the risks and create the jobs so the kid born on the wrong side of the tracks can make a decent wage?
I don’t mind some of my tax dollars going to back up that “rich” man. Or spending some of my tax dollars to entice the entrepreneur to come to my community to start his factory.
Make mine Bourbon, preferably Maker’s Mark. Neat. No ice.
And yes, you did make your own luck. You could have chosen to throw away your God-given talents and sit on your hands, sucking at the teat of the Guv’mint. You chose instead to use what you were given to make something of yourself. That is what is meant by “Making your own luck.”
I think that we agree more than we disagree…
So I’ll do you a deal. You pay the subsidies to the rich and I’ll pay the welfare to the poor. Which one of us will have more money pilfered from our pockets?
I used to like Bourbon but I got dreadfully drunk on Wild Turkey one afternoon/night and I tend to shun it now. So it’s Glenlivet or Chivas Regal, no ice, no water, no nothin’. No %$@& pollution in my scotch, thanks.
As for luck, it’s easy to “make your own luck” when you have it.
By the way Steve, I looked at your picture in your profile. We look disturbingly alike, including the “blond” beard.
Cheers
Kevin Morris said:
.....................................By the way Steve, I looked at your picture in your profile. We look disturbingly alike, including the “blond” beard.
Cheers
Now that is scary!
BTW I still have to update my picture 
, One day soon, one day soon!
Ummmm, Canada has a military??? There are fewer folks on active duty in Canada’s Armed Forces than there are in the New York Police Department.
In the US, it is the wildcatters who are getting the oil subsidies, not Standard Oil. There was a conference between “Big Oil” and some congressmen recently. A threat was made to cut off the subsidies to “Big Oil.” The response from the oil guys was, “Go ahead. We are not getting anything out of the deal.” As usual, the congresmen had blank stares and said, “Huh?” They had to be told that it was the small, independent wildcatter who was getting the subsidies, to encourage compitition with “Big Oil.”
It was the other way around for me. I prayed to the porcelain god once too often after an evening of Scott’s Whiskey. I could no longer get it past my tonsils. That is when I made the switch to Kentucky Sippin’ Whiskey.
If you insist on not having any luck, you are right, you won’t.
I’m just breaking in those “blond” hairs for Warren. They are not really mine.
That’s not blond…that’s pure silver!!
Warren Mumpower said:Hey Warren,
That's not blond.....that's pure silver!! :D
Does that mean Steve is related to the “Silvertongued Devil”, too???
Steve Featherkile said:
Ummmm, Canada has a military??? There are fewer folks on active duty in Canada's Armed Forces than there are in the New York Police Department.In the US, it is the wildcatters who are getting the oil subsidies, not Standard Oil. There was a conference between “Big Oil” and some congressmen recently. A threat was made to cut off the subsidies to “Big Oil.” The response from the oil guys was, “Go ahead. We are not getting anything out of the deal.” As usual, the congresmen had blank stares and said, “Huh?” They had to be told that it was the small, independent wildcatter who was getting the subsidies, to encourage compitition with “Big Oil.”
It was the other way around for me. I prayed to the porcelain god once too often after an evening of Scott’s Whiskey. I could no longer get it past my tonsils. That is when I made the switch to Kentucky Sippin’ Whiskey.
If you insist on not having any luck, you are right, you won’t.
I’m just breaking in those “blond” hairs for Warren. They are not really mine.
I sometimes change to gin-n-tonic, but it tends to make me speak with an upper class British accent. What!
It’s clear that we don’t agree on the nature of gubmint subsidies to the rich and the poor. That’s fine. It’s just the White Knight in me (and the scotch) that rises to defend the wretched masses.
Cheers
Kevin Morris said:
Steve Featherkile said:
Ummmm, Canada has a military??? There are fewer folks on active duty in Canada’s Armed Forces than there are in the New York Police Department. In the US, it is the wildcatters who are getting the oil subsidies, not Standard Oil. There was a conference between “Big Oil” and some congressmen recently. A threat was made to cut off the subsidies to “Big Oil.” The response from the oil guys was, “Go ahead. We are not getting anything out of the deal.” As usual, the congresmen had blank stares and said, “Huh?” They had to be told that it was the small, independent wildcatter who was getting the subsidies, to encourage compitition with “Big Oil.” It was the other way around for me. I prayed to the porcelain god once too often after an evening of Scott’s Whiskey. I could no longer get it past my tonsils. That is when I made the switch to Kentucky Sippin’ Whiskey. If you insist on not having any luck, you are right, you won’t. I’m just breaking in those “blond” hairs for Warren. They are not really mine.Canada’s military motto: “We may not be big, but we’re small.” (OK. That was shamelessly plagiarised from CBC radio.) I sometimes change to gin-n-tonic, but it tends to make me speak with an upper class British accent. What! It’s clear that we don’t agree on the nature of gubmint subsidies to the rich and the poor. That’s fine. It’s just the White Knight in me (and the scotch) that rises to defend the wretched masses. Cheers
Ahhhhh the Vinyl Café … now if we could make the Southern half of the USA listen to that on Sunday at noon they’d mellow out in no time. Actually with all the top tier Canadian comedians working South of the border I really don’t understand what the problem is, aren’t those 'merican guys paying attention??
Canada does indeed seem to be a nation of comedians. Maybe it’s due to the cold. Does that mean that when the earth warms up we’ll get all serious?
Or maybe it’s a result of the neighbourhood we live in. After all, when you have neighbours like ours, ya just gotta laugh. (Insert little laughing face icon here.)