07:47 – New Scientist ran an interesting article yesterday, Anglo-Saxon remedy kills hospital superbug MRSA. Researchers recreated a medicine from instructions written down by a monk 1,000 years ago, and it worked. It killed everything it touched, including MRSA.
That’s not a big deal, really. MRSA is easy to kill on the skin surface. What is a big deal is that they don’t know WHY it killed MRSA. Something in that witch’s brew is lethal to bacteria. Once they figure out exactly what was created in that brew and HOW it kills MRSA, they may have something that can be developed into a new class of antibiotic that kills MRSA internally, which would be a big deal.
Jasmine started her new job on Monday, but resigned Tuesday morning. She did the right thing. The company had completely misrepresented the job. Monday morning, she found out that the job they expected her to do was completely different from the job they’d hired her for. They provided zero training and expected her to figure it out for herself, although of course she’d be responsible for her work product. They stuck her in a cubicle with another girl who’d been working there for about a month and is apparently one of the employees who’s been there the longest. The girl told her that they’d have to work into the evening just about every day, but wouldn’t be paid overtime. So Jas went back in yesterday morning and resigned, effective immediately.
Jas, of course, is completely crushed despite the fact that none of this is her fault. She went in in good faith, but the company completely misrepresented everything about the job. As Barbara said, the company is obviously hiring freely in the hope that some of the people they hire will be desperate enough to stick around. The good news is that Jas will be out today, visiting another prospective employer.
Barbara said the Keystone canned ground beef was okay, but she prefers the fresh stuff she buys at Costco. She didn’t like the Keystone stuff as well for beef Stroganoff, but said it’d be fine with spaghetti sauce or in a casserole. I asked her if I should order more. She said it was fine to keep on hand for emergencies, but said I should order only one more 12-count case of 28-ounce cans, so I ordered that last night.
Grocery shopping yesterday, doing my normal swing by the asian supermarket, and decided to count the Spam.
26 different kinds of ‘canned luncheon meat’ in pink, and a few others in turkey, etc. 6 varieties of genuine Spam ™, the rest were a variety of flavors from various manufacturers both domestic and import. I can only surmise that asian people love them some spam!
The variety of canned seafood was astonishing as well. At least 10 feet of shelf, 7-8 feet high, packed with stuff that I couldn’t even identify. Fish were listed by name that I’ve never even heard of. Presumably people are looking for that particular fish above all others.
Lynn had asked previously where to find some of the things I mentioned. No matter where you live, go to a big, flagship grocery, and walk very slowly down the aisle. Keep your head on a swivel, and I think you will be amazed at the stuff you don’t normally see. Stuff that is only given one or two “faces” when shelved. Stuff on the upper and lower shelves. Stocking and displaying items in a grocery store is a science as well as an art, and is extensively studied. The upshot for a prepper is that the best selling, highest margin items are given more ‘faces’ (instances on the shelf) and are placed at eye level. Cheaper versions are placed lower. Items that sell fewer units are given few ‘faces’. Walk slowly and scan continuously. There are probably lots more choices than you realize (particularly in any ethnic section.) This also applies to buying staples that you don’t buy frequently so don’t know where they are, look low for things like rubbing alcohol, salt, UHT milk, etc.
nick
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much every job these days.
I know it is ridiculously popular in Hawaii.
Anytime I have spam (usually when camping and someone else brings it) I wonder why not canned ham instead. Price I would guess.
I have a mexican friend that makes taquitos with a mixture of corn beef hash and canned beef and frankly I could eat one after another. Of course salsa and guacamole included.
“…I have a mexican friend that makes taquitos with a mixture of corn beef hash and canned beef…”
The late James Beard’s “American Cookery” has a recipe for mixing those two ingredients to make a pretty decent “homemade” hash.
Sorry to hear that Jasmine had such a rotten experience her very first day on a new job; good to see that she’s going right back out again. All too common these days.
Another sunny day with blue skies here.
I once quit a job after one week. The job wasn’t misrepresented, but the company was a horrible place. The management ran the place like a gulag. No conversations, no personal items on the desk, counting trips to the restroom, simple office supplies under lock and key, lunches timed to the second. In an R&D environment so much gets done by exchange of ideas in casual conversation. This place was stifling.
The kicker came when the VP told me they were going to build a new manufacturing plant in Romania and I was going to be working on setting up the production lab. I asked him why Romania, what’s wrong with a new plant right here in good ole New England? His response “No waste regulations. We can dump our waste right out the back door without any treatment.” I give him credit for being honest. Not all the waste was toxic but enough was to make me cringe. Some level of treatment and containment was warranted.
I couldn’t stop them from doing what they were planning but I didn’t have to be a part of it. Since it was only my first week I didn’t feel there was any need for much notice and resigned the next day.
Yeah, I was keeping my fingers crossed for Jas, but I wasn’t particularly surprised. It’s a buyer’s market out there for hiring employees, and new college graduates are bottom on the totem pole. I’d really hate to be in Jasmine’s position in this economy. Of course, I’d have a STEM degree, which’d help even in applying for non-STEM positions.
As I said to Kim yesterday, at least Jas has the nest to fall back on. She really doesn’t want to live and work in Winston-Salem, but free rent may become compelling if things don’t work out for her over the next couple of months.
” Not all the waste was toxic but enough was to make me cringe.”
Given the power, I’d sentence that VP to caring for Romanian babies and young children who’ve been harmed by that policy over there and lack of control. Scumbag piece of shit. Amoral bastards like that ran manufacturing operations here in New England back before decent controls were put in place and they knew full well what they were doing.
Just saw two articles online about the hot, sizzling job market for Linux professionals and how managers just CAN’T fill all those positions and just CAN’T find enough qualified people, etc., etc. Hey guys, just grab them from India and Slovakia like you’ve been doing for the past five years. Why bother looking here or, God forbid, training or retraining existing staff? That costs money. And cuts into upper management’s greens fees and boat storage.
Can someone with older kids explain something for me? It’s been 25 years since I left university, and things have certainly changed.
Why are kids looking for a job AFTER graduation?
I worked throughout my university career. I took loans and scholarships too. At times, I despaired as my work obligations were cutting into my study and prep time, and after all, what was the point of working to pay for school if I was too tired to participate in school? In my final years, I was working an average of 40hr/week and attending school full time.
Anyway, when I graduated, I simply continued working at what I’d been doing to put myself thru school. I explored some other options, but in the end, relocated to Cali and continued working.
Is it that college students no longer work? Certainly most of the new engineers at the last company I worked for had NEVER worked. No prior work experience AT ALL. None. I initially put that down to the rigors of a STEM education, but later attributed it to laziness, gen y stereotypes, and helicopter parents.
Or is it that SOME work during college, but work at incredibly menial jobs that they wouldn’t continue a moment longer than school? If so, wouldn’t they be better off taking on more debt and focusing exclusively on studies, possible finishing a year early?
Don’t universities help with job finding any more? I had opportunities for paid internships, and co-op programs, and wide networking opportunities. I worked food service jobs as well as jobs related to my field of study. Working hard, and well, I eventually worked mostly within my industry. Those contacts led to more work later, and provided resume’ and portfolio credits.
Finally, my work history almost entirely comes from referrals and network, and former co-workers. If you aren’t working, you won’t have that. How do kids think about finding work? Are they basically cold calling (in person or online)? Do they really expect someone to hire them just because they have a college degree, with no work experience, when everyone in the country (regardless of ability) is encouraged to get a degree, and lots of experienced people are available?
It seems nuts to me.
nick
Ultimately, it all comes down to the implosion in middle-class jobs. If Jas applies for a job that pays much more than minimum wage, she finds herself up against people 30 and 40 years old (and older) who have lots of job experience and are willing to work for what used to be considered entry-level pay. As I said, it’s a buyers’ market if you have a job to offer, and most employers don’t hesitate to play that for all it’s worth. If you’re just out of school, you’re up against people with lots of experience, so why should they hire you? If you have lots of experience, you’re up against people just out of school, who are up-to-date and cheap to insure, so why should they hire you? It’s a race to the bottom, and the prospective employee who’s the low bidder gets the job. It’s miserable and getting worse every year. And it’s going to continue getting worse unless you’re a government employee or someone else in a protected class. It’s unsustainable but there’s really no solution I can see. That’s why lots of us are preparing as best we can for the inevitable crash.
Sounds like the job market in the US really sucks. Even so, it makes no sense for an employer to throw employees at a job with no training. The quality of work will suck, even for the best employees, if they don’t know what is expected of them. That’s just dumb. Not that knowing this helps Jasmine, of course…
Just out of curiousity, what kind of company/job was it? Or are you not supposed to say?
The nooz media cheerleaders for the state here have reported recently on Vermont’s really low unemployment rate so how that translates to a “buyer’s market” for jobs is hard to figure. I guess it probably means that anyone who was gonna get hired is already hired and everyone else, presumably a tiny number, is either outta luck or not looking anymore or just gave up.
I also worked my butt off all through fourteen years of college courses to finally get my BA and also worked my ass off again as a teaching assistant with a full course load during two graduate skool sentences in Mafffachufetts and Nova Caesarea. Even one of my nieces, who’s been out in Kalifornia for her college years (at $50k per year) has been working internships prior to probably landing a job with the firm upon graduation.
Right now I’m supposedly up for three different IBM jobs again, two of them with my old contractor company based down in upstate NY. So it appears that not all their frantic offshoring has panned out so well. But then again, I’m an old man now, at nearly 62, and probably Beyond the Pale for anything but Wall-Mutt greeter jobs out there.
We shall see.
@OFD: Dunno, you might be just what they need. Limited liability, as it were, as you’ll want to retire in a few years. Anyhow, here’s hoping you snag one o’ them jobs.
I think that so many people are living off the feddies nowadays that having a job is not necessary for survival. The economy is blowing and going around here despite the price of crude oil declining 50% and the price of natural gas declining 25% in the last year. There are commercial and residential construction sites everywhere I go in Texas right now.
I got a letter from SSA yesterday telling me that if I retire in seven years at age 62 that they are going to send me a check for $1900 each month. Or, if I wait until age 67, they are going to send me a check for $2700 each month. I’m not that letter is even worth the paper that it is printed on.
I got a letter from SSA yesterday telling me that if I retire in seven years at age 62 that they are going to send me a check for $1900 each month
Or wait until you are 71 and get $3200 a month.
I am more than a few years ahead of you. I plan to wait until I am 70 to get my SS. School of thought is that the increase is about 8% a year and that is fairly good growth. That is one strategy. Others have said get your money when you are 62 as you don’t know how long you will live or if SS is going to be around. Both plans have compelling arguments. If I remember correctly the lines cross about the time I figure to become worm food.
For people such as yourself, basically anyone above 55, SS will probably be there. I don’t think the chances are high for my son.
You can also look as SS as something you have been paying all your life and it is just being returned to you.
Looks like it’s too late for me. I just went over to the SS website and entered all the data to get an estimate for my monthly SS benefit. When I clicked on Submit, I got an error message, “We’re sorry, but this program has terminated unexpectedly.” I guess they’re not paying benefits any more.
Here’s a real April Fools Day joke. The joke is on the taxpayer.
A teenager who received a life-saving heart transplant two years ago after initially being denied because of his bad behavior has died following a high-speed car chase with police. Anthony Stokes, 17, died on Tuesday after he crashed a stolen Honda into a pole as he fled the scene of an attempted burglary at an elderly woman’s home in Roswell, Georgia.
BTW, Obola is still working on a climate change treaty at the UN for the majority of us. He wants a 30% reduction in CO2 production by 2020. That would require just about all coal and lignite power plants in the USA to shutdown. Plus the petroleum coke power plants. In their place would be a series of high efficiency natural gas power plants.
http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-warn-world-obama-u-n-plan-could-231904316.html
Hold onto your wallets because this is going to be expensive!
” Anyhow, here’s hoping you snag one o’ them jobs.”
Thanks, Mr. brad! If for no other reason than to keep me busy slaving for The Man, bringing in revenue at home, and maximizing whatever I might get for SS in ten years; yeah, Ima gon wait till I’m 71-72. Assuming I make it that fah and don’t go out in a hail of bullets/blaze of glory.
” The joke is on the taxpayer.”
Rayciss.
Very nice. I wonder how many decent folks are out there who couldn’t get a heart transplant but this little shit got one. Under pressure from the usual suspects; yo, what they got to say now? I can guess, unfortunately.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3021384/Heart-recipient-17-dies-high-speed-police-chase-crash-two-years-nearly-denied-transplant-bad-behavior.html
Is it just me or is that pole in the back seat of that car? Do it good!
I got an error message, “We’re sorry, but this program has terminated unexpectedly.” I guess they’re not paying benefits any more.
Now I know you are lying. Any such government program would put you in an endless loop waiting for answer hoping that you will die waiting for an answer.
Is it just me or is that pole in the back seat of that car? Do it good!
Another low life welfare cretin who probably did not pay a dime for the transplant, such transplant being funded by the taxpayers.
If I’m not mistaken, benefits do not increase for an individual after the age of 70–if you wait and draw SS at 70, your benefits top out at approximately 128% of the benefits you would have received at your full retirement age, 66 for most folks born after 1943 and before 1954. The lines cross about 79 and a half years–die before then and you lost money by waiting until you were 70, after and you are ahead of the game. If you have a normal life expectancy, say to 88 years old, SS will pay on the order of 50 to $75,000 more over your lifetime than if you began to draw at 66. All these figures are approximations, YMMV.
All other things being equal, waiting til your 70 is a better deal. Life, however is a gamble, and my crystal ball only works with coal fired electricity.
Ima gon hang until 70 and play the cards dealt accordingly. My last physical has me in better shape than my younger wife and all four younger siblings. I don’t drink, smoke, dope, sing, dance, or go to movies. I cuss a lot but I’m fucking working on that, alright?
Social security of $1900/month for retiring early? My mother, when she passed away a few years ago, received right around $1000/month (she had also retired at 62). Needless to say, she couldn’t live on that. It was only after she had burned through all of her savings that she finally accepted help from us. Them country-folk can be stubborn!
I figure I’ll start drawing 65. Seems to me that I shouldn’t qualify, seeing as I expatriated. But the SSA says otherwise. It’ll be fascinating to see if it actually works.
I couldn’t believe how little my mum needed to get by on. I was earning 5-6x her pension but still needed more.
All other things being equal, waiting til your 70 is a better deal.
I have heard arguments both ways (66 or 70) with valid points on both sides. I think a lot has to do with your current financial situation. If you have enough to wait until 70 it is a better option. If you are cash strapped then the 66 may be the better option.
The way I figure is that if I wait until 70 I will be getting $3200 a month, my wife will be 66 and will be getting half of mine which will be $1600 making our monthly income at $4800 from SS. I have enough to live on until I am 70 when I retire at 65 next year.
For those who have been following I changed my date from February 29 of 2016 to June 30 2016. I really don’t trust the government to get dates correct that only happen every four years.
What I don’t know, and have not been able to find out, is that if my wife draws at 66 does she get half of what I would have gotten at 66 or will she get half of what I am currently getting or does she have to wait until 70 to get the larger amount. The difference is about $500 a month. I suppose the SS office knows but that answer may depend on who you talk with.
my crystal ball only works with coal fired electricity
Soon to be regulated even more, and probably shut down, by the US government over your CO2 emissions.
Even the Trustees of the Social Security System admit that the Social Security Trust Fund will run out around 2033 and that will require reducing all checks by approximately 25%. I guess I am the only son of a lawyer who hangs out here.
I figure I’ll start drawing 65. Seems to me that I shouldn’t qualify
You contributed to the funds, it is your money, you are entitled to the funds. This is not like a gift from the government. I can understand you not receiving medicare or medicaid (those will kill you) but SS is yours.
I do wonder how the government will pay the funds. US dollars into your foreign account? Require you have a US account so you can be taxed, which you will be taxed and will have to file a return? A check drawn on a US bank so it is difficult to cash? Direct deposit in the currency of your country?
How do you apply? Online? Good luck with that process. Here you visit the local SS office. I doubt there is a SS office in your country.
Social Security Trust Fund will run out around 2033 and that will require reducing all checks by approximately 25%
That will never be allowed to happen. Too many people on SS that vote. Congress critters will find a way to extract the money so they can keep the votes.
I see congress raising the contributions from current workers and extending the date of eligibility by about 5 to 7 years. The current 62 becomes 67, 66 becomes 71 and the 70 becomes 75.
There’s no such thing. SS is a Ponzi Scheme, literally. Payments to recipients are from current cash flow. And the outlook sucks. More and more people are drawing checks and fewer and fewer are paying in. It’s an ongoing train wreck, which has been obvious for decades to anyone who looks.
Ray is right about what’s going to happen. The withheld amounts are going to increase for current workers, and by a lot. Payments are going to decline, at first in inflation-adjust terms and later in absolute terms. Eligibility age will increase, but much faster than Ray says. I expect eligibility age to hit 80 or even 85 for people who are currently in their 40’s. Anyone younger will end up going on welfare after their assets have been drawn down.
But the real problem is that there aren’t enough younger people to support all the older people, and those younger people are already struggling. Expecting them to pay for a retired couple to get $60,000 a year just isn’t going to fly. Nor even $30,000. I expect SS payments to end up maxing out in real terms at some fraction of the current minimum wage. And anything you’re getting in private pension payments will be deducted from that off the top.
Yeah, no idea how it will work. On the other hand, I’ll be semi-retired, so I’ll have time to sort it out.
“Semi”-retired, because I really have trouble imagining complete retirement. I like teaching too much, so I’ll certainly keep on doing it part-time, as long as someone will have me…
I expect SS payments to end up maxing out in real terms at some fraction of the current minimum wage.
I think I am safe. To retro-actively have the government reduce what people are currently receiving would result in every congress critter and other elected thief to completely lose any reelection chances. Those thugs will respond when their political office is in jeopardy. I think anyone that is 60 or older is fairly safe with the status. But I would not stake my life on such safety.
I really have trouble imagining complete retirement
My date is about 15 months away so I have time to prepare. Also gives my employer time to prepare as there is no one else in the organization doing my job and there is a lot that has to be learned. They are wanting a four month overlap so I can train my replacement.
It is odd that I feel the same about retirement as I did about being laid off in 1993. I knew a year in advance about the layoff so I was able to prepare somewhat. I spent six months without a job which was actually a valuable lesson. Made myself debt free as quickly as possible after that event. I am much more secure now than I was in 1993 but I still have this uneasy feeling in my gut. Maybe because of the struggles I had with very little income for six months I am still remembering the anguish.
Retirement has been a difficult decision and one which I am not really comfortable with doing. But it has to be done. I am tired of working with lazy, incompetent, assholes.
I have often said if I won the lottery I would give each person in the office, with the exception of three people, one million dollars to quit immediately. Let those three losers run the place and see what it is like to finally accomplish some work.
I think you badly underestimate just what the government is capable of doing when it’s under the gun.
The original intent of SS was to provide a supplemental benefit to keep retirees just at or over the poverty line, and those benefits were originally expected to last only a year or two before the recipient died. Paying a couple $60K/year in current terms and having to do so for many years if not decades is simply not sustainable. Older people can use the power of their votes as much as they wish, but it won’t change reality.
I hope Mr. Ray is right but I tend to agree with Dr. Bob; we can’t rely on the State to just roll on and continue with what it HAS been doing; if faced with a big enough problem, they are eminently capable of sheer panic and hammering down on us little people with whatever they feel like doing. On the face of it, yeah, those of us over 60 may have a shot at collecting SS for long enough. But I tend not to believe it, not based on the State’s past performances in other areas, regardless of how many voters get mad.
Quick example: besides printing up more wheelbarrows of fiat currency and the default being China’s in the near future anyway, what if they just decide, ad hoc, to lop a zero off whatever is in your bank account or retirement fund next year? And add a zero to the cost of oil and gas heat, your taxes, groceries, medical care/insurance, etc.
So you have $100,000 right now in a bunch of funds. Next year it’s $10,000. And your usual monthly mortgage or rent has gone from $1,000 to $10,000. Gasoline for your car is now $40 a gallon. Oil heat from $700 a month to $7,000.
Now what?
And remember that food has gone the same way.
The Almighty State can do that, homies.
They are essentially doing it day by day anyway with inflation. (real inflation being somewhere between 8-12% regardless of what the liars say.)
Anyone with cash savings or fixed income is and has been getting hammered.
I have to raise my rent a minimum of 10% this year just to stay even with my increased property taxes. My current tenants were barely making the rent, and I know their income hasn’t increased 10%. So I’ll probably lose a month and have to clean and paint. Guess I’ll be raising it MORE than 10% to cover that. If your were on SS and my tenant, you’d be looking for a new home, or going on the Alpo diet.
nick