Alaska state employee's pull idiot move with Belarus birth certificate

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Nobody pissed in my cheerios. I just get tired of this dude callin out welfare moms and then livin on the dole himself. I'm not mad at him for doing it (it is legal, afterall) I'm mad at the hypocrisy of it.

We have been through this before and I told you I would rather have my wages upped and not collect unemployment, but this is the system the government and businesses have come up with. I also told you that unless they up our pay if they cut off our unemployment you won't have anyone to build those military bases, missile silo's, air craft carriers, roads, bridges, high rises, and make sure the oil gets out of the ground, to the refinery, and to your local gas station for the fact you won't have the qualified people to do the work....you simply won't have any of it.

Your answer to that last time was you would start riding a bicycle. Maybe on the planet Mars that might work, but if you want to see a country go tits up then you cut out it's main energy source which happens to be oil. You cut out those bridges that are built by code, and the same with the road systems. You live in your fantasy land where everyone in this country rides a bicycle and we do away with our military and airways. Again it may sound doable between a bunch of peeps that don't have a clue on how things work but in reality it's not a reality.

Personally I'd like to see you guys live within your means.

If you get laid off that's not anyone's problem but yours. You either find another job or you survive on the money you already have. What's extremely frustrating about this situation is you know you're going to get laid off every year yet there's a legal way for you to scam the system and continue being paid for doing absolutely nothing.

Like I said above, I'm not knocking you personally (or the guys at your union hall who coerced people into passing those laws in the first place) I'm mad at the hypocrisy of a system that rewards people for doing nothing and the fact that we're all too stupid to fix it.

Live within our means? ####### are you talking about? You think I'm getting rich off of unemployment? You want qualified people to fly your passenger jets then you pay them. You want qualified people to pull your teeth then you pay them, you want these guys to fly up for the oil companies to go work out on the Arctic Ocean so they can do qualified work that demands skilled labor then you better fckng make it worth their while.

For a union pipe fitter these days they are looking at 5 years of apprenticeship. Same with an electrician, HVAV/Control guy, 4 years of apprenticeship for a union iron worker, 4 years of apprenticeship for a union heavy equipment operator, 3 year apprenticeship for a union laborer..used to be 2.

I went through two of those apprenticeships, iron workers and pipe fitters. Do you think I'm going to freeze my ####### off up there for weeks at a time for dime store wages doing work that can't afford any mistakes? Again this is planet Earth not Mars and we live in a world of reality.

Now how much does the guy schlepping car stereos at Best Buy make? Not a fckng clue, nor do I really care. You want to make the money, then give up a chunk of your life and go through the apprenticeship if you make the cut.

It's easy for people to b*tch about things that they don't have a clue on...I see it on those political talk shows all the time. A bunch of dildos in suits talking about what they would do to change this country and how they would fix the price of oil so everyone can drive cheaply. It's hot air is all it is for the fact those dildos have no experience in any other field other than writing columns and talking on air to up their ratings.

This isn't the kind of work where you can pull illegals and shoe salesmen off the street, hand them a ticket to the Alaska North Slope and tell them to start building a pipeline and maintaining processing plants. It doesn't work that way in the real world where peoples lives including coworkers depend on you doing your job being 100% correct. An erupted gas line, a flare up in the drilling pit, a load not rigged correctly for the crane...it all usually has a fatal or near fatal conclusion.

So you get back to me on your plan on how to keep those workers and cut off their unemployment. And save the "living within their means bs". Our wages haven't been raised in years, in fact we have taken pay cuts even when the price of oil has gone through the roof and oil companies are making billions every quarter off of our labor. You raise my wages and I'l gladly say goodbye to unemployment in the off season. You don't raise my wages and then screw me on my unemployment then good fckng luck finding someone to do that work to make this country go around. Nobody gives two fcks about the Best Buy guy selling TV's, but you can bet your ####### they do care about having fuel for their cars, ATV's, RV's, passenger planes, military, etc...

Oil...it's what makes this country go.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Why_Me

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

This isn't really that hard. If you know you won't be working, for example, 4 months out of the year, then you figure out how much of your paycheck you need to put in savings to get you through those 4 months.

For example, if you need $1,000/month to live, then you will need $4,000 in savings to get you through the off-season. If you're off 4 months, then you're on for 8 months. $4000 divided by 8 months means you need to save $500/month while you're working. You need to take home $1,500/month to make it work. You live on $1,000 and you sock $500 into savings.

If your job won't pay you $1,500/month, then you literally cannot afford to work there. Find something else. If it means you have to move to another town, city, or state, that's what you do.

Once you get your budget under control, you start working on a bigger safety net. Ideally you want 6 months wages in savings. That's in addition to your off-season savings. In this example, you eventually want to have 10 months wages in savings during the on-season.

If you're able-bodied, willing to do a little math, and willing to pinch some pennies, there's zero reason to be on the dole, ever.

Way to not read a post. Again nobody is going to do that work with no unemployment safety net unless their wages are raised. Are you getting it?

You find a jet pilot, tell him he's going to make so so wages and work half the year and then nothing afterwards. Good luck on finding those qualified pilots. It has zero to do with budgeting and all to do with paying the money. You get what you pay for in the real world.

Unemployment for us is actually a government subsidization of the industry. The government knows there won't be any workers to do that work without either A: raising our wages or B: giving us a safety net aka unemployment. So seeing how the businesses haven't raised wages, the government is subsidizing them by giving us unemployment. So take it up with the Feds and big businesses. I just want my money one way or another or I'm not going to do the work. I worked to hard to get this far and I'm not going to do it for peanuts. You want trained, qualified, and skilled labor for the job then you pay them to keep them.

Again it's like this. Would you rather have some teenage kid without a clue piloting the next jet airliner you happen to fly on or do you want someone who actually knows how to fly the plane and has a license to do so? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's the latter of the two.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

No, I read it. I understand what you're saying perfectly. You're saying that you want the system to accomodate you, rather than the other way around.

The system is not going to accomodate you. You either work for a living wage, or you go somewhere else and find someone willing to pay you what you're worth.

I'm all about working for a living wage. Show me the money and I'l be there. I didn't bust my ####### for nothing learning this trade, so ya, pay me for my skills. I'm all about that. I don't care where I get the money from...employer, government, Micky Mouse...just show me the $$$.

No pilot in their right mind would do such a thing. They would move on. Asia hires layed-off U.S. pilots all the time. As does South America and the Middle East. Those guys, the pilots who turn lemons into lemonade, they don't try to make the system accomodate them. They pick their butts up and move to Asia so they can do their job.

No pilot in their right mind would do what mox? Work for peanuts? I personally know a few pilots that fly for Alaska Airlines and I know what they make on average so where do you want to go with this?

Our guys follow the work a lot. Iv'e worked up on the slope for a 6 week hitch, flew to Anchorage (2 hour and 30 min. flight from the slope),and was on the next days flight to Nome building a ball mill for a gold processing plant for two months, flew back to Anchorage and was on a Lear jet from Elmendorf AFB to Shemya Island the next day (5+ hour flight) to work on the airbase aka Eareckson AFB on the end of the Aleutian chain right next to Russia. Flew back to Anchorage two weeks later and three days after that I was driving in the middle of winer for 4 hours through a mountain pass to work on base in Galena in -50 temps on underground missile silo's for two months. So do I travel where the work is? Most all of us in the trades to. I know guys from up here working in the oil patch atm in North Dakota. This job requires a sh*tload of travel.

Come on, let's call it what it really is. When you say "government subsidization," what you really mean is "tax-payer subsidization." I.e., welfare. I don't believe for a second that the government stepped in and said, "well since business won't pay a living wage, we'll pick up the slack." That's ridiculous.

Anything subsidized by the government is payed for by the tax payers seeing how that's what gives the government money to function. Would I rather see that money on my wages instead of unemployment? You betcha. But until it changes it is what it is.

If you're skilled, somebody somewhere will pay you for that skill. If you're settling for less than what you're worth, then you have nobody to blame but yourself. And if you're using welfare as a normal supplemental to your income, then you're just leaching on society. Welfare is there to provide a temporary safety net, not to supplement your income.

Iv'e never been on welfare in my entire life, nor do I know of anyone in my family (and I have a large one) that has been on welfare. Most all of us are either in the trades or retired from said trades. You get what you pay for. You want fuel for your vehicle then you pay us. It's all about supply and demand. People demand oil, and guys like me help supply it. I busted my ####### for years in this trade and I have more certs than I could put on a single page in MS Word using small text. I earn my pay not only through schooling, work experience, but putting my ####### on the line in -80+ temps. Work that many refuse to do even if they were qualified to do it. Iv's seen pipe fitters, iron workers, etc.. get off the plane in Prudhoe Bay in the middle of winter, and took the next flight out without ever leaving the airport up there. Iv'e seen other guys last a day or two before they packed it up and left. Those guys are black balled for life from ever working up there again. BP, Conoco Phillips, Shell, etc... doesn't pay peoples way up there to pack it in and run when they can't cut the mustard. You either have the balls to work up there or you go play somewhere else.

btw you don't work any less than 84.5 hours a week on the slope. Your there to work. Most of us put in 100+ hours a week on shutdowns and emergency jobs.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Why_Me

[TBoneTX 47,952]

us wearing full winter gear and you pretty much look like a spaceman by the time your fitted up in the morning. Full balacava, snow goggles, slip on spikes for your boots, hard hat with ear protection...more for the cold than anything, a full thermal pull over that fits inside your hard hat, spot lite on your hard hat, and then the pants w/suspenders, and winter coat make you feel like your packing 100+ lbs on you. All your movement is slow because the snow and ice stick between your spikes and on your coveralls. You take your breaks in the truck drinking coffee to warm up and you have a sack lunch you pack at camp.

This raises the question: Especially when the coffee hits, how (and when, and where) does one relieve one's self? Without a catheter system of some sort, it would seem that responding to urgency (or an emergency) would be inconvenient, if not impossible.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

This raises the question: Especially when the coffee hits, how (and when, and where) does one relieve one's self? Without a catheter system of some sort, it would seem that responding to urgency (or an emergency) would be inconvenient, if not impossible.

Taking a wiz up there sucks. Your talking like a 10min. job, and if you have a small pecker...well I'm guessing that makes it even tougher. It's like peeling layers in sub temps...literally. That Arctic suite (parka, and pants w/suspenders), your Carhartts underneath that, jeans underneath that and then your underwear and/or long johns. And your doing that a lot. You have to camel up on liquids seeing how the cold sucks it right out of you and when you camel up your constantly p*ssing. It's a no win situation. Some guys keep plastic bottles in their trucks for that also...like when your driving down the road and it's a white out with nowhere to pull over and you have to go NOW.

Here's a few pics when I was up there on the union side for Veco working on the field pipe crew. Veco was bought out by an outfit called CH2MHILL. These pics were taken in late April/early May back in... 2005 or 2006.

That's a pic of one of our guys getting ready to lay out lead and posing for the camera.

Here's another pic of our guys setting up a heater trunk for the hooch where the fitter and welder will be working.

Here's a pic of a Peak Oil drill rig that was on that same pad with us.

That's me in that pic on the Arctic Ocean (frozen of course) on our way to North Star Island for an emergency shut down after the pig went through the mainline and blew a hole in it the size of a bowling ball. We were killing time waiting for our escort from the island to arrive to lead us out there.

This is a Shlumberger rig cleaning out a well head on that same pad we were on.

This is the best site you can see up there...the plane out of there.

Here's a welder I was working with on that job..Terry. This guy is an animal. He had a shepard puppy that ate his false teeth when he was passed out on whiskey. He woke up to find his teeth in pieces and he shot the dog right there in the kitchen with a .44 mag. Fun guy to go out drinking with as long as he's not the one driving.

And one last look at that pad. That plastic over the scaffolding is the "welders/fitters hooch". It's a temp set up that keeps the wind off you and the weld. We stick a heater trunk in there so not only to we stay warm in there, but it helps to get the steel/pipe up to temp before we weld on it (along with a weed burner). The plastic is fire retardant and it's a throw away after were done. It's tied on there with tie wire and banana clips.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Why_Me

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Once you get your budget under control, you start working on a bigger safety net. Ideally you want 6 months wages in savings. That's in addition to your off-season savings. In this example, you eventually want to have 10 months wages in savings during the on-season.

If you're able-bodied, willing to do a little math, and willing to pinch some pennies, there's zero reason to be on the dole, ever.

Really Mox? And would you support legislation to end unemployment compensation for seasonal workers? Just end it. That way people would HAVE to do what you suggest and you could tell them "Too bad for you" when they have no money, no way to live. Right?

Has it always been your position that we should not have unemployment for workers affected by seasonal layoffs?

And while we are on the subject of "the dole" you should feel the same about medicaid, welfare, WIC, SSI correct. If you are able bodied...too bad for you! Where is your 10 months income in savings? You are being disingenous. It is patently obvious. It looks foolish

There is a small group of VJ members that run around preaching to people they do not like for various reasons, prime ones are being married to attractive women that do not speak English as a native language and ARE NOT of some background where they could be called racist...hence they zero in on RUB women and men married to them. They do this to protect women from misogyny. They also do not like people that own guns and carry guns (unless it is them, of course, because they are special)And they do not like people who would reform welfare or unemployment UNLESS one of the people married to a RUB woman collects unemployment...then they have all sorts of advice for them how not to need welfare and unemployment!

If they want to say you are a racist, they will, then you ARE a racist. They will say you are a liar and VOILA! You ARE a liar. Asked to give evidence you are a racist or a liar, they all make wise-@ss one line comments and don't answer...but you are still a liar or a racist.

When they are challenged they make personal attacks on the challenger, call in their friends and mount the attck on them personally while carefully never revealing any details about themselves. They are special

Slim, on the other hand, comes by his opinion honestly. He has always opposed this type of compensation for anyone. I will give him that. He doesn't change his tune because someone he likes is collecting it so it is OK.

As for Kip, he is making use of a system that has been out in place by our government, it has been defended by the current President and Congress, it has been extended over and over again by the current congress. Lots of people in construction do this.

Why do they not follow Mox's sage advice above?

** THAT!!!!!!!! They don't have to because they can use the system that has been established by people like Mox. They can buy their big screen TVs in summer and watch that at your expense all winter.

If you don't like it...CHANGE THE SYSTEM! The way to do THAT is begin by not electing Democrats. My guess is that this elite VJ crew is not going to stop voting for Dems.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

For the record I do budget my money. You pretty much have to in this line of work. You never know how long the job will last and if there will be another one around the corner after the current job is finished. We travel a lot when the work is there in a "get while the getting is good" situation. Iv'e had bad years where there was nothing out there and I was digging ditches, roofing houses, whatever it took to make ends meet while living on rice, beans, hot dogs, moose, and salmon. I always make sure my freezer is packed with fish and moose for the winter. When the economy tanked at the end of 2008 they laid off 800 guys up on the slope...shut down entire fields waiting for the price of oil to go back up before they started hiring again. In fact it was because of that I ended up here out in the bush (Dillingham) to take a maintenance job for the city on contract. Work up there just started picking back up a again over a year ago with the price of oil going back up.

Now there's guys who don't budget their money (I was one of them after my divorce) and it's usually blown on toys like new trucks, boats,atv's,guns, etc... or for some of us hotel rooms, booze, drugs, and hookers until we get called out again. I always have my gear bag packed and ready to go. That way if I get called to fly out I can do so withing an hour or even less. You never know when they are going to call and say they need you now ASAP. That gear bag along with certain tools of mine gets checked off twice before I zip everything up and call it ready to go. Nothing worse than flying out to a job and forgetting something that you use (need) and there's nowhere within hundreds of miles to purchase a replacement.

But again until someone finds a better solution than the unemployment safety net then it's what it is atm. Nobody in this trade is going to work for cheap end I laugh at anyone that would expect them to do so.

Walk the talk is what I say. If your going to tell another man how much he is worth in regards to his trade, then you work that trade before giving him advice on how much he should be paid. It's funny how people can give advice on someones trade/job that they don't have a clue on yet wouldn't be caught dead doing that work themselves.

[tmma 467]

For the record I do budget my money. You pretty much have to in this line of work. You never know how long the job will last and if there will be another one around the corner after the current job is finished. We travel a lot when the work is there in a "get while the getting is good" situation. Iv'e had bad years where there was nothing out there and I was digging ditches, roofing houses, whatever it took to make ends meet while living on rice, beans, hot dogs, moose, and salmon. I always make sure my freezer is packed with fish and moose for the winter. When the economy tanked at the end of 2008 they laid off 800 guys up on the slope...shut down entire fields waiting for the price of oil to go back up before they started hiring again. In fact it was because of that I ended up here out in the bush (Dillingham) to take a maintenance job for the city on contract. Work up there just started picking back up a again over a year ago with the price of oil going back up.

Now there's guys who don't budget their money (I was one of them after my divorce) and it's usually blown on toys like new trucks, boats,atv's,guns, etc... or for some of us hotel rooms, booze, drugs, and hookers until we get called out again. I always have my gear bag packed and ready to go. That way if I get called to fly out I can do so withing an hour or even less. You never know when they are going to call and say they need you now ASAP. That gear bag along with certain tools of mine gets checked off twice before I zip everything up and call it ready to go. Nothing worse than flying out to a job and forgetting something that you use (need) and there's nowhere within hundreds of miles to purchase a replacement.

But again until someone finds a better solution than the unemployment safety net then it's what it is atm. Nobody in this trade is going to work for cheap end I laugh at anyone that would expect them to do so.

Walk the talk is what I say. If your going to tell another man how much he is worth in regards to his trade, then you work that trade before giving him advice on how much he should be paid. It's funny how people can give advice on someones trade/job that they don't have a clue on yet wouldn't be caught dead doing that work themselves.

Just want to say that what why_me is saying about the seasonal and shut down variations in employment is 100% accurate for down here in TX too, Mark has said almost the same things ; my husband has done a lot of shutdowns and seasonal stuff for the oil industry and sometimes it's a feast ( 100+ hours a week and good money) and then it's quiet. Nothing for a couple of months. To be honest, he traveled a lot and we got fed up of that and now he has a job that's more or less fixed nearer home

Talking about up there in Alaska, he was headhunted recently to take on a contract up there. He was thinking about it......Brrrrrrrr...I told him how bloody cold it is. He's still thinking :/ Money looked pretty good, I guess.

Anyway, just want to say that down here in TX it's the same as up there in Alaska ( minus the cccccold).

I'll also say this, Mark could have applied also for unemployment and would have done if he'd not been hired for another contract. I can't fault anyone for doing that. As far as I know- if you've not paid into unemployment- you don't get it. he has paid in ( like why_me) and if he had applied and got it whilst looking for another contract....What's the problem? I cannot pretend at all that Mark wouldn't have applied.

[Neonred 3,937]

Great pics Kip. I can't imagine working in those conditions.... as I sit here in the FL Keys sipping my morning coffee. It's in the 70's right now and I'm thinking about getting in the boat and going fishing in a few minutes.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Just want to say that what why_me is saying about the seasonal and shut down variations in employment is 100% accurate for down here in TX too, Mark has said almost the same things ; my husband has done a lot of shutdowns and seasonal stuff for the oil industry and sometimes it's a feast ( 100+ hours a week and good money) and then it's quiet. Nothing for a couple of months. To be honest, he traveled a lot and we got fed up of that and now he has a job that's more or less fixed nearer home

Talking about up there in Alaska, he was headhunted recently to take on a contract up there. He was thinking about it......Brrrrrrrr...I told him how bloody cold it is. He's still thinking :/ Money looked pretty good, I guess.

Anyway, just want to say that down here in TX it's the same as up there in Alaska ( minus the cccccold).

I'll also say this, Mark could have applied also for unemployment and would have done if he'd not been hired for another contract. I can't fault anyone for doing that. As far as I know- if you've not paid into unemployment- you don't get it. he has paid in ( like why_me) and if he had applied and got it whilst looking for another contract....What's the problem? I cannot pretend at all that Mark wouldn't have applied.

Smart move on his part imo taking a job close to home. Nothing kills a marriage quicker than travelling out all the time. And if there's kids involved it's even worse. I'm hoping to get on with the Mat-Su Borough (our equivalent of a county) for less pay but year around work and it will be near home. I haven't traveled out since the wife got here and she's not too cool with the idea of me flying up north this summer to work while she's home alone.

Great pics Kip. I can't imagine working in those conditions.... as I sit here in the FL Keys sipping my morning coffee. It's in the 70's right now and I'm thinking about getting in the boat and going fishing in a few minutes.

You lucky fck! It's -27 here atm. We are so going to Florida one of these days...like hopefully within the next two years. The wife bugs me about it at least once a week. Between the Miami Vice reruns, CSI Miami, and that Schwarzenegger movie "True Lies", Florida is #1 on her hit list for places to see. She has a Ukrainian friend married to a German guy and they just got back from a cruise over there. They flew to Miami a few weeks back from Frankfurt for less than $600 r/t and then took a cruise to Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Mexico.

70's....

Edited January 27, 2012 by Why_Me

[slim 1,533]

Fair enough. Although you didn't address the second question, it's now evening.

- Is it ok to greet you a 'hello' or 'have a good afternoon today?'

My apologies for missing the question. I was too busy addressing the topic and I skipped right over pleasantries. Good morning would be in order although the way things are going it'll probably need to be like the Sgt. Major's good morning. "What are you a f'kin weatherman?"

Unless you're willing to tell us what YOUR job is, it seems unfair to attack someone else's.

He's not attacking the job. He's attacking the fact that this guy is on welfare when he's not working. (And yes, unemployment is welfare.)

So you get back to me on your plan on how to keep those workers and cut off their unemployment.

You know all those record profits you always talk about the greedy CEOs making?

Well, what if all the "free money" the government gave you guys was cut and you were forced to live within your means for the rest of the year? You'd need more money, right? Well, if the government isn't subsidizing your pay for part of the year and the oil companies still need workers.... they'd be forced to pay you more or else you wouldn't do the job.

It's amazing that you fail to see the connection between government interference and corporate profit. You're living proof of it's effectiveness.

Unemployment for us is actually a government subsidization of the industry.

You're so close!

One of these days it's just going to hit you and you're going to say, "holy smokes! Slim was right all along."

If you think he has it so great, why don't you follow in his footsteps and do as he does? It is an expected thing in his line of work in that area! Nothing whatever wrong with it! So how about you just STFU?

I don't think it's great, I think it's wrong.

Most of us put in 100+ hours a week on shutdowns and emergency jobs.

So... taken together with your slow periods and the few months you sit on @$$ doing nothing... that's about 40 hours a week, eh?

would you support legislation to end unemployment compensation for seasonal workers? Just end it.

I would.

No unemployment. Ever.

For the record I do budget my money. You pretty much have to in this line of work. You never know how long the job will last and if there will be another one around the corner after the current job is finished.

What's the difference between doing that for unexpected lack of work and expected layoffs?

You men are all capable of taking care of yourselves. You've shown us repeatedly in this thread how big your ####### is yet when it comes to the free money you turn welfare ####### because "that's just how it is." Like I've said repeatedly, I'm not calling you personally (or your union hall brothers) out for doing something that is perfectly legal. What I'm saying is the hypocrisy of your position(s) in regards to other folks who take free money (while taking it yourselves) is appalling.

I realize you take the moral high ground by claiming you "earn it" but you're failing to connect the dots that the money forcibly removed from all of our pockets to subsidize an industry ends up in the pockets of CEOs and other corporate types you claim to despise.

Yet, in the end... you are the enabler of this process. You participate in it daily.

Stop supporting the CEOs.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

He's not attacking the job. He's attacking the fact that this guy is on welfare when he's not working. (And yes, unemployment is welfare.)

How much does the welfare recipient and their employer pay into welfare? And do they get taxed at the end of the year on said welfare benefits? Get back to me on those statistics when you find out. I pay into the system, as does my employer and I receive a 1099 on any and all unemployment Iv'e collected for said year RE as I get taxed on it.

You know all those record profits you always talk about the greedy CEOs making?

Well, what if all the "free money" the government gave you guys was cut and you were forced to live within your means for the rest of the year? You'd need more money, right? Well, if the government isn't subsidizing your pay for part of the year and the oil companies still need workers.... they'd be forced to pay you more or else you wouldn't do the job.

It's amazing that you fail to see the connection between government interference and corporate profit. You're living proof of it's effectiveness.

Write your Congressman and tell him/her how you feel about it and maybe some changes to the system will be made.

So... taken together with your slow periods and the few months you sit on @$$ doing nothing... that's about 40 hours a week, eh?

Get back to me when you have experienced a 120 hour work week that consist of hauling materials up six flights of stairs on the inside of a mod seeing how a crane won't do the trick from the outside. Otherwise I have no idea what I average from my time on and my time off.

What's the difference between doing that for unexpected lack of work and expected layoffs?

You men are all capable of taking care of yourselves. You've shown us repeatedly in this thread how big your ####### is yet when it comes to the free money you turn welfare ####### because "that's just how it is." Like I've said repeatedly, I'm not calling you personally (or your union hall brothers) out for doing something that is perfectly legal. What I'm saying is the hypocrisy of your position(s) in regards to other folks who take free money (while taking it yourselves) is appalling.

I realize you take the moral high ground by claiming you "earn it" but you're failing to connect the dots that the money forcibly removed from all of our pockets to subsidize an industry ends up in the pockets of CEOs and other corporate types you claim to despise.

Yet, in the end... you are the enabler of this process. You participate in it daily.

Stop supporting the CEOs.

When you get those statistics on how much welfare recipients and their employers pay into the system along with the question do those welfare recipitants get taxed for said welfare benefits then get back to me on that one. I pay into the system, as does my employer and I receive a 1099 on any and all unemployment Iv'e collected for said year RE as I get taxed on it.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Why_Me

[Krikit 1,166]

A number of posts violating the TOS have been removed from the thread. If you cannot hold a conversation without making a personal attack then you will be banned from the thread. One post, without the quoted vioaltion, has been returned below.

I respect someone that has opinions which sometimes differ from mine if at least they are thoughtful and honest in their arrival at those opinions.

Kip is doing nothing wrong. This is typical life for people in construction in northern areas which are affected by severe winter conditions. The option exists for any person to come up and join the crews. I have a couple steel jobs going on right now if you want to spend some days outside in the fresh Vermont air, a new home for Green Mountian Coffee Roasters...mmmmmmmm, smell the coffee?

[slim 1,533]

How much does the welfare recipient and their employer pay into welfare?

I don't care. All I care about is that I pay into welfare.

I shouldn't have to pay welfare for you or her.

[visaveteran1 33]

Great pics Kip. I can't imagine working in those conditions.... as I sit here in the FL Keys sipping my morning coffee. It's in the 70's right now and I'm thinking about getting in the boat and going fishing in a few minutes.

II totally agree. As the American Indians like to say: "Walk a mile in a man's shoes before judging him."

I think criticizing a means of survival in unique circumstances is way off base. Kip's not driving a beer truck in the lower 48...he's almost in a combat zone with Mother Nature the enemy, so to speak.