Healthy vs unhealthy work ethic.

Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 4 months ago to The Gulch: General
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I have been working since I was a kid. My parents instilled in me a belief that if I worked hard and saved that everything would work out. While my wife and I enjoy a nice lifestyle I have already worked more years than most government employees need to retire. Due to downturns in the economy over the years and some bad investments on my part I am no where near retirement. In my neighborhood I see people who make a lot more than I do and work a lot less. I am wondering if my work ethic is misguided or unhealthy. As a retailer I am working 7 days a week during the Christmas season at an average of about 65 hours a week. Dagny and Hank worked long, hard hours and benefited financially from their labors. Eddie Willers worked long, hard hours but probably made a fraction of what Dagny did. Eddie continued to work even after Dagny knew all was lost. Did he have an unhealthy work ethic? Do I?

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  • Posted by dukem 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, you are right. I stay in good shape, mentally and physically, and think this will go well. Problem is it is in downtown Portland, Oregon, which is in the belly of the beast. Not sure how I will handle the leftist paradigm. But it's good money and interesting work.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thank you. That helps in understanding. I imagine it is a strenuous job, even in a management position. When I was working at the bench as a Med Tech, I assumed that I could continue to work as long as I wanted to, because looking through a microscope or pushing buttons on an analyzer does not take a lot of physical endurance. I can see you being scrutinized more narrowly at a construction management exec position.

    Good fortune.

    Jan
    That being said, I am a decade younger than you, and in good shape: I do 2 martial arts and am learning to joust.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Gingrich related at some point in the past visiting France with his family. He noted many of the structures showed evidence of bullet holes etc. He asked if that was WWII. The answer was WWI and the war before that.

    The extension of breaking windows is set forth in Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson. The true cost of a structure, dwelling , factory or town is how many times did it have to be rebuilt other than periodic maintenance? How much did that cost?

    In the military when we kill people and break things both that generation and their structures are a negative sum gain. For those stuck in the 7th century it matters not as their control system does not value life nor the property of others. For the real world advancing yourself or immortality through the chain of your children who live int the same house and did not have to build it three, five ten times.

    Think about that before you send us out to war again. I rather liked breaking things beyond repair. It was great fun. Had it been my house I would have the opposite opinion.

    As a citizen we get to pay for winning and losing and in doing so lose. That's something else that is irrational and needs breaking beyond all ability to repair.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I keep messin' around with these electronic things.......
    and another thing, Rich . . . . . I adore the way you
    welcome the new members into the gulch. . Thank You! -- j
    .
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  • Posted by dukem 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Totally against it. I much prefer the private to the public sector, and I've had experience with both.
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  • Posted by bsmith51 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    1 jump - to satisfy my grandmother (the second woman ever to jump - in 1914) who wanted someone in her progeny to experience it.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You might like the new 2016 budget - or not - lots of pork which means lots of construction. What's your view on that sort of spending?
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    To back that up. My sister's company in Oregon closed it's west coast branch and outsourced the work to some other country. She was the office manager.

    14 months later zero interview offfered.

    I looked at her resume and pointed out two lines.

    "erase these that's your problem.. You say manager they read competition. First get your nose in the door and your talents will be noted.

    We moved her to Florida within a month she was working. She's now number one or number two in the office for longevity, officially retired and is getting that plus 30 hours a week pay for continued working. That's to make up for the Obama devaluation of her retirement fund. She is the office trainer and operations manual author and has consistently refused promotions. Still she's seen as a threat to promotions....Go figure....Incompetent people often band together and make up problems that do not exist. So she said fine I'll figure on getting laid off ....Surprise surprise the head of the operation wants her to continue. three days at 10 hours a day which keeps her medical in force. She chose Friday, Saturday, Sunday night when only one of the staff is on duty. Those days pay more but no one wants them.

    The hard part was getting in the door and having a job. The second hardest was putting up with the BS. She's 67 and enjoys her four days off for what amounts to a full weeks pay.
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  • Posted by bsmith51 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Parachute manufacturing - government contracts. If you're interested, search James Floyd Smith on Wiki to see my dad's parents.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You talk pretty much like every other retailer that I've ever met. It must be some kind of disease we get "Retalis seculorum". Wen I went into the publishing biz with my son, he'd ask me if I'd like to take off early, or how I was holding up when we were trying to meet a deadline. It amused me because to me, 40 hours a week with no weekends was like a vacation. So, working an extra 4 or 5 hours was no big deal. I don't know your age, but trust me, you'll find plenty to do when and if you retire. In my case, retirement was sort of thrust upon me because I had no job when I moved to Florida. For a while, I applied to several different jobs, and you are right, after all those years being the boss, I found it hard to work for someone. Luckily, I found a job that was so much fun and working under people whom I enjoyed that I managed to stay for 2 years. My health deteriorated so I quit entirely and now devote myself to my hobbies full-time and pick up a few $$ writing articles now and then. As to having enough money to retire on, it might depend on the lifestyle you expect to have. In my case, we were able to get everything paid up and we live very simply with a small circle of friends and family. We're pretty cheap when it comes to purchasing and I bet I have socks older than half the Gulchers.Our car is a 10 year old mini van and we keep it in good running condition. This may be more information than you really want to know, but once I start I find it hard to stop.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    http://www.usdebtclock.org/# 18.8 trillion and Part II of the 2008 downturn upon us. The debt has to be paid....The Debt came home to roost. Be interesting to see who gets their money out intact, with interest, before or after devaluation and more importantly repudiation. You asked for ugly I give you. The Great Recession Part II.

    Only the insiders call it the next turn of the wheel on the Cycle of Economic Repression.

    Question is that debt due for the most part before or after Jan 20th of 2017? I smell more balaned budget with a surplus BS.

    And Boehner Part II agreed to another 1.1 trillion in debts, saying done deal.. Democrats vow to not support the extension of the tax breaks meaning guess whose paying for it...come next April and Obama signs an extension so as not to have the non existent government shut down.

    And you really want to vote for these clowns?

    In that case my advise is BOHICA and don't forget to check the vaseline label for percentage of sand.
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  • Posted by wiggys 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    parents of today were also reared in government schools for the most part so they don't know what to teach.
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  • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The Fed thinks we have. They just raised rates and are patting themselves on the back. This economy is a mess.
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  • Posted by mia767ca 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    we never recovered...6 million professional/manufacturing jobs lost since '08...94+ million working age unemployed adults...middle class disappearing...jobs created are waitress/bartender...or minimum wage...savings destroyed by Fed...big banks/corporations bailed out...
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  • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Truth. Another down turn like '08 and things will get very ugly. We have created a lot of Government dependents.
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  • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Good point about Dagny and Hank. They didn't Galt because they wanted to keep fighting. Money wasn't much of an issue. Good luck on the retirement thing. I have often wondered what I would do after I won the lottery. I'll post about it.
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  • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thank you John. Don't do the online thing yet. We have a strong following in town and get to know our customers which I like a lot. The pluses definitely outnumber the minuses. You have had an interesting life. Still time to be the next Edison.
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