Posts Tagged ‘economy’

Ah the joys of public sector unions

Posted: April 30, 2009 by datechguy in local stuff, oddities
Tags: ,

Was at the post office today to quickly pick up stamps since I had a bill or two to pay. I noticed that the stamp machine was down. Fortunately there was no line so I was able to get my stamps quickly.

While there I asked how long the machine was down, the clerk told me that it was down permanently. The order came from on high to shut it.

This didn’t make any sense to me since it would make the normally long lines even longer. It didn’t make much sense to her either but that was the order.

On my way home I stopped at Romano’s Mkt and told the story to Mike. Since the guy who used to maintain those machines lived upstairs of the market he had interesting details to tell.

Apparently my local post office wanted to add another clerk to shorten the lines. As money is tight they needed to move someone to the clerk line. The fellow who maintains the machines was elected.

I asked why he couldn’t just fill the machines in the spare time? Well under the union contract the maintenance of the machine is classified as a full time position, the clerks can’t touch them. This had been a sweet deal for the fellow since it didn’t take 40 hours a week to maintain the machines so he was on easy street.

So the post office had two bad options to choose from: Continuing to give full time pay for part time work, or make him a clerk but eliminate the stamp machines. They choose the later likely figuring at least he would have to work for his pay.

Thus a foolish union rule made a government agency less responsive to the public while appearing as a positive on the accounting books.

As the public sector grows under this president expect to see a lot more of this efficiency all across the board.

I always thought a house was to live in

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags:

To me the value of a house is as a place to live and to raise my children. The actual price never really mattered to me.

So this story doesn’t bother me in the least:

A widely watched housing index shows home prices dropped in February, but for the first time in 16 months the decline was not a record.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities released Tuesday dropped by 18.6 percent from February 2008, slightly better than the 19 percent in January. The 10-city index slid 18.8 percent, compared to 19.4 percent the month before.

For decades I have heard the cry of “affordable housing”. If prices drop doesn’t that mean that housing is more affordable? Isn’t that a good thing?

Why the sex jokes and outrage doesn’t matter

Posted: April 17, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , ,

Yesterday many blogs took MSNBC and CNN to task for using crude oral sex jokes to refer to the tea party protests. The idea that a major media network would do this was unthinkable just a little while ago.

Now today hot air complains about Janine Garofalo appearance on Olberman.

These complaints are irrelevant, as are the ratings numbers. I think that MSNBC has made a business decision and is sticking with it.

I think that MSNBC believes that it would take too much time effort and money to overcome Fox’s lead. If a new personality manages to get a following then they will give them a shot but that’s it.

By catering to the far left they have a ready made audience base that if not a majority is solid. We are talking real true believers. The only attempt they are making to get any kind of non-liberal base is in the morning drive and even then you might notice the most conservative segment always seems to be a 6 a.m. hour.

It doesn’t mean MSNBC will not make a profit it just means it won’t make as much as fox. Long John Silvers doesn’t make the money that McDonald’s does but they make a living and a profit. Their primary customer base is fish based. It is not as large a base as a burger based one but it is a profitable customer base.

Fox is right leaning although it will give some voice to the left to play off of. Their willingness to give that alternate voice a shot and their respect for religion is the reason why they will always outperform CNN and MSNBC. (I think the decision to go full Hannity is a mistake.)

This actually puts the squeeze on CNN. They have always leaned left but are not as unabashedly left wing as MSNBC. That means the “true believers” on the left won’t choose them over MSNBC and the people on the right like myself don’t trust them. The arguement that most people are in the center may or may not be true, but even if it is true that center aren’t news junkies. News junkies have beliefs and opinions. The moderate center would rather watch something else.

So that leaves CNN with the people who believe the “Fox is evil” hybe but are not far left enough for MSNBC. That also include the people who have watched CNN for decades (they were first you know) and watch it out of habit. That is not a growing market.

So we can get angry at MSNBC it won’t matter. This is their business decision that is where their profit comes from.

Our anger will just increase their ratings. The people who would get offended have already left.

Boston Tea Party Pictures

Posted: April 15, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news, Uncategorized
Tags: ,

Here is my Tea party gallery. I like the dog’s sign best.

I really didn’t care of the 1-20-13 Tee shirt. I never liked the 1-20-09 shirts. It seems whiny to me.

People who pretend that this is something that it is not are making a big mistake.

Update: Jules Crittenden was there too.

Update 2: Michelle Malkin has a roundup

Update 3: BTW feel free to download any and all of these photos if you want them, if you use them in a post please credit Datechguy blog. Yes Captain I know I took your Zorro picture without permission two years ago when I did the podcast interview with you. That was wrong and I’m sorry about that. I still think you looked cool in the costume and I’m a big Zorro fan.

Older Entries
Newer Entries