Food stamps and Sushi

[NoBanStan]

9 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Agreed.  

Unfortunately amassing the skills to make that transition may be as significant as the ones people in low skill jobs face today. 

I probably have the, "learn to code and you'll always be able to feed your family" conversation at least once a week.  There is so little motivation to move when the pressure is low, though.  And when times do get tough - then it's almost always too late.  

As the saying goes, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

As an infrastructure guy I certainly see this coming. I see it with older generations in my field as well. Those who refused to learn anything beyond the AS400 or never picked up AD after Novell. Virtualization scared off a lot of my breed and now it's IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. It's like that with anything IT related. You either get current and see distant or you find some backward thinking shop that hates the cloud and make the same paycheck until the day they shut down.

[A.J. Holst]

http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/

All you workers get busy, a lot of people depend on your earnings.

I'm doing my part by contributing a 5 figure income to .gov through payroll deduct. 

[mikegideon]

1 hour ago, ReeferMac said:

Precisely my predicament and what happened when I experienced hard-times myself. I have a B.A. in Graphic Design, and a 20-year career in the printing industry. I work(ed) with hi-tech computerized equipment automating the back-end of things, and now 'my job' pays $12.50/hr (employers are still expecting a degree and experience). I drive a produce truck for a Sysco-subsidiary b/c it pays $400/wk more than I can make w/ my 20-year career in the print-biz.

Evolve, adapt, onward... sitting on  my duff w/ a 'disability' or on food-stamps was never a permanent option (but I was one of those 99-week's on UI way back when). I worked w/ a paving company that helped me get my CDL, and I've been gainfully employed ever since. Not what I invested 25-years of my life in, but, I pay my bills and take care of my family. Frankly, I haven't made this kind of money in 15-years!

I have a few friends that were in the printing business. That's a tough one. Like I said... glad I'm old.

[mikegideon]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

Agreed.  

Unfortunately amassing the skills to make that transition may be as significant as the ones people in low skill jobs face today. 

I probably have the, "learn to code and you'll always be able to feed your family" conversation at least once a week.  There is so little motivation to move when the pressure is low, though.  And when times do get tough - then it's almost always too late.  

As the saying goes, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

But, can't I make six figures dreaming up social justice programs?  No matter what, there will always be smart folks behind the flow of money. Doesn't always have to be highly skilled. Just has to be close to the real money.

[mikegideon]

59 minutes ago, NoBanStan said:

As an infrastructure guy I certainly see this coming. I see it with older generations in my field as well. Those who refused to learn anything beyond the AS400 or never picked up AD after Novell. Virtualization scared off a lot of my breed and now it's IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. It's like that with anything IT related. You either get current and see distant or you find some backward thinking shop that hates the cloud and make the same paycheck until the day they shut down.

No sweeter music than an AS400 bouncing off the bottom of an empty dumpster. I still have some twinax connectors stuck back somewhere.

[n0rlf]

Improvise, overcome, adapt! I heard that somewhere. Learn to think ahead and plan for the future rather than live in the moment. The old adage grow and move, or die comes to mind. Good points about evolving. Too many folks have the I am here and that is enough mentality. Until someone comes up with a better mousetrap and all of sudden you are no longer relevant. 

There are a few jobs that will be around for quite a while. Transportation, aviation, health care, construction, technology (If current and forward thinking), and government (Spit spit) come to mind. Do a little research into a career before attending school and it might just pay off. Or not and you can always rely on the old, "Will that be here or to go?" Phrase.

Oops, maybe not as kiosks are taking that over now thanks to the great unwashed wanting $15 per hour to flip fish and broil burgers. Remember when that was a job for teenagers to make a little spending money? Well now it is the latest opportunity for folks that do not think forward enough or plan well enough to do better. Yeah there are a few trapped by circumstances but most of those are due to bad decisions.

 

Remember what the Judge said, "Well, the world needs ditch diggers too!"

 

[Sam1]

5 hours ago, BigK said:

If they're smart, they transition to the team that writes the APIs.

Or you could go into a field that will never end, like IT-business/strategic alignment.  It's sort of like the 'performance management' field that all these businesses spend hundreds of millions of dollars on every year and it's the same thing as it was in the 60's.  The only changes are the flavor of the day catchphrases. 

[Sam1]

5 hours ago, NoBanStan said:

As an infrastructure guy I certainly see this coming. I see it with older generations in my field as well. Those who refused to learn anything beyond the AS400 or never picked up AD after Novell. Virtualization scared off a lot of my breed and now it's IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. It's like that with anything IT related. You either get current and see distant or you find some backward thinking shop that hates the cloud and make the same paycheck until the day they shut down.

Yep, I start a new job on Oct 3 and the first thing they did when deciding was to pull me off the current job for a week to attend a vSphere bootcamp... And then then last week they upgraded to a newer version so I have to go to the same thing for the new version...

yay, can't wait /sarcasm.

[NoBanStan]

Yep, I start a new job on Oct 3 and the first thing they did when deciding was to pull me off the current job for a week to attend a vSphere bootcamp... And then then last week they upgraded to a newer version so I have to go to the same thing for the new version...

yay, can't wait /sarcasm.

I barely even pay attention to what vmware is doing these days. They're losing the race pretty handily..stinks, I really liked them.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[NoBanStan]

5 hours ago, mikegideon said:

No sweeter music than an AS400 bouncing off the bottom of an empty dumpster. I still have some twinax connectors stuck back somewhere.

Depending on the age of the AS400, your dumpster might not be substantial enough for it. Especially if you're ditching DASD along with it!

I'll never forget the time an old employer sent me to configure a disaster recovery site in Orange County CA. Along side our vmware servers, NAS and switch, we had to power up a 400. the DASD cabinet was on rollers which worried the VP at that office because of quakes. About that time I look up and notice that they had sprinklers in their datacenter. I asked him about it and found out that Halon was illegal in CA. News to me....

At about 1am I finally got around to plugging up the 400. I hook up that monochrome monitor and plug in my RJ11 connector, curly cord keyboard. lol

I've got my headphones on, jamming out to some metal and i hear this "craaaaaacccccckkkkk" over the music. I look up and the monochrome monitor literally burps a mushroom cloud of smoke, spews some sparks and then bursts into flames.

Total. Bleeping. Panic.

The monitor was sitting on top of the DASD cabinet and the flames were damn near the sprinkler head. I didn't know where a fire extinguisher was so I boot the door open, grab the monitor and take off sprinting. Notice I didn't say I unplugged it first.... Me, the monitor, the steel girders they call cabling, the keyboard and the 400 go flying out the door. I spotted a fire extinguisher about 7 cubes down. The 400 caught on the door frame so I just jerked as hard as possible and ripped the cable. Chucked it on the floor and hammer this thing with the extinguisher.

After it was out, i realized their 3rd shift crew is just standing there staring at me like prairie dogs.

the VP tried to give me a safety speech the next day. I cut him off and said "look, it wasn't pretty, but I saved your DC from becoming a swimming pool. I'm embarrassed enough about it without a lecture". To my surprise, he just nodded and said "sure".

[Sam1]

19 hours ago, NoBanStan said:

 

I barely even pay attention to what vmware is doing these days. They're losing the race pretty handily..stinks, I really liked them.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

 

They're not doing to bad, when you run the calculations between MS virtualization and vmware, there's a substantial difference.  But I haven't seen much on server 2016 yet so that may change once it is out.

[NoBanStan]

They're not doing to bad, when you run the calculations between MS virtualization and vmware, there's a substantial difference.  But I haven't seen much on server 2016 yet so that may change once it is out.

Oh I'll take vmware over hyperv any day, I just mean against cloud providers...it's on the decline.

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[Rightwinger]

The geeks even take over a Sushi rant thread...........come on!

 

And I love AS400, especially since where I work now trys to use an emasculated SAP system

[Sam1]

27 minutes ago, Rightwinger said:

The geeks even take over a Sushi rant thread...........come on!

 

And I love AS400, especially since where I work now trys to use an emasculated SAP system

the geek shall inherit the earth.

[diamondback]

There was one of those online chain things somewhere. it basically said instead of food stamps since all the junk food they should go back to actually giving people food so they eat something nutritious. It said you want frozen pizza get a job.

 

Hell sometimes all our men and women in uniform might get is an MRE. Now while I think some of them are quite tasty they are far from what people without ambition are buying. Anyone can get down on their luck, but we have made being poor so comfortable that its almost a way of life for some.

[ReeferMac]

34 minutes ago, diamondback said:

. Anyone can get down on their luck, but we have made being poor so comfortable that its almost a way of life for some.

 

This, 1,000 %!!!! It _is_ a way of life, for many. Sum's up the problem entirely. A motivated individual can do almost anything, so we must not be motivating folks.

Soup Kitchens should make a comeback! I'd also like to see work-details leaving the welfare office to pickup trash in the street, clean up our cities and towns. You want your check? Report to the foreman at 9 AM, he'll have an orange vest and trash-bag for you. Bring it back full.

[Dustbuster]

I knew a stripper that used to accept food stamps and .... Meh never mind

[felinesNfreedom]

1 hour ago, Dustbuster said:

I knew a stripper that used to accept food stamps and .... Meh never mind

He let me swipe my debit card too!

[Rightwinger]

He????

[mikegideon]

16 minutes ago, Rightwinger said:

He????

TGO went gay while you were gone. Wearing eye protection took on a whole new meaning.

[felinesNfreedom]

Just now, Rightwinger said:

He????

They are cheaper. 

[mikegideon]

20 minutes ago, XxthejuicexX said:

They are cheaper. 

LOL

[diamondback]

I am not comparing MOST PEOPLE to animals. I am sure there are a food stamp recipient or two rioting in charlotte and them I will call animals that not only are doing that but we have to feed. I saw two things online. ONe I cant find was talking about the same department of the government that handles food stamps has signs up at national parks ( It has to be separate departments though) with signs up saying not to feed the animals. If you feed them they will become lazy and not look for food on their own. Now there is merit to that the way some people view food stamps, wic, welfare, section 8 and so forth as a way of life or reparations.

 

The other talks about needing to make it as not comfortable

Put me in charge ...

 

Put me in charge of food stamps. I’d get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

 

Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.

 

Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your “home” will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.

 

In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a “government” job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the “common good.”

 

Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules.. Before you say that this would be “demeaning” and ruin their “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago that taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.

 

If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices. 

 

[Sam1]

17 hours ago, diamondback said:

If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices. 

 

Perfect summation of the way I feel about the entire situation.

[diamondback]

6 hours ago, Sam1 said:

Perfect summation of the way I feel about the entire situation.

I understand down on their luck, but I really do believe long term dependent people on the dole with food stamps, wic, public housing and so forth are stealing when they have kids while on it and birth control should be required. People having rights. They do, but welfare is not a right.