I ‘think’ I hit a nerve…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
The previous post on my feelings about being up the creek seem to have hit a nerve with some folks…

Two emails I’ve received this morning are worth sharing…

From: Skippy [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 10:31 AM

To: Cajun

Subject: Your blog post

Man, that one hit close to home.  As you know I was laid off in July, and still haven’t found a job. Guess 24 years in the Navy, degree and certification as a safety engineer and 20+ years of experience isn’t good enough anymore. Well, that and the fact that I’m 65.

I finally got the house sold two weeks ago in Xxxxxx, Ca  didn’t get what it was worth, but after 28 years I got enough to buy a small place elsewhere.  Pretty f**king sad that retired pay plus SSI and I had a choice of paying bills/taxes or eating in this ‘new’ economy.

 Been staying with Dad in Xxxxx, CA and at 89 he’s scared he won’t be able to pay his new property taxes, other CA taxes etc. even though the house is paid off. Since he’s even more limited on income than I am, he’s now wondering if HE should sell and move in with me. 

If he does, I guess it will be the two of us against the world.  Found a decent little place outside Xxxxx, Tx and I can pay it off with what I’m getting.  It will be a shame, because my family’s been in California since the late 1800s.  Don’t know how dad is going to handle being that far from Mom’s grave.

And before you start, F**K you, I’m NOT going to be a Walmart greeter.  Don’t have the aptitude or the patience either you asshole… J

Still waiting on VA to give me a disability percentage, now going on two years since I filed. Don’t know what is going to happen there either.

I truly feel for your daughters and grandson, they are not going to be happy with the bill they are going to have to pay.  At least we won’t be around to get blamed.

Check Six

Skippy

From: Frito [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 11:21 AM

To: Cajun

Subject: Screw em!

Let them go off the cliff, that is the only f++king way the democrats will EVER cut an entitlement.  I think the republicans should just walk away, let it happen and let the administration take the hit.  We’re screwed anyway, regardless of what happens. 

Yeah, the military would be hosed, but better all at once that death by a thousand cuts from the nickel dime shit, all that would lead to is more deaths due to shitty equipment.  

I’m waiting for them to cut my social security anyway, since I’ve got a mil retirement too.  With Tricare going up, prescription costs going up and Vi retiring next month, we’ve gone max conserve to just try to stay even; I know we’ll never get ahead.

Frito
Based on these and the comments in the post itself, a couple of which are below…

Navy91 said…
Unfortunately, I also agree across the board. I don’t have a clue whether anyone will blink or not. In my mind it doesn’t matter. I think that the damage has already been done. The only question to me is whether it all falls apart quickly or slowly. With Obama’s re-election, I think it may happen sooner rather than later.

I’m doing everything I can to be as self sufficient as possible. The less I have to depend on anyone, the better off I’ll be!

Good luck everyone, it’s gonna be a rough year!

November 30, 2012 9:03 AM 

agirlandhergun said…

The best way to instill a socialist/communist government is to crash the economy and force the folks to “willingly” depend on you. This administration has zero plans to help the economy. The worse it gets, the better it is for them.
November 30, 2012 9:56 AM 
Larry said…
I think we are going to see a lot of service industry (hotels, grocery stores, etc) jobs go to either 3×8 days/hours or 2×10 days/hours and people will work 2 of them. They will work 3×8 for Company A on Mon-Wed and work 2×10 for Company B on Thurs/Fri.

We will see.


It seems the consensus is bend over here it comes… REGARDLESS of which way things go…  

N-91 agrees with the emails, and I think Larry’s point raises another issue, in that if you’re working a split for two companies, you might be getting your 40 hours, but you won’t have any vesting, benefits, 401K opportunities or anything along that line…

Which, as Agirl points out forces that ‘dependence’ on government to provide for you/yours, hence the dependency spiral accelerates until all the money is gone, then what???

I think at this point, just let it happen, and get it over with…

Frito is right, if we keep nickle and diming the military, it WILL kill people due to aging equipment, material failures, lack of parts/maintenance.  

Guess I’ll be looking for a job like all the rest and hoping to hang on till I die…

NOT what I’d planned…

Up the Creek…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Not a paddle in sight, and they’re playing the theme from Deliverance…

Y’all pretty much know what I think about Sequestration, but now with the fiscal ‘cliff’ negotiations (read more campaign stops); I think we’re truly screwed and not going to get kissed either.

The dems are just flat refusing to budge on any ‘cuts’ to entitlements, and now the Prez is out campaigning for the ‘little people’ (read unions) to back him.  Now I did read all of the WH  sequestration package, and ALL the cuts come from Defense and Medicare/Medicaid. Not a single program that “I” would call an entitlement is listed (those include 99 week unemployment, food stamps forever, welfare, “free” phones, etc.)

A number of years ago (1996-7), Wisconsin did away with Welfare and did ‘workfare’ called “Wisconsin Works”; one report on it can been found HERE.  The usual hate and discontent ensued, until people realized there was NO option, and in looking at the numbers, it appeared 44% failed to convert because they expected the gov’t to do it for them.

Another interesting part is the fact that the number of ‘self-reported’ disabilities skyrocketed, and lots of folks LEFT Wisconsin for neighboring states. Another good report is HERE on the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) which was the program to limit welfare/workfare to 5 years…

Now, we have THIS from Obummer’s crowd… No requirement to work, no time limits, etc.

And I haven’t heard the first peep about re-looking at any foreign aid packages either…

And let’s not forget taxes… And the whole Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) issue… That is not just for folks above $200K; it does impact people at the $50k income level.

Forbes Magazine does a pretty good job of explaining the issues HERE.  

And the latest ‘tactic’ from the WH is to press to ‘vote’ on the tax relief “now” and discuss spending cuts “later”…

Now does anybody believe THAT will really happen??? 

I don’t… I think they are going to run us off that cliff, raise taxes, gut the military and probably Social Security (since they don’t contribute, why should those of us that DID get anything), and go right on spending this country into a third world country…

I believe we will see the USA be downgraded to (if we’re lucky) AA rating, and I’m betting we’ll see hyperinflation in the next two years.  I just hope it’s not as bad as Argentina (reference HERE).  

And we will not be able to service the debt on the loans to China et al, because the rates will be higher (that pesky rating)… 

And will have no military capable of actually responding to any crisis, nor will we have the capability (either engineering or manufacturing) to replace anything in a timely fashion.  I also believe the service industry will go in the tank, because people won’t be able to PAY for those services…

Think what a $3700 tax increase, plus $70-100/mo Obamacare costs will do to your ‘current’ disposable income.  Now factor in let’s say 10% inflation, and say you were making $100,000. Now you ‘need’ $110,000 just to stay even, but now you only have $96,300- $1200, so now you’re down to $95,100.  

But wait, your employer decides your health care is too expensive, so they cut you to 29 hours from that 40 hours you were getting…

EDIT- Peter has a post up on that very subject HERE.

$72,500-$3700-$1200, so now you’re down to $67,600… BUT to maintain that lifestyle you were accustomed to you need $110,000…

So how are you going to pay that maid, pool boy, eat out 3-4 days a week??? Or pay child care??? Or those two new car payments, or that house you’re upside down in???

Think this isn’t a possibility?  This week a friend of mine in the defense industry just got her contract hours cut by 50% on her job (and was told take it or leave it), another friend is being laid off on Friday, and I’m hearing that some agencies are ‘accelerating’ their ‘mandated’ 30% cuts in support/contractor personnel by not funding them in CY 2013.  

I would go drink heavily, but I just realized in the choice between booze and gas, I better do gas… sigh…

Kicking the soapbox back in the corner, and sorry to be such a downer…

Am I totally wrong here???  PLEASE tell me I’m wrong… Sigh

Nuts…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Well, acorns… But anyhoo…

According to Farmer’s Almanac, we’re in for it this winter…


Another one is to look at the nuts that hit the ground, and what the animal’s coats look like…

Here’s a pic of the ground last weekend.


And here’s the SIZE of the acorns. They are so big the squirrels are having to gnaw them down to ‘size’ so they can fit them in their mouths… And that’s a quarter for reference.


As far the the squirrels, none of them would hold still, but BUSHY and fat is the best word I can use to describe them…

Yep, better break out the WINTER clothes, and start growing the winter coat (beard) early!

Raffle for Tam, winners list!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Finally got all the cats herded (at least on this one)…  Here is the final list of winners and the prizes chosen from the raffle I hosted:

GregB-package A: Diamondback and custom holster by Michael, Kathy Jackson Book

FormerFlyer-package B: ISSC .22 Trainer (Glock style) (Carteach) , Kathy Jackson Book

Sabre22-package C: Ruger P94 (John S) mags, shoulder holster, Kathy Jackson Book

MattG-package D: Ye olde Handgonne or knife winner’s choice, plus engraving, Kathy Jackson Book

Tom O’B-package E: $200 Brownells gift cert (Stingray), Kathy Jackson Book

TomcatTch-package F: $100 Midway gift cert (Pat), Sightmark Tactical Red Dot, Kathy Jackson Book

Wilson-package G: Stabby package- Gerber Applegate Fairbairn Combat Folder (Brigid), Emerson CQC-7 Mini, Remington collector R1 Upland pocket knife.

Carl-package H: Guns and Roses handcrafted necklace (Phlegmmy), $100 Amazon gift cert

Congratulations to all, and once more THANK YOU for the donations, it IS a great cause!!!

Oops…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

                 Wife texts husband on a cold winter’s morning: 
     
        “Windows frozen”

                  Husband texts back:

       “Pour some lukewarm water over it.”

                  Wife texts back 5 minutes later:
       
         “Computer really screwed up now.”

Yep, it’s THAT kind of day… sigh

About those secession petitions…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Couple of folks have mentioned this on the mil-email and other places…

David Martosko from the Daily Caller- 


The Defense Security Service (DSS) wrote in a Nov. 16 bulletin to government contractors that ”erroneous statements have been made to the effect that DSS is directing contractors to treat the signing of such petitions as reportable adverse information.” 

By “adverse information,” the agency means personal information that could lead the federal government to cancel — or to not renew — a “secret,” “top secret,” “Sensitive Compartmented Information” or other clearance level.


However, further down in the article is THIS statement…

The Pentagon agency did, however, leave its options open regarding petition signers.

“Please note,” the agency cautioned, ”that DSS has not provided any approved direction or guidance. … This issue is under review and DSS will provide information to contractors when that review is complete.”

Full article HERE.

Now “I” am betting as soon as DHS gets their hands on the list of signatories, it WILL be bounced against those with clearances, and we WILL NOT like the results of the ‘reviewed’ guidance…

YMMV…



Mini-mini-Meet…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Barron from The Minuteman is in town on business,  so we got together for dinner, since our schedules diverge for the remainder of his trip.  

Truly nice guy, funny as hell, and smart as hell too!!!  I really DO need to get to Boomershoot… sigh…  

I don’t envy him his job, matter of fact, he can ‘have’ that stuff… I’ll stick with herding cats for a living! 🙂

Go read, he’s worth the time!