My Brother: The worst day ever

[Darth Wong]

This reminds me of one of the injustices of the free market: while it theoretically rewards competence and punishes incompetence, this does not always translate well in practice. Sometimes, it just rewards sheer luck: two people could have identical abilities, but one of them chooses to work at Company A and one of them chooses to work at Company B. Ten years later, the person who went to work for Company A is making $500,000 per year as an executive, while the person who went to Company B has bounced from employer to employer because they ran into financial problems. Is the second person inferior to the first one? Not necessarily. Hell, he might even be markedly superior. But that's the way the labour market moves.

I remember reading once about the story of a lowly secretary who was rich because she happened to choose Home Depot as an employer, back when it was a small startup. What the hell did she bring to the labour market to warrant such rewards? Absolutely nothing, but she struck it rich anyway.

[TrailerParkJawa]

This reminds me of one of the injustices of the free market: while it theoretically rewards competence and punishes incompetence, this does not always translate well in practice. Sometimes, it just rewards sheer luck: two people could have identical abilities, but one of them chooses to work at Company A and one of them chooses to work at Company B. Ten years later, the person who went to work for Company A is making $500,000 per year as an executive, while the person who went to Company B has bounced from employer to employer because they ran into financial problems. Is the second person inferior to the first one? Not necessarily. Hell, he might even be markedly superior. But that's the way the labour market moves.

I remember reading once about the story of a lowly secretary who was rich because she happened to choose Home Depot as an employer, back when it was a small startup. What the hell did she bring to the labour market to warrant such rewards? Absolutely nothing, but she struck it rich anyway.

One of the big American myths is that you can come here with nothing and end up rich if you are smart enough and work hard. The reality is there is a huge amount of luck involved involved. There is a certain amount of mobility in the middle class but becoming rich if often being in the right place at the right time.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Actually... my helmet belonged to the company. And my vest. Kept my boots, crowbar, and engineer's scale.

[Lusankya]

I believe this is his 2nd or 3rd layoff in 2 years. He's a smart guy, and good at what he does. Post here if you know of any places that are looking for a Geophysicist.

I believe that Australia wants Geophysicists. That might be a bit out of your way, though.

He's single, has his own pith helmet, and wouldn't mind being in the same timezone as hobbiton

Did I mention that my home town has a surplus of women? I mean, I've exported myself to Asia, so I'm no longer there, but it is known throughout Australia for hot single chicks...

[mr friendly guy]

Did I mention that my home town has a surplus of women? I mean, I've exported myself to Asia, so I'm no longer there, but it is known throughout Australia for hot single chicks...

What. Adelaide? Hey maybe I could go back. I also hear your houses are more affordable.

Maybe I can also wear my Adelaide crow tie to work without people looking at me weird and asking why I barrack for the crows.

[Lusankya]

Yeah, apparently there's something in the Adelaide water that is not particularly healthy to male foetuses, so we have this weird-ass situation where there are more girls born than guys. According to the ABS, women outnumber men 52.1%-48.9%. (There's a great advertisement for a city if ever I heard one.)


Also, apparently the only capital that beats us at having "no religion" is Darwin, which is the only other capital which has "No religion" winning on the census data (We have 24% they have 25%... friggin Darwin). But living in Darwin involves, well, living in Darwin, so yeah...

And man, I can't believe I actually bothered looking up the stats for that.

[tim31]

Darwin doesn't count; NT doesn't even want to be a state.

Chewie come to Australia, we'll look after you.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Darwin doesn't count; NT doesn't even want to be a state.

Chewie come to Australia, we'll look after you.

I'm considering it, but I fear your poisonous varmints and metric system.

[Coyote]

The metric system can be a deal-breaker: it's hard to live under a foreign ruler [rimshot].

Seriously, were you at a government job? You might try a government, GS-level position. It probably won't pay as much but if you can get it, it'll be secure and with benefits. Meanwhile, shouldn't you qualify for unemployment checks since you were laid off and not fired for disciplinary reaons? Draw unemployment; you've earned it.

For government jobs, go to USAjobs and be willing to work anywhere (even Alaska, brrrr...).

[Big Orange]

Sorry to hear this, CaptainChewbacca, I can remember a few years back being made redundant for no fucking reason after a few weeks employment and it is not pleasant (but the scumfuck company I worked for collapsed this year, because they were internally asset stripped to the max).

[CaptainChewbacca]

The metric system can be a deal-breaker: it's hard to live under a foreign ruler [rimshot].

Seriously, were you at a government job? You might try a government, GS-level position. It probably won't pay as much but if you can get it, it'll be secure and with benefits. Meanwhile, shouldn't you qualify for unemployment checks since you were laid off and not fired for disciplinary reaons? Draw unemployment; you've earned it.

For government jobs, go to USAjobs and be willing to work anywhere (even Alaska, brrrr...).

My job wasn't WITH the government, but it was government-funded and I worked closely with many state and county agencies, so I'll be applying at those agencies for openings. And don't worry, I filed for unemployment 90 minutes after I received my termination letter.

[Lusankya]

Darwin doesn't count; NT doesn't even want to be a state.

Chewie come to Australia, we'll look after you.

I'm considering it, but I fear your poisonous varmints and metric system.

Well, if you do decide to go down that route, Mr Flibble can probably give you some advice on where to look in Australia. He knows stuff.

[SCRawl]

Darwin doesn't count; NT doesn't even want to be a state.

Chewie come to Australia, we'll look after you.

I'm considering it, but I fear your poisonous varmints and metric system.

You have a science degree, yes? Don't they teach that stuff in SI? I didn't think that anywhere in the world would teach science in that bastardized system youse guys use.

[Darth Wong]

I've always had the idea in my head that if I ran into trouble and I really needed work, I'd just go to teacher's college and become a high school teacher. Of course, I would have to learn to refrain from calling a reluctant learner a "fucktard".

[dragon]

Ah, damn it. I remember that he only just got this job not too long ago after being kicked out several times somewhere else.

I believe this is his 2nd or 3rd layoff in 2 years. He's a smart guy, and good at what he does. Post here if you know of any places that are looking for a Geophysicist.

Well I know a couple they're with the US geological survey but they are GS posistion wich means they can't lay him off even if they do a RIF (reduction in force). All that happens then is they transfer him to a new department I know NASA and a few other places look for the types every fo often.

But here is the link to the first set.
link

The pay is ok and benefits are decent, especially if you take a position overseas, then they pay for your housing ontop of salary and a post allowance (cost of living).

[consequences]

Damn. Maybe not the worst day ever, but the one-two nut-punch of suckage certainly makes it seem that way. I'd be interested in hearing how they justified screwing you out of severance, if you can get a straight answer and not be too blinded by rage to hear it(you know what I mean, darnit).

Have hope. If my DBA friendimpossibly lucky rat-bastard that he is can get a job within two weeks of being laid offwith better pay, did I mention that I love to hate this guy? you can find something, even with the current economy.

[tim31]

I've always had the idea in my head that if I ran into trouble and I really needed work, I'd just go to teacher's college and become a high school teacher. Of course, I would have to learn to refrain from calling a reluctant learner a "fucktard".

I'd send my kids to that school.

CHARLOTTE: Mr Wong called me a fucking moron today because a few answers on my calculus homework were wrong.

TIM: We'll see about that!

(One parent/teacher interview later)

TIM: Sorry sweetie, but he was right to do it. Turns out I'm a fucking moron too.

[ray245]

I've always had the idea in my head that if I ran into trouble and I really needed work, I'd just go to teacher's college and become a high school teacher. Of course, I would have to learn to refrain from calling a reluctant learner a "fucktard".

Wong, unless you actually called your kids THAT when they do something wrong, I don't think you will say that to students in school.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Got the estimate today; $1780. Helloooooo $250 deductible ^_^!

[Darth Wong]

Got the estimate today; $1780. Helloooooo $250 deductible ^_^!

That's typical. Any kind of body repair will always set you back one or two thousand dollars.

Be careful with that deductible; depending on your insurance company, they might penalize you for years because you made that claim. And if you try to switch insurance companies, the first thing they'll ask you is whether you've made a claim recently. That's why a lot of people pay for smaller repair bills out of pocket, and don't make a claim.

[aerius]

Unless you're on a first name basis with the local junkyard owner. Then you can pick up entire doors, bumpers, and body panels for a couple hundred bucks and have your mechanic do the swap for a few hundred more. It's not a good thing when the owner knows that I'm looking for a front passenger door for a Chev Malibu as soon as he sees me.

[andrewgpaul]

Yeah, take a tour of the scrappies; I got a replacement door window for a tenner, and it only took a few hours to replace. The replacement headlight glass was just as cheap, but I had to get a garage to fit that, due to the position of the lens and the bumper.

[Enigma]

Unless you're on a first name basis with the local junkyard owner. Then you can pick up entire doors, bumpers, and body panels for a couple hundred bucks and have your mechanic do the swap for a few hundred more. It's not a good thing when the owner knows that I'm looking for a front passenger door for a Chev Malibu as soon as he sees me.

Even better, there's a junkyard here in Ottawa that for $80 will lend you a sled (which is basically an upside down car hood with a rope attached to it) and you can pile on as much auto parts as you can fit on it and take it home. But you'll have to bring your own tools.

[tim31]

That's fairly decent. The price that scrap metal is fetching these days, wreckers are becoming quite flexible if they think that they can get just a few dollars out of a car before they crush it. Hell, a guy on an auto forum I post on saw a car at the knackers with a fairly rare bodykit on it; he asked them how much and they said they were going to crush the car that afternoon and didn't care about anything else. He offered them a few hundred bucks, and they sighed and told him he had an hour. It turned out that the kit had been riveted on, so he could remove it with the tools he had with him, and watched helplessly as they cubed the whole car.

But all that is probably getting a bit off-tack.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Got the estimate today; $1780. Helloooooo $250 deductible ^_^!

That's typical. Any kind of body repair will always set you back one or two thousand dollars.

Be careful with that deductible; depending on your insurance company, they might penalize you for years because you made that claim. And if you try to switch insurance companies, the first thing they'll ask you is whether you've made a claim recently. That's why a lot of people pay for smaller repair bills out of pocket, and don't make a claim.

Well, the accident was my fault, and I'm going to have to pay for the other driver's car anyway, so I'm just letting insurance handle it.