We might all sound like the Four Yorkshiremen right now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE
From: dmmoff...@gmail.com <dmmoff...@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 3:58 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <af@af.afmug.com> Cc: 'Chuck McCown' <ch...@go-mtc.com> Subject: RE: [AFMUG] FB Exchange Some people would put me in the “millennial” category, but only just barely. I was 18 in 1998. Maybe that counts as “Gen Y” or some other thing, but it’s not something I personally identify with either way. At 18 I made minimum wage ($5.25) and shared an apartment with 5 other guys. A year later I was at $8 an hour and got my very own 1 bedroom which required almost all of my income to pay for. As soon as that lease was up I went back to shared living arrangements. I didn’t have a car until I was 21, and it was a beater I bought for $150. The check engine light was on the entire time I owned it, but it was a 1980-something car so it could pass inspection with the check engine light on. I do think it’s harder to own a car now because current emissions and inspection standards basically mean you’re not allowed to own a crappy car in NY State. Even with that acknowledgement, it was expensive to have a car in 1998 too and that’s why I didn’t do it! I walked, rode a bike, or took a bus. The bus system is garbage here so if I had to go outside of bicycle range I had to plan the whole day around it, but it being inconvenient is not a reason to not do what is necessary to get on with life. My wife and I bought a dilapidated house in a nice neighborhood for $68,000 when I was 29. Spent 12 years fixing everything from the ground up. I mean literally I dug up the foundation with a pick and shovel to work on masonry and drainage. I did plumbing, wiring, HVAC, roofing, flooring, drywall, and the whole nine yards. We almost doubled our money when we sold that, but it was an ongoing adventure to get there. We ate rice and beans and ramen to save up for the down payment. I’ve been moving along side by side with a lot of peers who were at least as smart and motivated as I am, but I’ve also seen the lazy, entitled complainers suffering with the results of their own behavior. So personally I don’t subscribe to most of the notions about generational differences. There are both motivated and lazy people in every age bracket. I eyeroll every time I hear “Gen X does this” or “Millennials do that”. The better explanation IMO is that time is a filter, and the younger workers look lazier because the older ones have already either wised up or removed themselves from the job market. I do 100% wholeheartedly agree that a certain amount of struggle and suffering makes people better. I also think if you’re offering $15/hour and also training people how to be welders then that’s an admirable thing. The ones who learn it well and aren’t completely lazy can make serious money later in life. If I could go back in time to age 18 I’d tell myself to try to become a union linesman. With the amount of make-ready work in NY right now those guys are making serious premiums. They are drowning in double time work and per diems, and a lot of them are able to retire after 25 years. If I could get into that at age 18 I’d be almost ready to retire right now. It’s too bad people won’t get over the notion that everyone has to go to college. -Adam From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com <mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com> > On Behalf Of Chuck McCown via AF Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 2:53 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com <mailto:af@af.afmug.com> > Cc: Chuck McCown <ch...@go-mtc.com <mailto:ch...@go-mtc.com> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] FB Exchange One of my millennial daughters, grown, married, trying to adult, lives with her brother and his wife told me that I just don’t understand how hard it is today compared to when I was younger. So I did a little comparison for her: My first paid job in 1976 was $2/hour. That would be about $10.70/hour today. (I was an unpaid apprentice to a machinist in 1974, and slave labor on the farm from 1960 until I escaped). My first skilled, formally trained, semi professional, utility lineman job in 1979 paid $4.50/hour. That would be about $18 today. My first home, single wide 10 x 50 mobile home cost $12,000 in 1982. Or about $36K today. <https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/744-S-1750-W-Vernal-UT-84078/2070550612_zpid/> https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/744-S-1750-W-Vernal-UT-84078/2070550612_zpid/ So how is it people have it so much worse today? From: Jeff Broadwick - Lists Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 11:39 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group Subject: Re: [AFMUG] FB Exchange Too many parents want to be friends with their kids and not actually parent. Good news is, if you do a good job of parenting, you’ll likely have the opportunity out to become friends with your kids after they move out. Jeff Broadwick CTIconnect 312-205-2519 Office 574-220-7826 Cell <mailto:jbroadw...@cticonnect.com> jbroadw...@cticonnect.com On Feb 14, 2023, at 1:25 PM, Sterling Jacobson < <mailto:sterl...@avative.com> sterl...@avative.com> wrote: Yeah, that’s a problem for sure. All the youth (and some adults) see online is prosperity and wealth and entitlement. Your definition of existing just doesn’t even come to their minds. To use a phrase, they literally don’t comprehend it. I was living happily in a one room apartment for $400 a month and eating the same PB&J and soup for lunch/dinner on almost no monthly spend. I had an old futon bed that I had purchased in college as furniture. My monthly output was focused on paying rent and a bit for food and my car. I was hungry for more, made my way by learning, taking what I could find and working my way up. And during none of that did I think to myself, “This is shit, I am entitled to more because I exist.” Lol My grown kids ask for very little and even then get told no all the time, or have conditions. I worry about my younger kids that have spent a lot more time online. They still know they get nothing as a default, but they are more entitled in language and practice than my older kids. Society online in general isn’t doing anyone any favors. I mean some of the youtube crap they watch is just inane, and some of these people just throw around money like it magically appeared to them out of thin air without a care. There is no accountability or explanation. From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com <mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com> > On Behalf Of Chuck McCown via AF Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 10:37 AM To: af@af.afmug.com <mailto:af@af.afmug.com> Cc: Chuck McCown <ch...@go-mtc.com <mailto:ch...@go-mtc.com> > Subject: [AFMUG] FB Exchange I advertised for hiring yesterday, a no experience necessary, get paid to learn MIG mild steel welding. PT/FT flexible hours. We hire 17 year olds. I immediately got crap from this guy saying that the “young people of today” cannot exist on less than $18/hour which is what he gets and he works from home. Lots of people defended my $15/entry level, get paid to learn welding position. He deleted his post then sent me this: Hello there, Our of respect for you because it wasn't my intent to cause tension, I've deleted my comment on your posting. My only point was to emphasize that the going rate for a lot of entry level jobs is much higher than $15 an hour. Welding is a great skill and can open up great avenues in the future. However, The youth of today cannot live on $15 an hour so a lot of candidates will not even walk through the door because other places even in the field of welding pay higher to start. What I emphasized at my company starting at $18 is just one example. We have people here that make well over $50 an hour because we operate on a commission structure. But that $18 base is livable when a one bedroom is $1000+ in tooele a month and depending on where you live it's as low as $1600+ Again, never meant to offend so I am sorry for causing you any trouble. I replied: So you expect someone to walk from High School directly into a job where they can have a nice home, car and things? Wow, without learning a trade, profession or other skill? Our $15/hour people take home $2000/month. Pretty sure someone can exist on that and the smart ones will have roommates or live with their parents. And the smarter ones will quickly be making more than $18/hour. We have exactly zero problems finding as many workers as we need. So your opinion that "youth of today" cannot exist on $15/hour is just that, unfounded opinion. I guess your definition of "exist" is different than mine. You can exist by walking, riding a bicycle or taking a bus to work. You can exist by eating home cooked meals and making a home made sandwich for your lunch. You can exist by wearing clothes from a thrift store. You don't need the latest iPhone and Netflix to exist. Read a book. The struggle IS the journey and is what creates grit and strong character. He replied and blocked me: Yeah Okay Boomer. I was reaching out to be nice but you clearly have no idea what life is like for us today. I just bought my first house at 31 because of how shit things are right now compared to when you were younger. But thanks for proving my point by being an asshole about "my definition of exist" -- AF mailing list <mailto:AF@af.afmug.com> AF@af.afmug.com <http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com _____ -- AF mailing list <mailto:AF@af.afmug.com> AF@af.afmug.com <http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
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