Prior to the pandemic, Government spending was out of control. Considering we were/are paying billions for an already obscelete border wall and our defense forces (ironically totally defenseless against the C19 enemy)are soaking up almost a trillion$ of our national budget, it may be time for the our fearless leaders to re-prioritize.
Actually, it's especially good timing to be starting a business during a financial crisis. I know, I've lived through 1987, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2008 and now c-19.
During these times when people are getting RIF'd (Reduction in Force), they're understandably panicked, nervous, in shock, etc. Most employees are not thinking of what service or product they can cobble together and bring to market, but how to swiftly rejoin the job market.
This leads to a shortage of new startups spinning up as well, because the economy has gone to the dumpster. Good times, bull markets and strong economies make everyone feel more confident. Who wants to gamble when the world is going to hades in a handbasket? Not a lot of people.
Then there's the cost factor. My experience during past financial implosions, demand for everything plummets. I get the idea we're living in more of a robber-baron era than even just 5 years ago, but still, you'll be able to negotiate everything from office rents to infrastructure, salaries of new hires, hotels and airfares for business travel.
Obviously, I am going to throw my hat into this ring for these very reasons. Good luck and good day!
Well, if 30 years of public service Bernie has performed are any indicator, absolutely nothing. Bernie's full of these big, revolutionary, expensive ideas, but he's really accomplished very little in his career. Look at Vermont... second thought, don't look at Vermont (hint: business abandoned the high taxes of Vermont decades ago). Economically, VT is a basket case, do you want Bernie to work his magic on a national level?
Funny when you figure he's funding DOD spending to the tune of almost $1 trillion. Besides, the exalted Mitch McConnell has already nixed the idea of a payroll tax cut-funded stimulus.
Yes, this is the latest scam. I subscribed to the teaser trial for WSJ for an introductory of $1.00 for the first month. The subsequent monthly fee increased to $40. After three months and not really having time to read the publication (a quality publication, btw), I decided to cancel my subscription. Well you guessed it, easy to sign-up, hell to pay to cancel. You need to call the 800-number, go through an extensive menu of options, finally talk to an operator, who needs to transfer you to... yes you guessed it again, a retention specialist. After three counter-offers (why didn't they just price it at $9.99/month to begin with? ), I just kept saying "... please cancel my subscription."
And yes, the counter offers got better and better until that $40/mo subscription was down to $9.99. I may have kept it at that rate.
Seems like web services and publishers are all adopting this easy-to-sign-up/hard-as-hell to drop strategy. It's the scamifying of America.
You're correct, the oil change is actually a high-stress event for any engine. Doing an oil change every 3k miles is actually very wearing because--even for a split second--there is possible metal-on-metal contact as the oil pump reprimes itself.
But engines are very different today than they were 15-20 years ago. They are machined with blueprint accuracy such that clearances are very fine and the resulting break-in period is very short if its needed at all. Additionally, most new vehicles use synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil which is much more durable and retains detergents for much longer service intervals.
I use the best oil I can find and do two oil changes a year unless there's a more driving than usual during a period. Generally, the service interval on my car is ~ 7500 miles, though 10k would not be a problem.
Exactly... not yet. Given the tenor of the social justice warriors and the extreme right's proclivity towards kaos, I am not surprised by any measure of craziness we're seeing in our once stable country.
if you look at many startups that had successful outcomes, you'll generally find people who, if not rich, at least come from affluence. Affluence affords them the ability to take on more risk than say someone from a modest background, saddled with student loan debt. Generally, just because someone comes from wealth, it doesn't mean they won't work hard. I believe your comment is targeted more towards the trust-fund babies, who go through life having mommy and daddy pay for everything. Why work, when it'll all come to you?
Yes, very good point. Generally, the higher the pricing, the longer the sales cycle. That can mean months of evals, potential customer hand-holding, pre-sales support, etc. In the end, someone in the decision chain at the prospect decides to go a different way and you've blown months and many dollars on trying to land the client. A small or one-man operation is not going to survive that kind of abuse and make no mistake, some larger customers will take advantage.
Yeah, I think the ageism comes from engineers who, for no fault of their own, have stayed in their positions for decades. All of sudden, they're 45 or 55 and earning senior comp at an 'enterprise tech'. These people are the usually the first to go because they are the most expensive. The senior execs are in a different position, where it may be viewed experience and seasoning complement the younger staffs' vision. A senior exec--with exit event or public company experience--tends to be very sought after.
Both of you are kids... I'm 59 and I do cardio mixed with weights. My RHR is 45 bpm, but has been as low as 35. Recently, I had to substitute cycling for running due to a diagnosis of osteoarthritis in my left hip. Sucks, as I love running and it's such a great cardio exercise. Low resting heart rates are nothing to worry about, as long as you're cleared by a doctor and the low rhr is from workouts.
Boy, you live long enough and you hear it all. Talk about the least scientific evidence and undermining true climate change discourse. Look, the last year I lived in metro-NY (2017-2018), it started snowing around Thanksgiving and the storms just kept rolling in until late-March. Snow was piled almost a high as I am tall on either side of the driveway. Is that kind of weather getting rare? Maybe in some regions, but I'm not seeing it.
Last year, the Rockies had the best snow year in 25 years. Some mountain resorts had skiing into late-May, early June. So far this year, it has been a very snowy early season.
I have no doubt the oceans are warming and temps are rising, but using the 'remember-when' gauge of scientific deduction is no way to judge our climate. As a very smart man once said: "...remember when is the lowest form of conversation."
Wall St. is equally adept at eliminating positions as well as cutting bonuses. I've seen numerous lay-offs during my time working at bulge brackets, some of which enter and leave business-lines on a whim (ie., FX, fixed-income sales, etc.).
On Wall St., if you're older than say 45 yo and make a good salary for your years of experience, you have a target on your back. This is somewhat the same for tech, but stand outside any bank's office in Manhattan and you'll notice the youth of the employees.
Well, it could be worse. You could be mad/anxious all the time and not making the big bucks. The people that are mentioned here, making the big bucks with plush material lives are not the majority. Just like during the 80s and 90s, most sell-side traders were not making millions.
Yes, that 30-day lock up on stocks is killah. I still remember the days of DBL, before the insider trading scandals, where they had these private partnerships that were offered to everybody--from the ceo to the mail room guys--like getting a monthly bonus. Of course, mbs and junk bonds were big and making big $ during the mid-80s. What a time that was.
Don't know how long ago you worked in trading, but the changes, technically and culturally, have been coming hot and heavy since about 2010. First the technical: as the Bloomberg article points out, most traders today are also coders. Trading floors on the big equity exchanges are empty and quiet as most trades occur electronically. Many seven and eight figure/year NYSE specialists have had to find new careers or retire. You many remember the old NYSE DOT and super DOT program trading systems, both of which sent orders directly to the specialists on the floor, preserving their hold on the exchange-based trades. All of which has gone the way of the dinosaur. Along the way, low, low commissions, low-friction, low touch, low-latency trades are now the new normal.
On top of this, I started in this business almost 40 years ago, when guys were animals on the trading floor. When I think of the misbehavior from that era and the new ultra-PC, metoo social environment, I'm amazed the old culture has all but been erased from today's trading floors. I do miss the levity, the practical jokes and general yuks we had, but that's the price we pay.
An honest job is no more demoralizing or humiliating than we make it out to be. And, most importantly, no one owes us a job here in the US. Your skills are what determines your worth in our byzantine and feudal job market. At the end of the day, the US labor pool has been commoditized, much of this government-sponsored. Like in any commodities market, there are a few winners and lots of losers. Like that form of 'legalized extortion' we call the US health care system, the H1B guest worker visa program and our ailing infrastructure, much of this is due to our Government's actions.
Sand theft is very rampant on Long Island. On the north shore, where there have been a slew of high-density developments built, first thing developers do is scrape all of the sand from the lot. Some projects are actually built on what was once sandy bluffs. The sand indigenous to LI is a fine sugar sand, valued for it's quality in concrete manufacture. There are entire lots where sand is excavated and then left for drainage issues. As one can guess, sand mining is heavily regulated and usually prohibited by law. The sand acts as a filter as water leaches down to recharge the aquifer where most of LI gets it's drinking water from.So think about that... they're destroying the land's ability to provide potable water because of greed. Yes, the aquifer fresh water levels are decreasing and pollution plumes are growing. As the fresh water level goes down, it acts to suck salt water into the aquifer.
I commuted for almost 20 years in the NY Metro area. My journey, on one of the least reliable mass transit lines, took 4 hours from my day... if it was on time. I was well-paid and lived in a nice home, in a great neighborhood. The real problem with this commute is it takes over your life. During the work week, there is no me time, no time for fun or hobbies. I would sandwich in workouts and some downtime to unwind daily, but I was deeply sleep-deprived. Sure, I slept on the train and meditated, but the lack of reliable transportation on a daily basis really retarded any progress on those fronts. And that impaired my ability to fully enjoy my family, actively participate in my kids' upbringing and to genuinely enjoy life. I kind of had it all, yet, that darn commute raised my stress levels so high, it was ruining every aspect of life. I drank more than I wanted, and endured marital discord.
Moral of the story is look at your commute as the top factor determining your quality of life. Think well and hard about that extra 30-60-90 minutes because it means a bigger house and backyard.
I had the option of having all test results emailed to me. I had the results of my physical before my doctor did. This is a result of modern medical information systems.
Funny, things were substantially different here in the US back around 1999-2004. Cost of living was substantially lower and consumer pricing was actually better in the US than elsewhere. Fast-forward to today and we're all being gouged by the telecoms, food prices, tuition bills, health insurance, real estate prices... well you get the idea. What's the big difference between then and now? Many, many mega-mergers. For example, back in 1999 there were 17 major airlines. Today there are four. The government plays a big role in this, as do the major corporations since they draft their own legislation and have their bought and paid for politicians sponsor the bills. I've heard the situation summed up as: in Europe, the governments work for the people. In the US, the government works for the big corps and that means, it's not working for the people.
Sorry, I don't agree. There have been a number of successful start-ups that monetized publically available data in their products. Real estate and finance come to mind, but there's a ton of data, you just have to grab it and make sense of it for someone who's will to pay for that service.
Aside from the Dell battery issues, the XPS 15 is a workhorse that runs linux flawlessly. I had some bluetooth messiness but was able to resolve it playing driver bingo. You'll be happy.
Fully agree, throw on top of your points a premium price tag for said flawed products and the sun has set on Apple hardware. It's not the same company Jobs ran.
I hate going to the store. Love ordering online. Besides, isn't AMZN looking at drone delivery? Of course, if that becomes the norm, we'll be seeing articles about drone congestion in the skies over Manhattan.