Since the car was running
Took a trip by the Botanical Gardens at UC Riverside.
We Figured I could play with the camera a bit .
Here are some of the shots.
Just me messing around with the Macro lens.
I really like the lens but I’m still getting used to how it behaves.
I can say that I’d like a couple of other “N” lenses their quality is very impressive.
Especially if a wreck like me can use them.
This is something you never want to see at your dealership…
These guys are from the Teamsters Local 495. These men work at the local BMW parts warehouse in Ontario.
The fact that the parts warehouse is 10 miles from the dealership is one of the reasons that I didn’t believe the service people when They said the problem with my A/C was a schrader valve.
I could have driven to the warehouse and picked up the necessary part myself.
Apparently BMW North America has decided to turn all these folks into unemployed folks. I’m not too sure of all the facts but it seems that BMW N.A. is outsourcing these jobs in the name of higher profits.
The website for these folks is located HERE. If you’re curious go take a look. One of the things that I
did learn is that Since these people are protesting every Saturday they’re in an interesting position to observe BMW reliability.
On of the guys mentioned that they see a lot of 7 series BMWs coming in on flatbeds. I’ve heard of problems with the 7 Series and personally know one person that sold her 7 at a loss to buy a Hyundai.
Her 7 had failed many more times than she could count, leaving her stranded at the side of the road.
She said it was usually on a freeway near any Airport… she’d be buzzing along at 70 or 80 then it was like someone clicked the off switch. The car would simply die and couldn’t be restarted. She got tired of seeing the dealerships, and even more tired of tow truck drivers.
She’s been much happier with her Hyundai. It works and in the 3 years she’s owned it she’s done nothing but have the oil changed.
I’ve noticed when I take my car in every other Monday that there’s always a lot of 335s, 535s, & 135s in the service drive.
The protesters were noticing the same sorts of things and they weren’t surprised when I suggested that BMW was hiding something. They felt that BMW wasn’t being as forthright about the motivations for outsourcing the parts business as they should have been either.
They did say that BMW North America and BMW Germany didn’t behave the same towards their workers. Perhaps it’s a Situation of American greed vs German labor laws. I’m not in a position to comment.
They did get a kick out of my describing my car as a “Pussy” car. (Every time I want to ride it… it’s got a headache.)
They wished me good luck and I wished them the same.
I’m blown away that companies are doing this kind of thing but many of the corporate honchos need to keep getting their bonus checks so they can keep their mistresses in fancy condos and quiet.
Well I pick up the car today
Dropped it off on Monday
Picking it up today… 5 days for a schrader valve??? I’m sure there is a much larger story there.
We’ll see just how long the thing holds together this time.
Hopefully, I can actually take a bit of a trip NOW.
On the Plus side…
EDD has apparently approved my unemployment. Although the only thing they sent me was the claim form to fill out. Yep, nothing else, no instructions, no info packet… nothing!
Not complaining though… This is the form that’s most important I fill this puppy out every 2 weeks and they sent me a check.
So I’m furloughed and my future is uncertain but I’ve got unemployment for 6 months.
There’s a guy that wants to talk with me about a job, out of state on Monday. I’m listening and I’ve been doing some internet research on the area… Small town, looks nice I’ve just done a quick skim but It might work. Especially if we’re talking something permanent.
Time will tell…
I was thinking about what I’d do to stimulate the economy…
Here are some ideas. They may not be good ideas, but they’re ideas nonetheless.
Ohhhh I know that sounds bad doesn’t it? But think about it. If companies have to use laid off American workers uhhh it creates jobs.
This sounds horrible! Again, if there’s an American worker to take the job you’ve just put an AMERICAN back to work in their own country.
One of the dirty secrets in High Technology over the past decade or so is that you can hire an H1B1 worker for pennies on the dollar compared to an American doing the same job. It’s created what I think of as a labor force akin to slave labor.
The corporation has the ever present threat of canceling the workers visa and sending these folks back to their own country. With that threat hanging over their heads… H1B1s work like slaves.
I’ve seen these people carried out of work by EMTs because they refused to take a sick day. Of course they expose everyone to whatever they’ve got but they keep working until they drop.
Nobody considers the additional cost of the EMT call, or the lost work because everyone else in the department was sick too.
I’m not talking about to the point of creating Love canals all over the country but how about we give corporations more choices than closing shop or moving to a third world cesspool?
California has lost tons of companies large and small due to onerous regulations regarding so called “toxic” materials in their business. By “toxic” I mean chemicals that you’d find under your sink. Ammonia, Acetic acid (main component of vinegar), Acetone, I could go on but you get the picture.
The United States is following California’s lead and making it harder for companies to do business AND be profitable.
I’ve wondered how much the BP spill in the Gulf was the result of cutting corners to make numbers and how much was just negligence or bad design? I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover that really expensive “mandated safety systems” were installed at the cost of overall safety.
Another hot button. If we have 12% Reported unemployment in this country we probably in reality have closer to 24%. This disparity in unemployment figures is because of the unrealistic way the government keeps count.
Why not automatically reduce immigration quotas by double the unemployment figures? If we can’t find jobs for the people that are already here what makes us think that immigrants will fare any better?
As for the illegal immigrants (of whatever ethnic origin)… they should be returned to sender. The third time the same person is caught here illegally… they should be clapped in irons and put to work as part of a prison work gang. They’ll be fed, clothed, and they will work, just they’re not going to be sending money home.
Institute a flat rate tax
One tax rate. No state income taxes, JUST ONE flat percentage and that’s it.
No more IRS filing, no more gamesmanship on April 15th.
Everyone pays the same amount. Corporations, Poor people, Small businesses, Rich people, the Middle class, EVERYONE.
I personally believe that we’ve incorrectly villainized the wealthy.
Not everyone was born wealthy. And many of the wealthy became so, by hard work and astute business dealings. I believe that making the wealthy “villains” because they capitalized on opportunity does us all a dis-service.
We should point to those folks and say “See, anyone can make it with hard work.”
But I think they should pay the same percentage of tax as all the rest of us.
Make the governments (US and State) spend within their means
With a flat rate tax in place, the government can predict how much they’ve got to spend on an annual basis.
That should mean that the budget is predictable too. No borrowing, no raiding of social security, no raiding of road taxes. The politicians will know beyond a doubt how much they have to spend, and they’ll have to allocate funds to essential services first.
If the economy is doing well and the citizens are making more money, then there’s more money to allocate to non-essential services. If the economy is bad then the converse is true.
I think that this would act as a very effective check / balance for the size of our government and would force our legislators to focus on what’s really important. Like the PEOPLE they’re supposed to represent. And…You know, minor stuff like maintaining a growing economy….
Remove immediately any politician that is late on or obstructs budget decisions
Yes up to and including the President!
The American people deserve better than to be used as bargaining chips in a personal battle of wills between politicians.
When the President threatened to withhold Veterans and Social Security recipients checks. It demonstrated just how far removed he is the common person. It also demonstrated the contempt he has for the American people in general.
So I think it’s time to make sure that politicians KNOW THEIR PLACE! They need to be reminded that they ARE OUR EMPLOYEES. They are paid and employed at the sufferance of the American People. A few instant firings of these arrogant parasites might bring all the others to heel. If not… well then I guess elections come early this year.
Start Charging for Military Intervention
I think we should bill any country where we’re expending military resources.
I think we should bill the UN for Peace Keeping missions.
I even entertain the idea of us renting our military forces to other countries.
I’m not talking about currency as payment either. I’m talking natural resources, Oil, gas, gold, silver, rare earths, in short any commodity that our nation could use.
Why the hell should the United States taxpayers keep footing the bill?
If someone needs our forces to settle a dispute… well they can damn well pay for it. I also think that our troops should be very well paid for their services and that could easily happen if we were billing countries that asked for our help.
It might also make folks think twice before going to war if they knew their opponent could afford to field our military against them.
The world has cast America in a peacekeeping role. Lets make it profitable!
Empty the Prisons
Every convicted prison inmate has two choices:
- Military service outside the United States.
- Prison Work gang.
The goal is to make use of the standing labor force that’s just sitting around costing money but returning very little to the society.
I’m sure the ACLU would have a heart attack if any of these ideas ever were implemented.
I don’t know if any of these ideas would work…
I do know that continuing on the way we have been will lead to our becoming a third world cesspool, and I’d hate for that to happen.