Rod Speed

"Deep Frayed Morgues" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
    > On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:45:52 +0200, AJC <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:19:39 +0200, Barbara Bomberger
    >><[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 08:42:19 -0700, Richard Cline <[email protected]>
    >>>wrote:
    >>>>In article <[email protected]>,
    >>>>"Informer" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>>It is interesting that many of the best and brightest people immigrate
    >>>>to the US for their career betterment.
    >>>>Dick
    >>>And piles and piles of Americans come to Europe for their career
    >>>betterment. Just come to the expat community in my church.
    >>>Barb
    >>Indeed it is astonishing the number of Americans one finds living all
    >>over Europe, and loving it judging by those I encounter.
    > All over the world really. I have met Americans in some very out of
    > the way places that are in no hurry to return home whatsoever.

Just as true of most european countrys too.

Rod Speed

"Deep Frayed Morgues" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
    > On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:23:24 -0700, yes <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>> I don't like to travel. Sometimes I'll take a day or two or five to work
    >>> on my house or garden. At Christmas I usually take off the week between
    >>> Christmas and New Year's and hang around the house with my husband. Once
    >>> in a great while, I'll take off a day and read or something (especially if
    >>> there's a new Terry Pratchett novel out).
    >>> There's nothing stopping me from taking my vacation days, except I don't
    >>> want to. I have plenty of time to do everything I want. I don't have any
    >>> children, so my time is pretty much my own.
    >>> Cindy Hamilton
    >>Hopefully some day you will realize there is much more to live and
    >>experience than you currently seem to think there is. And then you will
    >>want those vacation days. I hope that day comes soon.

    > It sounds like her expectations for life have been nicely
    > lowered to the point where vacations are a bit of a nuisance.

Or she prefers what she does for work to what is available on vacation.

    > This is not uncommon from what I have seen in the US.

Just as true right throughout the first world too.

    > I don't know why, but they seem to feel guilty (or something)
    > if they are not either working or spending money.

Corse that never happens anywhere else, eh ?

    > **** that, I would rather be on a beach, walking the mountains,
    > boozing with someone in Swahililand, eating food that I can't
    > pronounce or just wasting an indefinite amount of time in some
    > paradisical tourist void somewhere in the developing world!

Just another useless parasite.

nitram

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:31:53 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >N writes:
    >> It's a normal part of life and it shouldn't be treated by
    >> employers as a vacation or sick leave.
    >Illness and leisure are normal parts of life, too, but they are still
    >treated as sick leave and vacation.
    >Employers are not obligated to provide special accommodation for
    >voluntary projects undertaken by employees that impinge upon working
    >time.

In the far east the workers sometimes live in the factories.



    >Parents have less time to devote to an employer than people without
    >children.

I can tell you haven't got kids. It's not uncommon for some people to
work late, rather than go home to the family
--
Martin

nitram

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:37:21 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >[email protected] writes:
    >> That says more about your income than anything else. Are you saying
    >> that your monthly income is less than Euro 200?
    >No. I'm saying that a typical color TV is around ¤1000. Many, many
    >people in France are only earning about ¤1200-¤1800 per month before
    >taxes and social security charges.

quite possibly, but then they don't aspire to having a Euro1000 TV.
There are plenty on the market for far less. Since the programs are
crap anything over Euro200 is gross extravagance for a poor family.

In the days when I was hard up I made do with second hand TVs
--
Martin

nitram

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:37:52 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >Ronald Hands writes:
    >> Console yourself with the knowledge that there's nothing worth
    >> watching on the damn things anyway, no matter how much they cost.
    >I don't have a TV.

You aren't missing anything.
--
Martin

John

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 14:25:27 GMT, "Jeff Hacker" <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >"Richard Hutnik" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]. com...
    >> Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:<483un0lc2o3rmp3kju8enknp9h845l1v50@news>...
    >>> When an American friend told me people in the US only have two weeks
    >>> of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He said yeah but
    >>> we get paid public holidays.
    >>> In the UK we get 4 to 5 weeks paid leave plus public holidays . Other
    >>> countries like France get 5 to 6 weeks plus public holidays. Plus
    >>> they only work 35 hours per week yet they are one of the most
    >>> productive countries in the world.
    >>> If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    >>> such a system and not lose their mind???
    >>> Life can't all be about work. It seems such a system would breed
    >>> highly neurotic and hysterical people. I wouldn't want to live like
    >>> that no matter how much they paid me.
    >> There is a bunch of reasons here:
    >> 1. People need to keep up with the Joneses here. People value money
    >> more than other things here.
    >No different anywhere else in the western world, I would guess.
    >> 2. Unionization is at an all-time low. Businesses can make whatever
    >> demands they like, and people have to accept it. The market dictates
    >> a lot here. And with job growth being what it is, people have to put
    >> up with whatever they have to, in order to keep their jobs.
    >The reason unionization is at an all-time low is abuses by the unions in the
    >past. Employees have realized that the success of the company is a
    >necessary if they want to benefit personally. Greedy unions have ruined it
    >for many of their rank and file.
    >> Businesses are constantly letting people go to remind them of this
    >> fact.
    >Because businesses have to make a profit to remain in business. Simple fact
    >of life. I have a small business myself. If I can't make a living, I can't
    >employ my staff. Everybody loses.
    >> 3. People are falling further and further behind economically here.
    >I think the statistics belie that. Home ownership in the U.S. is at an all
    >time high, especially with minorities and middle class people. And home
    >ownership in the U.S. generally means single family detatched houses (except
    >in some major northeastern cities where townhouses/condominiums are the
    >norm), which means that they are generally larger and nicer than in most
    >European cities.

Bullshit.

Check the amount of credit card debt per family.

    >> More and more people will have to get second and third jobs in fact.
    >Again, the work ethic.

Bullshit again.
The people are getting second and third jobs just to keep their heads
above water.

    >> 4. New changes in labor laws coming. More and more people will be
    >> salaried. They will be demanded to work overtime, and not get paid
    >> for it.
    >> 5. Advent of technology. Now work follows them home, on vacation,
    >> etc...
    >> You will be amazed what people can put up when they have to...
    >> - Richard Hutnik

nitram

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:38:33 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >"szozu" <hoppbunny at hotmail com> writes:
    >> So I guess you must want a large plasma screen then.
    >Large plasma screens are about ¤8000.

but you don't want one.
--
Martin

nitram

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:40:27 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >The Reids writes:
    >> LOL, that's total bollocks, MIxi, and you know it. nobody "saves
    >> up", they use credit, I could buy a TVs out of my pension every
    >> month and hardly notice.
    >Credit is not as readily available in Europe, nor is it as readily used.
    >Revolving credit is still exceptional in France, for example.

Maybe France isn't typical, in UK and NL the banks try to stuff money
into your wallet. There's one UK bank currently offering to loan up
to 9 times a couples joint salary if they need money to buy a house.
--
Martin

Jim Ley

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 05:38:16 +1000, "Rod Speed" <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >> 1st world = developed western nations
    >> 2nd world = communist bloc
    >Wrong.
    >> 3rd world = nonaligned nations
    >Wrong.
    >In the real world the 3rd world is the economic dregs and the
    >2nd world includes a hell of a lot that have never had anything
    >to do with communism and do reasonably well economically.
    >Argentina is an example of a 2nd world country. There are plenty of others too.


but 80 years ago Argentina was almost certainly first world - what
went wrong?

Jim.

Mxsmanic

The Reids writes:

    > The most likely reason is that they don't eat dairy products.

Dairy products do not cause heart disease.

The Japanese and Orientals generally avoid dairy products because they
have almost no tolerance for lactose in adulthood (most adults worldwide
develop lactose intolerance, but it is particularly prevalent and
extreme in the Orient).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Me

"Mxsmanic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > N writes:
    > > It's a normal part of life and it shouldn't be treated by
    > > employers as a vacation or sick leave.
    > Illness and leisure are normal parts of life, too, but they are still
    > treated as sick leave and vacation.
    > Employers are not obligated to provide special accommodation for
    > voluntary projects undertaken by employees that impinge upon working
    > time.
    > > Speaking as a parent myself, I'll say that parenthood is such a
    > > watershed event in anyone's life that many (most? all?) parents
    > > reassess things and look at things differently, because a child gives
    > > most parents a new and higher priority.
    > That's irrelevant to an employer.
    > > Therefore, parents may
    > > reassess their job situation and be less likely to go back to work at
    > > a place that doesn't support parents well.
    > And parents like that are less likely to work hard, too, so an employer
    > may be better off without them.
    > > If employers seem less
    > > loyal and supportive to employees as they go through normal life
    > > events, such as becoming a parent, employees are less likely to be
    > > loyal and supportive to the employer, IME.
    > Parents have less time to devote to an employer than people without
    > children.

With a statement like that, I think you're damn lucky you don't work in an
HR department -- can you say "discrimination"?

Magda

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:31:53 +0200, in rec.travel.europe, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :


... Parents have less time to devote to an employer than people without
... children.

I'll have you know that childfree people have *lives*. They just don't revolve around
dirty nappies or work 24/24.

Rod Speed

Mxsmanic <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Rod Speed writes
    >> Magda <[email protected]> wrote

    >>> Not taking vacations once in a while is a matter of deficient mental health.

    >> Crap. Plenty of small business owners and others choose not to
    >> bother with them, because they dont find them of any interest to them.

    > Small business owners don't take vacations because they cannot afford to.

Wrong again. Its MUCH more complicated than that.

And plenty do take vacations too.

    > Nobody pays for the time they aren't working.

Duh.

And plenty just dont find that vacations appeal, too.

Nothing to do with the original completely silly claim.

Rod Speed

"me" <nospamhere> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > "Mxsmanic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> N writes:
    >> > It's a normal part of life and it shouldn't be treated by
    >> > employers as a vacation or sick leave.
    >> Illness and leisure are normal parts of life, too, but they are still
    >> treated as sick leave and vacation.
    >> Employers are not obligated to provide special accommodation for
    >> voluntary projects undertaken by employees that impinge upon working
    >> time.
    >> > Speaking as a parent myself, I'll say that parenthood is such a
    >> > watershed event in anyone's life that many (most? all?) parents
    >> > reassess things and look at things differently, because a child gives
    >> > most parents a new and higher priority.
    >> That's irrelevant to an employer.
    >> > Therefore, parents may
    >> > reassess their job situation and be less likely to go back to work at
    >> > a place that doesn't support parents well.
    >> And parents like that are less likely to work hard, too, so an employer
    >> may be better off without them.
    >> > If employers seem less
    >> > loyal and supportive to employees as they go through normal life
    >> > events, such as becoming a parent, employees are less likely to be
    >> > loyal and supportive to the employer, IME.
    >> Parents have less time to devote to an employer than people without
    >> children.

    > With a statement like that, I think you're damn lucky you don't
    > work in an HR department -- can you say "discrimination"?

Pity it aint illegal discrimination if they choose not to give
time off to those who choose to pump out a brat or six.

Rod Speed

Mxsmanic <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > The Reids writes:

    >> LOL, that's total bollocks, MIxi, and you know it.
    >> nobody "saves up", they use credit, I could buy a
    >> TVs out of my pension every month and hardly notice.

    > Credit is not as readily available in Europe,

More pig ignorant drivel.

    > nor is it as readily used.

More pig ignorant drivel.

    > Revolving credit is still exceptional in France, for example.

More pig ignorant drivel.