Rant: Holidaycoro strips

[caniac]

47 minutes ago, Orville said:

But many things used to be and we need to get back to that.  Just tired of things falling apart and failing just outside of their "warranty period" and made elsewhere.

it's no longer cheap labor that is moving stuff elsewhere, it robotics.  Take pixel strips, if they were made by hand and made here you would be looking at $100 per strip (manufacturers here would want to recoup their startup cost).  They can be made overseas in a climate controlled robotics lab for pennies on the dollar.   Even textiles are robotic, back in the late 80's I worked for a company that invested heavily in overseas plants and robotic cutters (could lay out fabric for jeans on a machine. the fabric was 100ft wide by 500 yds long).  we would stack the material 30 layers high.  a laser pattern would be laid over the entirety and in 20 minutes that machine would cut 1200dz pair of jeans (all the components(front leg, back leg, etc)).  It would take two weeks to do that by hand.  Those type of jobs will never return.  Take the coal mines, that job is fading and fading fast.  Power companies have shuttered over 75% of all coal fired plants.  New plants are natural gas (because its cheaper), nuclear, and wind.  Lower maintenance cost on those thus higher profits.  Coal miners don't want to mines to be opened back up, they want help with the tourist industry.  A coal miner can make more money in a week taking tourist into the back woods to hunt and fish then they made in three months mining coal.  WVa has some awesome outdoor areas.  in a few more years this hobby will migrate to projection mapping.

[Orville]

On 10/2/2019 at 7:26 PM, caniac said:

it's no longer cheap labor that is moving stuff elsewhere, it robotics.  Take pixel strips, if they were made by hand and made here you would be looking at $100 per strip (manufacturers here would want to recoup their startup cost).  They can be made overseas in a climate controlled robotics lab for pennies on the dollar.   Even textiles are robotic, back in the late 80's I worked for a company that invested heavily in overseas plants and robotic cutters (could lay out fabric for jeans on a machine. the fabric was 100ft wide by 500 yds long).  we would stack the material 30 layers high.  a laser pattern would be laid over the entirety and in 20 minutes that machine would cut 1200dz pair of jeans (all the components(front leg, back leg, etc)).  It would take two weeks to do that by hand.  Those type of jobs will never return.  Take the coal mines, that job is fading and fading fast.  Power companies have shuttered over 75% of all coal fired plants.  New plants are natural gas (because its cheaper), nuclear, and wind.  Lower maintenance cost on those thus higher profits.  Coal miners don't want to mines to be opened back up, they want help with the tourist industry.  A coal miner can make more money in a week taking tourist into the back woods to hunt and fish then they made in three months mining coal.  WVa has some awesome outdoor areas.  in a few more years this hobby will migrate to projection mapping.

And that's what is causing things like Medicare and Social Security to run out of money, along with other things that are dwindling by kicking out the human element and using robots.   Robots are fine for some things, but they don't need to be a catch all for every job out there.  just wait and see, that movie about robots turning on us and taking over is getting near and nearer to the truth every day.   And by the time we foolish humans realize it has happened, it will be too late!

[caniac]

10 hours ago, Orville said:

And that's what is causing things like Medicare and Social Security to run out of money, along with other things that are dwindling by kicking out the human element and using robots.   Robots are fine for some things, but they don't need to be a catch all for every job out there.  just wait and see, that movie about robots turning on us and taking over is getting near and nearer to the truth every day.   And by the time we foolish humans realize it has happened, it will be too late!

when the world changes you have to change with it..

[TheDucks]

Orville. Robots are also the solution to the lousy worker problem. Hire 10 to get 1 dependable one. I thought that was a myth. Nope!

My last 20Y was as a temp/gig  (because no perm hire. who says age discrimination is not there), In late, out early...that is if they show at all.

Forget quality or quantity of work ('we are paid by the hour, so why work briskly"). And the gig management look for ways to skirt the local labor laws and pay you for the least amount of (no benefits) hours. Heck, they break some. Blow the whistle, and you will never work in the area again .

[caniac]

2 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Orville. Robots are also the solution to the lousy worker problem. Hire 10 to get 1 dependable one. I thought that was a myth. Nope!

My last 20Y was as a temp/gig  (because no perm hire. who says age discrimination is not there), In late, out early...that is if they show at all.

Forget quality or quantity of work ('we are paid by the hour, so why work briskly"). And the gig management look for ways to skirt the local labor laws and pay you for the least amount of (no benefits) hours. Heck, they break some. Blow the whistle, and you will never work in the area again .

I agree, up until 6 years ago I ran my own company.  Paid my employees generously plus perks when things were good.  Biggest issue I had was with the one's on salary, they would come in late and leave early.  When told they needed to make up the time I got every excuse under the sun.  One learned the hard way to dare me to fire them, 2 mins later they were turning in their keys and leaving.  When you dare someone you have to be prepared for all results.  Don't get me started on the interview process, my ad clearly stated tech skills (computer) but had all sorts coming out of the wood work.  Everything from GED's to PhD's for a support position.  Appearances were all over the charts to, on one end high heels and mini-skirts and on the other was the lady that had just finished mucking her horse stalls (sweats and rubber boots).

As an employee I now know why most companies have a loss prevention department,  the things people will do to get an extra dollar ahead.  If it can be done by automation and done efficiently then I am all for it, the masses just need to retool.

[PhilMassey]

2 hours ago, caniac said:

Appearances were all over the charts to, on one end high heels and mini-skirts and on the other was the lady that had just finished mucking her horse stalls (sweats and rubber boots).

You hired the second one, of course😀

[TheDucks]

3 hours ago, caniac said:

Everything from GED's to PhD's for a support position.  Appearances were all over the charts to, on one end high heels and mini-skirts and on the other was the lady that had just finished mucking her horse stalls (sweats and rubber boots).

 

PhD's still have bills to pay. As you get older, your previous salary prices you out of jobs at many companies, where they can get a College Grad (with a ton of debt) for a pittance.

When I reentered the workforce after 8Y in the Navy, My ET school was considered = an AA degree.  Today, the same type of job calls for a BS and all my years in the job did not count. I was willing to WORK at the job the employer offered, at any (near) reasonable wage (I had east coast temp agencies offer $13/hr , no bennies for work in SF area, huge commutes/service areas)

[Dcroc]

HC keeps going back to "the way they are mounted", and "leaving then installed all year", and all that crap.  I explained that the ones left  unopened in the package from last year are bad in the same exact manner, they ignore that part.  They told me that this is the way strips are, and the life expectancy of 1 or 2 seasons is normal because of how delicate they are.  STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE ONES IN THE PACKAGE.  It's too late to change horses now, so I am still replacing them for this year (out hundreds of dollars).  I will not be using them next year.  Gonna take the garbage down after the season, and toss them.  Not even gonna risk this happening again.  Have had to deal with this every year.  I have added nothing new this year to my display, because I had to use the entire budget replacing strips I replaced last year.  I believe I will find another source.  HC tells me their nodes are more "dependable", but damn if I am going to risk that.  I do not see myself buying any lights from HC after I get these replaced for the year.  If I could have found dumb strips elsewhere, I wouldn't even be uising HC this year.  I feel robbed, and disrespected.  I know damn well that TIME is the only thing all these strips have in common.  They go bad by simply sitting over the year.  Pure garbage.

[Orville]

21 hours ago, TheDucks said:

Orville. Robots are also the solution to the lousy worker problem. Hire 10 to get 1 dependable one. I thought that was a myth. Nope!

My last 20Y was as a temp/gig  (because no perm hire. who says age discrimination is not there), In late, out early...that is if they show at all.

Forget quality or quantity of work ('we are paid by the hour, so why work briskly"). And the gig management look for ways to skirt the local labor laws and pay you for the least amount of (no benefits) hours. Heck, they break some. Blow the whistle, and you will never work in the area again .

I can understand that and I've worked in management positions in different venues, you always have some in every crowd.  Sadly sometimes they are harder to weed out and get rid of in some circumstances.  But I will never believe a robot can replace the human element when it comes to employment.  If we replace every single job with a robot, then just how is any human going to be expected to live then?   Robot = NO WAGES, as well as NO JOBS for Humans!   NO WAGES and NO JOBS means there will be no funds to pay into things like Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, or even charity ran organizations that help people will no longer be able to do so.  They will no longer exist or have funds to help anyone.

Folks need to wake the heck up and smell the coffee, before this lunacy with technology and robotics just starts killing us all off because no one is going to have any money to pay for anything and the government will also probably be all replaced by some robotic drone, no emotion, no care, no feeling that makes us who we are and what we do.

So if we have to change for this we are basically damning ourselves to our own death and bringing on the demise of the human race.   After all, just how are we going to pay and purchase anything or everything that these uncaring, unfeeling robots make if we no longer have a way to work or make money to pay for things, like our home mortgages, rent, food. cell phones, light displays props/items?  Think about that too.

Seems people are NOT truly looking at the big picture here.   Again, remember, this will also cause displays to go dark as well as not be able to buy things to even put on one, your cell phone will be put out of service because you can no longer pay for service, and those fancy cell phones that Apple sells for ridiculous amounts now will become nothing but a piece of junk.

Having worked in the technological arena, I can foresee what's going to come if we, as human beings do not put a stop to this ridiculous madness we have with technology and robotics that is far too out of control already.

I'm not being an alarmist, far from it, but I can see where all this garbage is heading us right down to our own destruction.  I sure hope I'm already long gone and with my maker before this eventually happens, because this is going to kill off the human race in short order if we don't start paying more attention to what's going on around us.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Orville

[caniac]

19 hours ago, PhilMassey said:

You hired the second one, of course😀

she had me at the horse pooooh aroma, she would never be able to sneak up on me.

[caniac]

18 hours ago, TheDucks said:

PhD's still have bills to pay. As you get older, your previous salary prices you out of jobs at many companies, where they can get a College Grad (with a ton of debt) for a pittance.

When I reentered the workforce after 8Y in the Navy, My ET school was considered = an AA degree.  Today, the same type of job calls for a BS and all my years in the job did not count. I was willing to WORK at the job the employer offered, at any (near) reasonable wage (I had east coast temp agencies offer $13/hr , no bennies for work in SF area, huge commutes/service areas)

agreed but didn't feel right about it for some reason.

[caniac]

1 hour ago, Dcroc said:

HC keeps going back to "the way they are mounted", and "leaving then installed all year", and all that crap.  I explained that the ones left  unopened in the package from last year are bad in the same exact manner, they ignore that part.  They told me that this is the way strips are, and the life expectancy of 1 or 2 seasons is normal because of how delicate they are.  STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE ONES IN THE PACKAGE.  It's too late to change horses now, so I am still replacing them for this year (out hundreds of dollars).  I will not be using them next year.  Gonna take the garbage down after the season, and toss them.  Not even gonna risk this happening again.  Have had to deal with this every year.  I have added nothing new this year to my display, because I had to use the entire budget replacing strips I replaced last year.  I believe I will find another source.  HC tells me their nodes are more "dependable", but damn if I am going to risk that.  I do not see myself buying any lights from HC after I get these replaced for the year.  If I could have found dumb strips elsewhere, I wouldn't even be uising HC this year.  I feel robbed, and disrespected.  I know damn well that TIME is the only thing all these strips have in common.  They go bad by simply sitting over the year.  Pure garbage.

been there done that, got the shirt.  And if you get them real mad they post your emails and voice mails on FB because after all that is the adult way to handle your customers.

[caniac]

1 hour ago, Orville said:

I can understand that and I've worked in management positions in different venues, you always have some in every crowd.  Sadly sometimes they are harder to weed out and get rid of in some circumstances.  But I will never believe a robot can replace the human element when it comes to employment.  If we replace every single job with a robot, then just how is any human going to be expected to live then?   Robot = NO WAGES, as well as NO JOBS for Humans!   NO WAGES and NO JOBS means there will be no funds to pay into things like Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, or even charity ran organizations that help people will no longer be able to do so.  They will no longer exist or have funds to help anyone.

Folks need to wake the heck up and smell the coffee, before this lunacy with technology and robotics just starts killing us all off because no one is going to have any money to pay for anything and the government will also probably be all replaced by some robotic drone, no emotion, no care, no feeling that makes us who we are and what we do.

So if we have to change for this we are basically damning ourselves to our own death and bringing on the demise of the human race.   After all, just how are we going to pay and purchase anything or everything that these uncaring, unfeeling robots make if we no longer have a way to work or make money to pay for things, like our home mortgages, rent, food. cell phones, light displays props/items?  Think about that too.

Seems people are NOT truly looking at the big picture here.   Again, remember, this will also cause displays to go dark as well as not be able to buy things to even put on one, your cell phone will be put out of service because you can no longer pay for service, and those fancy cell phones that Apple sells for ridiculous amounts now will become nothing but a piece of junk.

Having worked in the technological arena, I can foresee what's going to come if we, as human beings do not put a stop to this ridiculous madness we have with technology and robotics that is far too out of control already.

I'm not being an alarmist, far from it, but I can see where all this garbage is heading us right down to our own destruction.  I sure hope I'm already long gone and with my maker before this eventually happens, because this is going to kill off the human race in short order if we don't start paying more attention to what's going on around us.

not how things work, remember back in the day when we discovered fire and it was all we needed for our Christmas show (that and Ugg after he consumed fermented grapes).

[TheDucks]

21 hours ago, PhilMassey said:

You hired the second one, of course😀

Good move.  She proved 2 things here. 1)Not afraid to do hard work. 2) Get there (interview) on time any way she could.