tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post2019214425247128278..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: Workin' In A Coal MineSiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-30391395492131081532011-07-25T18:29:46.515-04:002011-07-25T18:29:46.515-04:00@John Venlet:
Yeah, I was thinking (but not sayin...@John Venlet:<br /><br />Yeah, I was thinking (but not saying) about social pressure, the whole "everyone's gotta go to college" mania, etc. I'm sure there are a lot of things working against the notion of becoming a miner.<br /><br />Graybeard's points about aversion to hard physical labor are certainly valid enough. Do you know anyone who works as hard as <a href="http://bsfootprint.com/blogs/bsfootprint/i-feel-so-lazy-especially-after-reading-this" rel="nofollow">this guy</a>? I'm humiliated. :DBS Footprinthttp://bsfootprint.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-81558048666745984332011-07-25T18:19:21.790-04:002011-07-25T18:19:21.790-04:00I meant to add:
Tuttle it is. I'll go down...I meant to add: <br /><br />Tuttle it is. I'll go down in a hail of duct tape and baling wire. Better to die with screwdriver in hand, than to be taken into the interrogation rooms. :DBS Footprinthttp://bsfootprint.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-21842958551170078272011-07-25T18:15:56.235-04:002011-07-25T18:15:56.235-04:00>Just make sure you're Tuttle and not Buttl...>Just make sure you're Tuttle and not Buttle.<br /><br />Ha! Ninja HVAC repairman, at your service!BS Footprinthttp://bsfootprint.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-19450481443107349992011-07-24T15:31:49.072-04:002011-07-24T15:31:49.072-04:00I think the perception of danger as a miner may be...<i>I think the perception of danger as a miner may be at work here, at least as much as the hard work aspect.</i><br /><br />I think BS is probably correct about the danger aspect, and the hard work. Additionally, many blue collar workers, such as coal miners, do aspire for their children to <i>not</i> have to work in the mines or other manual labor type jobs, which, unfortunately, are considered in our day and age as lowly.<br /><br />With that said, dangers or no, one would think that the opportunity to earn $50K per year as a miner, with a mere H.S. degree, would have definite appeal. I think that if a H.S. graduate took a longer term view in regards to being a coal miner, i.e. work hard for 4 years, bank some of that $50K each year, and then look to other opportunities, whether college or other less manually taxing positions within the coal mining industry, the potential danger risks would be ameliorated.<br /><br />Granted, this type of thinking is not taught within the government controlled school system, nor in many American homes.<br /><br />I know that if my sons were in need of employment, I'd be pointing them South.John Venlethttp://www.improvedclinch.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-18975991419561591182011-07-24T12:19:37.278-04:002011-07-24T12:19:37.278-04:00When Brazil first came out, it was worth seeing, f...When Brazil first came out, it was worth seeing, for the visuals if nothing else. Hardly anyone can fill a movie screen with imagery like Gilliam. Now, with the response to terrorism turning our society into a dystopia reminiscent of Brazil, it seems prophetic. Gilliam was ahead of our time. <br /><br />Just make sure you're Tuttle and not Buttle.SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-60168121148238418392011-07-23T23:30:26.136-04:002011-07-23T23:30:26.136-04:00I think the perception of danger as a miner may be...I think the perception of danger as a miner may be at work here, at least as much as the hard work aspect. <br /><br />@RegT, @Borepatch:<br /><br />Have you seen Terry Gilliam's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/" rel="nofollow">Brazil</a>? That's what I think of when I think of government bureaucrat positions, and I'm hoping that I can be Harry Tuttle.BS Footprinthttp://bsfootprint.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-54102107046250105152011-07-23T02:55:35.882-04:002011-07-23T02:55:35.882-04:00I did :-) I worked with a fellow who was exactly w...I did :-) I worked with a fellow who was exactly what Dilbert would look like if he were flesh and blood, but he was an administrative clerk at the VA instead of an engineer. Really nice guy, not quite as nerdy as Dilbert but kind of ineffectual in a similar social fashion, although he did his job well.<br /><br />I could tell you of a dozen highly paid administrative staff, nurse managers, and others at our particular VA that were paid from $70K to $120K and did nothing. Literally. Unless you count attending meetings and writing "position" papers, new employee regulations, and requirements for "improving morale". (One of them use to spend a couple of hours several times a week shopping in town when she was supposed to be in her office.) As well as a Director who made an extra $40K-$50K a year in bonuses for saving money from the budget - by understaffing us, withholding medications and equipment needed by our veteran patients, etc. Last I heard, he was the Director at Albuquerque.<br /><br />BTW, that should have been "cachet", not "cache" ;-)<br /><br />Speaking of Dilbert, one of my favorite Dilberts was one that might well have been written for some of our VA employees: A co-worker asks Wally, "Should I try to be indispensable so I don't get fired?" and Wally replies, "No, indispensable people end up working too hard because they can't risk showing anyone else how to do what they do."<br />The co-worker says, "Being useless seems riskier" to which Wally replies, "Have you seen the tie clip I got for twenty years of service?"Reg Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-65191573832741253532011-07-22T22:49:12.994-04:002011-07-22T22:49:12.994-04:00Good Lord.
Reg T, who would choose to go to work ...Good Lord.<br /><br />Reg T, who would choose to go to work with Dilbert?Borepatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029434172945099693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-82567352264962690042011-07-22T22:06:41.145-04:002011-07-22T22:06:41.145-04:00The reason is the difference between real jobs and...The reason is the difference between real jobs and state jobs. Because their work ethic sucks, those kids would rather make 25K sitting on their asses at a desk, filling out a few pieces of paper, and perhaps wielding a bit of "authoritah" over the peon citizens they supposedly work for than to put in a long and hard shift doing manual labor in a mine.<br /><br />Now, I'll admit I would rather work as a pilot or as a registered nurse (done both) than to wield a pick and shovel (done that too), but as a young man it was easier to find employment at manual labor and that is what it took to put bread on the table. Later, after quite a bit of training, I was able to work jobs that were less physical, although I still put in long hours and mucho overtime working in both law enforcement and nursing.<br /><br />Our schools and our society have been teaching our kids that government jobs mean benefits that you can't get in the private sector, retirement at an earlier age (often at a higher rate), the ability to get by with sloppy work or even pretending to work with little to no risk of being fired, plus the cache of a job title that sounds classier than plumber, electrician, or even engineer.<br /><br />Add to that the fact that - recently at least - about the only jobs being created have been government jobs, bureaucratic jobs, and you have a recipe for whole generations who don't understand what honest work entails. I won't even get into the sub-culture that exists of workers - especially in the federal and state governments - who have discovered how easy it is to scam a 100% disability rating and collect a decent paycheck for doing absolutely nothing.Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.com