OT: The Thread About Nothing CCVI: Sitting in the blind

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MartyOwns

thank you shero
Apr 1, 2007
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why did the government charge me 5 dollars for home delivery for my legal weed that i bought from them when i had to go pick it up at the post office?

i got a notice in the mail box (one of those communal ones on the street) to go pick it up……..i was cutting wood in the garage today…..i saw the delivery person fill the communal box…..figured 'today might be the day!'…..i was home.

no……she drove off….. i walk across the street, check the box and a notice to drive and pick a package up….


……so i drive…..

i get there and ask if canada post has ceased home delivery for packages?

answer: no, you should have gotten door delivery or if youre not home a notice on the door….

me: was the reason for me driving here due to needing an ID and or signature

answer: no. they can do it at your residence


…..i figure this…….the post lady (lazy) didnt feel like actually going to my door to deliever and wanted to and go home as it was around 4:40pm

…instead just leave a card in the box and **** off……like the customer would care or notice.


…..ya….**** canada post. ……**** her. im making calls tomorrow...

again…..why did i pay 5 bucks for some government p.o.s. to not do their job properly?

imagine complaining about the home delivery of your legal weed lol. meanwhile i’m drier than a camel’s asshole
 

BenedictGomez

Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Oct 11, 2007
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If I were conflating the two, wouldn't that imply that firms of UPS' scale which are still dependent on lower-skill manual labor have an incentive other than being strong-armed by a union to provide their employees with sufficient, reasonably-priced health coverage?

Correct; that's the gist of what I'm saying. There is a large incentive for major employers like you described to provide decent healthcare, and even in the days prior to large corporations being forced to provide healthcare, it was almost unheard of for them not to. So the "law" in that regard was a bit like making it a requirement that fish swim. Largest Union in America or not (I think UPS is the largest?), your family would have access to good healthcare at a reasonable price. UPS could never have become "Big Brown" if they didn't offer their employees healthcare. As cheap? Probably not, I'd agree there. But it certainly would not have been the dystopian nightmare where your family is "bankrupt".
 

New Jersey

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Correct; that's the gist of what I'm saying. There is a large incentive for major employers like you described to provide decent healthcare, and even in the days prior to large corporations being forced to provide healthcare, it was almost unheard of for them not to. So the "law" in that regard was a bit like making it a requirement that fish swim. Largest Union in America or not (I think UPS is still the largest?), your family would have access to good healthcare at a reasonable price. UPS could never have become "Big Brown" is they didn't offer their employees healthcare. As cheap? Probably not, I'd agree there. But it certainly would not have been the dystopian nightmare where your family is "bankrupt".

UPS is Teamsters, so I believe so, yes.

This is where personal bias plays a role. My parents have a very colorful medical history that I've already divulged enough of. With everything you're saying being accurate, I would find it equally imprudent to *assume* that a large firm would provide as comprehensive coverage with similar premium contributions and the same reasonable co-pays relative to today's money as they did 30/40 years ago, nor is it wise to just assume that even the largest firms won't pick away at the coverage they provide to bring down costs as future generations of employees with *lower standards* for healthcare coverage enter the workforce and the older guys get to retire grandfathered into their comprehensive all-expenses-paid health plans. Also, again speaking from personal bias here, as my own employer is one where the the benefits have been scaled back significantly for incoming employees when compared to those getting ready to retire.

Really, I'm just never going to understand why it's normal in this country for me to contribute nearly 5% of my gross income per paycheck on peace of mind just in case I get sick or involved in an accident when I already pay federal income tax. It's almost like a surcharge on secure existence. Perhaps that's my ignorance, but I do know the insurance companies taking these premiums are in quite good shape and already have far more than enough in reserve to keep all their policyholders in good shape while much of our point-of-service experience at healthcare facilities make it all seem like a bill of goods (e.g. me spending five hours at the ER for a hand wound back in September). And then on top of that, we're out here paying the private sector to access something many believe the federal government isn't responsible for, but then this happens while we debate the future of stuff we already do provide out of Washington:

The $9 Billion Upcharge: How Insurers Kept Extra Cash From Medicare

However, year after year, most of those estimates have turned out to be wrong in the particular way that, thanks to Medicare’s arcane payment rules, results in more revenue for the health insurers, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. As a consequence, the insurers kept $9.1 billion more in taxpayer funds than they would have had their estimates been accurate from 2006 to 2015, according to Medicare data obtained by the Journal.

Those payments have largely been hidden from view since Medicare’s prescription-drug program was launched more than a decade ago, and are an example of how the secrecy of the $3.5 trillion U.S. health-care system promotes and obscures higher spending.

For instance, in 2015, insurers overestimated costs by about $2.2 billion, and kept about $1.06 billion of it after paying back $1.1 billion to the government, according to the data reviewed by the Journal.

I really want to know how the insurance firms contributed to society to earn that, and just how morally bankrupt those who made the call to skim a cool billion at a time from the federal government, while programs like Medicare are hemorrhaging, are.

I mean, sure, there is an argument that Medicare implicitly allows these practices, but I'm pretty confident that the second someone proposed closing these loopholes the insurance lobby would be in full scream on the basis of some intellectually dishonest argument about freedom, choice, etc. that only matters to those of a certain net worth.
 
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Davegarri

Much Doge, Wow Moon
Jan 8, 2014
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UPS is Teamsters, so I believe so, yes.

This is where personal bias plays a role. My parents have a very colorful medical history that I've already divulged enough of. With everything you're saying being accurate, I would find it equally imprudent to *assume* that a large firm would provide as comprehensive coverage with similar premium contributions and the same reasonable co-pays relative to today's money as they did 30/40 years ago, nor is it wise to just assume that even the largest firms won't pick away at the coverage they provide to bring down costs as future generations of employees with *lower standards* for healthcare coverage enter the workforce and the older guys get to retire grandfathered into their comprehensive all-expenses-paid health plans. Also, again speaking from personal bias here, as my own employer is one where the the benefits have been scaled back significantly for incoming employees when compared to those getting ready to retire.

Really, I'm just never going to understand why it's normal in this country for me to contribute nearly 5% of my gross income per paycheck on peace of mind just in case I get sick or involved in an accident when I already pay federal income tax. It's almost like a surcharge on secure existence. Perhaps that's my ignorance, but I do know the insurance companies taking these premiums are in quite good shape and already have far more than enough in reserve to keep all their policyholders in good shape while much of our point-of-service experience at healthcare facilities make it all seem like a bill of goods (e.g. me spending five hours at the ER for a hand wound back in September). And then on top of that, we're out here paying the private sector to access something many believe the federal government isn't responsible for, but then this happens while we debate the future of stuff we already do provide out of Washington:

The $9 Billion Upcharge: How Insurers Kept Extra Cash From Medicare





I really want to know how the insurance firms contributed to society to earn that, and just how morally bankrupt those who made the call to skim a cool billion at a time from the federal government, while programs like Medicare are hemorrhaging, are.


I agree, I don't like them up-charging me on healthcare; however, how much would my federal income taxes go up if the federal government gave out our health insurance?

In a vacuum, "free" healthcare from the government is a great idea, but it is definitely not going to truly be free. I would personally rather have a system where I can select the amount of coverage I want for the amount I want, If I don't want any coverage I can choose so also (I wouldn't do that, but you get my point). I don't want the government taxing my income any more than they already do, especially living here.
 

New Jersey

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I agree, I don't like them up-charging me on healthcare; however, how much would my federal income taxes go up if the federal government gave out our health insurance?

valid question, and i believe the answer lays in a hypothetical audit of our military which will likely never happen.

US military wasting money

A staggering report by the Defense Department’s Inspector General last summer found the Army made $2.8 trillion worth of wrongful adjustments to accounting entries in one quarter alone in 2015, and $6.5 trillion for the year. The Army lacked receipts and invoices to support those numbers or simply made them up.

in my honest opinion, and i hope i word this carefully, people who think we pay too much in taxes are upset about the *wrong* components of how we got to this point.
 
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Davegarri

Much Doge, Wow Moon
Jan 8, 2014
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3,446
NJ
valid question, and i believe the answer lays in a hypothetical audit of our military which will likely never happen.

Lol didn't it come out like last year that the Pentagon hasn't gotten audited in like 30 years? Meanwhile the government audits my company 39 weeks a year.

Edit: We get audited on site 39 weeks, not 36. Three weeks on, one week off.
 
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New Jersey

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Lol didn't it come out like last year that the Pentagon hasn't gotten audited in like 30 years? Meanwhile the government audits my company 36 weeks a year

that's why "we can't afford it" is just an outrageous cop-out to me in terms of healthcare and infrastructure.

ok i'm good on this, we're getting away with lots of banned talk, let's not push it.
 

njdevils1982

Hell Toupée!!!
Sep 8, 2006
37,790
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you see how some of us who grew up in working/middle class homes with health coverage that was collectively bargained for would ****ing riot at this, right? not trying to sway you, just saying.

i know in canada you have social medicine, but in america, having comprehensive health coverage at affordable prices is kind of a hot topic right now, and i can make an argument that the health plan bargained for by my father's union probably saved his life (he's severely bipolar and got to live a normal life thanks to not having to pay out of pocket for psychotropic pharmaceuticals for the last 27 years of his working life. bottles of 90 pills with price tags north of $350 were routine, all paid in full. not to mention a few surgeries between my parents, dental care, vision for my dad and i whom are both extremely nearsighted, me getting my four wisdom teeth out for only $300 out-of-pocket, i could go on...), and now he's enjoying a secure retirement.

without that union, my family could very well be another classic case of an american family bankrupted by healthcare (which many people down here seem inexplicably fine with but that's a whole other topic), i would have never gone to a private high school because no chance in hell my parents would have been able to afford it, might not have gone to the institution of higher learning which was a big reason i'm working at the job i am now, my job which is now paying for me to get my master's... all because of that union. it's all interconnected.

now, my mom is still insured via my father's retirement benefits and i'm on my own employer's health plan (i'm all good). why? for greater context, because the benefits offered by my mother's anti-union employer are a ****ing joke for the premium contributions they ask for and she never took them.

oh btw i'm not a unionized employee, and i likely (read as: definitely) never will be. i'm ok with that, my beef is more with the "lazy ass mother****ers" part, considering the man i just described would be up at 2:30 am every day for nearly three decades to go to UPS and sort peoples' bull**** packages and load vans before sunrise to *EARN* those benefits.

this one's personal for me.

what happened to no politics in the TaN?


thats terrific that your family has benefited from union health care….i wasnt trying to paint all union workers as lazy or whatnot but ive heard things form people that really get me going…

…now, my friend has a union job, a city works department postition…..he has a very good work ethic and legit wants to show up and do his job/tasks for the day……problem is none of the other people like him, barely talk to him and basically outcast him ….it even came down to where they , the other guys (assuming its mostly guys) tried and in fact got him fired as he wasnt towing the line (ie. long breaks, extended lunches) ….someone ratted him out for taking 2 shovels of road salt in a bag to salt his porch after a long night of plowing….they canned him (ill say this also…..my friend told me none of the others are angels…..they too have taken this or that from the yard but they all turn a blind eye to each other)


anyways, my friend ended up 'fighting' back…..talked to his union rep, got his job back and turned around and called out others for small petty whatevers…..a f*** you right back in their faces.

he hates the atmosphere of the job but needs the benefits for his 2 kids and wife…..


……….to go on, i have done contract work for the city YEARS ago……fall leaf collection with the sucker truck …….me and my crew were sub-contracters doing one area of the city while the full time union guys had another………..near the end of the season we were covering the city routes as they were so far behind due to them just parking their trucks in a mall parking lot and drinking coffees….sure they did some but in the end they just milked the system…



….by the way i was a teamster in 2000…..they did nothing for me….anytime i wanted more work or pay i was told, youre union you get 24 hours a week at 11.15/h …got to put in 3 years of that to get full time…..do the math…..its not good…

6 months later i just didnt show up and never did again.
 

TheUnseenHand

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I’m convinced that I’m the only person left in the world that hasn’t gotten high. Not particularly against Weed, just never got into it as a kid and would just feel weird as an adult to start now.

You'd be incorrect, as I never have either. Never been drunk either.
 
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Bleedred

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I’m convinced that I’m the only person left in the world that hasn’t gotten high. Not particularly against Weed, just never got into it as a kid and would just feel weird as an adult to start now.
I did maybe a handful of times when I was 14 and never did it again.
 
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BenedictGomez

Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Oct 11, 2007
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being high on weed as a teenager vs. an adult is completely different…..cant say ive seen people in know nowadays acting "stupid" after a joint

Okay, fair enough, but I'd argue it's the same, but different.

Take high & non-high adults & have them watch a comedienne. The high people might laugh at the non-funny jokes too. That sort of thing.

Then you have the people who get stoned so often that you cant even tell if they're high or not because they tolerate it so well. So the effects obviously vary by the person.
 

New Jersey

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Sep 7, 2009
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thats terrific that your family has benefited from union health care….i wasnt trying to paint all union workers as lazy or whatnot but ive heard things form people that really get me going…

…now, my friend has a union job, a city works department postition…..he has a very good work ethic and legit wants to show up and do his job/tasks for the day……problem is none of the other people like him, barely talk to him and basically outcast him ….it even came down to where they , the other guys (assuming its mostly guys) tried and in fact got him fired as he wasnt towing the line (ie. long breaks, extended lunches) ….someone ratted him out for taking 2 shovels of road salt in a bag to salt his porch after a long night of plowing….they canned him (ill say this also…..my friend told me none of the others are angels…..they too have taken this or that from the yard but they all turn a blind eye to each other)


anyways, my friend ended up 'fighting' back…..talked to his union rep, got his job back and turned around and called out others for small petty whatevers…..a **** you right back in their faces.

he hates the atmosphere of the job but needs the benefits for his 2 kids and wife…..


……….to go on, i have done contract work for the city YEARS ago……fall leaf collection with the sucker truck …….me and my crew were sub-contracters doing one area of the city while the full time union guys had another………..near the end of the season we were covering the city routes as they were so far behind due to them just parking their trucks in a mall parking lot and drinking coffees….sure they did some but in the end they just milked the system…



….by the way i was a teamster in 2000…..they did nothing for me….anytime i wanted more work or pay i was told, youre union you get 24 hours a week at 11.15/h …got to put in 3 years of that to get full time…..do the math…..its not good…

6 months later i just didnt show up and never did again.

everyone has experiences that influence their personal biases. i still think you’re ok.
 

MartyOwns

thank you shero
Apr 1, 2007
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being high on weed as a teenager vs. an adult is completely different…..cant say ive seen people in know nowadays acting "stupid" after a joint

so much this. for me, i’ve never been much of a drinker...but there is a stigma attached to weed that isn’t there for people that knock back a few drinks a few times a week. but it’s really the same thing, just a way to relax in a ridiculously stressful world
 
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Bleedred

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if you’re ok with alcohol you should be ok with weed.

fin.
I agree with this.

I think alcohol is more accepted than weed because it's legal, whereas weed (in most places and until recently) is seen as being worse due to its legal status.

I personally partake in neither.
 

Cage Helmet

Thank you Marty!
May 27, 2012
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I’m convinced that I’m the only person left in the world that hasn’t gotten high. Not particularly against Weed, just never got into it as a kid and would just feel weird as an adult to start now.
Just turned 36 and I haven’t, either. Never smoked anything and drank a couple beers when I was 12-13.
 

MadDevil

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I've had a couple of edibles, but that's about it. I never got into smoking weed in high school because I couldn't stand the stoners who would light up all the time in the parking lot and then come in reeking of it.
 

New Jersey

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i have a little experience with marijuana. all i’ll say on here until it’s actually legal. :laugh:

i got all my stupid drinking out of my system in college. now i drink like an adult. still enjoy a tailgate or party but i don’t get drunk to the level of embarrassing myself anymore, if i get drunk at all.
 

MadDevil

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Having to buy a new mattress after vomiting all over the one I had put an end to my stupid drinking. And that after I boldly proclaimed before going out that night that I wouldn't mix beer and hard liquor. Needless to say, I did not follow that proclamation.:laugh:
 
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