nphorizon

How come no one posts here anymore? How's life at OAC? Worked as student there. HAppy Holidays.

^^^ i'm surprised they did that considering there are so many people on layoff from 2004....i wonder if any of those people were called.

What? No financial/economic commentary for weeks?

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2012 mustang V6 scheduled 04/12/11. VIN 1ZVBP8AM4C5215423

Do you see this as a problem or as a positive thing? Is there a solution?

"My parents died relatively young; 63 and 71. I plan to live past 90. Don't know if I will make it, but that is the plan." I'd live like there is no tomorrow if I were you! "I will have to work at least until 70 or so, or I will go broke." We already did a financial checkup a couple days ago remember? We were all relieved that you have valuable real estate, savings and a work ethic that would make a german envious. No one is going broke, last of all you. "No pension is going to be worth anything after five years or so." Not anything? Even a little? It's really all about extremes with you. Black or white, wealth vs utter destitution. Funny how my grandfather who lives in an eastern european banana republic with rampant inflation can survive on his war veterans pension and have enough left over for copious amounts of plum brandy and cigarettes. Never met a happier or carefree man! "In twenty years, it will be just a distant memory." This possibility is definitely of little interest/application to you. "People who retired before the inflation years of the 1980s didn't fare so well." Yeah and their pensions still got them through somehow didn't they? I heard no calls for revolution or even demonstrations. Apparently they were content. Be unlike Clinton. Don't "feel their pain." There was none. "I think we are in for a worse case of inflation in the near future" some economists argue deflation in many sectors because of falling or stagnant wages. who knows? don't sweat the unknown. "and indexed pensions are a thing of the past." Not with Ford they are not. Ford is selling quality products which people want to buy. May be phased /grandfathered out at some point but likely won't affect you at any point. "The CPI doesn't include food, and food is what is going up in price the fastest." Not as cheap as before but not expensive either. We are also a leading food producer and exporter. Learn to live on the basics. You'll live longer and healthier albeit the Mrs. may have to cook a little more often. If you're like the stereotypical native that likes booze and tobakee, granted it may get a little expensive for you but I'm sure you know where to get those at great prices !! :beerchug: " I am afraid that those dreams of golf will in reality be long lineups for food in a few years time." Cheer up, you have many holes to look forward to. Fear not kimosabe! "Average life expectency is over 80. If it wasn't, insurance companies would go broke." Now your worried about insurance companies bottom lines? "Pensions were empty promises that cannot be fulfilled; either by corporations or by governments." Yeah occasionally there is an enron here or there. Rest assured though that hundreds of thousands have enjoyed UAW and CAW pensions before you as have their surviving spouses. Continue the tradition. Don't worry be happy. --------------------- Here is a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don't worry be happy In every life we have some trouble When you worry you make it double Don't worry, be happy...... Ain't got no place to lay your head Somebody came and took your bed Don't worry, be happy The land lord say your rent is late He may have to litigate Don't worry, be happy Lood at me I am happy Don't worry, be happy Here I give you my phone number When you worry call me I make you happy Don't worry, be happy Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style Ain't got not girl to make you smile But don't worry be happy Cause when you worry Your face will frown And that will bring everybody down So don't worry, be happy (now)..... There is this little song I wrote I hope you learn it note for note Like good little children Don't worry, be happy Listen to what I say In your life expect some trouble But when you worry You make it double Don't worry, be happy...... Don't worry don't do it, be happy Put a smile on your face Don't bring everybody down like this Don't worry, it will soon past Whatever it is Don't worry, be happy

T-man, in all fairness, I was under the assumption that you were already around 65 and planning to work beyond that. If you are not 65 yet or plan to work until 65, I don't see anything wrong with that. But after 65 there are better ways to spend your time than in a factory. When I worked at ford a few years ago during the summer as a student, my foreman asked me if i wanted to work OT on a saturday. It was a beautiful june weekend coming up. I had to make a decision, to come in and earn extra money, or be outside on a beautiful day on the weekend so I could refresh myself for the upcoming work week. I chose rest and relaxation. No matter how easy you think your job is right now in the plant. It cannot compare to the health benefits of walking down 18 holes surrounded by nature. The key is to go when you can still walk those 18, in your prime, and not when you are nearing the end of your prime. I salute sparky for his insight. Take care of yourself cause no one else will. Learn to make tradeoffs (health vs money). Sorry if I sound patronizing. I'm in my early 30's --what do I know? Health and long life to all !!

No one said that tough times are not ahead. They've always been around - boom follows bust and vice versa. Second, there have always been ways to preserve wealth and ride out difficult times as well. Nowadays, this information is free and ubiquitous. I know that at your age, I definitely wouldn't be worrying about it though, especially if I was debt free, without a young family to support. Two more years of work will not change your future prospects or security one iota, and you sure as heck can't take it with you. However, leaving a factory two years early at your age, that is priceless. You seem to make the common mistake where you assume that your years once you retire will be as "good" or as "golden" as the ones that preceded it. Any doctor or actuary will tell you otherwise.

I've followed this thread for years and it always comes back to trimdingman's fear of getting old, abandonment issues, and full blown economic neurosis where anything less than the certainty of retiring in complete affluence is viewed as poverty (ie having to drive a car the full 10 years--oh the sacrifice and hardship! --wow have we really become this decadent and soft as a society?). My advice to you t-man is leave while you can still enjoy the sunshine. It sucks being in a factory when the weather is great. I'm speaking metaphorically in a way. Let me explain. Redeem the time NOW ! Not in the future! Don't expect the golden years to get more golden (they don't). A few extra bucks in the bank for a few more extra years in the factory is not worth it. Worrying about inflation, stagflation or deflation and spending your last few healthy years in a factory is not a wise trade-off. My dad retired from OAP at 65, fit as a fiddle, both mentally and physically. Now ten years later I have seen him become an old man. No dementia or other pathology, just plain old age, seemingly overnight. No desire to go anywhere or do anything. Mentally, a shadow of his previous self. Age caught up to him. The price of gas does not interest him, nor do rising taxes, or a falling living standard. Embrace life now, see the world or a local park, pet a few animals. Put the financial times down. You will have multiple pensions and no doubt some savings, chances are you own some equity as well. I think I remember you saying you live in upscale Oakville. Great! Your sitting on a goldmine. When you retire, consider downsizing and cash out. Scale down not up. You will have more money than you need and you will never be hungry or cold. Its not that I take issue with your desire to work indefinitely, that's not it, it's your irrational mental poverty that you are subject to and that you wish others shared as well. Usually this complex is the result of childhood poverty or some kind of deprivation. Will Smith the actor suffers from this complex to this day despite being worth hundreds of millions. In his mind, he is still poor. Stop being a doomsday prognosticator. Believe me in just a few short years you won't care about economic issues or hedging your bets. You remind me of a woman who had a million in the bank but never turned her heat on in the winter. She was 76! She was saving for the future! Relax, retire and let someone who needs the job more than you take your place and get some help for your neurosis just like you would for a fear of heights or spiders or whatever. People are neurotic because their fear is usually irrational despite every indicator proving otherwise. BTW, travel to other parts of the world and see what poverty and lack really is. If I've seemed harsh in rebuking your constant complaining, I've actually toned down my rhetoric to be as polite as I can. Best of luck to you with all due respect.

I see you are trolling as usual. Being an iconoclast on the internet is easy for most cowards. Instead of writing "sorry,...", next time just hit the backspace button to erase the hate speech and save yourself the trouble of apologizing. Senile old fool.

The trim-man is our very own resident Injun, albeit completely westernized and assimilated. Give him a break. Go trim-man go!

Don't forget to file your taxes this year, pay your utlilities, breathe polluted air and as a reward for all this, spend most of your waking hours in a factory! :happy feet: Touche my friend, touche !!

"From the WIKI excerpt below it would seem "your people" made some pretty bad choices about who to support" There were no good choices for the native peoples to support, especially the British. Just look at how many treaties they broke with their other native "allies." Sad, sad. If one wants to get to the source of the world's main source of instability, lies, aggression, dispossession, just look to Britannia. America is a close second.

Hopefully there is a good number which does hunt, keeping the culture alive. It's easier to buy a burger at mcdonalds and sustain the status quo of the white man's economic system but that just sucks. I would stick it to the system every chance I'd get! You're right about there being too many people for everybody to be out hunting with the encroachment of cities and suburbia. My solution is simple, herd the white man into cities and leave everything else to the natives as recompense so that they can reclaim their lifestyle. As you can see, I am a self-loathing white man. I envision you as a proud chief, living off the land, but as luck would have it, you've been building cars in order to have a big house in oakville with a plasma screen. Not your fault though. Your posts are interesting, your mind curious, your knowledge eclectic, but rest assured, in the end this "knowledge" is all western bull$shit. You are right though, we are going down the crapper which may or may not be of solace to you. I would encourage you to stop worrying about your pension and lifestyle once you retire and do what Ted Nugent did once he retired: buy a rifle and cabin in the woods for a sustainable and secure lifestyle. Hunt, fish, sew etc etc.

This also is awesome: "The moose was the most important animal to the Mi'kmaq, it was their main meat, clothing, and cordage source, all crucial things to the well-being of the community. The Mi'kmaq usually hunted moose in groups of 3-5 men. Before the moose hunt, the Mi'kmaq would starve their dogs for 2 days, this way they would be fierce in helping to finish off the moose. To kill the moose, they would injure it first, by using a bow and arrow, or other weapons, and after it was down, they would move in on it and finish it off with spears, and their attacking dogs. The guts would then be fed to the dogs. During this whole process, the men would try to direct the moose in the direction of the camp, this way the women would not have to go as far to drag the moose back. A boy became a man in the eyes of the community after he had killed his first moose. It was only then he had earned the right to marry." My question is what the heck do you do if the moose were overhunted? Being a lad who wants to take it to the next stage, this could be frustrating to say the least !

It is very cool that you are Mi'kmaq. I am quite fond of natives as they never fail to amuse me as they are so calm in every situation. It's unfortunate that I don't know any personally, only TV characters. My favourite is Graham Greene from Northern Exposure. He is known as Leonard Quinhagak (pronounced QUINN-uh-hawk). He is a great local shaman, or healer. His is a traditional discipline, yet with no conventional medical training. Leonard is relaxed and easy going, so much so that he spends hours with patients, days sometimes, fishing with them, eating with them and spending the night in their homes just to make a correct diagnosis. I also like Shep Proudfoot from Fargo but he is a criminal with a mean streak. Nevertheless, very calm under pressure. Can you be my friend? I can buy you a coffee at tim hurtons. Mind if I bring my camera?

^^^ A very deep parable which not even King Solomon could disipher. I assume the sheeps have to watch out for the bears? Are you a sheep or a bear?

First post of 2010 ! What happened to everyone? Good to see so much positive press about Ford in the news and media these days. Ford can do no wrong, whether its quality, styling or the new CEO. There is a lot of resentment out there towards the other big 2, but the public is very aware that Ford did not take public assistance and the results are becoming manifest. Mullaly has done a great job. My, how things change and what volatile times we live in. Nevertheless with Mullaly at the helm, even a smaller Ford can look forward to competing with the best instead of being destroyed by the competition which was a possible scenario not to long ago. Wish I bought some Ford stock last year. Can we say we are out of the woods now?

I acknowledge that those who are older have more experience and may be wiser but you are presuming a lot in this post. For instance, you are not aware of my other employment prospects this summer, whether or not i have paid for my own education throughout the years, whether or not i am spoiled or hard-working, etc. You see Tman, age does not automatically correlate with wisdom, or critical thinking skills. I am happy that the lunch setup works for you. For me, having to eat quickly usually precipitates GERD; i hope one day you are not made to eat "on the fly" so to speak. (give an inch take a mile remember?) It seems that the company is trying to do away with too many hard-won concessions these days. Rest assured i will argue your case in academic circles whenever i have a chance, but of course you are aware that higher learning in north america is a bastion of socialism anyway. I like to read the forum out of concern for my father's pension, the plight of the working class, and for my own occasional "flings" with ford. Hey I've paid my union dues so I have a right! I also eagerly await that great quarterly work of literature which is known as "the reporter" but we've already discussed that lol. Glad to hear that OAC is relatively secure and people are returning to work.

holy cow, 20 minute lunches now? i used to get heartburn from the 30 minuters- no proper digestion. i think i may pass on a summer job there this summer-not worth the stress for a little extra coin. i hope the union stands its ground for you guys and does not make anymore concessions. good luck.

big deal, sometimes it just comes down to laziness. i am not publishing a monthly article, so i should not be held up to any kind of a standard. i don't publish moronic articles and post a photo for all the world to see. i don't pretend to be anything that i am not. those guys should know better than to preach ostentatious sermons to an audience, a large part of which, has difficulties with the English language. enjoy your monthly "newsletter."

hmm, so you're correcting my internet run-on sentences that took me 30 seconds to write? man you really are the old fool they say you are. trust me Tman, i have worked as a student on the line but i will see to it not to end up like you. you should apply for a union job, then u can pretend you are a writer/philosopher as well. when i've lived 80 years like you have (i am 20), i am certain that my english skills will be exponentially better than yours, you carpal tunnel-tool. btw, focussed can be spelled with one s or two as per oxford english dictionary, depends what one prefers.

Got the seven-o-seven reporter yesterday. Was disappointed that there was little info about what's happening in the plant itself. Some of these guys that write these columns sound like they strive to be economists/spiritual gurus all wrapped up in one. Then there are the endless advertisements and trivial articles. Here are my suggestions. First, eliminate about 80% of the verbosity so that my immigrant father does not curse everytime he reads it (he handles the hamilton spec just fine)--sorry guys, your far from english majors, Second, stay focussed and relevant to the workers' immediate concerns. Third, get off your high horses you dog "walkers" and remember who both you and your audience is :reading:

hi bull!