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Competence is dead and diversity killed it
American Thinker ^ | 8 Feb, 2023 | M.B. Mathews

Posted on 02/09/2023 5:29:36 AM PST by MtnClimber

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To: Will88
My company just acquired Dynetix in AL. My former supervisor is running the place. They are building next generation moon landers. The place is in good hands. My former supervisor is an MIT grad. I've been with the company for 31 years because meritocracy has been a company value.
81 posted on 02/09/2023 8:42:23 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: MtnClimber

Well, file THAT under “D” for Duh.


82 posted on 02/09/2023 8:45:27 AM PST by Nea Wood (Screw diversity. Celebrate excellence. )
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To: Clemenza

Irony of ironies pure “meritocracy” would mean that the Asians would dominate the white man in many elite positions - non-Jewish white folk have been a minority of Ivy League schools for at least the past 30 years.
.....
imho this is what admissions at the ivy’s are looking at.


83 posted on 02/09/2023 8:47:48 AM PST by ckilmer (q)
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To: sarge83
I was going to retire last year, but Biden's incompetence shaved $300k off my retirement account. The political instability and teetering banks prompted me to stay another year to generate as much value as I can while it is possible to do so. My wife is dealing with 3 days of 12 hour shifts and 1 day of 6 hour shift to cover after 3 of the 7 dispatchers got pregnant and delivered at the end of Dec 2022. Now 4 people have to manage 7 X 24 support for police/fire/EMS. She is ready to retire in August. I'll hold on until December so she has healthcare coverage. I'll have 32 years with the current employer on Dec 9th.

This extra year has given me an opportunity to get involved in AI/ML and sensor data collection work. More interesting than re-engineering standalone server applications to run in cloud environments inside kubernetes clusters.

84 posted on 02/09/2023 8:52:39 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: MtnClimber

Certainly true for anyone who has had to do business over the phone with some people. Most of the time you have to ask whoever is supposed to help you, to spell their name as you don’t have a clue what they said. They resent that. Spelling it out is even worse.

I can name on one hand the companies that I don’t mind calling. Others I know what I’ll get; a heap of frustration. Believe it or not, there are some people answering the phone who actually SIGH as if to say “go away.”

Since my husband passed away, I’ve had to take on a lot of jobs I know nothing about - like going to an auto parts store. I had the pleasure last week and indeed it was a pleasure as I found the manager to be top notch who went the extra mile (no pun intended) to help me.. I won’t forget him and will highly recommend customers to that store.


85 posted on 02/09/2023 9:36:56 AM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: discostu
"And changing tech. My car doesn’t even have a spare. It’s got a cigarette lighter compressor and a bottle of basically “fix-a-flat”. The expectation is to use that to get the tire short term usable."

Fix a flat only works if the puncture is in the tread. The construction of radial tires have bands moving in a circular direction around the tire, with a band of steel weaving around the tread. It works real well almost all of the time. However, if you get a puncture at the edge or outside of the edge, you cannot fix a radial tire. The hole will continue to rip.

The old poly tires have a basket type weave throughout the tire, so the puncture can only move to the nearest weave band. That is why all ATV tires are still poly.

Having said that, I had significant construction near my house and I got a flat about every 4 months (Nails, screws, etc.).

I now ensure I have a spare for all of my vehicles. I went so far as to buy a doughnut spare for my son-in-law's car. He laughed, but put in his car. About a year later, he needed it.

86 posted on 02/09/2023 9:56:32 AM PST by fini
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To: Myrddin
My company just acquired Dynetix in AL.

That one's in Huntsville, which is the home of Redstone Arsenal and many other space related entities. They built the Saturn V rocket which took us to the moon and most other space missions. That area has been in good hands for decades.

87 posted on 02/09/2023 10:11:45 AM PST by Will88 ((The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.))
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To: fini
Having said that, I had significant construction near my house and I got a flat about every 4 months (Nails, screws, etc.).

My city built a new city hall and passed the old building to the police department for 100% use. The remodeling has been underway for 18 months. My wife has had screws in her tires 3 times thus far.

While I was still riding my Harley Fat Bob daily in San Diego, I got a screw in the rear tire. The bike handling got strange and rolling it with the engine off was noticeably more work. The Dunlop rear tire was surprisingly stiff and functional even without air. I had El Cajon Harley replace the tire and they discovered the rear caliper bracket had been cross threaded by service work done before I purchased the bike. Almost $600 out the door for the tire and bracket replacement. I happily paid for another Dunlop of the same version.

88 posted on 02/09/2023 10:50:12 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Thank You Rush
Most of the time you have to ask whoever is supposed to help you, to spell their name as you don’t have a clue what they said. They resent that. Spelling it out is even worse.

Phideaux Roibeard O Maolalaigh. You're welcome :-)

89 posted on 02/09/2023 10:57:19 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Myrddin

Yeah BiteMe tore up my plans for retirement this last month. My 403 has gone back up, hoping to recover a chunk of it lost but not holding my breath. If I can get a significant portion of it back and place it in a stability fund I’m gone at the end of next January. My company will pay for your health insurance for just you when you retire until you are eligible for Medicare. Whatever plan I am under is the one they pay for so I am going to take the primo plan next October and then I’m gone come January pending the market.

My wife is about to get a promotion to VP and an nice salary increase which would offset a good portion of my monthly income. She said you can actually retire and file for social security disability and I can as I have a neuromuscular disease which causes me a great deal of pain walking, I can’t even bend over. If you ever watched the series House in one episode House who’s on a cane and a pronounced limp-I have two canes and limp, says to a person, you see that drink across the room, before I will go get it I have to decide is it going to be worth the pain of each step? There are mornings when I have to force my legs to walk to the truck and get moving. I’m ready...


90 posted on 02/09/2023 12:37:52 PM PST by sarge83
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To: sarge83
It certainly sounds like you're ready. I put down 800 mg ibuprofen at bedtime to reduce the head to toe RA pain to a level that permits me to sleep. I loathe the first noise in the morning that shifts me from the comfort of sleep paralysis to head to toe RA pain again. Once awake, I have sufficient pain threshold to concentrate on my software engineering work. I can still ride my motorcycles. When the temperature comes up, I'll swap the new supermoto wheel set onto my DR650. It's far too cold to do that right now.

My HR staff said I could stay on the company sponsored healthcare plan as long as I'm working full time. They cautioned that the minute I sign up for Medicare, my ability to make HSA contributions halts. That is a BIG deal for my budget. My wife burns through most of my HSA account to cover her very expensive diabetes supplies (pump, infusion sites, cartridges, CGM sensors, CGM transmitter, insulin). Her dental expenses have been significant too. When she retires in August, she will be signing up for social security and Medicare. It remains to be seen how the expenses change at that point.

91 posted on 02/09/2023 2:17:52 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: SharpenedEdge

Took the IRS 10 months to process my paper return and send my refund. But they immediately sent me a 1099 to pay tax on the interest they paid on the delayed refund.


92 posted on 02/09/2023 2:49:33 PM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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To: Myrddin

That’s it!!!!! My last name has 4 letters in it and I’ve had people ask, “how do you spell that?”


93 posted on 02/09/2023 3:16:19 PM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: Myrddin

You know it’s almost like listening to Biden who doesn’t finish any word - Sochhh rity - Rush had it down pat for others who never said SOCIAL SECURITY correctly.


94 posted on 02/09/2023 3:20:15 PM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: Thank You Rush
That’s it!!!!! My last name has 4 letters in it and I’ve had people ask, “how do you spell that?”

Even with 4 letters, it's better to get it correct. Especially on a financial document. My first name has 4 letters, but the last one might be a "c" or a "k". Around town we have a game in spelling of names. Baylee, Bailey, Beighlee. There are more variations. My wife has to spell her first name as there are easily 5 or 6 ways to spell it.

My example was a bit obtuse for Phideaux->Fido. Woof! The rest of the name was Scottish author...real name. I practice Scots Gaelic each evening and it is taking time to internalize the rules to pronounce it and recognize the spoken words. By comparison, Welsh is perfectly phonetic. Effortless to pronounce or recognize.

95 posted on 02/09/2023 6:04:56 PM PST by Myrddin
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