annual interruptus

On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:55:20 GMT, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote:


"Denny" wrote in message
roups.com...
Having spent part of my life in
industrial electronics I have no doubt I can install a pot of the
proper value and taper... The problem is it won't be certified if I do
and the radio shop will refuse to align it with an uncertified pot...
sigh

If you were to install an exact replacement pot would there be any reason
to mention it to anyone? Another possibility might be buying someone else's
junked out unit as a source for genuine certified parts.

There are a lot of Cessna 150s flying around with automotive voltage
regulators in them. They just put the cover off the certified one
back on the new one. (No I don't have a 150 or a plane that uses
automotive parts)


Vaughn


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 26 Feb 2007 08:48:37 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

BTW, had I
not gone back to college I'd have had enough time in to take full
returement at just over 52 working in the chemical industry.

I doubt those types of retirement plans will be around much longer.
(Well, except for our ruling class, of course.)

Why not? They work. The plans are growing. Both the employee and
company pay. For the CAP the company has a base 3% of your salary
that goes in and then they match 50/50 for a few more %. of what you
put in. You can put up to 15% of your salary into the account if you
wish. On top of that is the standard retirement plan. The money for
both plans is held by an investment firm and the company has no claim
to any of it.


Medically, there is no justification for them, and actuarily, they
can't be sustained.

Again, why not? I had over 35 years in and had earned that company
plenty. Unlike many companies that kept their own retirement accounts
they were smart enough to put the retirement plan in the hands of a
company that does that for a business. That meant the temptation to
use that money to cover expenses, or a short fall *temporarily* was
not an option. IOW they could not rob the employees retirement fund
as so many companies have done. Even though the company has fewer
employees now than when I retired the regular retirement plan is still
growing with earnings and their contributions combined.

Our accounts are investment based. I retired 10 years ago and my
account is worth more now (even after today's little correction and
the _dot_com_crash) than when I retired. Prior to the dot com crash
my cap was earning more than I was and I was putting every cent into
it they'd let me.

Michigan's financial woes are kinda like the dot com boom and bust,
but with blind reliance on the automotive industry instead of a
particular stock market segment. The industry has been blindly
following the path to building what people say they want, not what
they buy. Not too long ago the US industry was selling more trucks
than cars and those trucks are not noted for economy. Take the so
called "flex fuel" vehicle. The industry gets mileage credits for
them as they "could" be called green even though few of them will ever
run on anything but gas. They aren't even designed to use E85 for
extended periods. Their fuel systems are not designed to withstand the
abuse of E85 over prolonged periods. That leaves us with them still
making gas guzzlers that end up sitting on the lot when gas prices are
thought to be high. We haven't yet seen high gas prices in the US,
but we most likely will. We certainly will if the average driver
doesn't change their ways of driving.

Now those automotive employees represent a sizeable voting force. They
don't appear to want change and they probably have considerably more
political clout that the automotive companies themselves. Where else
can you get laid off for a while at full pay? OTOH they are making
some concessions now.

We had "planned obsolescence" which was great for the industry when
they had no competition. I had a 61 or 62 Mustang that rusted out
about 6 months after I purchased it new. of course the company stood
behind it. They'd pay half of the body shop work if I used a Ford
body shop. I got it done for less than that at the local body shop
that did better work. In 1980 I ended up with one that didn't have the
belly pan welded in. They had to strip the interior and redo the whole
thing, but at least I didn't have to pay that time. Up through the
70's US cars had an average life span that was pretty short. If it had
more than 50,000 miles you were getting concerned. If it had much more
than 60,000 it was almost worthless. Sure there were some outstanding
exceptions, but those were few. That approach gave foreign
manufacturers a foot in the door and it didn't take them long to
surpass the US made cars in quality. The Japanese went from "Junk" to
high quality at low cost in just a few years. Now they are having a
similar problem with Korea who is having the same problem with China.

Now days it's difficult to call a car US, Japanese, or what ever.
Assembled in USA would be more accurate The foreign manufacturers
(Particularly Japanese) build cars here, they make some parts here
and we use their parts (made here or there) in our "US" made cars.

Michigan has been unable to wean itself from the auto industry and
with the inertia of that industry and its employees, it's probably
going to get far worse before it gets better. OTOH we do have the
*possibility* of agriculture and alternative energy sources/fuels, but
only time will tell. If they think Michigan and the auto industry are
in bad shape now, wait until gas goes above $3.50 a gallon and stays
there. I doubt it's all that far off and increasing oil production
capacity is one of the worst things they can do.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 23 Feb 2007 09:21:58 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

The point I'm getting to is that teachers change careers like lots of people
and for a number of reasons.

The latest figures I've seen say that a child born today will have 13
different jobs in their lifetime.

That's not a great deal different than when I was young. However you
did say jobs rather than professions. A person is currently expected
to change professions about three or four times over their life.
If I count the jobs I've had I've already passed your figure of 13.

I do believe that people are not as success oriented or have as high a
work ethic on average as they "did back then".


Things sure have changed since I was born in '58. When I was growing
up, it was just expected that you'd start working for a company, and
die there 45 years later...

We live in different worlds. I was born in 40 and graduated in 58. By
58 we were already seeing those changes.
BTW I was raised on a small farm and I was a farmer until age 21 when
I figured "there had to be a better way" at least for me.

Anyway, the point is that no 55 year-old person should be
contemplating "retirement" in 2007. I have no plans to *ever*
retire, but -- assuming that eventually health reasons will prevail --
I certainly don't want to become a burden on society until I am
physically forced to be.
BTW you are approaching my age when I graduated from College.

You have a far different vision of retirement than many of us.
With planning and foresight, retirement should be a time to enjoy
life, not be a burden on society.

If a person invests a little at a time in addition to their retirement
there is no reason they shouldn't be able to retire by the time they
are 50 to 55 and then go "play" and do so without being a burden to
society. I used to tell the new hires at the company from which I
retired that if they put every cent they could into the CAP they could
retire at age 50 as millionaires. I did the math and they could do it
easily. The problem is and has been that most of us "want it now". I
did, but fortunately I got smart soon enough to survive. I had a good
paying job. I had new cars regularly and built a nice spacious home in
the country. A wife and two kids came along and we lived comfortably
but lived more for "now" rather than the future. I got single in 1980
and became a single parent as well. Fortunately one was about ready
to graduate from high school and the other was going into college.
Unfortunately my life savings at that time was $47 give or take a few
cents. (I'll always remember that figure) That was about the time I
started getting smarter.

In the 26 years since then, I met Joyce, got married, got out of debt,
went back to college, earned a bachelors degree, started graduate
school, got a good job and retired just under 7 years later. I could
have gone back to work the day after retirement making more than I had
before. I had a chance to do some very lucrative consulting but I
retired so I didn't have to work those hours or spend all that time
traveling on business. I was ready to go "play".

No, I'm not wealthy, but I can do most of the things I want "in
moderation" So what if I don't have a big expensive house and drive an
older car? I don't have to just sit and watch the grass grow either.

Had I had the sense to start stashing a bit away early on instead of
spending it, I could have retired at age 50 without ever having to
worry about money again. I'd have had even more if I'd driven every
car till the wheels fell off. :-)) OTOH my first wife would have
gotten a bundle out of me instead of having the Judge refuse to let
them even discuss my retirement. (He declared it "off limits"):-))

So I take the opposite stance. There should be no reason a person
shouldn't be able to retire at 50 to 55. If they can afford to retire
at that age they will not be a burden to society or themselves. OTOH
it does take work, and a willingness to accept change. It also
requires the person to go where the work is and to always be learning
so if the one profession fizzles they have another to fall back on.

Now I realize that not every one is going to choose a job or
profession to which they are suited the first time or maybe even the
second, but if they have ambition and a few smarts the majority
should be able to do quite well. Certainly there are those who are
going to be unable to do well for a variety of reasons and there will
be those who will be a burden to society from day one and not due to
any fault of their own.

A few facts of life:
If you live for now there may not be much of a tomorrow.
Education is one of the best investments you can make.
There is no such thing as a classless society.
Society becomes stratified due to many reasons beyond the typical
money, background, religious beliefs, and power. (I really don't care
if it does or not. I'm me)
The individual is not bound to any particular class for life with only
a few exceptions.
Only the working class can pay taxes. No matter how it's spread out
The money will *always* end up coming basically from us in the middle
class no matter who pays directly to the government..
What is the old saying? Success is 99% perspiration on only 1%
inspiration. (or something to that effect).

If I could do it then most any one should be able to do it, is
probably more true here than any where else as I'm notably short on
ambition and never did have much.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Why not? They work. The plans are growing.

Your plan is not the norm. I'm glad it's "working" for you, but the
fact is that if your company is paying you to "retire" at age 52 (or
whatever you said), there is going to be a competitor out there that
ISN'T.

That savings will be the death of your company, because it's just
plain stupid to pay young men to sit around and do nothing.
Companies that are smart enough NOT to pay young men to NOT work will
win, in an open market.

Michigan has been unable to wean itself from the auto industry and
with the inertia of that industry and its employees, it's probably
going to get far worse before it gets better.

That's for sure. I lived through (on a much smaller scale) the
economic devastation that occurs when an auto maker goes belly up,
back when American Motors Corporation died. The economy of Kenosha,
Wisconsin was ruined for a decade or more.

They've now recovered fully, with nearly full employment -- but there
are still a lot of bitter old men there, wondering what happened to
their cushy lives...

It never even dawns on them that the answer is in the mirror.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"



OTOH we do have the
*possibility* of agriculture and alternative energy sources/fuels, but
only time will tell. If they think Michigan and the auto industry are
in bad shape now, wait until gas goes above $3.50 a gallon and stays
there. I doubt it's all that far off and increasing oil production
capacity is one of the worst things they can do.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)www.rogerhalstead.com

On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:55:03 -0600, "Dan Luke"
wrote:


"Jay Masino" wrote:

Anyway, the point is that no 55 year-old person should be
contemplating "retirement" in 2007.

That's weird, I'm only 44 and not a day goes by where I don't
contemplate retirement. I'm pretty sure I won't work past 59 1/2 (401K
withdraw age)

That's what I said when I was 44.

As things turned out, I could have retired comfortably at 55. Now, I've just
turned 60 and am planning to cash out in two years...but that's what I said
two years ago.

Retirement can be scary when you actually face it.

It wasn't at all for me. One day I made up my mind it was time to
retire, walked into my bosses office, and gave notice.

Now to put that in perspective, I had a job I enjoyed, a good boss,
good working conditions, good people to work for and good people
working for me. IOW the job was fun and I made good money.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 02:30:17 GMT, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote:


"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...

As things turned out, I could have retired comfortably at 55. Now, I've just
turned 60 and am planning to cash out in two years...but that's what I said
two years ago.

Retirement can be scary when you actually face it.

And expensive when you actually look at everything that is involved,
particularly medical insurance. I am now 6 years past my retirement date, and
still working the same job. I am now working for 19% of my pay, for benefits,
(that is the main thing) and for a small increment (2.2% per year) on my future
retirement pay.

In the pre retirement meetings they used to tell us that our expenses
would go down after retirement which always ended up with me raising
my hand. After about the third time the exasperated speaker said,
"Roger, not every one in here flys airplanes". :-)) But it's true if
you want to travel as well.

My insurance followed me including life insurance or it did until I
turned 65. I still have good medical, but my life insurance is now to
the point where I'm no longer worth more dead than alive.

Retirement gains where I worked were 2.2% per year UNTIL you reached
enough points (age plus years of service) to retire. Then it was only
about 0.6% as I recall.

I was able to put up to 15% of my salary into the CAP and with company
matching I think that was also 19%. However I could move it between
accounts, or have a portion of it directly in the stock market.

I suppose it would pay me to go ahead and collect my pension and look for
another job with benefits ... but I HAVE a job.

You could go do something for fun. That way you get paid for having
fun, have benefits AND have the retirement on top of that. IF you work
it out right you can retire with a substantial raise. If you need the
money and can't do it without a raise what advantage would there be to
retiring?

Vaughn



Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:43:40 -0500, Bob Noel
wrote:

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Anyway, the point is that no 55 year-old person should be
contemplating "retirement" in 2007. I have no plans to *ever*
retire, but -- assuming that eventually health reasons will prevail --
I certainly don't want to become a burden on society until I am
physically forced to be.

I'm looking forward to retirement... but in my case I'll be depending
on my retirement account.

There's lots of things I'd like to do, especially when compared to
working in a (*@#&$(* cubicle.

I had offices at two different sites. It old them the day they put me
in a cubicle I was gone. However I retired before it ever happened.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 22 Feb 2007 13:40:01 -0800, "Denny" wrote:

On Feb 22, 3:10 pm, "Montblack" Y4_NOT!...
wrote:
("Denny" wrote)

He has a really nice F model Aztec he is trying to sell me - his Part 135
machine... Ahhh temptation, get thee behind me!



So, got a name picked out for the Aztec, yet? g
Mont-out-of-the-blackness

Ahhh jeez Monty.... You are about as helpful as an alcoholic-on-the-
wagon who has drinking buddys who tell him "just one won't hurt"....


What's the difference in:

Fuel burn
Speed
Useful load
Speed
Avionics/radios
Speed
Comfort
Insurance
Etc.


in order:
If ya gotta ask ya can't afford it, pilgrim...

Well an IO 540 burns what? times two.

Lots faster than Fat Albert the Apache - 165 knots typical
Whatever you can get the doors closed on (which is why they are used
as lobster haulers)

It is big and that one doesn't smell like fish.
it's also a very docile twin. Probably not much different than Fat
Albert except for the load and speed...and fuel burn. Much more
forgiving than a Twin Comanche. OTOH the Twin is as fast as mine with
two engines and doesn't use more fuel than I do on one.
BTW I did see a guy land one (Aztec) on the nose gear and roll the
tire over.
Like sitting in your easy chair at home, and you will not rub
shoulders...

Roomy but noisy.

Well, it's a twin - but not near as bad is if I were ASEL wanting my
first twin...
It's loaded, Radar and a GNS430, alcohol props, etc...

Geezeee...were I a couple of years younger...I keep saying that more
often lately.

Gets you respect on the ramp at strange airports... Good paint..
Average interior...

Yah, but who looks past the panel.
I've wanted to get my multi rating...Buy it...learn to fly it...get
the rating...sell it for a profit? Uses how much gas in today's
market:-))

Nah, he probably wants more than I'd go. They sold that P-Baron for a
small fortune compared to what it was worth.


denny
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 19 Feb 2007 05:17:40 -0800, "Denny" wrote:

Well, Fat Albert still sits on jacks at Steve's shop... Not much
happening... The vaunted new engine hoses have yet to arrive despite
being paid for in advance...

The Deb gets its in April.
I really need to replace the KNS80 and one of the Coms.
KNS80 is some times flaky and the com is difficult to read. A new
window would fix the com...but I could probably purchase a used one
for the cost of a new window.

It's set so much this winter I have some doubts about the compression.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 27 Feb 2007 21:23:45 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Why not? They work. The plans are growing.

Your plan is not the norm. I'm glad it's "working" for you, but the
fact is that if your company is paying you to "retire" at age 52 (or
whatever you said), there is going to be a competitor out there that
ISN'T.

That savings will be the death of your company, because it's just

That's the point. The company isn't paying me anything. They paid that
as part of my wages. That percent went to an investment company
similar to the CAP from the day I received my first pay check.
Considering what went into the retirement account I'd guess the
interest is more than what I'm getting and I do get a fairly nice
check. OTOH it sure aint what I received while working.

I could have gone to the local head hunters and had it all set up to
come back in to my old office the next day with a considerable raise.
They can contract out like that, give the other company a commission,
and me a raise as they don't have to pay benefits. A good portion of
those benefits went to that investment company for my retirement.
OR rephrased, they pay the employment agency a premium and my wages. I
get a considerable raise and they still save money.
Also in today's dollars the new hires don't get as much in the way of
benefits as the earlier employees, but it's still a good place to work
and they pay a good wage to professionals.

plain stupid to pay young men to sit around and do nothing.
Companies that are smart enough NOT to pay young men to NOT work will
win, in an open market.

They can't even claim what I receive for retirement as an expense as
that was done when I received my original paychecks.
So it doesn't cost the company any more for retirement if I retire at
50, 55, 60 or 65.


Michigan has been unable to wean itself from the auto industry and
with the inertia of that industry and its employees, it's probably
going to get far worse before it gets better.

I was glad I worked most of my life in the chemical industry. Prior to
that I had a taste of the auto industry for a couple of years. (didn't
like it)


That's for sure. I lived through (on a much smaller scale) the
economic devastation that occurs when an auto maker goes belly up,
back when American Motors Corporation died. The economy of Kenosha,
Wisconsin was ruined for a decade or more.

They've now recovered fully, with nearly full employment -- but there
are still a lot of bitter old men there, wondering what happened to
their cushy lives...

It never even dawns on them that the answer is in the mirror.

Yup. The cost of that new car is mostly wages.
I don't know if it's that way now or not, but at one time line workers
were reportedly making as much as engineers. (even when laid off)

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com