patrick.net

Astrid
Hmmm, that wasn’t my impression but I’m not an engineer. My sense is that an engineer would not make as much as a marketing person of equal general ability, etc. I certainly felt my boyfriend was underpaid for his level of responsibility at his previous job.

Engineers don't seem to understand that they are a commodity and even though they have a very technical talent it is easily replaced especially in a slowing economy. A marketing person is paid on the results the can generate especially with a track record. They are very different in terms of creativity which is why some make minimum wage, and others make millions.

Does anyone know if Lucy’s Tea House (mountain view) has reopened in a different location? It closed a few years ago, I really loved that place.

I don't know. But we love Lisa's Tea Treasure. They have one in Menlo Park.

http://www.lisasteatreasures.com/

DifSean
Malcolm Says:
Post 1
Baby Boomers - I guess that’s what I mean when I call them hypocrites. […]they just became incredibly selfish and materialistic. They are the first generation to literally make sure that their heirs don’t have an inheritance to build on. Only a baby boomer would come up with the concept of a reverse mortgage.
Post 2
I have a 99 Boxster

Ha, it may appear to be a contradiction. Let me just say that is basically my only tangible indulgence. My other one is jetting off to a different place every few months. To be clear it is a gorgeous car but I only paid $20K for it on Ebay when it was 4 years old. That is less than most people pay for a brand new car, and unlike a baby boomer, I actually paid cash.

DS,

What you're saying makes little sense. My read is that the Clinton admin. turned on the green lights for the mortgage industry to come up with "creative" ways of letting more people with less income "afford" homes. Noble idea, horrible execution.

Besides, their underlying assumption was that the correlation between high homeownership rate neighborhoods and low crime, economic growth, etc. implied causation - increasing homeownership rates among "the poor(er)" would decrease crime, stimulate economic growth, etc. This argument is specious at best. Allowing folks with marginal jobs, poor social networks, poor financial skills to "buy" a home was just asking for trouble.

Also, you must be kidding about the NYT. To most of this country, the NYT is the bastion of the "left wing media." It's also a paper that's lost most of their quality and integrity in the past 10 years or so.

Engineers don’t seem to understand that they are a commodity and even though they have a very technical talent it is easily replaced especially in a slowing economy.

Very true. They may just as well have an Engineer futures contract on th Board.

“The “boomerang” kids that move back home in their 20’s are bad but anyone that moves back home in their 30’s is truly pathetic… ”

I hate to be that judgmental although it is funny to see balding men living at home. In some cultures people routinely live at home into their 20's and different people live different ways. As long as everyone is happy then I can't pass judgement.

BTW, Lisa's tea Treasure has real cream, which is all important. Their tea is excellent. Prices are reasonable.

skibum,

I wouldn't say NYT has lost the most integrity. All major American papers are pretty irrelevant at this point. The Washington Post news coverage is at least as bad.

Malcolm,

If an engineer succeeds, something concrete is created. If they fail, bad things happen.

If a marketing person succeeds, a bunch more kids are now hooked onto a high fructose corn syrup doused breakfast cereal.

I have a very low opinion of marketing/business development people, even though I'm contemplating heading in that direction.

On the other hand, people living at home really maximizes resource usage. Environmentalists should encourage people to live with parents for life or live in group homes.

If an engineer succeeds, something concrete is created.

Yeah, software is so concrete. :)

Astrid, of course you are right. No one said it was right or fair, in my opinion it represents a free market failure but that's life.

I also agree about the environmental impact of extended families sharing resources.

Software engineers used to make 80K per year, now they jump at 50K per year. A planner (my training) now exceeds a software engineer, and I know of very experienced engineers in other fields that are easily below the 60K mark.

Then again the biggest snots I have come across are technical people from Europe where their socialist systems cause them to be worshipped. They then come over here for a little bit more money to find themselves ridiculed for their atitude towards others and then find themselves treated like peaons. I guess the free market has some merit.

awaiting moderation?

Malcolm, the word "sociali$t" will automatically put you in moderation.

I guess the free market has some merit.

Only some?

Malcolm,

True. Though in back in 1970s and 80s China, they didn't make much more than experienced factory workers (the system reminds me of Detroit...I wonder why? :))

Good description, Jon.

1) They are at least as tech-savvy as Gen-x, probably more-so across the board. Some Gen-x are very tech savvy while others are entirely clueless, like their parents.

I was much more tech-savvy in high school than now. Perhaps Gen-Y will learn to hate technology as they age.

hymie,

Yeah, that "article" is ridiculous - no mention of the stupid FB as part of the problem. It's just another example of our victimhood society coming through.

New thread: What is considered subprime territory in the Bay Area?

My daughters are 19 and 22 so they're probably too young to be considered Gen-y? They're awfully tech savvy but are very selective about just exactly what technolgy they allow to intrude into their lives.

On Saturday "the Old Guys" came over to help "the kids" put up their fence. They had the local "classic rock" station on I suppose to please us but I listen to the Jazz Station (KMHD 89.1) almost exclusively on Saturday. "Rock Blocks" of three consecutive Leonard Skynard on Saturday morning is a little rough when your stomach is still a tad "queasy" from Friday night.

In spite of on again/off again weather and a set of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac (I didn't even like her in the 70's) we managed to get the fence up. It was great to see them tackle the project themselves and I had to remind myself that this was "their" house. (So keep your comments to yourself!) Looks great!

Huh? Maybe your employer should offer that as a fringe benefit.

I used to make "tea trays" in college, but we focused on rice krispy treats, french donut, chocolate dipped strawberries and such.

I would find it very hard to relax if I was paying $22 for the same thing

Not the same thing. The decor is much better and the service is good. It is not as cheap as Lucy's though.

I used to get dinner at Lucy's for under $8.

Maybe your employer should offer that as a fringe benefit.

Huh?

I love my employer because they offer all-you-can-drink sparkling water.

Ooh, jam!

Ooh, jam!

Peter P,
Have you had the Frog Hollow preserves? Tasty stuff.

I will try. Thanks!

- The Clinton administration deserves a fair amount of the blame for initiating loose lending standards in a misguided attempt to increase homeownership rates. (As I believed all along, it comes down to the misguided and poorly thought out liberal do-good mentality, yet again).

What about the Bush Administration, who did nothing about this for seven years and even trumpeted "The Ownership Society" in his 2004 campaign?

Both Administrations are to blame, it seems to me. And people who call the NYT "The Left Wing Media" are considered kooks by most of the country, not the other way around.

Selfish boomers are setting records for philanthropy. However, W Bush make me ashamed of that generation.

Gen Y-ers are not so lame. They are very "together", hard working and perform well under pressure. I am around a lot of them, as a returning student. I am impressed with what I see.

What the hell does left wing even mean in this day and age, when the "center" appears to be right in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition?

yes

“The “boomerang” kids that move back home in their 20’s are bad but anyone that moves back home in their 30’s is truly pathetic… ”

desperate times call for desperate measures... people living like Italians! :O cats living with dogs... etc...

Malcolm Says:

Then again the biggest snots I have come across are technical people from Europe where their socia1ist systems cause them to be worshipped. They then come over here for a little bit more money to find themselves ridiculed for their attitude towards others and then find themselves treated like peaons. I guess the free market has some merit.

Maybe they're just snotty cultures (no names). Maybe they also have a free market orientation back home, but more social protections than in the US. I thought there was a good deal of pretension and stratification in US society also... Remember places like France were highly stratified before the Rev'n, and old habits die hard...

No one said it was right or fair, in my opinion it represents a free market failure but that’s life.

Doesn't that fatalistic position negate the entire purpose of this site?

skibum Says:

Noble idea, horrible execution.

That's my point. Assuming it was even executes int hat fashion by the admin, which is still moot, depending on the spin factor of that particular journalist at that paper that day.

DS,
What you’re saying makes little sense. My read is that the Clinton admin. turned on the green lights for the mortgage industry to come up with “creative” ways of letting more people with less income “afford” homes.

It worried me a little when MDs set themselves up purely as 'technical professionals' working in a sociological void. There are connections between the social and the medical completely overlooked in medical training, meaning there is a narrow technical focus only, similar to engineers. The last person I would look to for advice or insight on govt policy or social reform is an engineer, for instance. It's just rebuttable on so many layers I don't know where to begin.

Can anyone give me a web address with the forum rules? I am trying to figure out why one of my posts that contains no foul language is being cut from the postings while a shorter posting contains an explitive that I bleeped is showing up.

I guess the free market has some merit.

Only some?

Light humor.

Diff Sean
No one said it was right or fair, in my opinion it represents a free market failure but that’s life.
Doesn’t that fatalistic position negate the entire purpose of this site?

This is not a feel good about life site. The scenario unfolding is actually pretty fatalistic. Some think the free market is the one stop answer to everything so I gently point it out with a little sarcasm when its imperfections surface.