Rubicon has gone up $5000 since 2021?

[djxizodu]

My sister’s father in law was a crusty old new englander. He served as a submarine officer during WW2, worked as an engineer after the war, and retired in 1975. He never earned a salary over $30,000 (pretty good money in 1975). He was nearly blind by the time he was 90, so my sister and her husband, both recently retired, moved back east to help him the last few years. His list of frugal behaviors was long and irritating, including insisting on rinsing and reusing the trash bags, and heating the farmhouse only with wood (which my then 68 year old brother in law was expected to split). The furniture coverings were worn out, the roof needed to be patched, and there was a long list of other needs he wasn't managing. He wore patched 20 year old clothes and had only three pairs of footwear: work boots, snow boots, and church shoes. That’s it. My sister assumed he was struggling to live on his social security. When he became too blind to see my sister had to take over his banking. She and her husband were amazed to see that he had no debt, almost five thousand dollars in his checking account, and almost $2 million in his investment account. When they informed him that he had plenty of money to make repairs and add some comfort to his life he refused to do it. He was STILL worried about running out of money. I think it’s because during the worst of his childhood poverty there was no government safety net. No freebies. No unemployment. No “snap” benefits. People expected to provide for themselves or risk being without food and shelter. (In those days the society would not have tolerated tens of thousands of people sleeping and pooping on sidewalks…the cops would have removed them.) His life was very hard until after WW2 and his childhood left an indelible mark. I‘m concerned that the modern “everybody gets a trophy” message (regardless of contribution or performance) has left an indelible mark too.

this the toxic BS that I’m talking about. You described mental illness. The fact that he was so obsessed with having “money” that was just numbers on paper, that he didn’t even spend it and lead a comfortable life is the stuff that is truely saddening.

my father had a car but had to sell it when he was 22. A rather legendary car. He would talk about it and my brother and I grew up going to car shows and him talking about his car. He worked hard. Didn’t spend much money when we were growing up unless it was on the business or his family. After my brother and I moved out I tried multiple times to get him to buy the same kind of car but he would refuse because “it was too much money”. He had roughly 4xs the cost of the car in his checking account during that time but he was such a tight wad that he wouldn’t spend the money because of irrational made up fears.

I was finally in a place in my life, as was my brother, that we went and bought the car and gave it to him because he would have never bought it himself.

2 days later he paid us cash for the car and it had zero impact on his financial or living situation other than that he had this car, finally. But what he can’t get back are those 20-30 years when he could have had the car and spent time with his sons with it. I’m incredibly glad that we can spend time with him now, but I always wonder what we missed out on.

he will spend 3 hours dicking around with something to save $5 when his time cost him $300 because he didn’t take care of other things. It’s sad. And it has really held him back. I refuse to have that happen to me.

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[Kyanche]

My job is different than it was before I promoted, but my workday still starts when my computer is booted up and my butt hits the seat of my work vehicle. These days, I typically come on duty at 0615 and I generally get off between 1730 and 1800.

I have a serious question for you. Would you get fired if you told your management that you could only work so many hours for whatever reason? I get that it would change the scope of your work.

Speaking purely from an idealist standpoint, I think we'd all be better off if we had time to breathe. I understand the great many reasons you explained for why people would be pressured to work 80-100 hours in a week. Still, I look at it and see people that are probably exhausted, haven't seen their family nearly enough, and they might not be making the best judgement calls 18 hours into a shift when their job really requires it.

Sorry for the book — but I didn’t know how else to make the point that work and stress are all relative. Most of us can do MUCH more than we think we can do, or we choose to do. That’s one of the many useful lessons from boot camp. We can all do more and, once we do “do more“ for a while, we get used to it and it resets our expectations and the way we see ourselves. The depression taught this hard lesson to a whole generation, just as starvation, threats, physical abuse, and persecution have taught that lesson to so many who are coming to this country from the third world. I don’t think you could convince any of those folks that working over 40 hours in a comfortable office is a hardship.

Yea, and I would never suggest that working 40 hours in an office is a hardship. It could suck if the environment is abusive enough, but it sounds like you work in law enforcement - I imagine in a typic shift you already endure more emotional abuse than any office job does lol.

Thanks for the chat! I do really appreciate it.

 

[Whaler27]

At the end of the day, the employer needs a job to get done, whether it’s you or another that covers the empty spot, it doesn’t matter. Took me a while to get this, as we tend to think that the force can’t go on or won’t be the same without you….. think again, rookies that meet me call me the legend as they heard about me in training, but the job still gets done and days go on….. realizing and more so, accepting this is priceless.

Absolutely. I’m less relevant every day — and I’m okay with that. It’s great to see people I mentored grow into their potential. A big part of leadership is training your replacement to the point where you're not needed. I’m so fond of most of them that I wish they weren’t in law enforcement.

 

[Whaler27]

this the toxic BS that I’m talking about. You described mental illness. The fact that he was so obsessed with having “money” that was just numbers on paper, that he didn’t even spend it and lead a comfortable life is the stuff that is truely saddening.

my father had a car but had to sell it when he was 22. A rather legendary car. He would talk about it and my brother and I grew up going to car shows and him talking about his car. He worked hard. Didn’t spend much money when we were growing up unless it was on the business or his family. After my brother and I moved out I tried multiple times to get him to buy the same kind of car but he would refuse because “it was too much money”. He had roughly 4xs the cost of the car in his checking account during that time but he was such a tight wad that he wouldn’t spend the money because of irrational made up fears.

I was finally in a place in my life, as was my brother, that we went and bought the car and gave it to him because he would have never bought it himself.

2 days later he paid us cash for the car and it had zero impact on his financial or living situation other than that he had this car, finally. But what he can’t get back are those 20-30 years when he could have had the car and spent time with his sons with it. I’m incredibly glad that we can spend time with him now, but I always wonder what we missed out on.

he will spend 3 hours dicking around with something to save $5 when his time cost him $300 because he didn’t take care of other things. It’s sad. And it has really held him back. I refuse to have that happen to me.

I think this sort of mental illness is a function of perspective. We all fall somewhere on that continuum. In his case he never felt like he had enough money because he was scared of ending up without food and shelter again, and he could not trust that others would take care of him. Others fall at the other extreme; they assume that no amount of financial irresponsibility will ever come home to roost, so they save nothing, borrow for everything, and live day to day, paycheck to paycheck. That’s their prerogative. Everybody gets to make their own decisions and find their own balance. I‘m fine with all of it as long as I don’t have to share in the consequences of other people’s decisions.

 

[Whaler27]

I have a serious question for you. Would you get fired if you told your management that you could only work so many hours for whatever reason? I get that it would change the scope of your work.

Some overtime isn’t voluntary, like honoring a subpoena for court, or taking the time required to process a drunk into jail. If I had consistently dropped the ball on required duties like those I would have been disciplined, but most of my overtime was controlled by the choices I made knowingly. I wanted to earn more, and I wanted to learn more and do more. I wanted to be the best I could be. I also wanted to be a stronger candidate to promote. Some guys choose divisions and assignments that result in almost no overtime. They‘re choosing a different life balance, so, at least in my line of work, they earn less and have more time with family. That’s a great example of people being able to steer their own lives. That works — as long as those who choose to work less and earn less, don’t expect to be rewarded like those who work more and contribute more.

Thanks for the visit. I had the weekend off, with plenty of cold crappy weather, no kids or grandkids, and no room to work on my jeep, This exchange was a fun distraction.

 

[Poordad]

What was the question again?

 

[DaltonGang]

Some overtime isn’t voluntary, like honoring a subpoena for court, or taking the time required to process a drunk into jail. If I had consistently dropped the ball on required duties like those I would have been disciplined, but most of my overtime was controlled by the choices I made knowingly. I wanted to earn more, and I wanted to learn more and do more. I wanted to be the best I could be. I also wanted to be a stronger candidate to promote. Some guys choose divisions and assignments that result in almost no overtime. They‘re choosing a different life balance, so, at least in my line of work, they earn less and have more time with family. That’s a great example of people being able to steer their own lives. That works — as long as those who choose to work less and earn less, don’t expect to be rewarded like those who work more and contribute more.

Thanks for the visit. I had the weekend off, with plenty of cold crappy weather, no kids or grandkids, and no room to work on my jeep, This exchange was a fun distraction.

I'm right there with you. I'm up, relaxing before going in. I work as little overtime as I can, so I can spend it with the family. But, some overtime, as you have described, cannot be avoided, or passed on to the next shift, or things would get screwed up. Only a couple more years, or so, and I will retire. Then I will not have to think about, or deal with, all the toxic insanity out there in Houston.

 

[Tncdrew]

In the first loan category, when I was 18 and had nothing but a Sears card with a $300 credit limit, I REALLY wanted a Yamaha RD-400 motorcycle, so I signed up for the only financing I could get... an 18% loan through "Household Finance". That was another incredibly stupid decision, on so many levels, but I was young and bulletproof, that bike was the coolest thing around, and I was able to make the payment.

Ha! 18% Household Finance loan.... Sounds like something I would have done
But an RD-400!
That's a baddass ride to get down to Sears to buy that new Craftsman Tach/Dwell meter!!
Good times.

 

[Tncdrew]

this the toxic BS that I’m talking about. You described mental illness. The fact that he was so obsessed with having “money” that was just numbers on paper, that he didn’t even spend it and lead a comfortable life is the stuff that is truely saddening.

my father had a car but had to sell it when he was 22. A rather legendary car. He would talk about it and my brother and I grew up going to car shows and him talking about his car. He worked hard. Didn’t spend much money when we were growing up unless it was on the business or his family. After my brother and I moved out I tried multiple times to get him to buy the same kind of car but he would refuse because “it was too much money”. He had roughly 4xs the cost of the car in his checking account during that time but he was such a tight wad that he wouldn’t spend the money because of irrational made up fears.

I was finally in a place in my life, as was my brother, that we went and bought the car and gave it to him because he would have never bought it himself.

2 days later he paid us cash for the car and it had zero impact on his financial or living situation other than that he had this car, finally. But what he can’t get back are those 20-30 years when he could have had the car and spent time with his sons with it. I’m incredibly glad that we can spend time with him now, but I always wonder what we missed out on.

he will spend 3 hours dicking around with something to save $5 when his time cost him $300 because he didn’t take care of other things. It’s sad. And it has really held him back. I refuse to have that happen to me.

It's called sacrifice, and humility... and it's admirable.

Society today could use a few more men like your father.

 

[Whaler27]

Ha! 18% Household Finance loan.... Sounds like something I would have done
But an RD-400!
That's a baddass ride to get down to Sears to buy that new Craftsman Tach/Dwell meter!!
Good times.

Yep! That thing went like a scalded ape! I‘m sooo fortunate to be alive.

 

[40Caliber]

----
never mind,

.time to let this thread die...LOL
we are so far off the original intent....hahah
.

 

[Whaler27]

I respect your opinion, but sorry I don't buy that narrative at all.

And I respect your right to disagree, but I’ll add this. Some jobs just take time — like sentry duty, or a stakeout.

Or one guy, with one shovel, assigned to dig a ditch. The energetic guy with perfect shoveling strategy, and perfect shoveling technique produces more linear feet of ditch per hour than than the lazy guy with poor technique, of course, but if you take two equally matched diggers, and give one of them 8 hours to dig, and the other gets 12 hours of digging, I believe the one with more time will produce more feet of ditch.

The same is true of surgical residents, apparently.

The same is definitely true of fingerprint analysts and chemists.

But it may not be true of philosophers.

There’s definitely a point of diminishing return, where cumulative fatigue erodes mental health and productivity. I suspect that’s well south of 100 hour weeks for most of us, but I believe it’s also well north of the 40 hour weeks many are now accustomed to (and whine about).

 

[Punkn89]

This thread has me thinking…

 

[Cutterone]

Still off topic, but what I wonder at, especially on this forum, is how seemingly many of you can afford not only the Jeeps you have but the other vehicles as well. My wife and I both make in the low 6 figures, which growing up on a dairy farm I consider very well off, yet still there are financial stresses. I guess I am amazed at the amount of folks (at least in written word on this forum) that make the kind of money to have 80k Jeeps, other pricey vehicles, super nice home, and still afford supposedly all the insurance, healthcare, retirement funding, child rearing expenses, rising cost of everything, student loans, etc... and yet still trade up to another 80k Jeep the next year because of a new color...I know Jeeps hold their value extremely well, I've used that to my advantage several times, on my 3rd. But nothing feels better than having no car payments! I don't know just venting, you do you more power to y'all. I just know at the mid life crisis point of my life, nothing makes me happier than a large stash of financial security, something not even a new 392 could replace. And I feel we have become far too comfortable in this country thinking the ills of the world will never touch us here, but that day of reckoning is coming, when we are immune to passing trillion dollar bills one after the other, that time is coming and it won't be pretty...this s?it just isnt sustainable...I am not sure how anyone thinks this can continue without retribution...ok sorry rant over...

 

[Rodeoflyer]

Oh no you're totally correct.. this new world where $200k year is paycheck to paycheck.

Our grandchildren have no hope.

Think about it.. I do 100% of my own mechanical work. My vehicles haven't seen a dealer or mechanic other than what my insurance covers in 30 years.

However think about this new generation who need a mechanic several times a year.. it's an average of $300 which is 1/3 of their shitty, stagnated, mid 2k's monthly salaries.

Who's to blame for this?? not going to get political lol.

Once the current gen spends their parents money.. its over.

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