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jdsky

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Posts posted by jdsky

  1. 2 hours ago, akvanden said:

    Protectionism is clearly defined as America First. If everyone country took that approach, free trade would never exist because every country would be putting up barriers to protect their own industries. It becomes a zero-sum game, we all lose.

    Wrong. The country with the largest economy on the planet wins that game, period. Our GDP is twice that of China and then you have to add up the combined total of the next largest 10 countries' economies to equal that of the USA. The tariff war will end up leveling the playing field so that the US taxpayer is no longer subsidizing the economies of the rest of the world at our expense. First and foremost on my list would be the EU. They have fucked over America long enough.

    There is literally no way to eliminate our ridiculous debt without taking serious measures and there is also no way to achieve this without pain over the near term. American business is resilient and will always find a way to overcome short term challenges and ultimately succeed in the end.

  2. 14 hours ago, Cat45 said:

    How quick do you think these businesses will be able to come back, build new factories/ retool existing plants and get up and running? By the time they do that trumps term will be over and the other side will probably be in charge and reverse all of his EO. What business wants to deal with the uncertainty? They'll just pass the cost on to us

    As long as it takes, that's how long. The fucking party of woke that has been robbing American taxpayers for the last 4 years while calling everyone and everything they see as racist has zero percent chance of winning the next election if they continue to double down on their complete and total insanity. Nobody is listening to their absolute bullshit anymore. They have been caught and once fully exposed the party that has been reduced to a shit stain on the floor will likely never recover. The denial of any wrongdoing is absolute and now the lack of common sense is part of every leftists DNA.

    Just curious did MC's head explode after the election results or did he just takeover a couple of users accounts here to amp up the leftist nonsense?

  3. 4 hours ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    Are you doing any co-extrusion for the mouldings.

    No, we don't manufacture anything we install both glass only and full frame vinyl window replacements.  At one point a couple of years ago we did look into manufacturing our own IGUs for glass only replacement but we decided that neither of us wanted to take on the massive daily grind of running a production manufacturing facility. 

    We are good friends with our glass manufacturer and he has about 300 headaches (I mean employees) that give him daily fits of rage.  His 12 car garage has some really nice toys in it but from my perspective just not a tradeoff I would ever personally make at this point in my life.  My primary goal was to exit from the absolute bullshit of corporate America after 30 years and effectively semi-retire to something I could see myself doing for as long as I wanted.  It has turned out to be the best decision I ever made as my brother and I get along really well due to the fact that we have different strengths.  If the snow falls and we want to go sledding we just go and the business is just fine while we are away having a good time.

  4. Just now, teamgreen02 said:

    What sort of industry are you in now?  I'm in the same corporate rat race and could retire in my 50s.

    My brother had been running his residential window business in Texas for 25 years at the time.  I left the rat race to bring his business into the modern era.  He had no technology and had hit a wall where he could not grow without some automation and business process improvement.  We have since doubled revenues and still growing at a nice pace.  While there are headaches in every business these are far more manageable than those I faced working with the Fortune 500 in a Fortune 50 company.  Initially I thought I would only work 10 years but I will be at 8 next year and can see myself doing this for many more years to come.  Neither of us is ready to just sit on a beach somewhere.  

  5. 29 minutes ago, teamgreen02 said:

    Even among white collar workers most aren't able to work until they are 70.  Have seen many examples where people really slow down in their 60s and aren't as sharp as they used to be earlier in their career.  Yet people will continue to live longer and health care in their final years will continue to rise in cost.

    My dad stopped dairy farming at the age of 55 and went back to concrete work in his 60's with a partner that was his same age.  The entire business was just the two of them and they would only bring on another helper if they had a really big job.  He hung it up at the age of 74 still shoveling and finishing concrete.  He is about to turn 85 this year and still in very good health, likely because he stayed active for so long.  He still drives his pickup on long road trips across the state, still mows his own yard and does all home maintenance including washing the windows up two stories on a ladder. 

    The worst thing people can do is somehow feel like they reach some magical age when being productive is now somehow not important.  I changed gears 7 years ago to get out of the Fortune 50 corporate rat race and partnered in my brothers' business.  I plan to continue into my 70's even though I could have retired completely when I was 50.  When you don't have to work for a paycheck it changes everything. 

    As for Social Security. There are only two ways to fix the program.  Limit benefits in one of many ways or increase revenues.  Here is a calculator that anyone can play around with to see just how much time changes to in both of those areas makes.  Raising the age does not even make a dent in solvency.  They are going to have to increase revenues in order to solve for the insolvency problem.

    https://www.crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer/ 

  6. ·

    Edited by jdsky

    14 hours ago, spin_dry said:

    If the current trend continues, batteries will weigh half in 2035 to what they weigh now. So the larger capacity batteries will be around 700-800 pounds. EV’s are going to be a lot different in 10 years. ICE have nearly stalled in efficiency. Advancing at a far slower rate. 

    Everything is going to be different in 10 years and of course battery technology will continue to get better but here is where EVs have to get to for the average American to get on board, including myself.

    1.  Purchase prices less than ICE equivalents.  That means starting at $20K in todays prices and cheap Chinese made EV shit-boxes that self combust do not count.

    2.  Better range than ICE equivalents which means at least 450 ACTUAL miles of 75MPH highway driving even in our cold weather.

    3.  Charging ports as readily available as gas pumps are today with zero waiting and availability so that there is no waiting in line and reliable enough that they are not constantly down.

    4.  Charge times of less than 10 minutes.

    5.  Ability to have a damaged or defective battery pack replaced for less than $5K.

    If all of these things are a reality in 10 years that would be super.  If not, ICE engines are going to be around for many decades to come.

     

  7. ·

    Edited by jdsky

    He has already done more for this country BEFORE being sworn in than the entire last four years administration did focused on driving it into the shitter.  The recently passed big gubment funding bill is just the tip of the iceberg but the progressive leftist shitbags still complain that cutting over a thousand pages of total fucking waste was still not good enough and bitch to their ignorant base about how he's falling short without even pointing out the most basic of facts - he is not even the president yet.  All while the current brain-dead for years POTUS is completely MIA running the country and busy pardoning every criminal bastard he can. Fuck every anti-American leftist shitbird that even thinks the last four years was remotely good for the majority of citizens of this country.

    Here's my prediction for the next four years.  He will assemble the absolute best cabinet he can muster even with the establishment fighting him every step of the way.  He will do everything possible to get this country back on track economically and militarily and being a leader on the global stage - just being elected has already impacted countries positively across the globe in setting the stage to get rid of entrenched progressive leftist regimes.  He will try to help Americans of all races, colors and financial status while the swamp and what's left of the main stream media does everything they possibly can to stop it. 

     

  8. Not happening.  Mary B made this statement a couple years ago when the gropey, dopey, joe administration was pushing an all EV MANDATE for all Americans.  Trump has already said he is going to shitcan all if not most those mandates and will likely push that 2035 date out into the future.  If Barra does not get on board with the fact the majority of Americans are not in favor of any all electric mandate to include hardworking Americans tax dollar subsidies she will be shitcanned as well. 

  9. Love it when they predict low snow, usually ends up being an above average riding season here.  Last season, record snow total but two weeks we had planned one in January and one in February both had to be moved a couple of weeks because of great trails and then suddenly melted to shit right before the week was about to start.

    Trails closed in March and then banner fucking snow in April.  Bottom line is they cannot forecast shit.

  10. Lions looked good in the first half.  The defense was either gassed at the end of the first half or just decided to take the second half off.  Stay healthy and the team should have a good run this season.  

    There were some highlights for Packer fans that want to see the rookies continue to improve.  The bitch Packer fans in the stands that want to boo just because they don't have a HOF QB and a veteran roster to back him up after all these decades of having one should just stay home.....

  11. Every rider in our group will be back on cat if they get back to leading and can deliver a superior product but that is going to take more than a couple of seasons of sleds in owners hands to be proven.  The other major hurdle textron has is they have gutted the dealer network.  None of my past cat dealers even carry the brand anymore.  It's going to be an uphill battle to keep the lights on in TRF.

  12. Yes, first year cats are so fucking amazing that riders cannot wait to buy them.  The history is so stellar that they should have like 90% of all sled sales by now.  Everyone I know has been burned by cat at some point or has finally said fuck it, I'm tired of waiting for them to get back in the game. 

    This latest effort is fucking way long overdue and hopefully they get it right.  At some point textron is going to pull the plug if sales do not come around which is not really good for anyone in the sport.  After more than two decades they either get back to leading again with great product (and dealer network) or they figure out a way to clone a couple hundred thousand dumbstads who buy anything with a cat sticker on it. 

     

  13. ·

    Edited by jdsky

    Yes, it can get a bit claustrophobic in the city when you have neighbors on both sides and on the lots in back.  We would have purchased one that backed up to woods but none were available at the time we sold and no timeframe at all on when they would be and the cost of building was just going up by the month.  By the time our house was finished - took 6 months - prices to build the same home we did had already gone up by $50K.

    I think it's absolute bullshit where we are right now and there is nobody to blame but the current administration for continuing to give out free money by the trillions and assist lazy asses that did not want to go out and get jobs.  Now we have runaway inflation and high interest rates pushing average Americans and specifically first time home buyers completely out of the market.  They have no choice but to build an overpriced tiny home.  That's completely fucked up.

    As for the dying boomers and what will happen to their homes.  For the most part absolutely nothing.  They have plenty of kids and grandkids that are waiting in line to inherit them.  Some will sell those to pocket the cash, others are just biding their time and hoping they get to be the lucky ones to drop into a nice home.  My guess is a lot of these homes are already inhabited by family that cannot afford to buy a home of their own or pay the ridiculously high rents that are being charged these days.  May daughter pays $2K a month for her one bedroom apartment in the MSP suburbs.

  14. Fuck tiny homes.  We downsized a little over a year ago to 2700sq. ft.  That is the absolute minimum I would ever want to live in at least until my brain is as mushy as bidentards. 

    It is on a city lot in a decent development where all my neighbors have been great people.  I was burned out mowing 2 acres of grass and tending to a pool for the past 20 years.  Love my postage stamp yard that I can pull out the zero turn and mow in ten minutes flat including blowing the clippings off the drive and sidewalk.

    If we get claustrophobic we head to the lake house and get all the wilderness we want for three seasons out of the year when all the summer rats are gone.  Life is good. 

  15. I think Lions fans have good reason to be optimistic for this season.  Last seasons finish was strong and it seems the team is pickup up where they left off.  What I think is funny is the Vikings finally have a decent head coach and are putting the pieces together only to have the Lions right there to eat their lunch. 

    This season is pretty much a write-off for the Packers and the team gets to play the rookie rebuilding card so any wins are just bonus points and making the playoffs would be icing on that first season birthday cake but really fans have no expectations.

    Good on the Lions and hope you have a successful season.  The NFC this year may belong to whoever can defeat a healthy 49er team.

  16. Fucking unions.  It work making these stupid demands if every automaker was forced to use union labor but they don't.  What the dipshit leaders of these outdated gangs fail to understand is they are competing against these companies in the marketplace.  

    Who's going to pay for these retarded demands?  The American taxpayer.  Dipshit biden will give away some tax money in a feeble attempt to help the industry which will ultimately go to the people everyone seems to want to hate - rich executives.  Then, when the price tag on all of the autos these dumbos produce goes through the roof, who pays?  Yes, the American taxpayer that's out shopping for a car so they can commute to their job and earn more money to pay higher prices.

    Do these dipshits running the union think executives are actually going to cut their bonuses and pay just because they want a 2 day work week, unlimited vacation and 40% salary increases?  If you don't know that answer to this question you should go apply up for a union job in an auto manufacturing plant.

  17. 57 minutes ago, Not greg b said:

    They use shit ass parts and the internet makes the recalls worse than what they are. 

    I just don't get it.  Not a Poo basher as I still own a RZR and a 4 wheeler and have owned other Poo products in the past, just not a sled.  They absolutely cut corners on all products to a degree that is just a head scratcher. 

    Some of it could be forgiven when they were trying to be a price leader in segments but they have been matching Doo's pricing and even exceeding it for some time now.  When that is the case using shitty parts is really unacceptable.  If this continues a lot of riders that jumped ship to Poo will be looking hard at other alternatives.

  18. I know this thread is about cat but fuck man, poo really needs to get their shit together and all this stop ride bullshit.  I really like the part where it says - "Polaris is working on a solution at no cost to consumers."  Who's the genius at poo that thinks not being able to actually ride the fucking sled you bought is a no cost to the consumer situation?

    The new chassis is nice and I think the handling is really good overall but I'm not dropping the kind of cash poo is asking these days for shit they are still sticking their customers with.

  19. 2 minutes ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

    so, SkiDoo like?  

    I'm guessing I see more piled up Skidoos than any other brand because of their impressive sales numbers?

    The conversation should really keep focus on the new texcatatron big bore motor.  Doo's sales numbers are not really germane to that and/or will they be affected in any meaningful way.  Well at least until the motor is proven over tens of thousands of miles by tens of thousands of riders - so in about 10 years or so. 

  20. 2 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

    maybe, but it won't just tip over like a SkiDoo 

    It's not just going to tip over easier it will blow away even in the slightest of breezes.  Overall strength is going to be similar to a sheet of reynolds wrap.