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Wives of BNSF Employees make protest video

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Posted by kgbw49 on Thursday, July 14, 2022 12:51 AM

That money talks,

I'll not deny.

I heard it once.

It said "Goodbye".

 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Thursday, July 14, 2022 12:37 AM

n012944
SD70Dude
n012944

Those same people that choose "quality of life" over a higher wage are often the same ones who complain about being priced out of the housing market......Hmm

Typical management response.  Is it really too much to ask for both?   

If only I was management.  Nothing is given to you, you have to work for it.  As someone who didn't party through my 20's but worked many 16 hour days in the dispatch office, who left plenty of family party's early or arrived late to them because of the railroad I have little sympathy for those not willing to give it all for a house.

Due to my choices in my 20's, I am able to enjoy my 40's, in a house worth a lot of money.

A good number of our Dispatchers could also be easily mistaken for managers at times........

Since we're measuring, I too know the 'pain' of 16+ hour days/nights/whatevers, turns out of the AFHT, and missing all sorts of things because of the job.  

I'm not a party animal either, but if you can't afford a house on 40 hrs/week, or if you have to work endlessly with no real schedule or days off, then something is wrong.  

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 9:05 PM

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 8:51 PM

Ulrich
Houses are much more affordable outside of the metro areas.

Thanks Ulrich!  

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 8:21 PM

jeffhergert

It took me about 90 minutes to post my reply.  I kept getting a 403 Forbidden message.  Finally went through.

Jeff

Jeff have found almost any type of odd puncination will cause a 403 

 

EDIT:   @#$%&*+ Works by editing this post. 

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 7:41 PM

Yes absolutely.. location.. But if you're a locomotive engineer out of Toronto or you drive a bus here then you're likely living here too. The price of houses in Manitoba is really not relevant. The silver lining for some is that their jobs are now more portable.. if you're a software engineer or a consultant then you might be able to move to Manitoba without giving up your big city wage. The people who are the hardest hit are those who can't move.. the locomotive engineer with a million dollar mortgage.. I bet there are a few of them around here. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 7:23 PM

Flintlock76
 
BaltACD
Of course, because most of us are in the USA, your prices are discounted against the US dollar. 

Any way you look at it, one million either in Canadian or American dollars is pretty heavy money. 

I have ask Ulrich, how are the home prices if the prospective buyers go further out from the metropolitan areas?  Young homebuyers who want "The nightlife, high life, and good-timin' friends" in the city are usually shocked when they find out what living in the city, any city, is really going to cost them. 

In the late 80's I was forced into a situation of having to rent living space with another individual in his house.  He had a sister that had approximately the same size and kind of house.  Where I was living was outside Annapolis, MD; his sister was living near Palo Alto, CA.  The Maryland house was on the market for approximately $150K, the similar house in CA was marketable at $750K.

As is said - Location, Location, Location.

Doubt Urich's house would be $1M were it on a 1/4 acre lot on the plains of Manitoba.

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 7:07 PM

Flintlock76

 

 
BaltACD
Of course, because most of us are in the USA, your prices are discounted against the US dollar.

 

Any way you look at it, one million either in Canadian or American dollars is pretty heavy money. 

I have ask Ulrich, how are the home prices if the prospective buyers go further out from the metropolitan areas?  Young homebuyers who want "The nightlife, high life, and good-timin' friends" in the city are usually shocked when they find out what living in the city, any city, is really going to cost them. 

 

 

Houses are much more affordable outside of the metro areas. My parents' house in Sherbrooke, Quebec sold for $163,000 in 2019... a nice 4000 square foot country estate with two acres of land in the countryside. Of course, wages are alot lower there, and moving to Quebec is out of the question altogether for people who don't speak French. Houses in Atlantic Canada are also much cheaper, but prices are climbing as so many people now are able to work remotely.. i.e. they can get the Toronto wage with the Nova Scotia cost of living. I guess it isn't all gloom and doom.. if I were 20 something today I would move to Monction or Pedicodiac.. or Kenora or maybe even stay in Sherbrooke..there's something to be said for sending your kids and grand kids to the same schools you went to.. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 6:54 PM

BaltACD
Of course, because most of us are in the USA, your prices are discounted against the US dollar.

Any way you look at it, one million either in Canadian or American dollars is pretty heavy money. 

I have to ask Ulrich, how are the home prices if the prospective buyers go further out from the metropolitan areas?  Young homebuyers who want "The nightlife, high life, and good-timin' friends" in the city are usually shocked when they find out what living in the city, any city, is really going to cost them. 

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 6:34 PM

Purchasers here generally get paid in Canadian dollars also..

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 6:21 PM

Ulrich
Very tough for young people starting out today. Around here houses start at a million dollars..condos can still be purchased for half that, and for that you get less than a thousand square feet. And now interest rates are going up. Even the hardest worker is going to struggle for a long time unless he or she gets help from family or a lucky break. Wages and salaries have not kept up.. 

Of course, because most of us are in the USA, your prices are discounted against the US dollar.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 6:15 PM

Very tough for young people starting out today. Around here houses start at a million dollars..condos can still be purchased for half that, and for that you get less than a thousand square feet. And now interest rates are going up. Even the hardest worker is going to struggle for a long time unless he or she gets help from family or a lucky break. Wages and salaries have not kept up.. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 11:44 AM

n012944
 
Backshop

The difference is that due to all the furloughs and PSR, it appears that operating employees have the same long days in their 40s and 50s that they had in their 20s. Even if what you said was the norm, why does it have to be? 

My employer just started a new dispatcher class.  The job posting was available for anyone in the company.  8 hour days, working in an office.  There were only 73 applicants from the T&E side.  There are opportunities for better work schedules.

73 from T&E or 73 from the company total?

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 11:00 AM

Backshop

The difference is that due to all the furloughs and PSR, it appears that operating employees have the same long days in their 40s and 50s that they had in their 20s. Even if what you said was the norm, why does it have to be?

 

 

My employer just started a new dispatcher class.  The job posting was available for anyone in the company.  8 hour days, working in an office.  There were only 73 applicants from the T&E side.  There are opportunities for better work schedules.

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:53 AM

Ulrich
Years ago the fax machines would hum away all day long... now they sit mostly silent.

A big exception to that are hospitals and medical offices, they're still big users of faxes, or at least they were when I retired in 2018.  Doctors and nurses like having that paper handy immediately, not running information through a computer and then to a printer.  Not that they don't do the latter, but the fax was more efficient.  A fax was also a lot easier to read than info off a smart phone screen.

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:53 AM

zugmann

 

 
n012944
Yet here I am, living a better life than he did.

 

Good for you.  

 

 

Isn't it?

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:52 AM

zugmann

And there's people in their 20s doing the same thing.  

 

so.. congratulations?  It's just a weird flex. 

 

It really isn't.  It is what has been expected in life.  Doctors get the crap kicked out of them and don't make a lot of money for the first couple of years out of medical school.  Pilots make little more than minimum wage flying puddle jumpers until they can get enough hours to get on with a major carrier.

 

Now we have parts of a new generation expecting to be able to work 9-5 with every holiday off, get paid a lot of money, and houses sitting around for them at 1990's pricing.  It just isn't the way of the world.

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:49 AM

n012944
Yet here I am, living a better life than he did.

Good for you.  

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:47 AM

zugmann

 

 

But for newer people starting out, even if they work 16 hours, they're not going to be able to afford that nice house, a nice truck, boat, etc.  So why kill themselves for stuff they aren't ever going to get? 

 

 


I remember my grandfather in law, telling me 20 years ago how sorry he felt for my generation.  How we would never be able to afford to live like his generation did, due to the changes in society.   Yet here I am, living a better life than he did.Whistling

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:45 AM

And there's people in their 20s doing the same thing.  

 

so.. congratulations?  It's just a weird flex. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:44 AM

zugmann

 

 
n012944
Due to my choices in my 20's, I am able to enjoy my 40's, in a house worth a lot of money.

 

The things we tell ourselves. 

 

I worked a lot through my 20s as well.  As I approach my 40s, I realize what a mistake that was.  Stuff is just that.  Time, on the other hand...

 

I watch other people that I work with, that didn't work a lot when they were younger, struggle.  They pick up overtime on their days off, sell off vacation for extra money, and don't go out much.

 

I only work my 40 hours a week.  I use all of my vacation and personal days, going to different places.  I sit and drink by my pool when I am not at work. I spend my weekends cruising down the ICW in my boat, or driving my sports car.  I am able to do these things because of the choices I made in my 20s, and have more time now to enjoy life than I would have if I made different choices back then.  That isn't something I "tell myself", it is a fact.

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:43 AM

n012944
As I said, if you don't want to put the work in, that is fine.  Just don't female dog about the fact you don't get the rewards without doing the work.  

I have a house.  Luckily I was able to get one before prices went super insane.  Same with my truck.  

 

But for newer people startinng out, even if they work 16 hours, they're not going to be able to afford that nice house, a nice truck, boat, etc.  So why kill themselves for stuff they aren't ever going to get? 

 

Everything has gone up instead of wages.  Just becuase it sucked for us, doesn't mean it should suck even more for those that come after us. 

 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:41 AM

Backshop
The difference is that due to all the furloughs and PSR, it appears that operating employees have the same long days in their 40s and 50s that they had in their 20s. Even if what you said was the norm, why does it have to be?

Exactly.  Used to be you worked 15 years at crap jobs with the latter years working more "normal" jobs with better work-life balance.   But not anymore.  That's why people with 10-15-20 years are walking.  

 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:39 AM

zugmann

 

 
n012944
Those same people that choose "quality of life" over a higher wage are often the same ones who complain about being priced out of the housing market......Hmm

 

What's the point in having a house if you're never home to see it?

This isn't 1890 anymore.  The railroads can't just toss an extra $100 at the workers to shut them up.  People don't want to spend their entire lives working increasingly lousier jobs. 

 

 

And those of us that own houses don't want to see the value of our investment go down because the new age workers don't want to put the time in to afford them.  As I said, if you don't want to put the work in, that is fine.  Just don't female dog about the fact you don't get the rewards without doing the work.  

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:38 AM

n012944
Due to my choices in my 20's, I am able to enjoy my 40's, in a house worth a lot of money.

The things we tell ourselves. 

 

I worked a lot through my 20s as well.  As I approach my 40s, I realize what a mistake that was.  Stuff is just that.  Time, on the other hand...

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by Backshop on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:38 AM

The difference is that due to all the furloughs and PSR, it appears that operating employees have the same long days in their 40s and 50s that they had in their 20s. Even if what you said was the norm, why does it have to be?

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Posted by n012944 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:35 AM

SD70Dude

 

 
n012944

Those same people that choose "quality of life" over a higher wage are often the same ones who complain about being priced out of the housing market......Hmm

 

 

Typical management response.  Is it really too much to ask for both?   

If only I was management.  Nothing is given to you, you have to work for it.  As someone who didn't party through my 20's but worked many 16 hour days in the dispatch office, who left plenty of family party's early or arrived late to them because of the railroad I have little sympathy for those not willing to give it all for a house.

 

Due to my choices in my 20's, I am able to enjoy my 40's, in a house worth a lot of money.

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by Backshop on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 1:57 PM

The one group of employees who have really appreciated going paperless are the airline pilots.  No more suitcases of charts and rulebooks.  The company just gave everyone an ipad or similar.

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Posted by Ulrich on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 1:17 PM

Our office is heading toward "paperless"... our usage is down to about 25% of what it was 20 years ago. I don't think it will ever be completely paperless though. Years ago the fax machines would hum away all day long... now they sit mostly silent. No more paper required in the day to day dispatch and order processing at all. We still mail out checks to suppliers who can't take electronic payments... so envelopes and checks are still with us. 

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Posted by rrnut282 on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 1:08 PM

"Paperless office" just meant they pushed the printing down to the end-user instead of the middleman or supplier.  Millions more printers to load instead of hundreds of thousands of office printers.  

Hillyard,

Euclid often misses subtle points dealing with the nuts and bolts of railroading.  

Mike (2-8-2)

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