On or about: 02-12-08  22:06, Ardith Hinton did engage James Bradley
regarding, but not limited to: YooHoo to You...  2.

 AH>  I figure I'm worth $90,000 a year... i.e. what a
 JB>  the combined potential income?

 AH> If a person is in intermediate care or extended care, the
 AH> basic  charge may be scaled according to income.  Often there 
 AH> isn't much left over after this charge has been paid.  As I 
 AH> pointed out to my father, though, the government is 
 AH> subsidizing the difference between the actual cost & the 
 AH> cost to the residents. A "retirement community" for people 
 AH> who need little or no nursing may have more frills... but 
 AH> otherwise these people are paying $50,000+ a year for a lot 
 AH> less.

Ah... That puts a new light on it!

 AH> My first estimate was based on what our friend was paying an
 AH> agency  to supply a personal care attendant/cook/housekeeper for 24 
 AH> hours a day every day. Luckily his mother could afford it.  
 AH> He wasn't earning that much & neither were we... even when 
 AH> Dallas & I were both employed.  But my point is, the hired 
 AH> help did the same work *I* do.  They also got wages, 
 AH> benefits, and time off....  :-)
 
Ya, but you are expected to work as slave labour. 
 
 AH>  With the family responsibilities we have now, it makes
 AH>  sense to hire people who specialize in fixing cars while
 AH>  we concentrate on doing what we do best.  Balancing time
 AH>  & money can be difficult, however, either way....  :-)
 
 JB>  Another one of those struggles for *survival* that we all
 JB>  have to dance. /-:

 AH> Yes, you're on topic!  Our messages may seem a bit 
 AH> convoluted at times
 AH> ... but IMHO they're relevant to the purpose of this echo.  :-))

L!!! I just ribbed Jim White, that I was in the wrong echo, when he kidded
me, "That's SURVIVAL!"
 
 
 AH> I hear you.  There are various things Nora can do once in
 AH> awhile...  if all the conditions are right... but she may need to 
 AH> recuperate for days, weeks, or months before she can do 
 AH> these things again because they take so much mental & 
 AH> physical energy.  When you're tiling your own floor, you 
 AH> can work at your own pace.  That's a far cry from doing the 
 AH> job for an employer who would expect you to finish quickly 
 AH> & to maintain a similar speed for 40 hours a week every 
 AH> week. A lot of people seem to have difficulty with the 
 AH> concept, though... (sigh).

I know I've harped on it. I know your reality has similar fronts. I always
did think of myself as an understanding sort, but until my infliction did I
truly understand others plight. I guess you need to be in it, to see the
forest from all the trees.

 
 JB>  I've only started to do some of my own mechanical work.
 JB>  I wish I had a better understanding, but there I am. I
 JB>  have a friend not far from me who has plenty of experience,
 JB>  so usually I try not to get in his way, and anticipate
 JB>  what tool he might need next.

 AH> I've learned a bit about things like that, over 
 AH> the years, by doing as you are now... watching others at 
 AH> work & fetching tools.  When it's your car or truck which 
 AH> needs repairs you're highly motivated to learn.  And you 
 AH> don't have to understand every other make & model, or at 
 AH> least not yet....  :-)
 
Alleluia! I guess like most things, you realize how little you know, by
learning how little you know.

Here, I was in a technical field, and I did pass a lengthy exam that
included mechanical, electrical, and electronic subjects. That much has
given me a start, along with hanging around my gear-head friends, but the
variety of specialty subjects surprised me. I'm no fool, that I thought I
could walk in and ace the shade tree-mechanics course, but I was expecting
things like air conditioning - for example - would be easier for me to pick
up. Maybe I haven't found the right teacher/text for me yet, and maybe I
never will. I think I need to learn to stop fussing over what I don't know,
and celebrate what I do on the subjects.
 

 AH> Same here.  You need money to earn money, whether 
 AH> you buy things at an auction & fix them up or take 
 AH> advantage of specials at a nearby emporium to add to the 
 AH> supply of non-perishables you'll need later on.  In the 
 AH> meantime you are exercising your body & your brain as much 
 AH> as possible, and that's good....  :-)

Speaking of rally racing... 

I just had a horrible day at an auction, and before I got home to discover
*how* bad, I have a car too close behind me, with their headlights aimed
way too high. (The kind that you have to flip your rear view mirror to the
night position.) Buddy aint backin' off, so I take the next two turns of a
detour to make some distance, (A three cylinder motor necessitates
maneuvers over HP.) when he lights me up. It was the *heat!*

Here I'm regretting paying too much for this, and how I missed bidding on
that, I now had to think the night was about to get REALLY expensive. He
looked up what I was about, and sent me away with a "Take it a little
slower." I couldn't resist a "It was actually your headlights I
was trying to get way from." right after a "Thank you!"

Cripes, with my mouth, I shouldn't have ANY money already. 


... James

___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20

--- Maximus 3.01