"Al" wrote in message
...
Thanks Ed!

You are right on!



I wasn't going to post to this OT any more but I see that my buddy Harold
doesn't mind. He hates it when I post but he doesn't mind it when he
posts his thoughts over and over on the same topic. Like you Harold, I
can live with anyone’s opinions but YOUR “preaching” shouldn’t go
unanswered. It sounds like you have “yours” and you couldn’t care less of
about the rest of working Americans? Don’t worry, you not unusual.
Selfishness has become somewhat of a norm. Unlike you, I care about my
neighbors, my family, my friends. I want them to have the real
opportunity to enjoy the “middle class”

Perhaps you'd understand my position better if you knew the amount of money
I grossed annually. My gripe has been, and still is, greediness----those
making unearned money----especially when they hold hostage their employer,
or the consumer of their products or services.

For the record-----my best year as a machinist, running a one man shop,
farming out NOTHING aside from secondary operations (certified heat treat
and finishing), was scarcely over $52,000. Bear in mind, I closed the
doors on my shop back in '83.

Reason for the modest income?

My bidding was realistic. I calculated my shop rate, which was below the
norm, but I was productive on the machine. I didn't routinely make much
more than shop rate, which provided a skilled, experienced
machinist/toolmaker, equipment, and liability. While It might be nice to
boast of having routinely made $200/hr., alas, I can not.

By sharp contrast, several of my acquaintances, shop owners all, were far
more greedy, and had incomes in the six digit bracket, one of which bordered
on seven digits. They did that by overbidding and skimming what they
could.

I still like these guys, I simply don't agree with their method of doing
business, or their philosophy. You shouldn't either, for the vast
majority of the work these guys did was for you, the tax payer. Get the
picture? Where the hell does it stop?

My goal has never been to make a killing--although I have always felt I was
deserving of making a living, if for no reason, I was doing more than
nothing----including investing hard earned money. I provided a good and
valuable service for my time, and I was paid appropriately. Any greater pay
would have meant that someone, somewhere--------was getting screwed. Even
you. Taxpayer, remember?

With that in mind, you may see me as something less than some kind of
monster------or not. I have no idea of your mindset. Frankly, it matters
not, for I have a decent standard by which I live and I'm not concerned
about the opinions of those that have lost their way.

I have stated on more than one occasion I have not been an anchor on the
neck of society. I was gainfully employed from the time I started working
after high school until I took my retirement at age 54. I earned my
way----although I readily admit that I didn't earn the way of others. It
is incumbent upon them to do that for themselves. That includes feeding
their children. If their zest for pursuing an agency that is corrupt,
and guarantees them unearned wages and benefits, then watching their
children perish in the process is very much a part of what they should
expect. If the children are but pawns for this individual, why must they
become so valuable to me, where I am held hostage by their welfare?
That's precisely what would be expected from such an individual, a tool of
their trade, so to speak. Ain't gonna happen, not with me.


Harold