Funny how you take things for granted

[storm rider]

For me it was running water....been without it for 5 days due to a water main break.The means to be clean each day for work was 1 gallon of half boiled water poured into 3 gallons of room temp water and a dousing with a jug and a scrub down with a bar of soap and a rinse off with the jug multiple times.

I sure missed the luxury of a hot shower at 5 AM as I was getting ready to go to work.I will ENJOY it in the morning and I think the Heavenly Creator will look down upon my house and be pleased as I belt out "How Great Thou Art" in whilst having a hot shower.

Funny how you miss the little things whilst existing in Western Society.

SR

 

[zigzag6984]

When I was living in the middle east, I was living in a city that was inland and the government would give us water twice a week. If you ran out, that was it until the next shipment, unless you had money (I did not). There were many times where I'd go days without running water. Nothing worse than having to decide between washing your clothes or having a shower. . .or flushing the toilet and knowing you won't get any more water for a few days. Since I moved back, I've been very frugal with water.

 

[UhOh]

Try taking people for granted and then realizing they're gone and not coming back. I can deal with not getting a shower for a few days if need be.

 

[ddcanz]

Try taking people for granted and then realizing they're gone and not coming back. I can deal with not getting a shower for a few days if need be.

That one hit home......miss you mom....

 

[take8easy]

You don't know what you got till it's gone.

I know running water is important, but you can still bring in water from other sources. Luckily you did not have to live without electricity, which, I think would be much harder. Remember that ice storm that hit Montreal and part of Quebec about a decade or so ago. Bitter winter, everything covered in ice and no power for days!

We sometimes forget that how we have made our lives dependent on facilities that can disappear with one little mishap.

 

[Cock Throppled]

The people repairing the main are being paid too much, are lazy government employees and won't work faster because they receive too many benefits.

You should pay a private crew to repair that main ASAP.

 

[VanessainVictoria]

When I was a youth volunteering in the Caribbean we had to watch our water use too and there was noooo washer and dryer. How's that saying go "if its yellow let it mellow..."

 

[giaebonyprincess]

When I was a youth volunteering in the Caribbean we had to watch our water use too and there was noooo washer and dryer. How's that saying go "if its yellow let it mellow..."

Yeah I remember visiting the Islands for the first time when I was sixteen, it was a HUGE cultural shock for me.

But for me, I love to run and not being able to would freak me out!! So I want to appreciate this freedom.

 

[Ray]

I was working temporarily in a small community in the far north. Turned on the tap to take a shower, the water came out brown and smelly. Let it run for a bit, it did not get better. Did not bathe. Used bottled water to brush.
After about 3 or 4 days, I figured I smelled worse that the water. So I showered in it, soaping and scrubbing myself. Thankfully, it was a short stay.

 

[FreeG]

The people repairing the main are being paid too much, are lazy government employees and won't work faster because they receive too many benefits.

You should pay a private crew to repair that main ASAP.

From my experience you'll pay more for a private crew. The rationale for public servants in that line of work is you're paying them to respond any time of day or year. A private company, unless they're under a long term contract, has no such obligation and will just as likely fleece the community as not (many examples from Katrina, Sandy and other natural disasters even WW2, which everyone views with rose-coloured glasses, was filled with companies taking advantage of a desperate government).

The other downside I've found with profit-driven work on public services is .... companies are driven by profit. Duh, right?? But is that what you want for vital services? I'd rather wait another day for it to be done right for the long term than get my water back 1 day sooner and lose it again a year later because of a rush job that earned the company a nice bonus.

In a previous life, I saw a lot of public work go private. Sometimes they did better but often the quality was worse and because these companies rode their contract so tightly, it took longer because of the growth in the scope of work and subsequent delays to contract revision. I'd have hated to work for those companies too because they rode their workers to the ground. A healthy public organization works hard then gives the right amount of time off to ensure safety and QOL are good and the taxpayer ultimately benefits from that (and you retain the best workers).

I do agree public workers can be lazy. I truly believe it's more a factor of their leaders and supervisors and the relationship between labour (and unions) and mgmt. a healthy relationship is a great thing to watch. An unhealthy one leads to finger pointing and horrible service to the taxpayer.

[rant complete, thank you for reading!]

 

[Ray]

I may be off base here, but I believe CT's post was being sarcastic. He was throwing that at storm rider for his dislike of government workers.

 

[ddcanz]

From my experience you'll pay more for a private crew. The rationale for public servants in that line of work is you're paying them to respond any time of day or year. A private company, unless they're under a long term contract, has no such obligation and will just as likely fleece the community as not (many examples from Katrina, Sandy and other natural disasters even WW2, which everyone views with rose-coloured glasses, was filled with companies taking advantage of a desperate government).

The other downside I've found with profit-driven work on public services is .... companies are driven by profit. Duh, right?? But is that what you want for vital services? I'd rather wait another day for it to be done right for the long term than get my water back 1 day sooner and lose it again a year later because of a rush job that earned the company a nice bonus.

In a previous life, I saw a lot of public work go private. Sometimes they did better but often the quality was worse and because these companies rode their contract so tightly, it took longer because of the growth in the scope of work and subsequent delays to contract revision. I'd have hated to work for those companies too because they rode their workers to the ground. A healthy public organization works hard then gives the right amount of time off to ensure safety and QOL are good and the taxpayer ultimately benefits from that (and you retain the best workers).

I do agree public workers can be lazy. I truly believe it's more a factor of their leaders and supervisors and the relationship between labour (and unions) and mgmt. a healthy relationship is a great thing to watch. An unhealthy one leads to finger pointing and horrible service to the taxpayer.

[rant complete, thank you for reading!]

Great post- I fully agree.
I've worked with both City and private civil service contractors, and as much as there is this perception that City workers are lazy fuckers, the work typically gets done properly and faster than with a private outfit- especially when it comes to a broken water main. And the City needs to be involved regardless- for proper coordination of other adjacent existing services- Hydro, storm, Tel, Fortis, sanitary, optic, street lighting etc. and other necessary scopes of work such as asphalt re/re, hydro-vac, shoring, road base supply, concrete encasements, thrust blocks, road closures and traffic management, shut downs, curb/gutter, sidewalks, CBs, MHs etc. etc. etc. The City arrives with all the bases covered. A private contractor needs the time to sort all this out.
There's a fuck-load more to these jobs than just re/re of a broken pipe with some new couplings and Blue Brute or green pipe. And what about dealing with older AC pipe? Better call in the Hazmat team!
Try to control all those costs by calling in "Giovanni's Excavator Service".
Good ol' Johnny may have some serious experience along with the best intentions, but.....
And I am NOT a City or union guy- in fact quite the opposite.

 

[FreeG]

I may be off base here, but I believe CT's post was being sarcastic. He was throwing that at storm rider for his dislike of government workers.

Is that why there's a hook sticking out of my mouth?? :doh:

 

[ddcanz]

@DDCanz

I think one reason the public service is slow is because it has to remain accountable. I'll give you a real life example from about 10 years ago. I did work for a government department and something as simple as a password change became an hour long endeavor. Of course that resulted in huge overhead for the most simple things. In the case of something like a failed mouse, the amount of paperwork & signatures required was far more expensive than if the user bought their own 10 dollar mouse. And of course for the guys on the front lines we had to deal with this.

The government's real perk is a long term pension. That's about it. It's certainly not a place I'd ever go work again because it is stifles your career and drives you freaking crazy.

Yup- that environment caters to the lowest common denominator- and the cream doesn't generally rise to the top, unless you want to be ostracized.
I've worked around so many Planning, FMO, Plant Service Dept. and City employees over many years in institutional, commercial and hospital construction.
Outside of the pension, what's the advantage? Dragging your ass around all day might work for the sloths, but never worked for me. The wages have been cut back and stabilized in Fraser and Coastal Health to the point that just about any qualified tradesman worth a pinch of coon shit can do better in the private sector. I'm not sure about City and Municipal wages. But judging from the public disclosure statements for management positions the money is better in private sector- outside of the pension of course.
But when it comes to certain projects, these institutions have the means, equipment and contacts ready to deal with emergencies much better than calling in a private contractor- at least on the construction and maintenance side of things.

 

[Cock Throppled]

stormrider is the most abusive person on perb and he gets a free ride. Why?

I question his abusive posts and they get removed.

 

[Ray]

It appears you guys are getting personal and the mods are nipping it. I can't disagree with that.

 

[giaebonyprincess]

Instead of us crying about what we have taken for granted, why don't we start appreciating?

 

[MissingOne]

stormrider is the most abusive person on perb and he gets a free ride. Why?

I question his abusive posts and they get removed.

I find it quite easy to just skip past any of Stormie's contributions.

 

[ddcanz]

I may be off base here, but I believe CT's post was being sarcastic. He was throwing that at storm rider for his dislike of government workers.

Upon review of CT's post I'm sure you are bang-on Ray.
I missed the intended humour first time around.

 

[badbadboy]

stormrider is the most abusive person on perb and he gets a free ride. Why?

I question his abusive posts and they get removed.

I agree and add he knows he is laying bait as most Trolls do when engaging a forum who are mostly centre or centre left leaning. Personally, I only reply to a fraction of what he posts knowing the rest are Troll Bait.

Used to be a guy here who took exception to my posting and daily would leave abusive pm's posted late at night. Presumably when he had a number of shots in his system. I toyed with him for a few weeks and grew tired of his recycled rants at me. I blocked him and from what I learned later, he just found a new dance partner to troll.

Ignore works and to your advantage, I'd say there is only a few here that actually agree with S R.

It appears you guys are getting personal and the mods are nipping it. I can't disagree with that.

I find it quite easy to just skip past any of Stormie's contributions.

Compared to a few years back, this place has been fairly peaceful. Some enjoy the drama and most of them are gone permanently now :thumb:

Mostly, controversial subjects are now responded to in a mature non-confrontational manner which in my mind makes it a better place for those who desire a debate. Past years, those threads were either closed or binned with similar frequency. It makes it a better forum in that regard.

I could never understand a senior SP getting away with "are you fucking delusional" or worse in prefacing her responses. I guess advertisers have been cut a lot of slack in that regard. That's now in the past and mostly the posts are more respectful in general.