Coronavirus

Harvey wrote

 
She said she would think about whether she wanted to be laid off or not.

I'm no employment lawyer, but I'm not sure I'd write this stuff on the internet.

Edit: Smart move deleting. You never know what her lawyer might find.

Hang in there Harv

I am so sorry, Harvey.  That must suck on an unimaginable level.

WP

Sucks man

   This layoff stuff is nothing new if you work in the trades. Never had paid sick leave,  paid vacation  ,, in our union  you have to work to earn vacation pay, insurance and pension credits. When you work money needs to be set aside for slow times. I think Americans will learn this during these hard times.
 The stimulus packadge will not help my family at all. They are reverting back to 2018 , I earned too much. In 2019 I was only employed for 5 months ,due to my two surgeries.  Pay was 40 percent of the year before. 2020 has not be kind either, have only  worked  for a total of 5 paychecks. Thirty years of these up and downs , wife and I have weathered all of this.
   My best advise stay up on your mortgage and taxes , keep money for food and let the rest slide.

Gunny J wrote

This layoff stuff is nothing new

I've been with our company since 1986 and we been through 4 down turns that threatened our existence. Here's how this one is different for us.

The speed that it happened. We saw the other downturns coming much farther in advance.

The responsibility I have for others. Two of us made all the decisions.

The uncertainty about our numbers. We lost half our business last week, still not sure how much more we will lose.

The options for those laid off. If almost illegal to go on a job interview right now.

Emotions are higher. In 2008 employees layoffs were done in person, and no one cried.

The physical danger to loved ones, parents, family in italy.

The need to share information about this with young kids.

The simmering us vs them warfare that seems to be enabled by social media.

No escape to the mountains.

Other factors I can't mention.

MC I deleted a bunch of original comment and your quote of it. While I don't see the danger you did, I appreciate the heads up. There was no real point to it, I was just steaming mad and venting, so it wasn't accomplishing anything.

Sorry to be a downer. I do feel better this morning.  Maybe shouldn't share this stuff here. Trying not to dump all this on my wife.

It's new day. Time to fight on.

Here's how to deal with groceries and takeout.

Great Vid Ptex , thanx 4 sharing !

Harv : you are not a downer at all and you have to vent . I certainly understand all of your anger , angst and concern .
Its hard to see the end of this while you're battling on multiple fronts . Take care of yourself , Zelda and Neve and just know that your crew here gets it and cares

I think Matt gave you solid advice btw !

that was informative  thanks!!!

This.
Pressure to Power...

My generation finally getting it’s due
https://parade.com/1011986/korinmiller/generation-x-coronavirus/?

Oh cool, Republicans added a provision into the Coronavirus bill that allows wealthy Real Estate owners with income larger than $500k/year (Trump, Kushner, etc.) to pay even less tax than they do now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/business/coronavirus-real-estate-investors-stimulus.html

I'm sure that is vitally important to the families who are struggling with pay cuts & job losses.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Oh cool, Republicans added a provision into the Coronavirus bill that allows wealthy Real Estate owners with income larger than $500k/year (Trump, Kushner, etc.) to pay even less tax than they do now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/business/coronavirus-real-estate-investors-stimulus.html

I'm sure that is vitally important to the families who are struggling with pay cuts & job losses.

You really want to go there, the crap the Democrats threw into the bill is obscene.

Give an example, but remember how much you hate the politics in this forum.

I think there has to be some system with one buyer for all the PPE.  The price is getting bid up by the states. It's got to be coordinated. The only solution without coordination would be collusion by the buyers. Probably not even legal.

Johnnyonthespot wrote

Pressure to Power

Googled this, not sure what it means, but it feels like support.

Thanks Johnny.

Harvey wrote

I think there has to be some system with one buyer for all the PPE.  The price is getting bid up by the states. It's got to be coordinated. The only solution without coordination would be collusion by the buyers. Probably not even legal.

The dilemma is rooted in basic economics.  Fixing the price will result in the same problems of scarcity whether the product is being purchased by multiple buyers or a single buyer.  Short of compulsion (or simple good will by man), nothing will trigger investment to increase capacity other than the lure of increased profits.

The problem seems to be a lack of supplies on hand to face this crisis.  Hospitals, states, feds, could have been buying and stockpiling these items for the past 10 years but they didn't.  Had they done this they would have come under heavy criticism for doing so - I can just see the news articles..."NYS purchased 40,000 ventilators five years ago at the cost of $800,000,000 and now they are collecting dust in a warehouse.  Experts estimate that up to half of the units are obsolete and may not function properly due to their age."  In short, governments face the same economic constraints that every business owner faces, and predicting the future has always been a tricky thing.

I get basic economics. But right now you have ripping unemployment. If you said, here's government money to hire people, make masks and sell them for this price, at a 10% profit IMO it would fly in the short term.

Given where were are right now, what would you do? Bidding wars and supplies sitting in warehouses waiting for a higher bid or... what?