Stochastic Contemplations.

[worth1]

Folks I honestly can't discuss drug costs, medical costs and insurance because I get so angry about it.
What a bunch of a$$ holes to do this to people for the greed of money.

[worth1]

The darn door at my house went bang bang bang.
Holy crap.
Who is that?
I opened the door and three cops were standing there.
Heart attack time.
They asked me if I was alright.
Someone called and said they haven't seen me in awhile and they were checking up on me.
One was a woman.
Nice folks.
I told them I was working in college Station and was gone all the time..
Due to the cold weather they were getting all sorts of calls from people to check on other people.
Bastrop is a strange town compared to other places.

[Sue_CT]

Nice to know people care about you, isn't it?

[worth1]

Bastrop has some of the friendliest police.
For some time I use the meet one my age at the store up the street and we would talk for awhile.
He was retired from the army too.
The guy just loved my motorcycle.
I was normally covered in hydraulic oil from working on stuff with the lathe.
He introduced me to his son that built a motorcycle from a pile of parts.
His son graduated from high-school and is now doing it for a living.
I've never been freaked out around the police like some people are.

[worth1]

Some idiot employee of ours backed over a stop sign and killed it at UT yesterday.
Then drove off.
The cameras saw everything.

[karstopography]

Driving around in West Campus or anywhere in Austin these days is an adventure. Between the ubiquitous construction going on with the numerous detours and those infernal electric rental scooters everywhere I’m not sure I could survive long in that kind of environment. My son is living at Leon and 25th and has vowed not to use his truck ever again or until he’s forced to. Parking is at a premium, plus he’s not a confident city driver.

BTW, are all those new mid and high rise buildings just West of the Campus student housing?

[worth1]

Driving around in West Campus or anywhere in Austin these days is an adventure. Between the ubiquitous construction going on with the numerous detours and those infernal electric rental scooters everywhere I’m not sure I could survive long in that kind of environment. My son is living at Leon and 25th and has vowed not to use his truck ever again or until he’s forced to. Parking is at a premium, plus he’s not a confident city driver.

BTW, are all those new mid and high rise buildings just West of the Campus student housing?

Yes they're all student housing.
Two of them I worked on was run by a company called Rogers O'Brien.
Then when I get out to College Station to run a job there for student housing low and behold there they are again.
My bosses were there to introduce me and everyone already knew me from other jobs.
Not in a bad way either.
My goal is to keep the customer happy the best I can and not shoot my company in the foot.
But when the rubber hits the road I'm going to look out for myself because these general contractors are the ones I have to deal with from one place to the next.

[worth1]

Wow has this last week been something else.
Jeff Beck dies and soon after Lisa Marie Presley drops dead from a cardiac arrest.


Not being one to speak poorly of Jeff Beck but I never liked long 30 minute guitar solos.
Something I would call a snooze fest.
There are several other lesser known people that just died but I just wanted to point out these two.

[rxkeith]

what do you do when you lose someone from work you consider irreplaceable?
our lead pharmacy tech has resigned. an opportunity came up for her to work from home
in a related field, and she took it. for her its a win:win. more time spent with the family, she
has two young kids, and a bump up in pay. my partner, and i have worked with her for at least 12 years.
we love her like family. she is the best tech i have worked with covering 38 years. her skill, knowledge, speed,
accuracy, ability to multi task, and trouble shoot are second to none. she has been the helmsman that steers the ship.
when she was working, you knew that everything was going to be okay. even if things weren't okay, they were going to be
okay. if we got slammed, she would shift to a higher gear until we got caught up. she was a pleasure to work with.
we have other techs. two are solid, and then there are two that are junior varsity type. the two JVs together can't do half
the work our lead tech could do if you gave them extra time to do it. sounds harsh, but is pretty much the truth.
my partner, and i are sad to the extant that you would think someone close to us had died.
the position is posted, and will eventually be filled, but the job market is tight, and the talent pool i believe is shallow. time will tell.
whats harder to replace is the camaraderie, the confidence, and the complete trust we had with our tech. she will be sorely missed.
as my partner, said, its the end of an era.



keith

[rxkeith]

more drug shortages,

albuterol nebs, and duo neb (ipratropium/albuterol), used for inhalation therapy are in short supply.
levemir, a form of insulin is also out of stock. levemir pens are on back order, so that created a run on vials.
it just keeps getting crazier, and crazier.
now there are other meds that can be used for difficulty in breathing, and there are a number of insulin alternatives that
can be used. but shortages of one product create shortages down the line, and extra time is being taken to either find the meds
else where or work with prescribers to come up with an alternative plan. everyone is already busy.

amoxicillin is back on the shelf, but the cough, and cold section in the store is still lightly stocked.
adderall tablets are still out.
what next?


keith

[Julianna]

more drug shortages,

albuterol nebs, and duo neb (ipratropium/albuterol), used for inhalation therapy are in short supply.
levemir, a form of insulin is also out of stock. levemir pens are on back order, so that created a run on vials.
it just keeps getting crazier, and crazier.
now there are other meds that can be used for difficulty in breathing, and there are a number of insulin alternatives that
can be used. but shortages of one product create shortages down the line, and extra time is being taken to either find the meds
else where or work with prescribers to come up with an alternative plan. everyone is already busy.

amoxicillin is back on the shelf, but the cough, and cold section in the store is still lightly stocked.
adderall tablets are still out.
what next?


keith

Levemir was hard to get for me.in 2021 when i wae pregnant and had gestational diabetes. My son uses albuterol and budesonide for his asthma when it flares or when he gets sick. He is one.

[worth1]

This showed up in the news feed this morning.
Giving people fake titles so companies don't have to pay overtime.
I've seen it practiced in Texas for years.
Let's say your on a roman war ship pulling an oar with the rest of the guys.
Then you get promoted to director of forward momentum.
Or in a factory sorting culls from the product and get promoted to director of product quality specialists.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salary-man ... time-nber/

[rxkeith]

sometimes during the winter, you can't get theah from heah.
my son, and i went to breakfast for mens fellowship at a restaurant in houghton.
suomi is the name of the place. men from the church meet at 7am each friday.
coming home on the lower high way m26, you have a steep hill to climb. my son
was driving our camry. about half way up the hill our forward momentum stopped.
gravity along with the icy road conditions was too much to over come. there is a fine line
some times where you need enough speed to propel yourself up the hill, but still maintain
control of the vehicle. go too slow, you aren't going to make it. we had to put the car in reverse,
and back it on to a side road to take another route home.
life in the north woods.


keith

[Sue_CT]

Glad you made it ok!

[worth1]

Been looking more into the salary exempt laws and what they actually mean.
The DOL had it set in 2004 at 23,000 or something back in 2004.
From what I understand that means if you make that much or more the employers don't have to pay overtime.
It varies from state to state.
But with said rate that is around 11 dollars or so an hour.
The reason behind this is I knew someone that took a salary job and was expected to work 70 hours a week.
The pay rate was 50,000 a year.
That would be about 24 dollars an hour.
By not paying overtime for the 30 extra hours a week means that he's getting shafted for 54k a year at 50 weeks a year.
If my maths is correct and I checked it twice.

I had the same situation happen to me several years ago.
I made a good hourly wage more than anyone else in the company.
I refused to take over a branch office and go on salary.
I was expected to work from 60 to 70 hours a week.
The guy that wanted and got the job worked in the same office.
He was able to find out that another person and myself made way much more money than him even without working overtime.
He exploded about it in front of everyone.
Thusly making himself look like an idiot.
He had literally taken a salary job that paid him less money than the people he was in charge of.
Like he wasn't really in charge of me anyway.

[MissS]

@worth1 that seems to be the usual case and why employers offer a salary over an hourly rate. It usually benefits the employer.

[worth1]

@worth1 that seems to be the usual case and why employers offer a salary over an hourly rate. It usually benefits the employer.

Some people like the titles that are given.
So far my favorites that have been given me are.
Different.
Human memory bank.
Key personnel.
And my favorite.
Person of interest.

[worth1]

Just read that maybe 80% of the people that quit their jobs during the great resignation now regret it.
Mostly Gen Z's.
Welcome to the real world little puppies.
Seen job jumping regrets all my life.
I got an unbelievable offer some time back but held on to what I had.
If I would have taken it I would been looking for a job right now.
It wouldn't have lasted 4 months.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@worth1 when grass appears greener on the other side of the fence, it's likely because it's been better tended.

The Gotch

[rxkeith]

sometimes........

the grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more ahem,,, manure.
one needs to keep that in mind when considering a job offer. i have never taken a job or switched
jobs on account of money. it has always been quality of life, and peace of mind.

on another note, my wife and son, and i went to visit auntie last night at the assisted care facility she is
at for some rehabbing. the facility has a couple house cats that have free range of the facility. one of them
poked its nose in the half open door, so i went over to give it some attention. after i sat back down, the cat
decided to come into the room, and visit. no big deal, except cats make my wife, and son itch. i bent over to
pick the cat up, and take it out of the room, and it slipped out my hands as i lifted it up. whoaaa. this is one
heavy cat.i had to modify my lift technique so i could get him off the floor. a few too many snacks from some of
the residents i suspect.


keith