so waht ya doin today?

[KeithB]

Talked to the folks at PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp) and hopefully got everything straightened out so that I can start getting one of my pensions next January when I turn 65. I worked for Bucyrus Erie for about 6-1/2 yrs right out of high school, they were bought out by Continental Emsco, which was bought out by LTV Steel. I never worked for either of the last two, I suffered a severe back injury helping BE move out. Normally it took 8 years of service with BE to give you a vested pension, but terms of the sale dropped that service to 6 years so I was in. That was almost 40 years ago. Somehow that pension plan became an orphan and it ended up in the hands of the PBGC. Next year I should start getting about $170 a month for life, and my wife also when she outlives me.

Won't even go into the 2 hour meeting we had yesterday with the insurance counselor about Medicare supplement policies. All I'll say is turning 65 triggers a lot of stuff.

Called Eli Lilly and complained about the insulin pens they sell that stop working with 1/2 the product left. I know a little bit about mechanical design and their pen delivery system is a POS. The one used by Novo Nordisk is MUCH better, and I called my doctor and had him switch me from Humalog to Novalog. Slightly different formulation but same basic effect, I monitor my blood sugar a lot so my doctor and I don't think the change will cause any problems.

Spent 6 hours cutting 72" of 4-1/4" diameter 6061 aluminum round stock into 1" thick wafers. Ended up with 68 pieces, enough to make 34 pneumatic tailwheel hubs.

We've gotten in so much work that I need to hire somebody; I've spent several hours working with my prospective employee, the Social Security Administration, and my payroll company (I contract that out to some pros) to make that happen. I'm hiring a guy on disability that is a friend of the apprentice and a former student of mine. He will work part time, he faces some income limits and some physical challenges but I've made it a point to make every job we get something that can be done by a disabled person (me!) so I don't anticipate any problems.

Now I plan to watch Thursday Night Football while I do a minor redesign on the tailwheel hubs to deal with some issues with the first batch.

 

[Chandler]

Spent the past couple days dealing with FedEx robots and then the finger pointers trying to get my shipping discounts back. Calling corporate America is beyond annoying. I bet my BP doubled. I finally got some action when I said "if I don't get my rates back, I'm going back to UPS. I still have issues as my accounting software cannot see my rates and that is a pita because the fedexdotcom cannot see my customer data. Triple plus work on our end. Trying to fix that link is going to be another bp event but at least I have my well earned discounts. For those that do not ship wholesale, the rates are shocking. More corporate game playing.

 

[Chandler]

If the family that owns Purdue pharma ever went to trial for what should be crimes against humanity, I could not be a juror in good conscience. I've watched too many documentaries involving the damage caused by the over production of opiate derived pharma. It would have to be held in an international court. I just cannot imagine a defense for what they have done. My son had a couple of HS buddies die. My school mates have lost children to it. The China solution to the problem is about the only thing in China I agree with.

 

[fiver]

just as an FYI Viagra is prescribed for more than just fun in the bedroom.
it is designed to increase blood flow to all of the body not just one certain part.
that's why it's banned in many/most professional sports.

 

[JonB]

Boy oh boy, I did something to my Knee today...If it feels the same in the morning, I'm gonna have to make a Dr appt.

Back story:
I've had Knee issues for a couple decades. If I ride bicycle or hike for a long time, it starts to hurt a little and maybe swell up some. Last weekend, I noticed it feeling a little stiff after spending many hours in a car traveling. I didn't give it much thought, as there was no real pain. Then, I did a bunch of walking on Monday and it started to hurt that night. In the morning it still hurt, I took one pill (aleve), which I rarely do. It felt better, but I was still limping on it, so I layed low all day. I did the same yesterday.

It seemed better this morning, so I ran a few errands and then I twisted something walking out of the dollar store...Gave me intense pain, I barely got to the car. I got home and barely got into the house. A friend called about something, luckily, and I asked him to pickup a pair of crutches at the thrift store, so I could get around. I still have the intense pain, I can't put any weight on it, pain pills do nothing. If it feels the same tomorrow morning, I'm gonna make an appointment.

well, that's been my week so far

 

[Gary]

Sounds like a bad Meniscus tear. Ice and knee wrap should get you to the Doctor’s office.

 

[Bret4207]

We've gotten in so much work that I need to hire somebody...

Darn that economy!

 

[Bret4207]

just as an FYI Viagra is prescribed for more than just fun in the bedroom.
it is designed to increase blood flow to all of the body not just one certain part.
that's why it's banned in many/most professional sports.

I understand that, but the old man was already on several meds for blood flow and some to stop him from bleeding out from slight scratches and others for thinning and for not thinning blood. And his former doc said he was on viagra for the normal reason...the guy was an idiot with a medical license. I wasn't in the room, but from what I understand when he got a new doc more than half the meds disappeared off his list in the first round. Same thing with my MIL when the Hospice doc checked her med list, stuff that counteracted other stuff that wasn't needed in the first place. She was a hypocondriac and ate more pills than food. Just saying that if someone expresses a desire or a symptom, a doc is going to try and fix it.

 

[fiver]

yeah if you look hard enough or have more than one DR you can get an amazing array of medicine.
never mind people taking 6 different 'supplements' that screws over half of the medications effectiveness.

 

[Brad]

I’m getting ready to lug a 40+ pound lug of cast iron that is my new mill vise to the garage. Needs a good cleaning to remove the protective grease.

 

[Rick]

my new mill vise

Pictures please . . .

 

[Ian]

Mmmm. Machine porn. Bring it on. I'm going to have to live vicariously through Brad for a few years yet.

 

[Brad]

Here ya go Rick. For scale I put a 45 cal 200 SWC on top of the vise.
This is a 5” vise from Glacern.
The handle is no small piece of metal either.

 

[Brad]

Mmmm. Machine porn. Bring it on. I'm going to have to live vicariously through Brad for a few years yet.

More than happy to oblige. A few weeks and I will have the mill. Will try to get my wife to get photos of the uncrating and all that fun.

 

[Rick]

Awesome! Wouldn't a mill to put it on be nice?

 

[Brad]

Patience Rick, patience.

 

[Ian]

That ought to soak up some vibrations. Pretty impressive when a vise comes with its own serialized machine tag.

 

[Brad]

Weight is a good thing here Ian. Pain to move but it will make a difference when cutting.
They had a special this month, buy a vise and get free UPS ground shipping. Saved me 50 bucks in shipping cost.
Vise was packed in a box wrapped in oily plastic. That box was padded inside another box. Weird thing is that largest box was pretty easy to lift. Getting smaller box out was more difficult as it seemed to get heavier. Getting vise out of smaller box was harder yet as it again gained weight.

 

[Ian]

I deal with that a lot in my job. Just slice the box corners top to bottom and unfold them like flower petals until you have the part sitting on a stack of cardboard.

 

[blackthorn]

After reading post # 1,760, I thought I would share my own experience with a similar type pension. First, my experience has been that choosing a pension option that ensures your wife a lifelong, unreduced pension likely comes with a cost in the form of a reduced monthly pay-out. Further, once this option is chosen and “locked in”, you cannot reassign the pension in the event of divorce. Also, if your wife predeceases you there is no change to your pension and no opportunity to reassign to someone else.



Here is what I did: I do need to preface my comments by telling you that when I dealt with this it was an early retirement (which carried a 10% penalty loss) and I was 57 years old so, that may have a significant bearing on the above referenced poster’s ability to take advantage of what I did. I bought a one-hundred thousand dollar, term life, insurance policy. It cost me about ten dollars per month less than the permanent survivor option and it is transferable in the event of divorce or if Gail dies before I do. Choosing the best option for an individual is a choice that must be made after considering all of the ramifications pertinent to that individual’s circumstances. Now ten dollars does not seem like a lot of money but I have been collecting for 22 years now (and counting). So far, my calculator says I have pocketed $2640.00 I otherwise would not have had. Further, here in Canada, pension benefits are taxable while insurance payouts are not.