Filed under: Stupidity, Thoughts | Tags: Canada, economy, Politics, Stupidity, uaw
*sighs*
I really do wish people would sit back and relax about this whole economic situation. If these issues weren’t so perpetuated by the media and blown out of proportion, I’m sure most people wouldn’t even be aware of the impact until they felt it themselves – on the wallets.
I’m just happy that the Canadian parliament has been suspended until the end of January. At least that keeps our legislators (hopefully) from making any mistakes during that time.
Filed under: Rant, Stupidity | Tags: America, Disgusting, Disrespect, idiocy, Immorality, Killing, Manslaughter, USA
If you didn’t already know, I’m currently in Dallas, Texas for some training with work. I would normally look forward to a trip, but this one was to the USA, which is not something I enjoy. It turns out that someone I know already is in the same class as I am. Naturally, we went and had lunch together at the cafe. He called some of his friends to come up, and they launched into a discussion.
I couldn’t help but question the things they were discussing, because they all seemed to be so surreal. It turns out that one of their roommates is a felon. He was driving under the influence, and hit another car, killing that driver [please note that these boys were chuckling while telling this story]. Then, they continued, he had gone to a party in Florida for spring break, and had taken a boat to the Bahamas. On his return, he was stopped by the coast guard, and was set another court date for fleeing the country while a felon.
I thought that this was terrible that they would still be friends with someone like this, but I presumed that despite his MASSIVE shortcomings, they must still be fairly decent people. I was wrong. Their next topic of conversation was how they caught a possum outside of their home, and then wanted to hit it repeatedly with golf clubs. Why didn’t they do it? They thought it would stain their porch with blood.
Remind me never to come to this country again if I can help it.
I’ve decided that I don’t like people who don’t try. It sounds like sacrelidge coming from me, but rest assured that I do have a point. Josh (my best friend since gr 6) and I have always had a thing against ‘tryers’, these were the people who were always raising their hand, asking questions, contributing, doing their homework, and just being annoying. Him and I would revel in performing better than the ‘tryers’ after we had done no work.
Well, I think I may have become a ‘tryer’, yet my definition of such as changed. I seem to find that I am more involved than others, but I still don’t do extra work, and I don’t really ‘try’ per-se. What I’ve come to hate, are people who are ‘tryers’, but then they don’t actually want to contribute. My training group right now is comprised of people from 6 different countries. Because I’m a native English speaker, at least I suspect that is the reason, I am the group leader, and I am often called on to be the spokesperson or to complete the activities.
What I have a problem with is the fact that I am supposed to help motivate my group to perform, and to act as a facilitator in this role as group leader. Unfortunately, my team members either say incorrect or stupid things which I then have to explain away, or they just don’t participate. I would do the whole damn thing myself, but that isn’t in the spirit of teamwork.
In light of this, I think I will have a pretty tough time as a Manager, while I watch people botch things over and over again. At least it gives me confidence that I can out-perform these people who have been working here for 2-3 years.
This is Frustration [i] because there are a lot. Hopefully I can take the time to make this into a little series, but we shall see how things go.
Manufacturing in Canada – Get Over Yourselves
I am fed up with the complaints by the Auto Workers Union and other supporters who claim that Canada needs to maintain a manufacturing sector at such a high cost. Have none of these people ever taken a course in Economics? One of the first principles you learn is Adam Smith’s Law of Comparative Advantage. This means that yes, we can produce things here… BUT, it makes more sense for people who are comparatively better at it [say, countries with cheaper labour], and that we should instead specialize in capital intensive businesses. That means a migration to the services industry.
In case you missed it, this shift has been happening for more than 20 years. Why you decided to go into a “career” at a car manufacturer where you have no leverageable skills is beyond me. So please, don’t complain that you lost you job and now your family is going to be homeless. You should have thought ahead and not put all of your eggs in one basket. Furthermore, to ask that the government subsidize the manufacturing sector so that you can keep your job is absurd. You’re taxing the rest of the population to artificially maintain your job. This increases costs across the board, and merely spreads the pain. Sorry, but I don’t want any of that.
No, I think these people are the cause of their own pain and suffering. If they took the initiative to improve their process even just a little bit, then the overall product would be that much better. Lookat the GM Plant that is getting closed in Oshawa. 2,500 workers losing their jobs in a town that is built around the plant. It is devastating for the local economy. Yet when you look in the plant parking lot, not even 10% of the cars are a GM brand. If the people who build the cars won’t even stand behind their product, then why should we? Does this not lead us to conclude that we should let the company die?
GM shares are at their lowest point in more than 50 years. This is nearly unheard of for such a large company. This is not even accounting for inflation. I haven’t done the calculations, but I’m sure that if we factor inflation over the past 50 years, we would find that GM shares are actually at their lowest point… Ever. I would even hazard a guess that they are lower than the initial IPO in real terms.
So please, I ask the people who are currently following the pack like shepherdless sheep to take a step back and look at where they are headed. If everyone goes to teacher’s college, we will have an abundance of teachers, and you won’t get that ‘great job’ that you want. Hell, if everyone goes to University, then the value of a degree becomes meaningless, and you’re back to working at McDonalds. Why don’t you just skip the fees, and get yourself a job today.
We are missing people in the skilled trades. I urge parents to push their children toward skilled trades or university depending on where their skills lie. Stop trying to force a square peg into a triangle hole.
What a waste of time. I don’t really know the material, but the facilitator walks through it like we’re stupid. Furthermore, she doesn’t understand my jokes, and I think she sees it as genuine uncomprehension, which further slows the presentation. Maybe she thinks I’m an idiot, but I think she is a little blonde. Ugh.
Filed under: Stupidity
Like most other times, I think I’ve figured out why I’m in a funk. Great.
Now what?
Filed under: Stupidity
I apologize if this isn’t the nicest thing ever, but I find it hilarious when Vietnamese people in class try to speak English. Not that they don’t know how, but the letters just sound… round. Make the ‘glug glug glug’ sound that you do to imitate drinking water. That tone is how their spoken English sounds. Priceless.
I don’t have any issue with them as people though. Also, in this class, we (Chelsea and I) keep getting picked on by the prof since we don’t pay attention… wtf man.
Filed under: Stupidity
The biggest thing that I hate about Singapore is that there isn’t any food to eat at night. I know what you’re thinking, go to the Kopitiam or local Hawker Center. Well I could, but that tends to be all deep friend foods. I just want some fruit, or icecream, or a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I can’t buy those things anywhere. I suppose it would be nice if I had food in the house, but that just isn’t going to happen since it would go bad before I finished it.
Maybe I should just try to eat meals at the right time of day in the future so I don’t end up having breakfast at 11am, lunch at 4:30pm, and then starving around 11pm. Dammit.
I’ve made a few posts recently about procrastinating, here is about how dire things really are.
- Negotiation and Mediation: Reflection Paper 2
- Negotiation and Mediation: Mediation Assignment
- Negotiation and Mediation: Negotiation Research Paper
- Culture and Management in Asia: Research Paper
- High Growth Entrepreneurship: Simulation
- High Growth Entrepreneurship: Facebook Case Presentation
- High Growth Entrepreneurship: Simulation Report
- Corporate Entrepreneurship: Simulation
- Corporate Entrepreneurship: Simulation Report
- Corporate Entrepreneurship: Article Summary
- Corporate Entrepreneurship: Case Analysis
- Corporate Entrepreneurship: Intel Case Presentation
So in total thats well over 100 pages of work and its due in the next 1-3 weeks. Stupid procrastination not paying off. Someone save me.
/update/
Finished one paper and found a book that will help with the Culture and Management paper. I also answered one of the Facebook questions and re-read the Intel case. Now I just have to do friggen laundry at some point and I will feel productive.
