Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[bscinstnct]

5 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

For manufacturing or developmental engineering type deals that model makes sense. For things that are intended to be global.   People who work in that should expect bean counting overlords.  
 

in the medical industry  it should be outlawed.   Medical practitioners provide better service when they’re smaller ( compared to huge conglomerate hospitals. This is true in all but the most extreme examples ( world renowned surgeons in a city hospital being exceptions ).  I’ve seen first hand several times how far down a single office goes if a PE group buys them.  Profit becomes the single reason for existence.  And doctors become just employees. Once a doc is just a hourly guy or gal, they start acting like one. They take no ownership in anything.  Just vacation days and pay me.  PE firms absolutely stifle choices for healthcare.  You never know what office didn’t open in your small town , because a PE firm has the money to fight its license in that local court.  They do it daily to keep competition out.  One of my best customers spent $3.5 mil fighting the state of SC for a license to open a new surgery center. In the end it was uncovered that a PE firm that owns a competing practice from a town over , was the lobby behind filing complaints on behalf of “citizens “ trying to get it stopped.  They paid folks to complain.  And who knows what else under the table.  To stop 4 partners from bringing a $25mil surgery center to the area . One that wouldn’t be beholden to the state run hospital etc. well.  That center was built.  It covered its cost in 5 years , and is running deep into the black.  The same PE firm offered the partners $250mil for it last year. They told them to eat ____. And the community absolutely loves the place.  It’s convenience and the service it provides.  Minus the government run around of a state run hospital.  I personally can’t stand those types who stifle the small guy.  . 

 

A million percent, blade!

 

PE and patient care just sounds like an oxymoron and downright dangerous 

[Nard_S]

I'm pro capital markets, I just have issue with their influence on the greater, which reaches way beyond what store gets put up downtown. Markets are not rational (humans are not fully rational) and fortunes are made & lost on missed perceptions which is fine. Those that hit the VC jackpot or build a great company that spreads across the landscape is not the problem.

 

When VC winner deems his success is due to his own brilliance and that now entitles them to bend policies of greater good then I get more than skeptical. When OP ED pages are littered with their narrative, when think tanks promote their narrative, when endowments fund their narrative, when public policy does, when a billionaire has a podium much higher and for no the reason than they have a billion, you would think we would pause. We really don't. The movie star who testifies in front of Congress is a symptomatic example of the irrationality I'm talking about. This goes beyond the titans of commerce, it's far more pervasive because the mortar of civilization is the stories we operate under. The reason we are the apex predator is we can convey stories and often the stories are rather incomplete and self serving. 

[Soloman1]

the healthcare system is a disgrace. and particularly untitled healthcare. it’s pure evil.

 

got you locked in from primary care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, forcing their (hacked) software to be used by them, pharmacy benefit managers with back room deals to extract deep discounts, but charge patients the higher rates, hospital staffing companies, using their own corrupt ai to override provider care recommendations on care (hey, it’s ai!!), and last but not least, your insurer offering great health insurance where a 30 year-old man has a rate of $450 per month.

 

it’s an absolute disgrace. it’s layer upon layer of profit extracted on every step with no value added in the process.

 

a medical provider opens a practice and profits from the practice. a simple concept. now, someone else has to make more on top. it’s just like the mafia. the medical mafia.

 

——-

 

this should make you sit up. where does the usa rank in healthcare worldwide? things like disease outcome, cost, access, healthcare safety, preventative care, etc.

 

69th.

 

spend the most on healthcare to be 69th. that’s just embarrassing if you care about healthcare, but great if you’re only into making money.

 

we should be better than this as a society.

 

 

 

Edited May 2 by Soloman1

[nitram]

Physicians and medical professionals used to lead and manage health care facilities. Now it's being sailed into the rocks by bean counters and policy wonks. Supplanting professionals with bureaucrats has never provided a positive result for the end receiver (consumer/patient). NEVER.

 

Honest question, is anyone's healthcare better today than is was 14 years ago???

 

 

[Soloman1]

in other news, recent studies show that many college kids are not much smarter than babies.

[Double Mocha Man]

5 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Never saw the point of what I call "Foo Foo Coffee". 

 

Perhaps I'll change my username to Foo Foo Coffee. 😁

[Petethreeput]

In 2001, I had a back surgery.  The Dr made $3700 of the $12,300 charged.  He was part of the neurosurgeon clinic here in town.

In 2017, I had the same back surgery.  The Dr made $4100 (I asked both of them).  The clinic had been acquired by the hospital so they were no longer responsible for payroll, expenses, and rent.  The cost this time around was $19,000.

So the total cost went up 51% and the surgeons fees went up 10%.  Hmmm.

 

Last night I happened to be reading the newest Economist (to us anyway we are always 4-5 days behind the east coast) and this popped out at me.  I just copied and pasted this part because I suspect the link would be behind a paywall but it was in the 4/24 edition in the business section.

 

"The roots of Boeing’s many crises are summed up by Aviation Strategy, a consultancy. An “obsession with quarterly results and share price momentum” resulted in too much cash being returned to shareholders and too little put into developing new products or ensuring production quality. Between 2014 and 2020 Boeing handed out $61bn in dividends and share buy-backs. It was not just shareholders who benefited. So did managers, whose bonuses were tied to their employer’s surging share price. Ron Epstein of Bank of America notes that a merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997 foreshadowed a “cultural shift away from engineering excellence”. Boeing began to favour short-term financial management in a long-term industry, while Airbus focused less on investors and more on its aircraft, which might have a life-cycle measured in decades."

 

And while they don't make burned coffee, it is the malaise of most companies today since LTCG was dropped from 60 months to 12 months which has increased CEO pay exponentially with the golden parachute negotiated since the average tenure is now less than half the time it was in the 60's and 70's.

Edited May 2 by Petethreeput

[Double Mocha Man]

5 minutes ago, Petethreeput said:

In 2001, I had a back surgery.  The Dr made $3700 of the $12,300 charged.  He was part of the neurosurgeon clinic here in town.

In 2017, I had the same back surgery.  The Dr made $4100 (I asked both of them).  The clinic had been acquired by the hospital so they were no longer responsible for payroll, expenses, and rent.  The cost this time around was $19,000.

So the total cost went up 51% and the surgeons fees went up 10%.  Hmmm.

 

Last night I happened to be reading the newest (to us anyway we are always 4-5 days behind the east coast) and this popped out at me.  I just copied and pasted this part because I suspect the link would be behind a paywall but it was in the 4/24 edition in the business section.

 

"The roots of Boeing’s many crises are summed up by Aviation Strategy, a consultancy. An “obsession with quarterly results and share price momentum” resulted in too much cash being returned to shareholders and too little put into developing new products or ensuring production quality. Between 2014 and 2020 Boeing handed out $61bn in dividends and share buy-backs. It was not just shareholders who benefited. So did managers, whose bonuses were tied to their employer’s surging share price. Ron Epstein of Bank of America notes that a merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997 foreshadowed a “cultural shift away from engineering excellence”. Boeing began to favour short-term financial management in a long-term industry, while Airbus focused less on investors and more on its aircraft, which might have a life-cycle measured in decades."

 

And while they don't make burned coffee, it is the malaise of most companies today since LTCG was dropped from 60 months to 12 months which has increased CEO pay exponentially with the golden parachute negotiated since the average tenure is now less than half the time it was in the 60's and 70's.

 

Hey, don't cause me to play golf today in a depressed state of mind.

[Petethreeput]

7 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Hey, don't cause me to play golf today in a depressed state of mind.

Sorry.

On the plus side, I consider myself one of the luckiest folks on the planet.  Heck, I get to golf because I have the time.  I get to spew my BS'ery because I can read and write.  And sometimes people will even pay me to do things.  It is an incredible existence, and a great time to be alive depending on the perspective.

Edited May 2 by Petethreeput

[Soloman1]

2022 - toyota ceo says they're not anti-ev, but will focus on hybrids. too much ev hype, but not mature enough. the customers will decide, not mandates.

 

2023 - shareholders call for his ouster for not going all in on ev's.

 

2024 -  he was right.

[Soloman1]

when you finally figure out how youtube works.

 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

11 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

when you finally figure out how youtube works.

 

 

 

 

I just assumed everyone knew this.

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, Nard_S said:

I'm pro capital markets, I just have issue with their influence on the greater, which reaches way beyond what store gets put up downtown. Markets are not rational (humans are not fully rational) and fortunes are made & lost on missed perceptions which is fine. Those that hit the VC jackpot or build a great company that spreads across the landscape is not the problem.

 

When VC winner deems his success is due to his own brilliance and that now entitles them to bend policies of greater good then I get more than skeptical. When OP ED pages are littered with their narrative, when think tanks promote their narrative, when endowments fund their narrative, when public policy does, when a billionaire has a podium much higher and for no the reason than they have a billion, you would think we would pause. We really don't. The movie star who testifies in front of Congress is a symptomatic example of the irrationality I'm talking about. This goes beyond the titans of commerce, it's far more pervasive because the mortar of civilization is the stories we operate under. The reason we are the apex predator is we can convey stories and often the stories are rather incomplete and self serving. 

Very good point.  
 

 

the fix to this is to harshly narrow the window for qualifying as a 501c etc ( I forget all the other labels ).   Why ?  Because 31 donors make up 99 % of all the funding of all of those  labels.     You have to draw the rest of the picture yourself. But that’s the aerial view from 40k feet.  

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, Soloman1 said:

2022 - toyota ceo says they're not anti-ev, but will focus on hybrids. too much ev hype, but not mature enough. the customers will decide, not mandates.

 

2023 - shareholders call for his ouster for not going all in on ev's.

 

2024 -  he was right.

Read this morning that some father son team has figured out how to replace single cells in ev battery’s when they go dead.  ( Tesla only replaces the whole pack for $20k) Has a 376 car long appointment list.  Estimated to take 3 years to get caught up.  But then - supplier of the cell parts he sourced magically dried up.  As in can’t get the parts.  So he’s only left with the option of scavenging for used parts.  Taking one car to fix 4-5 cars. 🤣. Now the wait list is 5 years long.   
 

either the chickens are coming home to roost , or…. This is planned obsolescence by an industry that doesn’t want guys like ME horning in.
 

cited reason for cell loss. “ direct correlation to the number of times it had been on a supercharger “   Went on to say “ slow charging will prolong life by 80-90 %.  Or more “    Folks who’ve dealt with batteries already knew this. 🤣. 
 

this is like burning $100 bills to stay warm , in a house where the ac is stuck on 55….when you could just walk outside.  Where it’s 80 I just can’t deal with this level of stupid.  

[bladehunter]

Check this out.  Man.  I forgot how good he was.  Rip Jeff. 

 

 

[Petethreeput]

Much better than the remake IMO.  And yes, he was a talent, "And that ladies and gentlemen is Dalton."

 

 

[aenemated]

4 hours ago, Petethreeput said:

summed up by Aviation Strategy, a consultancy

 

[aenemated]

3 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

when you finally figure out how youtube works.

 

 

 

 

func meh(array: [Int], index: Int) -> Int? {
	guard index < array.count else { return nil }
    return array[index]
}

 

Safe code for fun and profit! 

 

I don't miss C. Also that this text input won't let me fix that first wonky tab is infuriating.

 

/me leaves "Has Comments" tag on PR 

Edited May 2 by aenemated

[Jim53]

Day started out good, snuck out for 18 and the new irons are stellar.

Since then it has been solid crap all day, I may need a Jameson shortly..I really need to retire.

[Jim53]

24 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

Ha, you could put Engineering in there also..how to make simple things impossibly difficult.

 

Hi @Soloman1 just kidding of course....ak ak ak. I am dealing with some Colombian Engineers right now that even though they have the factual data in their hands they insist on not believing it and trying to change it...there are very few ways to drive something into the ground, either it works or it doesn't. Hasn't changed since the German's invented the present day diesel hammer for Hitler.

[SnowbirdTom]

1 hour ago, Jim53 said:

Day started out good, snuck out for 18 and the new irons are stellar.

Since then it has been solid crap all day, I may need a Jameson shortly..I really need to retire.

Retirement is highly underrated!  Hurry up and join the rest of us slackards.  We’ll wait for ya on the first tee. 😁🏌️‍♂️

[Soloman1]

1 hour ago, Jim53 said:

Ha, you could put Engineering in there also..how to make simple things impossibly difficult.

 

Hi @Soloman1 just kidding of course....ak ak ak. I am dealing with some Colombian Engineers right now that even though they have the factual data in their hands they insist on not believing it and trying to change it...there are very few ways to drive something into the ground, either it works or it doesn't. Hasn't changed since the German's invented the present day diesel hammer for Hitler.

 

 

hey, i get it! 

 

when i moved on to managing cats, er, engineers, they would roll their eyes (oh lord, here he goes again…) when i’d start up with the simple questions like, ok, what precisely is the problem we’re trying to fix here?

 

and why are we reinventing the wheel unless it better/easier/less maintenance/, more cost efficient?

 

a guy in the dreaded instruction place was saying how much his back hurt from practicing putting for 90 minutes, 3-4 times a week, plus playing golf.

 

naturally, i said if something hurts, maybe you shouldn’t do it as much.

 

no reaction.

 

everyone else is filling him with core workout ideas, exercises, exercises and exercises.

[Conrad1953]

24 minutes ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Retirement is highly underrated!  Hurry up and join the rest of us slackards.  We’ll wait for ya on the first tee. 😁🏌️‍♂️

 

Ya, I had to take a day off from golf to mow the lawn and vacuum the pool. Tough day in the

heat. I miss the cool breezes of winter already.

 

I wish I could engineer a reversal where the long hours of daylight are in the cool season

and it gets dark at 4:30 in the hot season.

[Soloman1]

all the kids working on farms to harvest crops need that daylight.

[Conrad1953]

6 hours ago, Petethreeput said:

Sorry.

On the plus side, I consider myself one of the luckiest folks on the planet.  Heck, I get to golf because I have the time.  I get to spew my BS'ery because I can read and write.  And sometimes people will even pay me to do things.  It is an incredible existence, and a great time to be alive depending on the perspective.

 

Plus.........it's hard to be in a bad mood while living in Montana. I especially like Conrad, MT.😃

[Conrad1953]

1 minute ago, Soloman1 said:

all the kids working on farms to harvest crops need that daylight.

 

Nah, they just need to work faster

[SnowbirdTom]

11 minutes ago, Conrad1953 said:

 

Nah, they just need to work faster

 

Maybe their parents need to make more kids?

[SnowbirdTom]

2 hours ago, Jim53 said:

Ha, you could put Engineering in there also..how to make simple things impossibly difficult.

 

Hi @Soloman1 just kidding of course....ak ak ak. I am dealing with some Colombian Engineers right now that even though they have the factual data in their hands they insist on not believing it and trying to change it...there are very few ways to drive something into the ground, either it works or it doesn't. Hasn't changed since the German's invented the present day diesel hammer for Hitler.

 

I'd like to meet the engineer that thought having to pull the entire intake system off my Jeep to change the spark plugs was a brilliant cost saving move.  My BFH would like to teach him a few things.  These guys need to spend time actually working in the service department of their local dealership for a year as an apprentice.

[braincramp52]

36 minutes ago, Conrad1953 said:

 

Ya, I had to take a day off from golf to mow the lawn and vacuum the pool. Tough day in the

heat. I miss the cool breezes of winter already.

 

I wish I could engineer a reversal where the long hours of daylight are in the cool season

and it gets dark at 4:30 in the hot season.

It's that hot there already?

[Conrad1953]

9 minutes ago, SnowbirdTom said:

 

Maybe their parents need to make more kids?

 

Good point! Farm families were big families in the old days. That was the American Dream 

way back when. Grab you a plot of land, homestead it and have 10 kids. You could make

your business expansion plans from bed.