Radio altitude

[Guest WorkingStiff]

Quite a rant actually but I understand. When I worked for the UN, even the most junior employee started out with 6 weeks annual vacation. The more senior employees even got what is called "home leave." The UN actually pays all the costs for your vacation in your country of origin.

[Guest]

Rant mode off ;-)I added a bit to the rant, and I would assume your name says that you might agree with me a bit - Working Stiff?HeheI just needed to vent. We are getting burned here in N.America and no one seems to think it is a problem that we kill ourselves and our family to earn a cheque and bury the competitors.

[Guest]

And that is a typical scenario in Europe...why are we not getting the same? I would kill for six weeks off a year.

[Guest WorkingStiff]

You nailed the answer to your question in your initial response; it is/was believed that sloth is a sin and that attitude pervades our culture.Unlike you though I don't miss the six weeks per year. If I weren't traveling somewhere, I'd go crazy after about two weeks at home.

[Guest]

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.Pay the ground crew $8/hour and things like this will happen - as they do quite often....there are several pics like this at airliners.netPart of my job is to motivate a "team" of slightly above minimum wage employees. I am surprised things like this don't happen every day ;-)People feel they deserve more, and they are right. Then, because they are generally upset with their lot in life, they don't care as much about their work as they should...so someone 'forgets' to put the bar up under the plane and the bloody thing tips over ;-) S--T happens and someone will get fired over it and someone else's package will be late and they will complain and get a refund and the crew manager will get in s--t because they lost a big account to UPS and so on the game goes...depressing isn't it....heheYou have to laugh or you cry. I choose to laugh.Rob.

[Guest]

I always find things to do, and if I get bored, I spend time with family/freinds when I can. I would not get bored with 6-8 weeks a year vacation ;-)

[Guest ilh]

Rob, I'm beginning to think I better root for the Canadiens tonight for your sake! ;-)Lee Hetherington (KBOS) | [link:www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/ilh/fs/PICPOSKY2.zip|B762 PIC/POSKYv3 Merge] | [link:www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/ilh/fs/DFMS734.zip]B734 Dreamfleet/Microsoft Merge

[Guest]

I find the need to rant from time to time, shake things up...then I am ok for a while. A liberal arts education is a dangerous thing ;-) But the numbers do indicate the Europeans are much healthier and happier than us colonials.I am fine, really...my multiple-personality disorder is almost cured - they're coming to take me away...what's really ###### me off and stirred the ill-feelings is that my Sister and family are coming over to Canada this summer and my chances of getting the time off are nill.Woe is me ;-)Rob.

[Guest KB]

Hey Rob,As an European, I don't understand how you survive ;-). I had no idea really that it was so bad - most Americans I have tried to discuss with start by asking "Why don't you like Bush" and then goes on to call me a "##### socialist". Sigh. (Though I did imagine Canada as a little more Europe-ish) I can tell you I wouldn't be able to go on without at least four weeks off during the summer./Karl

[Guest WorkingStiff]

Karl,If you're referrring to confiscatory tax rates and an overly generous social welfare system, then yes....Canada and some Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Minnesota are very much like Europe.Rob,You'll be okay :-lol

[Guest]

And you're AT WORK when typing all of this???? wow! Where do you work? This is just about enough text to prevent a 17 year old dutch guy to read it :) :) :)Groetjes, Diederik Krauwer - EHAM

[Guest]

I am making up for lost lunch hours and lost time off - call it in-lieu ;-)It took me about 15 mins to type my rant, I don't think the company will go ##### up over my lack of productivity for today ;-)Rob.

[Guest]

I am not what you would call a Socialist, but the lack of leisure/family time I believe is a real problem and leads to other sociual issues such as people going postal and being very depressed, not to mention the demise of the nuclear family, crime rates and so on....why are Europe's numbers so much better than ours? I would love to have a month or more off each year on top of the holidays and such....most people I know would love to have more time off..but they simply can not afford to take the time off and employers do not generally offer more than 3 weeks a year except very senior people...then there is the whole stigma attached to people who actually take their full vacation allotment...sloth is sin as Stiffy pointed out.Rob.

[Guest]

"Canada and some Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Minnesota are very much like Europe." Coming up here from a too-California-ized Colorado for school in southern Minnesota, I love the attitudes of the people here. Everybody looks out for each other. There isn't much (if any) of the intolerance and hatred that purveys so much of rural Colorado (and Colorado Springs for that matter). If you want proof, just look at the census data for MSP. Some of the largest minority groups are Hmong and Somolian refugees. They get sent up to the deep freeze here because they will be accepted, unlike in some other states. The state is willing to take care of them. They wouldn't even need to be refugess if the U.S. had a better understanding of the rest of the world and a better foreign policy to match. The old joke applies well here. What do you call someone who speaks two languages... Bilingual... What do you call someone who speaks three languages... Trilingual... What do you call someone who speaks one language... an American.I spent the whole month of January in Scandanavia with their confiscatory tax rates and overly generous social welfare system, and guess what: people in the US complain about taxes more than they do in Scandanavia. I personally liked having smooth, passable mountain roads and public transportation that was safe and reliable, as opposed to back here where the dominant mentality is that "hey, we can make due with crappy roads and schools, lets give the money that we could use for the benefit of society back to the individuals so they can buy more gas (or Avgas or Jet A) for their pollution-mobiles." Anyway, that's just your standard college-student-bleeding-heart-liberal stance on the matter. No offense to the die-hard conservatives out there who I probably just ticked off a bit. Bring on your negative ratings. ;)NeilGo Avalanche! Since when does LA deserve a hockey team anyway?

[Guest]

I've seen that done to a FedEx DC-10. The front side of the nose gear was messed up. So they put the tug under the plane and towed from the back side of the nose gear. It worked like a charm, and the MX guys acted like they have done it many of times.