[temeculaguy]

[quote=AN]TG, what you’re saying then is, the public employee pension system is not unsustainable, and we’re blow it out of proportion due to this down turn? I’d love to see an apple to apple comparison between a public vs a private employee, to see which much “underpaid” public employees really area. Too bad I don’t have that data.[/quote]

I am kinda/sorta saying that. Some other posters talked about scape goats, just don’t get distracted by shiny objects when in fact it doesn’t add up to what it is being portrayed as. When you get riled up, ask yourself “who benefits from my being riled up?” Sure, there are some examples to get riled up about and those things are being changed as we type. someone wants you to get riled up, maybe so you will ignore something else. Maybe it’s about some stupid election, who knows, who cares.

I gave up being riled up for lent and I’m not catholic, life is easier now, try it. I worry about sports, breasts, cars, you know, the important things.

See, feel better, SDSU will be playing UNM at the pit on wednesday, that is a whole lot more important than the life expectancey of government employees now isnt it.

[temeculaguy]

You know flu, the old fusion was made in Mexico, this new one will be made in Michigan. You are right, it’s going to be a 4 banger, even BMW’s 3 series is going 4 banger, MPG’s is the mass market now and they are getting more out of them than the 6’s of a few years ago.

In still haven’t bought that garage queen I’ve been shopping, I’m down to about 50 days when my youngest takes over the current garage queen. I’ve read and re-read the car threads, I’ve test driven quie a few and I’m still without a clue as to what I’m going to buy, I keep changing my mind. Since I’ll only drive it on weekends and usually not too far, I’m thinking of taking advantage of the race for mpg’s and getting a discounted gas guzzler with a terrible maintenance record. If I had to drive it to work I’d go bmw cpo or infiniti, but my peculiar needs has me looking at a few unorthodox sleds. Here is the question, assuming used and an under 30k budget, driving about 2k to 4k miles per year, keeping it 5-10 years and needing it to still be relevent and fun. Here are the finalists:

1. 2006 mercedes cls
2. 2004-2006 BMW 6 series coupe or convertable
3. 2008 BMW 5 series (CPO)
4. 2008-2009 Infiniti G37-S Coupe
5. 1999-2001 carera convertable
6. 2008 E class (cpo)
7. 2010 c class (cpo)
8. 2009 3 series (cpo)
9. 2004-2007 vette
10. 2010 camaro ragtop

I had to drop the 2003-2005 jag xke because I don’t fit in it, I’m too tall. The 3 series and the c class I have similar issues but not as bad. cpo doesn’t seem like much of a deal for me because it will expire long before I get many miles on it. I’m a yearly oil change guy, this is a second car for me, my employer provides me with an incredibly boring commuter vehicle and gas for m-f. So if you were me (and I can fix most things on a car), what would you get.

Surprisingly, the g-37 coupe is the fastest of the bunch, and when I say 3 series, I mean 328, not 335 or M (too pricy, but for a daily driver they would win). Audi’s don’t do it for me, so skip them. Lexus lacks hp’s and handling, they are out too. No SUV’s, it’s hard enough for me to get a car with a fixed roof. I’s like to try and stay at or under 70k miles and under $30k, so no supercars, this isn’t a “who’s best” it’s a specific price point “what’s best.” To be honest, the cls, 5 and 6 series and the g37 are the ones I keep debating myself about, then I see a carrera and get all confused again.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=xiv014]Why is it that most new construction in San Diego have HOAs?[/quote]

Because society has evolved and has improved. When my grandfather bought his house, people of a certain race, religion or socio-economic status would rarely dare to live somehwere they didn’t fit in. Then the last 30 years happened and now we need HOA’s. I’ve had houses in both, just go with the HOA. Be accepting of everyone, have neighbors who are different from you, make friends with them, but have the assurance that whatever the 1950’s were afraid of, won’t show up next door.

For every hoa horror story you may hear, I can tell you about the giant peeing baby fountain in a neighbors front yard, or the baby blue house, or the raiders sheets as curtains for four years, the year round christmas lights, the 9 cars out front, the corn instead of lawn, the urban chickens, the smell of curry in the air 24 hours a day, the monster trucks, boats and dunebuggies on the lawn, the yard appliances, the perimeter fence at a tract house, the weekly garage sales, the unmowed lawns, the trash cans permanently at the curb, the constant rv storage and I’m sure a few other things that you can avoid for the bargain price of $30-$90 a month (what my various hoa’s have been over the years at different houses). We all live together now, we accept each other, but we gotta have a few basic rules. Just pay it, I’ve found it to be some of the best money I’ve ever spent. When I was young I avoided hoa’s cause I was cheap, now it’s a requirement.

Gated communities are another animal entirely, they cost a lot more because the government doesn’t pay for the streets, the streetlights or the insurance because the public has no access, so just the existence of a gate will often cost you $100 a month by itself in what is included in most peoples taxes, so that is a personal decision.

[temeculaguy]

Firstly, paramount, I owe you a long overdue apology for comments I made a few months ago, here it is, I’m sorry. It had nothing to do with you, but I took it out on you, mea culpa, I behaved like an ass.

Now about your friend, we all pay that stupid title insurance when we buy or refi, I usually complain about it, but this is what it is for. That title insurance company took between $500 and $1000 from your friend for a ten minute search (on refi’s it’s a total racket) but this is a scenario where it pays off and it’s why the lender mandates it. The lender will lose far more than your friend if this foreclosure were to happen. If the title insurance company missed it, then they can pay to fight it, and if they lose, they can pay to remedy it. That was their only job, they usually get it right, but once in a while they have to pay, which is why it’s caled insurance. Advise your friend to dig up his loan docs, find out who the title insurance company is and start with them.

[temeculaguy]

If we want to get technical (or fair) and look at actuarial tables (life expectancy) as it relates to either public pensions or social security, there are more arguments to be made than the ones using averages. Public safety is an overwhelmingly male dominated sport, and men die younger, so it’s cheaper.

But as far as social security goes, black men die on average 5 years earlier than white men, black women live longer than white men and white women used to live the longest, yet hispanics came in at 2.5 years over whites at the 2010 census. Why isn’t social security based on life expectancy, why do black men have to pay into a system that statistically they will not take from, why aren’t women taxed at higher levels since they reap the majority of the benefits.

I’ll tell you why, cause it doesn’t matter during 80% of the time we spend on the planet, it only matters right now and that will change very soon once everyone goes back to worrying about how shiny their rims are.

I know everyone wants facts, but I only have the internet to go on, so forgive me if this data is from a biased source and uses california state data.

http://porac.org/pension_myths&facts.htm

But it supports my argument that less than 1% of public pensions are over 100k and that only about 1% make it 30 years or more. There’s a reason and it’s not just danger and physical breakdown, it’s that over the course of 30 years there are a few boom cycles. In which public service loses it’s luster, in which missing christmas and birthdays and every other holiday becomes not worth it when a cell phone salesman or mortgage broker with two weeks of training out earns the public safety employee. They quit, they leave for greener pastures, they never get the brass ring. Much the same way that pretty much only white women get more than their money’s worth from social security.

But who cares, look around, life is good, even in the worst economic times of our lives. As soon as you stop worrying about what someone else gets or has and enjoy what you have, will the journey begin to take shape for you. It’s going to be over before you know it, no CEO or elected official has ever beat death, it’s a game I guarantee everyone will lose. Enjoy the Aztecs beating UNLV and moving to #16 in the country, share a bottle of wine with some friends, use real butter and tell those around you who put up with you that you love them. I guarantee you it’s more fun than worrying about how much money a nurse and a fireman in Carlsbad makes.

[temeculaguy]

I could bore you to death with the reality of pensions and how they are calculated, but this is a fact. There are 368 people retired from sd county making $8,300 or more per month in pension benefits. There are 36,000 members, so 1% have pensions of 100k or more.

http://www.sdcera.org/about_us.htm

This is the second largest county in the state and the 5th largest in the united states, over 3 million people, and the thousands of blogs and posts are about 368 people. Let’s just keep some perspective. So before you assume that evey run of the mill government employee gets some fantastic deal, get the facts, they are probably just as out of touch as the perception that all realtors make 6 figures.

I am not protecting myself, I’m not one of the 368, but I’m also not an NBA player or a CEO, some have more than me and some have less. You just happen to run into some who had more, that doesn’t mean they all do. In fact the average gov’t pension in san diego county is $28,284 per year. But it’s more fun to scream about the rare exceptions.

[temeculaguy]

Actually that proves my point, let’s play how much does a realtor make. I’ll bet we can fing one that works 10 hours a week and one that works 100 hours a week and they don’t all make the same money.

BTW circa 2005-2006, wasn’t everyone mad about how much realtors made? Give it a few years, it will be your turn again, the nurses can be mad at the realtors in a few years, be thankful you are off the hotseat for now.

[temeculaguy]

Thank God!!!

On a side note for those of us in the exhurbs, these new cars are going to change the game a little as well. Have you seen the new Ford Fusion plug in that gets the equivalent to 100 mpg, it looks like a cross between an aston martin and a jaguar XF and gets 100 mpgs and will be out in months not years.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/09/2013-ford-fusion-debuts-along-with-47-mpg-fusion-hybrid-100-mpg/

[temeculaguy]

My guess is 350k

Here’s the problem with the quiz, the perception and the reality. Ignore their title, what is their real role in whatever their profession is?

The guy who sells cellphones at a kiosk at the mall and the president of verizon are both “cell phone salesmen” but they aren’t compensated in the same way. Ignoring their title, a fireman might make 85k and drive the truck. A batallion chief might just seem like a fireman to you, but he may be in charge of 100 firemem, yet to some people, they are the same. I think they should be compensated differently and they probaby are.

There’s also another huge variable, quantity of work, as in how many hours do they work? I have hundreds of employees that report to me and I spent most of my morning today in budgeting and forecasting meetings. Public or private, employees cost far more than the actual money you give them. Their benefits cost money, their vacation and sick leave cost their employer money, their training costs their employer money, when their mom dies it costs their employer money. Anyone with an employee has to figure out what an employee actually costs them and sometimes it’s cheaper to overwork an existing employee than hire an additional one, because overtime rates are sometimes cheaper than the total compensation for a seperate employee. For public employee’s I’m certain this is probably the case because of the pension costs, but it holds true for private sector employees who get some form of employer matching 401k.

So these two public employees may have elected to work 6o hours a week each, essentially earning three salaries. Their employer may have run the numbers and decided it’s cheaper than hiring a third employee. Like it or not, envy it or not, bosses (public and private)look at their bottom line and that’s why some people seem to be making out. The same principle applies to consultants and contracted employees. My people may envy the hourly rate of a consultant but they lack the big picture information that I have, which is the overpaid consultant is actually cheaper for the company because all they get is cash, no insurance, vacation, berievement leave, etc.

One other note on the quantity of hours issue, more than once in my career, my subordinates have outearned me. Why? Because they work more hours than I do, by choice.

I also have a personal friend who is one of those hated high paid public employees. His name was in the paper as one of the top ten earning government employees, earning more than double what the posted salary that his position should be paid. The average newspaper reader probably cursed his name. But he was putting his kids through college, including at least one in ivy league medical school and some of his kids were spending their summers treating people in third world countries and in ghettos in this country. He worked 7 days a week, 12-16 hours a day, for a few years. Volunteered for anything and everything, because his work was financing the saving of lives and he felt it was his way of saving the world. So people were mad at him because they think a public employee shouldn’t make almost 200k, f%^&k those people. I suppose he could have just gotten loans and defaulted on them like everyone else, or just had our government send financial aid to those poor people, but I admire him, while many are angry and envious of him. If they only knew what a humble and simple life he leads, they just see the numbers.

Will it make you feel better that a chunk of his pension is already earmarked to pay back all those medical school loans, because even an extra 100k doesn’t finance 3 kids through school. I told him to get fired, then it would all be free, as a taxpayer, would you prefer that? Keep that in mind, 55% of studetns in public universities don’t actually pay, you do. That costs you more than all the cops and firemen.

[temeculaguy]

That doesn’t even make sense. My house is 200 feet from Redhawk, I’m .5 miles from Ralph’s, Anza is 15 miles away. I’m 2 miles from your house, why would you allude to my neighborhood as something that is some far flung rural area.

I’m still pissed about your exchange with TemekuT, because I know her and her husband and they are really nice people. I’ve had the pleasure of attending dinner parties at their home, there are so many good things I can say about them and you treated her like a b**tch. Yet I didn’t call you out on that one, until now. Do you really want to go here again, I think I’ve been nice to you over the years. Ask around, ask anyone, find a hobo who can barely read and make him read our exchanges and your posts, you will not find anyone who doesn’t see the inferiority complex you have with anyone’s good fortune or attributes, especially mine.

I hate being a dick, but you are forcing me into it. Seriously, seek professional help or if you already have, have them change your medication. It kills you that i am loved here, it hurts every time you read someone praising my opinion and calling you Eeyore. Do you know that the one reason i didn’t throw a party when i bought was because I didn’t want you to know anything about me because I don’t trust you. I’m going to organize one, soon, and it will be specifically designed to exclude you, is that what you wanted?

When I see Tom Brady on T.V., I say to myself, that lucky bastard, he’s better looking than me, he’s more athletic than me, he’s richer than me and he dates/marries/makes babies with supermodels. I don’t envy, I admit he is better than me, I appreciate, try it, bet you can’t do it.

Ask around, you aren’t going to find anyone who thinks you add anything or that you are right about anything and you finally pissed me off enough to say it to you. Funny that you always mentioned how crime ridden this town is for years, how the hospital will never be built and stop complaining about the city manager’s pay, winners deserve their spoils. It must hurt to see it’s the 2nd safest place in the nation, did that hurt, where was the “tg was right, I’m a knucklehead” I’m still waiting.

Damn you, my karma is going to be screwed up tomorrow because of this rant but it’s your fault.
I’m giving you a gift here, you owe TemekuT an apology, man up!

[temeculaguy]

I’m terrible at multitasking, I can’t handle one on each arm, it’s more of a novelty and totally overrated.

I think articles like that are inflammatory to a certain extent. Most men are good people and most women are not unrealistic. Were just humans who want to fall madly in love and be loved back.

Did you throw up a little bit in your mouth after reading that, I did. But there’s a little bit of truth in that statement.

I’ve done exhaustive first hand research on this topic, after many years I’ve figured it out. It’s unfortunate, but there is not a single woman’s magazine or novel or t.v. show that has the answer on how to get the man you want and how to make him never even look at another woman again.

Feel free to forward these five things to whoever the 39 year old author is, I don’t even care if i get the credit, these are the secrets of the universe and they need to be shared.

This is all a woman needs to do, to find her ideal mate and keep him, if he’s a playboy he will change and if he’s a deadbeat he will find motivation.

1. Let him be your hero- never emasculate him, allow him to feel he is the bravest and strongest man you have ever met. If he gets into a confrontation, tell him you were proud of him, if he backs down from one, tell him he was wise. Always tell him that it turned you on. If he fails, support him, if he succeeds, cherish him. This especially applies to career stuff.

2. Don’t make him pick colors or shoes- kiss him on the cheek and tell him that it makes you feel like a woman to pick out the paint color or the linens, rather than say he isn’t good at it. Tell him you like shoes because you want to look sexy for him, we are suckers for that, that’s how that woman down the street got a hundred pairs without a single complaint from her guy. The truth is we want to make you happy, use your powers for good, not evil.

3. Wear lingerie-not just the victoria secret stuff, but the fredericks stuff, the stuff with thigh highs, corsets, garters, and wear them every day and tell him you wear them for him.

4. appreciate his bad habits-if he likes cigars, buy them for him, beg him to smoke one just so you can smell it even if you hate it. When a man can have his woman and everything else he likes, he keeps his woman, don’t make him choose, because the bad habit may win. Also, let him watch football, encourage him to golf or play poker with his buddies, let him be the man he wants to be and somehow make it something that makes him think makes you love him more because of it. When he comes home, attack him instead of punishing him.

5. The bedroom- don’t make anything off limits, let him try what he saw in a movie or heard from his friends. Odds are he wont like it that much anyway so you wont have to endure whatever it is all the time. Also, be enthusiastic and appreciative, we men are so weak and vulnerable in this arena, indulge us. O.K., tell the kids to leave the room for a second this next part is R rated. Oral is a daily requirement not a birthday treat, at least as an appetizer and it’s not to be considered as or treated as a reward. Beg him to let you do it, treat it like a need you have, a gift better than flowers. And any fluid should be treated with the same enthusiasm as winning the lottery. ok, you can let the kids back in the room.

So that’s it, you do that and the world will change for you. You will find that men will fall all over themselves, they will take out the trash, they will miss football games, watch chick flicks, they will go antiquing and they will be happy to do so. It’s really simple when you think of it. Every woman has a friend that men gravitate towards and she always has suitors, that bitch is keeping this stuff a secret, she doesn’t want you to know the secrets of the universe, I want you to know. It doesn’t matter what you look like or how big or small your this or that is. Make your partner happy and they will want to make you happy and it will continue to snowball from there. BTW, twice a week does not qualify as making him happy and sex is not the only thing that makes us happy.

It usually takes women about ten years of being single to figure this out, hopefully I’ve only offended a few dozen women and more than that will read this and do something about it so we wont have to read about how there aren’t any good men out there. We are what you make us, nothing more.

[temeculaguy]

You are correct, it’s not worth it. I can show you examples of why it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% to 25% over what it should be but I also know why people are buying them. Piggington women, please ignore the following sexist comments, this does not apply to you:

This is not an entry level neighborhood and it’s not a neighborhood of single people (I am still the only single person I’ve met in my neighborhood). People don’t buy 3,000 sq foot homes in quiet subdivisions to live alone for the most part. So that means most buyers are couples and most couples contain at least one woman. Model homes do something to most women, it’s somewhere between catnip and heroin. They are wired to not see square feet, they see nice decorations and furnishings and colors. They aren’t buying a home, they are buying someone else’s life. Throw in the fact that most husbands are below average in home repair and projects, so when she sees a screwed up repo, she’s been with him 20 years, she knows he won’t be able to fix those things. Similar thoughts go through peoples heads when buying new cars with a warranty.

regardless of the mud slung so far in the thread and regardless if it’s cheap by San Diego standards, this is one of the most expensive and/or prestigious neighborhoods in the area. The demographic usually is the type that pay other people to do installation and repairs. they are also usually busy and have kids and the guys have jobs. So the women know their man isn’t going to spend a month repainting and repairing and upgrading everything to what they see in the model homes. They want to pick out their flooring and upgrades, move in over a weekend and be done with it. Convenience costs money, people with money don’t mind paying for it.

So who are you, how much do you care and what is your life like, what is your wife like and what is your skill level and what is her skill level. Many couples are great at it, lots of wives can remodel their own house, paint their own house, rebuild the sprinkler system. I just don’t see that being the typical Morgan Hill wife. Not to knock them, they are great, but that’s not who they are for the most part. I took advantage of that, the more screwed up a place is here, the better it is for price because most buyers want turnkey properties. I put in 1200 sq feet of hardwood by myself (took me two months, but I did it). I had to sweat pipes, replace every fixture, light switch, door knob, closet door, replace drywall, appliances, clear water from gaslines, replace toilets, sinks, shower controls, you name it, they stole it. Most women walked out of my house with a look on their face as if there were dead bodies strewn about the house.

So be honest, who are you and who are you married to. If it costs you 75k to make the wife happy, then pay it, that is a bargain compared to a divorce.

But if she’s the type that watches the do it yourself shows instead of the reality or fantasy shows, and you are good at it, but a screwed up repo or a designer disaster of a resale and take on the project. It’s about you and not the numbers at this point. Are you Nordstrom or home depot?

Now here is 4,000 sq feet on a 10,000 sq ft lot for 350k, and it definitely needs a facelift.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Temecula/44944-Vine-Cliff-St-92592/home/12508409

here’s a great one, 3100 sq ft on 8,000 sq ft lot for 280k. Doesn’t need much work and its just a tad smaller but it’s almost half the price and the backyard is done (kinda plain, but it’s a start).

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Temecula/44968-Silver-Rose-St-92592/home/12507072

I actually dig that one, it will go for over 300, but examples like that make a 450k new one seem kinda silly.

My advice, never, ever, let a woman enter a model home. Think of it as kinda like a strip club or porn for women, it has this weird power over them. Not all of them, but most of them.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=paramount]And for the record, Pat and Oscars reopened at the pond, so how bad could it be?[/quote]

Wow, that took about two weeks, I guess the sun will come up tomorrow.

BTW, I never said inflation wouldn’t come, I’m actually counting on it, but I thought I had a few years before it was noticeable. You know, while everybody was worried about the euro and Greece and protests and politics and the world ending and stuff.

[temeculaguy]

I’m getting a Lions jersey, just so I can always remember my theory about where it started, who’s with me, plenty of seats left on this bandwagon.

Ford field set an attendance record tonight. The cradle of blue collar on this hemisphere is being described on espn as the the northern version of the french quarter. When the angriest become the most invested and jubilant, the protest signs find the trash can. Sorry, the park is closed, the moose out front should have told you. But maybe in about 8 years we can do this all again, in fact you can bet on it, but this phase is about to end. I’m making preparations for the climate to change, the real question is, are you? If you aren’t, you are no better than the bubble buyers who felt everything will always go in the same direction that it has recently. So instead of housing always goes up, the phrase is gold will always go up, the economy will worsen, jobs will be lost, politicians will waste money. You believe it because you’ve seen it happen lately and you read experts telling you it will continue. Ever wonder if that 2007 home buyer read something about real estate always going up, matched that with what he’d seen for a few years and he felt he was right. That’s you right now, you are going to miss it, you missed the lions game, you are missing the signs, I’m doing you a favor, hopefully you wont realize it two years too late.

[temeculaguy]

And as I just mentioned on the nationwide protest thread, the true catalyst of the end of recession, the Detroit Lions, they set an attendance record tonight.

Somebody explain that? If you believe the papers they are eating rocks by now in Detroit, Attendance record in Detroit for a football game!!!, Yeah,,,,it’s over.

When you can’t get a seat to a Lions game, it’s time to stop buying spam and ammo.

[Author]

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