People that operate their personal (and/or business) expenses on a budget normally try to keep expenses at or below the budgeted amount. Once you get into a gov't position that whole notion changes and now the budget amount is a target. You (the gov't employee) run your normal expenses throughout the alloted time frame. But, unlike the real world, as you draw near the "year end" spending will be increased so that all budgeted funds are expended by the end date. Was this a lesson in Economics that I missed?
My magic wand would eliminate that whole mind set. People would actually try to conserve money instead of blowing it all. Perhaps an incentive could be offered for coming "under budget". Considering the size of our gov't and the amount of money that gushes thru there, this little change could save a lot of taxpayer dollars..
Once again there will be massive amounts of wailing and nashing of teeth as changes like is are never welcomed with open arms and warm smiles..
More to come,
L8R
M
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Magic Wand..
With no intent of putting my hypothetical Magic Wand changes in some sort of order I can randomly add to my "list" as thoughts surface..
First change: Eliminate base line budgeting on all levels of gov't. Where in the real world did that concept come from? On a regular basis each and every recipient of gov't funds will be required to reapply for gov't (our) money. No rubber stamp wink & a nod approvals. No "grandfather" passes. No automatic renewals.
Can you imagine the amount of wailing & nashing of teeth this would create? For far too long it's been standard practice to just add to the outflowing budget with no regard to the source (taxpayers).
Hmmmm. Maybe I could dream up some great sounding cause or program that didn't actually do anything, cost only 5-10 million a year, and was perpetual in nature. Something so low on the radar screen that it attracted no attention. Then I'll need to find a gov't sponsor that would attach a simple amendment to a popular piece of legislation and get my program included on the endless gravytrain known as baseline budgeting. I'd be set for life, so would my family for generations to come!
On second thought I wouldn't delete baseline budgeting (see prior paragraph). Ok, new direction for my imangination.. :-)
L8R
M
First change: Eliminate base line budgeting on all levels of gov't. Where in the real world did that concept come from? On a regular basis each and every recipient of gov't funds will be required to reapply for gov't (our) money. No rubber stamp wink & a nod approvals. No "grandfather" passes. No automatic renewals.
Can you imagine the amount of wailing & nashing of teeth this would create? For far too long it's been standard practice to just add to the outflowing budget with no regard to the source (taxpayers).
Hmmmm. Maybe I could dream up some great sounding cause or program that didn't actually do anything, cost only 5-10 million a year, and was perpetual in nature. Something so low on the radar screen that it attracted no attention. Then I'll need to find a gov't sponsor that would attach a simple amendment to a popular piece of legislation and get my program included on the endless gravytrain known as baseline budgeting. I'd be set for life, so would my family for generations to come!
On second thought I wouldn't delete baseline budgeting (see prior paragraph). Ok, new direction for my imangination.. :-)
L8R
M
Thursday, April 26, 2012
If I had a magic political wand...
what would I do? There's so much wrong with what's going on, not just in the USA but world wide. With such great power (my magic wand, remember?) comes awesome responsibility. There may be unintended consequences, a domino effect, or major uprisings from the changes I might make.
Guess I'd better give this some deep thought before I list what's on my wishlist.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
L8R
M
Guess I'd better give this some deep thought before I list what's on my wishlist.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
L8R
M
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
What to do..what to do...
Hmmm. Decisions, decisions, decisions... I have discovered 2 trucking companies that are hiring.
The first outfit runs Wisconsin and the surrounding states. Advantage: NO east coast, NO winter mountains. Drivers are home every weekend! Disadvantage (maybe): LTL loads meaning multi-stop trips. The pay is based on a % of the line haul. How do I know what I'm earning prior to seeing my settlement check? Is there enough freight to earn a decent living?
The second outfit runs all 48 states (not so good, see previous advantage) but they do pay $0.34 off the hub. Advantages: paid for every mile traveled. Disadvantage: long trips = less home time.
Both companies have newer (but not fancy) equipment and refrigerated trailers. They both use paper logs which I'm accustomed to and have a computer log program that'll impress the heck out of their log department. Both back haul (or if need be deadhead) their trucks home for another trip outbound.
My third option is to switch back to a company truck with my present carrier. Advantage to option #3: familiar with company and procedures. Disadvantage: they pay book miles which are usually 8-10% short of actual miles traveled. That may not sound like much but when I apply that shortage to 150,000 annual miles (for example), that's a lot of driving for NOTHING.
I realize that every company is in business for themselves. Everything they do is for their benefit and betterment. Trucks and drivers are just disposable assets used to reach their objective (profit). Same can be said for just about any other business entity. The days of employees being treated like they're worth something are long gone. Or are there isolated companies that still treasure their workers?
I'm not totally unhappy with my present work situation, but I worry that NOT have health insurance could be a major financial problem if something serious happened. So the benefits package is almost more important than the pay program or the method of operation. I plan to further explore these options and hopefully make the correct decision soon, as I'm not getting any younger.
Retire by 65!
L8R
M
PS: How do I get rid of the backgrond stuff?
The first outfit runs Wisconsin and the surrounding states. Advantage: NO east coast, NO winter mountains. Drivers are home every weekend! Disadvantage (maybe): LTL loads meaning multi-stop trips. The pay is based on a % of the line haul. How do I know what I'm earning prior to seeing my settlement check? Is there enough freight to earn a decent living?
The second outfit runs all 48 states (not so good, see previous advantage) but they do pay $0.34 off the hub. Advantages: paid for every mile traveled. Disadvantage: long trips = less home time.
Both companies have newer (but not fancy) equipment and refrigerated trailers. They both use paper logs which I'm accustomed to and have a computer log program that'll impress the heck out of their log department. Both back haul (or if need be deadhead) their trucks home for another trip outbound.
My third option is to switch back to a company truck with my present carrier. Advantage to option #3: familiar with company and procedures. Disadvantage: they pay book miles which are usually 8-10% short of actual miles traveled. That may not sound like much but when I apply that shortage to 150,000 annual miles (for example), that's a lot of driving for NOTHING.
I realize that every company is in business for themselves. Everything they do is for their benefit and betterment. Trucks and drivers are just disposable assets used to reach their objective (profit). Same can be said for just about any other business entity. The days of employees being treated like they're worth something are long gone. Or are there isolated companies that still treasure their workers?
I'm not totally unhappy with my present work situation, but I worry that NOT have health insurance could be a major financial problem if something serious happened. So the benefits package is almost more important than the pay program or the method of operation. I plan to further explore these options and hopefully make the correct decision soon, as I'm not getting any younger.
Retire by 65!
L8R
M
PS: How do I get rid of the backgrond stuff?
Friday, April 20, 2012
First Ever Blog Posting
I hope this blogging thingy is easier to understand than Twitter which seems to be loaded with abbreviations and some kind of code. Plus Twitter has a character limit per Tweet. I wonder if my grandkids can show me how that works! Here it appears that I can just ramble on until I have actually completed a thought or subject.
Years ago I tried the chat rooms where numerous people were all "talking" at once. So confusing! By the time I typed a reply to someone's statement, the conversasion had moved on or totally switched subjects. I didn't catch on and eventually abandoned the whole scene in frustration. Same for instant messages. Now that I have my EVO I have been known to text a time or two..
Any tips or tricks to make this adventure work ______er would be greatly appreciated.
Looking foward to another weekend at the ranch. Lots to do.. Get the camper recommissioned for summer, cut grass, clean the truck, and best of all..be with my Sweety.
That's all for now boy & girls..
L8R
Years ago I tried the chat rooms where numerous people were all "talking" at once. So confusing! By the time I typed a reply to someone's statement, the conversasion had moved on or totally switched subjects. I didn't catch on and eventually abandoned the whole scene in frustration. Same for instant messages. Now that I have my EVO I have been known to text a time or two..
Any tips or tricks to make this adventure work ______er would be greatly appreciated.
Looking foward to another weekend at the ranch. Lots to do.. Get the camper recommissioned for summer, cut grass, clean the truck, and best of all..be with my Sweety.
That's all for now boy & girls..
L8R
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