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moronthethrottle

moronthethrottle

Cross Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
1,141
Location
North of Aliendorf, Iowa
I really don't want to ramble on about how bad everything is out there in the real world, but I can't get it off my mind. I've been a member here at RRR for only a week now and have spent a lot of time digging through new and old threads, picking up info, tips, etc. This has been a great place to learn alot and I can't say enough about the quality people on here-genuine thanks for everything! I've found RRR to be a great escape from reality, but after getting a feel for how close, open and respectful everyone is, I wanted to unload some thoughts that even this forum can't wipe off my mind.

I've been following the unemployment numbers, bankruptcies and other economic woes with heightened fear this year. Our company filed chapter 11 in September and by November 1st I was technically unemployed. Fortunately for me, the former owner started up a small engineering firm made up of four of us-a structural engineer in Birmingham, AL, two mechanical engineers in an apartment that the boss owns, and me acting as a general/project manager. We have been working on a cool project-it involves a major steel company renovating an island in Detroit that now feeds raw steel to Chrysler and some to GM. The island was created by Henry Ford and Thomas Edison and was originally created for the original Ford plant. Most of the steel that you guys are chopping up probably started their lives on this island...cool history! With the auto industry taking a dive the island has shut down production...and our project is on hold for at least a few months. I have faith that we will come across more work and I will continue to stay employed thanks to an 84 year old boss with a big heart, but these are tough times and anything can happen. That explains why I have had so much time to dedicate to RRR!

My heart goes out to 80 of my former fellow employees, many of whom are still searching for work and to any of you out there who may be going through something similar. Let's all hope and pray that Obama can help us get out of this quagmire! It is certain to be a long haul. Where's FDR when we need him?!?

Feel free to post your thoughts, concerns, testimonials, tributes to governmental idiocy, etc. Thanks in advance for the support!!:eek:
 
I'm 63 and have never seen the likes of what is happening right now.........it is really scary. I'm like you and hate to dwell on negatives, but I am also realistic and don't have my head in the sand. Foreclosures, layoffs, bailouts, bankruptcies, people living in their cars, plant closings, etc, etc. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge these events is just living in a dream world.

Some people still have this attitude that anyone who is out of work is just that way because they don't want to work............BS, I say. I have for the most part of my life had no problem getting a job, I regularly had people calling me at my job asking if I wanted to come to work for them. That isn't bragging, just what my life used to be like. Then 2 years ago my company got bought out and I couldn't find a job to save me. All my old contacts were in a holding pattern and would have loved to hire me, but had no money or were laying off people.

I finally had to take early retirement at 62 and hated every minute of it. I love to work. Finally in August of this year I got a job which I still have, and I feel so lucky. There are so many less fortunate people out there who haven't found work yet.

I don't care which side of the Presidential thing you are on, and don't want to start that debate all over, but Obama has his work cut out for him. I think we all just need to put our differences aside and help this country get back on it's feet. If you are one of the unemployed, hang in there. It only takes one "YES" to turn your life around and put you back on the job.

Don
 
Remember Lee Iacocca?

Subject: FW: : Remember Lee Iacocca?



Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its
death throes? He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All
The Leaders Gone?'.

Lee Iacocca Says:

'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening?
Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder!
We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over
a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't
even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But
instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when
the politicians say, 'Stay the course.'

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the
damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'


You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and
maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this
country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in
handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and
nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms'
instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the
'America' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had
enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not
outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C'
is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis
being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis.
It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or
send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield
yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling
down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other
time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the
ashes. A hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.

We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for
leaving.

We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country.

We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great
companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy
policy. Our schools are in trouble.

Our borders are like sieves.

The middle class is being squeezed every which way.

These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders
gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the
people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense?
I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making
us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all
we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina.
Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the
hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made
in the crucial hours after the storm.

Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen
again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.
Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can
restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed
that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to
Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what
are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down
the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care
problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are
eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your
asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being
hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is
everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a
name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.
I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I
believe in America. In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living
through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some
of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War II,' the
'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's
oil crisis,and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11.

If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by
standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.
Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our
children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising
in this book. It's a "Call to Action" for people who, like me, believe
in America'. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's
shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had
'enough.'

Make your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care
about. It's our country, folks, and it's our future. Our future is at
stake!!
 
Actually more new companies are started in times like these than any other. When people couldn't get jobs... they made their own jobs! This is America after all!!!

BoB
 
Tripper said:
Actually more new companies are started in times like these than any other. When people couldn't get jobs... they made their own jobs! This is America after all!!!
BoB
Click to expand...

I see that already. Several business people I know, that have too busy with their businesses over the last several years are now starting to implement the new ideas they have not had time for.

I'll bet there will be new ideas that come from this. Sure, it may take some time, and hard times are upon us, but things will come around.

And the bright side of loosing my 401K is now I don't have to retire.:D
 
Do we know all the FACTS

A wise man once observed -a man who doesn't read the news paper is uninformed , a man who does is misinformed . How much of what we are being told is really what's happening . Is there really one single politician you trust completely, or even a little bit . Obviously Mr I doesn't think there are any. Who is in bed with who , I guarantee its not one of us working guys under those sheets .I really think we are being purposely misled,lied to,manipulated,conned,call it what you will. Too what end you ask, why for CONTROL . Governments do not exist to take care of us -as a lot of people seem to think- that is for us too do personaly .No , govt exists to control us , how, first make us scared,then make us hungry,all the while giving us FALSE info to support their purpose, then make us think only they can save us,then we willingly give up our God given rights for the GOOD of society, then they have us where they want us -dependent upon their suc'cor and completely under their CONTROL. If we go with the premis that something is wrong,I say it's not our constitution nor the ground we stand upon -the United States of America - it's either the people or the leaders. THERE ARE NO BAD PRIVATES ONLY BAD GENERALS .
 
"if we don't hang together, surely we will hang alone" Ben Franklin

Mr. Iacocca is a very intelligent man, as was Ross Perot…both would be great leaders in this time of economic crisis. I don’t want to engage in a political debate either; my opinion is that the election is over, Barack Obama is our president and without sound leadership we are in grave danger of matters becoming far worse than what they presently are. We have been dragged down by partisan politics, jellyfish leaders and are no longer the United States of America. We have become the “Disjointed Union of Pseudo-Free Thinkers”. It’s time for our elected officials to stop thinking about themselves and start acting like responsible delegates.

I watched the HBO movie “John Adams” last night and was reminded of how important it was to him and Benjamin Franklin that ALL thirteen colonies put aside their individual concerns and be united together to vote in favor of independence. That’s what we need to strive for again; not a simple majority, but all fifty states standing together to help each other through this crisis. In an attempt by politicians to not be offensive to others, they have committed their greatest offense. The men who founded this great nation were intellectual deep thinkers, but they were not super-human. The same can be said for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. All great men, but what made them great leaders was not just their intelligence, rather it was their ability to recognize that it was their DUTY to rise to the challenges that faced the nation and forge ahead into uncharted territories, creating perhaps unfavorable, highly criticized declarations, programs, bills and laws that are a staple of what we now believe to be our inherent rights as human beings.

When you have finished reading Lee Iacocca’s latest book, pick up George Orwell’s classic novel “Animal Farm”. The horse Boxer is representative of the middle class of a nation. “I will work harder…” Sound familiar? The middle class can not be expected to have all the responsibility, yet none of the authority! We work day in and day out to make our company, our community, our state, our country as great as we can. Yet the powers of the elite abuse and exploit our ethics culminating in our hard work being done virtually in vain.:mad:

"How do we build Rome?"..."One brick at a time, good citizen."
How do we rebuild the USA? One Rod at a time, fellow Ratter. (just wanted to lighten things up a bit!):p

mtt
 
Times they are now changed

Good thoughts from hot rodders.If you are out of work and have a garage,a welder and some tools,start a shop and build rods.we who can no longer get our bodies around it love to see guys who can .i wish I still had any of my shops cause even back in the 70s i eeked out a living.i boo hooed for a day or two and got into my lifes expeirences to suvive.Its a different time I know but pursivere,never give up and look at where you came from.Most hot rodders are hard working men that have seen hard times before.I met some of Lees boys once and some of you might know Chrysler had a real bunch of engineers there.I think now the major problems in the u s car industrie lies in their inability to accept innovation from the engineers.Look at the junk they have been selling.As an old bodyman mechanic I can tell you ,so much junk for a car to sell.Ever remember radio delete,Ha ,think a car would sell today without a radio.Nah.England is working on a design that I had mapped out way back in the seventys,I called it permanent magnet power.Now it is becoming a reality.I wanted to live so I never developed it,But being hungry breeds concepts and I have been there.Hunker down fellows and take care of your familys.They will love you for it.:cool:
 
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Back in high school I remember one of my history teathers saying that if a country stops manufacturing and depends on other countries for their good. This country will begain to lose power and by controled by the countries that supply it.

He also stated that a country needs strong manufacturing to get its self out of a depression.

He also stated that China would be the most powerful country in the world because of its manufacturing.

We use to call him BS Bill but now I am wondering.

This was back in the early 70's. The Vietnam war was going on and we were manufacturing alot of goods then. We were manufacturing war supplies. I my area we had the shell line at Lehigh foundry. A small machine shop making the pieces for inside the claymore mines and others make some stuff for the war. There was Bethlehem Steel, Ingerosl Rand, Taylor Wortton, Bethlehem Corp. Victor Balata, Reigle Paper ( three locations) Mack Truck

Here we are in 2009 with another war going on but were is the manufacturing. And who is manufacturing the war supplies. The Co. in my area that munufacture for the war are gone even the buildings are gone.

Bethlehem steel is now gone and they are building a casino That has stopped becuase of money issues.

Ingersol rand is gone most of the building are gone and there is a small industrial park there that is mostly offices.

Lehigh Foundey is gone. most of the buildings are gone. self storage on the property.

taylor Wortten is gone the building there with some small businesses in it.

Bethlehem Corp is gone. the buildings are gone and a Home Depot and giant stands there now.

Victor Balata is gone. Most of the buildings are gone. There is a J.B byrider car lot there now.

Reigle Paper is Gone. most of the buildings are gone. the ones that are standing are empty. All three location are empty.

Mack Truck Almost all gone. There main location is gone . They are going to lay off most of there employees in there Macungie plant.

My area is now a service area and we have high unemployment, 40 - 60 houses being foreclose in my county every month. the same in the next county. The average income has dropped. Businesses are closing.
 
Tripper said:
Actually more new companies are started in times like these than any other. When people couldn't get jobs... they made their own jobs! This is America after all!!!

BoB
Click to expand...

Sorry Bob, that used to be America. The new America is: When people can't pay to live beyond their means anymore, they turn to the Government to save them. Sure, I don't mean everyone, or anyone on this board (think about it, Rat Rodding is all about doing it yourself). The general state of mind for the population of the US is no longer one of self sufficiency and responsibility. We don't have the right to a job, to live forever, or to have heat in the winter for that matter. We have the right to pursue those things. We do have a right to expect government to do something worthwhile with our taxes. I digress....

The debt our country has generated, not the gov., but all of us, must be brought back down to sensible levels before recovery will take hold. You can not buy your way out of debt, you must pay your way out. One way or another we must pay. Government bailouts, handouts, or bankruptcy will only shift who pays and when, but to get out of this mess someone must eventually pay, be it hard work, loss of benefits and savings, loss of life...you name it.

I'm going back to the garage....
 
You are right. The guys on this board are probably a little different than the general population. Hands on guys, who take responsibility for their actions.
 
made in the USA

Well here is another rant ... Still Runnin Magazine is only 1 year old, we have been on the phone with TONS of different merchants. We want all of our products that we offer to be made in the USA. Don't get me wrong you can get them, but the price factor from across the pond vs US soil is grossly different.
Ball Caps just for instance have them done in Korea it is like buy 1 get 1 free.
Small businesses are practically forced to skip over the pond, it makes financial sense.
We have not done that, which is the reason our Merchandise isn't offered yet, because we are insisting on USA made products. Yup they cost more.
I hope that our gearhead community remembers that when they see not only on our site but all the other sites that have US products is what they should look for and will support those who try to keep America working!
and .... stay out of Wal-mart !
 
I am working on a new project with some associates. We are also looking for the "made in America" label on our new products. It is really hard to do, because of price. To get parts made here instead of overseas adds quite a bit to the cost. So does that mean less profit, or a higher price? I am guessing a little of both. But I feel strongly about it.
 

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