subby1

Honestly, I love to read these thread by ZC, because I need some humor once in a while to take my mind off the fact that I'm working myself to the bone, with no health insurance, paid leave, paid vacations, etc. So, I simply click on a ZC thread and LMAO!!! It's very entertaining!! She said RECESSION...the article I posted was far worse than that- mine indicated a total meltdown. Otherwise, your comment did make me chuckle a bit! Not trying to be mean to Z.C. (like I said, it is entertaining to read)...I sometimes like a good fiction novel. But with age, I was thinking about h

Having been in this industry since 1983, we folks in my field know exactly what caused that- the 1996 Olympics. Hordes of people came here to watch that, and they were enthralled with our climate. Shortly thereafter, building was off the scales.....why? Because people LOVED it down here and wanted to move down here. Simple free market economics, which created a large demand for housing in the south. It's lunacy to blame those people for wanting to relocate to a nice place to live. And that worked out great.....THEN came the deregulation of lending practices....that's what caused the downfall-

I'm talking about the ONE, single segment that trickled down to cripple everything else except maybe healthcare, since heart attacks, stress attacks, and other out-of-work problems are causing. When and IF my career ever comes back, we have no illusions of it being near what it used to be. That's a given, and everyone in my former industry knows this. It's the IF part that worries most of us, because from our own projections (our projections are based on over 30-40 years of business cycles (not a talking head who researched data for a couple of nights), we still don't see ANY light at the end

That sounds good!!! And it would be great with some PIANO, PIANO, PIANO!!!

This is the biggest reason I stooped watching the news a long time ago. It's all spin. I deal with a lot of people every day; people who I have had dealings with for 5 years now. I can't think of a single one who's in better shape than they were 5 years ago...not a single one. I'll just continue to base my opinions of our economy on what I SEE and HEAR myself, from REAL PEOPLE. The news/statistics are a farce. Every civil engineering firm I know of has either closed its doors or is operating on borrowed money, equity loans, etc. Aiken Grading, right here, has closed its doors. Ellis Grading co

Our global debt should be enough to indicate to most people that the guy's speculation is not far fetched at all. We spend more than we make....simple math.

Here's something to ponder while everything is just glowing. http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/roger-us-economy-recession/2012/04/24/id/436840

I must be missing something then, or living in another world, because most of my unemployed friends exhausted their UE quite a while back (over a year, at least, or more). Most of those still don't have a job, and they're losing their minds trying to find one- not to mention over half of them have had to move back in with their parents, at the age of 45-50 yrs old. Those who no longer have parents have had to move in with their own kids. Of course, this is all based on the world I live in. Other worlds may vary. You say "fact", when "MYTH" is what comes to my mind.

I would have to say that NOT having a job will screw with your sleep a whole lot more than having a job will. My job currently consists of 12-16 days, 6 days a week, for about half as much as I was making as an engineer....but, it's a JOB. I've been sleeping like a baby!!

I'll mull over the info you gave me and probably just reformat 3 or 4 times and see if the HD can be saved fro a while longer. It's not my computer, but a friend's laptop I'm working on. I appreciate all the input folks!

So I have heard, and researched. Basically taking a frikkin knee cap outa someone....crippling. So, you're saying that a rootkit leaves an impression on the HDD in a physical sense.....since you say reformatting (the long one) won't actually format 100%....sector errors, what?

Thanks! I'll try to get it to ASAP. I'm still working on mowers right now and just checking in.

I was on the verge of a fresh install, but finally got things narrowed down to 16 rootkit infections. Since they are hidden/masked, I can't remove them without wiping out the rootkits along with them. My question- The OS is Windows 7. If I were to remove the rootkits altogether, what are the chances of reparing them with the Windows 7 OEM discs without the need for a format and start over? If you want to PM me some thoughts, I understand, since I know that some tricks of the trade are better left to the pro's. Thanks! Glenn

Good Morning~~

While I am a night owl at heart and have always been...I had insomnia since I was a young child, I have found that in my later life, adjustments are not that hard to do. In the mower bizz, I get up at 9:00 a.m. When I got called into contract engineering for about 2 months, I had to get up and be in Palmetto every morning by 7:00. I had to get up at 5:30 to do this. It took me about 3 days to adjust, then no problem. I don't know if it's an age thing or what, but after only one week, I will wake up on my own about 1-2 min's before my alarm clock goes off. It seems your body will adjust with ag

I understand, and my first question would be if you knew what to look for (details), what you were looking at, etc. whereas many people don't know? People can always get lucky, but when it comes to used mowers, I know what I'm looking for, and if people don't trust taking that chance on the yard sale mower, then I only would encourage them to let me know. That's all. I highly doubt 99% of used mowers were just cleaned up and sold. That's a lot of the business, just FYI. (just saying what I've seen over my time in the bizz) We've had people come in with a Stihl gas trimmer they got fo

This quick snap of cold weather sucks!! I just work till I drop....instant sleep... (milk and cookies just before crash time is nice). Some of the best things in life never change! Hope you can get some sleep though.

The lowest priced mower I can sell is $75. All mowers I sell are REBUILT. I do not sell a simply "used mower". You can get them all day long at yard sales for $25....but they almost ALWAYS end up in my shop after the buyer realizes what $25 will get you. All of my mowers for sale undergo strenuous checks before I post them here and on craigslist. I want the buyers to get their money's worth. By the time I have checked the compression (meaning a good engine that will not burn oil or lose power), then toss in new filters, fuel lines, blades, fresh oil, etc. I'm already up to about $50 out of poc

In fact, the quality isn't as good as it used to be 20 years ago. Having said that, Hondas are among the best quality I have seen, and seem to be still good. Biggest problems have occurred with corporate gobbling of smaller companies, then importing the parts from China, especially carburetors. You'll still see Canada and Mexico on a few machines, but the way things are done today, it's very hard to tell who built what, and where it came from. I have to do a lot of research and studying these days to stay on top of things.

The problem with this solution is very apparent in this economy- no one has the money to spend more than they can find. As long as Wally World is the cheapest, people will go there, mostly out of necessity. Without the luxury of a good job and good pay, they have no choice. And make no mistake- it PAINS Americans to have to do business with them, knowing that they're just making the Chinese fatter by the day. But the fact remains...in a piss poor economy, people have run out of options. It's a matter of short term survival, which will inevitably cause our demise in the long term. Larger tariff

Just let me know. I'm still using my same weed eater that is pushing 22 years old. The first mower I sold about 5 years ago was one I had for over 20 years also. If you pick up the rocks and sticks in the yard, and service the mower yearly, they will last a generation....40 years. No lie!! Seen it a lot. (also telling my age!)

Thank both of you for the kind words! Over the past few years I have found this to be probably the most rewarding and satisfying job I have ever had. Not much money in it, but being able to help people out is where the real bang is for me! And, it's really cool that the business is completely local, so that helps keep things on a more personal level, not to mention all the fine people I have met along the way. You folks rock! I really just don't have the words to express my gratitude and appreciation for your business, so I'll just say THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

If you're stuck in a single career that went belly up, then you have almost choice but to move where the work is. Only other option is to find another niche and go with it. I have only been a small business man for 5 years since working for engineering firms all my life. It's helping me survive, but if you want to be successful the first thing you have to come to terms with is that whatever you USED to get paid, expect to make a lot less. Also expect to work yourself (and think yourself) silly as a goose! My lifelong pal who is a civil engineer, moved down here from Buffalo, NY when w

You nailed it!! In fact, I fall into no. 1 and no. 3, but thank God I managed to get beyond no. 2!!

You are right on that! I'm seeing too many people lose hope that it's getting really scary. A lot of people who were at least getting unemployment have extinguished their benefits. I often tell my friends who are in this boat to start thinking outside the box and look into other careers. Much like myself about 5 years ago when I got laid off, it took me a while to come to grips with the fact that my CAREER was up in smoke. Until you get it in your head, you will waste a lot of that initial time searching for another job in the career you always had, sort of in denial that it no longer exists.