Occupation

Also retired and 74,

I have worked in a variety of areas over the decades, I have done cost accounting, retail sales, part owwner of a sound company doing mostly concerts in the 70s. From there to Saudi Arabia in construction on the admin side. After that to wall streed and ended up in oension consulting for the big plans. In the end I cared for both parent throuhg their final years. Tha was when I got my first tank.

Never married and no kids. It has its advantages and disadvantages.

In the 1970s I began playing poker and have mostly been in a regular game ever since. I even managed to find a game in Saudi Arabia. Took a break from that for many years and then resumed about 6 years ago. Covid killed the game. We began playing again last month.
 
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I am a programmer/lead systems ops, specifically Linux systems for a small software company. I enjoy doing both so it was nice to move to a startup and have the flexibility of doing a bit of everything. I'm too outspoken to work in a corperate environment, nor do I like shirts. Before that I worked at a big marketing agency in the city creating web apps to support advertising campaigns for big companies, was good for gaining a vast array of experience and plenty of freebies but too many pointless deadlines and crunchtimes.

It's nice now finishing work and not thinking about it till the next day.. unless something goes down anyway :)
 
I didn't see any recent threads with this topic so ...

What is your occupation, or current studies if a student, or if retired/other, what occupies your time other than fish?

As for me, I'm an engineering manager in a huge engineering company, with most of my career supporting F-15 radar. I'm about ready to retire.
Im in graduate school to be an art therapist! Before this I went to college for art education.
 
Over the years I've done many things but the one that was my main and recurring passion was veterinary nursing. I often took a break for a year or so to recharge the batteries and so have also done store management, driving instructor, secretarial temp, contact centre operative. A few years back I decided to go to Uni and get my BSc as an Acupuncturist and so now have my own business stabbing people for a living. Last year I went back to Uni to get my masters in Chinese Herbal Medicine, I'm currently supposed to be finishing my essay but am procrastinating on here lol. Love it as a job, I am generally people's last choice and their amazement when acupuncture works is lovely.
 
Food, power, gas and fuel prices have all gone up in Australia too. Meat went up a few months after covid started and that is weird because we grow all our own meat here, same with fruit n veges. And it didn't go up by a little bit, everything has gone up 40-50% or more. The only things that haven't gone up are the pension, unemployment benefits and wages. They have been stagnant for the last 8-9 years.
Prices have gone sky high for only one reason. Corporate greed. What we are seeing is plain old price gouging. The capitalist system is built on the idea of never ending growth and always increasing profits. The big boys have to pay their investors and guess where that money comes from if business falls off ? Their dutiful wage slaves. The workers get no raises and the boss raids your retirement pension. Two years ago oil was so cheap they couldn't afford to pump it and now it's never been this high. The Oil Barons lost in 2020 but they always find a way to get it back. The big boys never lose. Capitalism means never ending growth and always increasing profits and bigger dividends for investors every quarter. But not the workers. They help the boss make money but get bent over and reamed. What a great system !
 
Prices have gone sky high for only one reason. Corporate greed. What we are seeing is plain old price gouging. The capitalist system is built on the idea of never ending growth and always increasing profits. The big boys have to pay their investors and guess where that money comes from if business falls off ? Their dutiful wage slaves. The workers get no raises and the boss raids your retirement pension. Two years ago oil was so cheap they couldn't afford to pump it and now it's never been this high. The Oil Barons lost in 2020 but they always find a way to get it back. The big boys never lose. Capitalism means never ending growth and always increasing profits and bigger dividends for investors every quarter. But not the workers. They help the boss make money but get bent over and reamed. What a great system !
Do you have data on the margins to support the above. Higher retail prices does not necessarily mean higher producer profits.
 
Do you have data on the margins to support the above. Higher retail prices does not necessarily mean higher producer profits.
Costs have gone up for the importers of the materials needed to make products for consumers. They have to pass the costs on so that they can at least break even. Hence, higher prices for us
 
what bugs me is when a food company decreases the size of the container and charges the same or sometime even more than before. Ice cream used to come in 1/2 gallon containers...now they come in 1.5 qt containers.
Orange juice used to come in 1/2 gallon size and now they're 59 ounces.
 
Veterinary Technician going on 13 years. I love it most days, people can be difficult, and I often wish animals could walk themselves into the clinic.🤣

I also have my own personal zoo and aquarium in my home. It consists of nearly too many fish to count, many furry critters of various size and 3 naughty little primates(my kids)🤣. I like to stay busy, what can I say.
 
what bugs me is when a food company decreases the size of the container and charges the same or sometime even more than before. Ice cream used to come in 1/2 gallon containers...now they come in 1.5 qt containers.
Orange juice used to come in 1/2 gallon size and now they're 59 ounces.
Downsizing FTW
</sarc>
 
Do you have data on the margins to support the above. Higher retail prices does not necessarily mean higher producer profits.
All I know is that I saw some Big Oil Tycoons on TV crying like babies that it cost more to pump the oil than it could be sold for. In the Bakken oil fields of western North Dakota they were capping the wells until crude prices rose. Once again in case you weren't listening , the Big Boys never lose. They cry that they lost money but the truth is that they didn't make what they wanted to. Why does that only work one way ? Why doesn't the worker get reimbursed when prices go up to keep him level ? Why ? Because we are serfs ! We are slaving for corporate greed and investor returns.
"Workers of the world unite ! You have nothing to lose but your chains". The only cure to the problems facing the working class is to nationalize all the big corporate conglomerates and put them under the control of a workers central committee . It's called a dictatorship of the proletariat.
 

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