caliber66

There's also a New York-based fashion designer named Jeffrey Tweedy. More likely, he's the one.

Yeah, but it's sung by Keith.

Blasphemy: I actually like "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" and will pretty much only listen to the studio albums.

There is no accounting for taste.

 

Say, to those Dead fans, did I likely see a classic, good, quality, etc. show in 1978? Thanks.

Not likely, considering Keith Godchaux was still in the band in 1978.

Thanks for pointing that out. My future is now certain to be error free in regards to the use of the word tartare.

 

 

I wouldn't bet on it.

I guess you did.

Tartar is a sauce. Tartare is raw meat.

Oh please no.

My share of my health insurance premium went up $9/month.

Nobody would complain about tying minimum wage increases to the rate of inflation, 

I bet a lot of people would complain about this.

That's not necessarily true. McDonald's has 1.8 million people working in 34,000 stores. If their labor costs were to double then so would their prices, leading to decreased sales, massive store closures and hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers.

 

 

It wouldn't come close to doubling prices, but they would of course go up.

Depends on the MRE, but yeah. They will plug you up, though.

They are paid an additional $7.50 per day. How many of us would walk through IEDs for seven dollars?

 

Irrelevant question. The soldiers are paid what they are paid, and they are asked to do what they are asked to do. 

Regardless, that's an additional $255/month when they are in combat, plus they qualify for a family separation allowance of $250/month, and they may qualify for any number of bonuses, including flight pay, special skill proficiency pay, etc. They get free healthcare. They get a housing allowance ($490/month for an E-1, $650 if he/she is married). And don't forget locality cost of living adjustments - a soldier living in Northern Virginia gets paid more than one living at Fort Leavenworth. 

No, but I haven't seen anyone reporting on the plight of minimum wage workers ask them if they live with their parents or receive housing or food benefits, either.

 

A new enlistee earns $1400 per month in base pay and receives $350 per month in meal allowances. He/she is then required to pay for his/her meals at the chow hall. I assume that $350 will just cover 3 meals a day in the chow hall, but it won't go far off post.

 

A few things to consider:

 

1) Military members are not paid hourly, so there's no overtime involved. They typically work far more than 40 hours per week; (Anecdote Alert) my friends worked 12-hour days 7 days per week in Afghanistan and Iraq. That really changes the dollars per hour equation.

 

2) Sometimes your "room and board" consists of eating cold meals out of a plastic bag while living and sleeping in a hole in the ground. (One that you dug yourself, of course.)

 

 

And then there's that whole getting shot at and blown up thing ...

 

1. Military members in Afghanistan and Iraq are compensated more than soldiers who aren't in Afghanistan and Iraq.

2. Do they have to pay for their MREs? Also, MREs now include a chemical heater, so they don't have to eat them cold.

Udo Kier

The original poster's remark was "trading anecdotes rather than fact."

And the other posters' anecdotes are also facts. So what?

It's also a cold, hard fact that's directly related to the conversation at hand.

Sure. You probably shouldn't say you're not trading anecdotes and then throw out an anecdote, though.

Just to be clear, I wasn't exchanging anecdotes. My best friend's friend has been held in Iran for more than 2 years. He was sentenced to death and the Iranian regime seems unconcerned about creating an embarrassing international incident.

That is an anecdote.

Lilacs. Is that an odd smell? Its rare, only lasting a few short weeks in the Spring.

Why on earth would it be odd to enjoy the smell of lilacs (assuming you don't have testicles)?

All three of them are Via Chicagoans from way back.

Lammy, you're a real didgeridoo.

I don't know what that means, so I'm going to assume it's positive. Thanks, buddy!

Indeed it 'Would?'.