No "Import" Christmas

[Murph]

16 minutes ago, NighthawkChris said:

I’d like to think that a vast majority of electronics are made with semiconductors that are fabricated overseas. Sort of like how American are vehicles that use - and they all do - parts overseas? A lot of overseas corporations here in MI that work on building electronic modules for the Big 3… Maybe Americans put this stuff together, but couldn’t do it without international support apparently to make the stuff line workers assemble. Just curious on others’ thoughts in this regard. 

My Mom built chips in Mesa/Tempe in the 70's / early 80's.

Eventually they moved the factory to Mexico. Then across the pond.

We CAN do it.

We just don't.

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 minutes ago, Murph said:

My Mom built chips in Mesa/Tempe in the 70's / early 80's.

Eventually they moved the factory to Mexico. Then across the pond.

We CAN do it.

We just don't.

We used to be #1 in everything. Won not 1 but 2 World Wars. Now I fear Korea or China would make our military look silly in a war.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Murph]

1 minute ago, PrairieDog said:

 They can’t use the Made In label unless the product is created from substantially US materials/parts and manufacture.  

Yep.

And that's the stuff I'm buying this year.

Case knives, Vaughn tools, Channellock, stuff that SAYS Made In U.S.A. American Benchcraft leather goods, and such.

Some of the women are getting American made gold coins.

 

[fortyearspickn]

1 hour ago, Murph said:

My Mom built chips in Mesa/Tempe in the 70's / early 80's.

Eventually they moved the factory to Mexico. Then across the pond.

We CAN do it.

We just don't.

In the early 70s I worked for a company (Harris Corp) that moved its electronic chip stuff off shore.  Barbados.  Still assembled stuff in Florida, but got small components made much cheaper off shore.  At the time,  companies were awakening to the fact they could make more money if they did this.  China was in the right place at the right time when Nixon opened up our relations with them in 1972 in an attempt to counter Soviet influence   So was Walmart. 

[Murph]

2 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

  So was Walmart. 

When Sam was alive, he was all about "Bring it home to the USA". He pushed for American made products, would work with makers, and paid his employees with stock bonuses that made many early employees millionaires. 

After he died is when it went to hell.

[Sgt. Pepper]

I guess if all of us professional businessmen or women here had our owned  big business's we would do it differently huh?

You guys and girls here are no different than me,  you complain about stuff you can't control.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[PrairieDog]

7 minutes ago, Murph said:

When Sam was alive, he was all about "Bring it home to the USA". He pushed for American made products, would work with makers, and paid his employees with stock bonuses that made many early employees millionaires. 

After he died is when it went to hell.

yep, and  that was a powerful marketing campaign. I can’t tell you how many  folks I run into out here who still say “I only shop Walmart because I’m supporting American made!”  I feel a twinge of guilt  for poking their balloons when I suggest they read the labels .  Target at least tries to offset the effect with other programs to boost local economies and their employees with decent wages and benefits, even for part-time folks.  I’m not sure how many customers understand those low prices at Walmart are only possible because the states (aka taxes) are making up the difference for all the employees who have to tap public assistance to make ends meet. 

[Notes_Norton]

22 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I'd rather go to Tortola, St. Maarten, or Barbados.

St. Maarten was a lot of fun. We'd also pull into St. Thomas, and we'd go to Red Hook and take the ferry to St. John. I really love the wildness there. We never got down island, but we enjoyed the ones we visited.

But they were short ports for us, which is the reason I liked San Juan better. We got 12 hours on P.R.

We were there in the late 1980s, before smartphones. So translation was by phrase books, baby talk, and gestures. As soon as the ship got close, we tuned to the salsa radio station "Zeta Novente Treis" and we recorded some songs we liked.

We especially liked a Gillberto Santa Rosa song, No Me La Llames, from this album: (It's a great album)

We went downtown, far away from the zona turistica to a department store that sold appliances, records, and quite a few other things. Some baby-talk Spanish, friendly people on the street and the phase book helped to find a store that sold records.

That was the easy part. We played the cassette we made of No Me La Llames, and they showed us blank cassettes, then a new player, and we eventually had 3 or 4 store clerks trying to figure out what we wanted. Finally, one guy guessed and brought the album, and played the cut. PERFECTO!

They sales folks were all very nice, very helpful, and happy when we found our prize. We ended up buying 5 LPs that day, with recommendations from the staff. They were all winners.

I'm sorry this is so long and OT, but PR is part of the USA, and it's a wonderful place. All the LPs were from Puerto Rican groups, so we bought American.

BTW, when we went to that street festival in Bayamón, Gilberto Santa Rosa Orquesta was the headlining act, and played for well over an hour.

The street was full of Puerto Ricans, and back then, those who were salsa fans were mostly the dark skinned folks. At first, they gave these gringos a wide berth, but when they saw we were enjoying the music, before we knew it, the joints were passed our way and the smiles spread like sunshine.

Notes ♫

[PrairieDog]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I guess if all of us professional businessmen or women here had our owned  big business's we would do it differently huh?

Okay, hold on there, cowboy… 🙂 While I may not own a mega corporation, I do own my own business and we are among the biggest in our, granted tiny, field.  That being said, we do make a point of doing things differently, because we can and choose to.  

We work with public agencies, and some private interests, doing environmental research.  Our employees are our biggest asset so we treat them as such.  Without them we would be dead in the water.  To the point we will pay them before we pay the owners in the occasional cash crunch.  

In an industry that churns through the kids coming out of college and paying them minimum wage for hard grueling work, and usually only seasonal positions, we  start our new hires at a real living wage for our area.  And even our techs are hired on with the promise of a year-round full time job, if they aren’t just looking for summer work.  (Many are going to on grad school.)  

Because I started working fifty years ago, back in the good old days when companies took care of their workforces because it was the right thing to do, our firm offers the full range of benefits the big guys do, and most other independent shops don’t.  We take it a step farther by paying 100% of our Silver level health plan,  with no copays once the reasonable deductible is met.  We offer vacation, sick and paid family leave, an above average match on their 401ks, and meaningful holiday bonuses or profit sharing most years.  And because we are out in the boonies, when they have to be in the office we offer a shortened day, and paid travel time, and work from home arrangements where possible, so our employees can have a life outside of work.  

Our goal is to keep good people employed at good jobs they feel good about doing. 

We are in the consulting business so we don’t purchase goods, but we do work with our community and offer discounted rates to marginalized groups who need our services for permitting reasons but can’t afford all the costs. We also have a pro bono program for special projects that just need to be done but don’t have any other funding source.  

Being good corporate citizens and doing our work exceptionally well with exceptional people is our business model.  Not always terribly profitable one, but it keeps us in kibble, and guitars. 🙂 

Oh, and before I get blown off, this is not “virtue signaling” (when did doing right become a bad thing), it is just a case study that it is possible to run even a small business and treat your employees right if one adjusts the expectation of what the company is for, and what is “success.” 

Edited November 28, 2023 by PrairieDog

[Notes_Norton]

2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

We used to be #1 in everything

I remember those days. It was a good time to be an American, and I'm glad I got to see that. Even the German Chancellor drove a Cadillac (not a Benz).

I think the glory days lasted until the moon landings.

Then “our” corporations found cheap labor overseas. And our government relaxed the antitrust laws, so by consolidation, the corporations became cartels, and quality no longer mattered, as there was no real competition. With a corporation, the only thing that matters is profit.

So we consumers just do the best we can now. Made In America, doesn't mean the best in the world anymore. That was too expensive for the corporate cartel age.

Notes ♫

 

 

[gearbasher]

2 hours ago, Murph said:

 

Some of the women are getting American made gold coins.

 

I wonder where the gold to mint those coins comes from?

[Sgt. Pepper]

35 minutes ago, PrairieDog said:

Okay, hold on there, cowboy… 🙂 While I may not own a mega corporation, I do own my own business and we are among the biggest in our, granted tiny, field.  That being said, we do make a point of doing things differently, because we can and choose to.  

We work with public agencies, and some private interests, doing environmental research.  Our employees are our biggest asset so we treat them as such.  Without them we would be dead in the water.  To the point we will pay them before we pay the owners in the occasional cash crunch.  

In an industry that churns through the kids coming out of college and paying them minimum wage for hard grueling work, and usually only seasonal positions, we  start our new hires at a real living wage for our area.  And even our techs are hired on with the promise of a year-round full time job, if they aren’t just looking for summer work.  (Many are going to on grad school.)  

Because I started working fifty years ago, back in the good old days when companies took care of their workforces because it was the right thing to do, our firm offers the full range of benefits the big guys do, and most other independent shops don’t.  We take it a step farther by paying 100% of our Silver level health plan,  with no copays once the reasonable deductible is met.  We offer vacation, sick and paid family leave, an above average match on their 401ks, and meaningful holiday bonuses or profit sharing most years.  And because we are out in the boonies, when they have to be in the office we offer a shortened day, and paid travel time, and work from home arrangements where possible, so our employees can have a life outside of work.  

Our goal is to keep good people employed at good jobs they feel good about doing. 

We are in the consulting business so we don’t purchase goods, but we do work with our community and offer discounted rates to marginalized groups who need our services for permitting reasons but can’t afford all the costs. We also have a pro bono program for special projects that just need to be done but don’t have any other funding source.  

Being good corporate citizens and doing our work exceptionally well with exceptional people is our business model.  Not always terribly profitable one, but it keeps us in kibble, and guitars. 🙂 

Oh, and before I get blown off, this is not “virtue signaling” (when did doing right become a bad thing), it is just a case study that it is possible to run even a small business and treat your employees right if one adjusts the expectation of what the company is for, and what is “success.” 

Good on ya. There are many business’s that do stuff with overseas parts. If you can sustain being 100% that outstanding. 

Now,  here’s something, what was the first thing Gibson did after they bought Epiphone, which back them was American, well off to overseas land they went.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Murph]

37 minutes ago, gearbasher said:

I wonder where the gold to mint those coins comes from?

The "Lost Dutchman Mine" just outside of Apache Jct.

Duh....

[IanHenry]

22 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

We used to be #1 in everything. Won not 1 but 2 World Wars. Now I fear Korea or China would make our military look silly in a war.

Well, you helped out 🙂

[jvi]

23 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

We used to be #1 in everything. Won not 1 but 2 World Wars. Now I fear Korea or China would make our military look silly in a war.

helped win...

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, IanHenry said:

Well, you helped out 🙂

I guess. I was only in a warmonger service for 4 years. For 19, I was in the USCG where the mission is totally different. The CG deal with drug interdiction, illegal alien migration, keeping waterways open, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Murph]

18 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

 The CG deal with drug interdiction, illegal alien migration, 

I'm glad we have the fentanyl and illegal alien problem under control.

Otherwise, it would be chaos....

[Sgt. Pepper]

9 minutes ago, Murph said:

I'm glad we have the fentanyl and illegal alien problem under control.

Otherwise, it would be chaos....

We certainly don't, but people know what that stuff can do too them, yet risk doing it anyway. Drugs, and the rest of the bad stuff that goes on in the world will never be "solved". 

And illegal alien migration means people from other countries trying to illegally enter the country, and not the ones that fly around anal probing Kansas farmers.

Maybe I should have used the word interdiction instead of migration as not to confuse you.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Murph]

I forgot about this American Made company and their many products.

Behind the Tech | WeatherTech

[fortyearspickn]

22 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Good on ya. There are many business’s that do stuff with overseas parts. If you can sustain being 100% that outstanding. 

Now,  here’s something, what was the first thing Gibson did after they bought Epiphone, which back them was American, well off to overseas land they went.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.   

[SteveFord]

If all goes well, my Christmas present will be a rolling chassis with a rebuilt motor in it and numerous boxes of bits.

This is what the finished product will look like but heck, it'll be assembled right here in the good old U S of A by a real, live tax paying American.  That would be me.

[Murph]

Dig it, Steve. I always wanted a Scrambler. Actually found a basketcase late 60's when I was living in Lake Charles in the mid 80's but couldn't come to an agreement with the seller.

Now, restored, it would be worth a pretty penny.

[Murph]

I made some Christmas presents last night in America with dead American cow hide. A small sheath for my brothers Puma and some misc key hangers for whoever. Yea, I can't sew for crap. Gonna stick to Chicago screws and copper rivets.

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, SteveFord said:

If all goes well, my Christmas present will be a rolling chassis with a rebuilt motor in it and numerous boxes of bits.

This is what the finished product will look like but heck, it'll be assembled right here in the good old U S of A by a real, live tax paying American.  That would be me.

Now that's a motorcycle. 

They've remade these in recent times. Is it original or a newer one? I don't know enough to tell. My FIL had one, then a Trident, then a modern Bonneville. 

Look great with clip on handle bars and rear-set pegs, but apparently painful to ride that way. 

[PrairieDog]

1 hour ago, Murph said:

Dig it, Steve. I always wanted a Scrambler. Actually found a basketcase late 60's when I was living in Lake Charles in the mid 80's but couldn't come to an agreement with the seller

Back when I was a teen, I used to crash on and off at a house that had a  partially disassembled hog as the centerpiece of the living room.  

Sad story, my buddy dumped his bike with his pregnant gf. They lived, but… so they broke up. Anyway, my buddy always thought he’d bring the bike back, but it just bummed him out every time he started, the memories were too hard.

So there it lay on it’s side, slowly dripping fluids into the floor of the rental house.  Always stuck with me, the sadness, and what the landlord thought when they moved out.  

Some years later in my first house, I pulled up a corner of the old living-room carpet hoping to find hardwood. Found gorgeous, pristine amber golden maple.  Got all excited thinking “wow, won’t even have to refinish!”

Went to work ripping it all out, got to the middle of the room and there:  a dark, oily stain about 4 feet in diameter.  

I sent up a good thought to my buddy. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by PrairieDog