USMB member pic thread. Don't be shy.

[sealybobo]

I told Mortimer that myself in the past. So how are things going in metro Detroit ? Are things improving ,all I hear are the negative in the news when it comes to that area of the country. I have always wanted to visit and fish the great lakes.

Michigan has done great during the Obama and Biden years.

Unions won strikes in a variety of sectors, including health care, casinos, and Hollywood. Some notable strikes included:

• Front-line health care workers in Hawaii: After a nearly two-month strike, workers ratified a new three-year contract.
  
  
  
  
• School employees in southeastern Ohio: After a 12-day strike, workers ratified a new contract.
  
  
  
  
• City workers in San Jose, California: After a near-unanimous strike vote, workers reached an agreement with their employer.
  
  
  
  
• United Autoworkers: After a simultaneous strike, members won pay increases and other concessions from Detroit automakers.
  
  
  
  
• Screenwriters: After striking against Hollywood studios, screenwriters won pay raises and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence.

Also Casino workers, UPS workers, etc.

Things slowed down in 2019 because of Trump's trade war with China. Then Covid.

during the Trump administration, the U.S. lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs — and almost 800,000 "new" manufacturing jobs have been added since President Biden took office.

 

[sealybobo]

I told Mortimer that myself in the past. So how are things going in metro Detroit ? Are things improving ,all I hear are the negative in the news when it comes to that area of the country. I have always wanted to visit and fish the great lakes.

My brother retired. He was a VP of HR for a Fortune 500. Early next year it will be 1 full year. He was paid $1 million dollars to sit at home for a year. If they found out he went back to work they could stop paying him. So he has checked off a few bucket list things, he's had a great time, and I don't think he ever wants to go back to work full time, EVER again.

BUT, he will consider taking on contract work. He was contacted by a head hunter about a company who's employees just voted to go union. The company doesn't know everything they need to do, but my brother does. So for $10,000 a week, for about 3 months, he will help them transition. Because he has dealt with unions in almost every country in the world. I don't think he's getting this gig because he still needs to not work for a couple/few more months but damn that's a good gig huh? Work 3 months and make more than I make working all year?

So in 3 months he will make $120,000. Maybe take on one of these projects once a year. I told him he should buy the big fishing boat he's always wanted or 4x4 side by side with these gigs. Or a tractor. Like, with all the attachments. All the toys he doesn't have, buy them with this money. Like Jay Leno. He never bought a car with his Tonight Show money. Only the money he made doing stand up.

 

[sealybobo]

The Golden Gate Bridge.

My friends and I love finding great places with great views to ride our Ebikes

Both the west and east side of the Golden Gate Bridge have bike paths, but only one side is open to cyclists at a time. The west side of the bridge (left side if you're coming from San Francisco) is open to cyclists after 3pm on Fridays and all day on weekends. This path is open to cyclists only.

Sounds great!

If you start at the welcome center and ride across and return, it should roughly take about 1 hour. If you decide to go beyond the bridge north or return and ride along Crissy Field, this activity could extend to most of the day! Ride 1.7 miles across the Golden Gate Bridge and beyond.

Easy on a Ebike

The Golden Gate Bridge Bicycle Ride is 11.7 miles long and is the longest road biking trail in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It's a popular trail for road biking that's open year-round. The trail is considered moderately challenging and offers great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and other Bay Area sights.

So 23 miles round trip. Perfect for an Ebike. This is bucket list material and you live there?

 

[Alan Stallion]

My friends and I love finding great places with great views to ride our Ebikes

Both the west and east side of the Golden Gate Bridge have bike paths, but only one side is open to cyclists at a time. The west side of the bridge (left side if you're coming from San Francisco) is open to cyclists after 3pm on Fridays and all day on weekends. This path is open to cyclists only.

Sounds great!

If you start at the welcome center and ride across and return, it should roughly take about 1 hour. If you decide to go beyond the bridge north or return and ride along Crissy Field, this activity could extend to most of the day! Ride 1.7 miles across the Golden Gate Bridge and beyond.

Easy on a Ebike

The Golden Gate Bridge Bicycle Ride is 11.7 miles long and is the longest road biking trail in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It's a popular trail for road biking that's open year-round. The trail is considered moderately challenging and offers great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and other Bay Area sights.

So 23 miles round trip. Perfect for an Ebike. This is bucket list material and you live there?

I"m a CalTrain or BART ride away from San Francisco.

 

[sealybobo]

I"m a CalTrain or BART ride away from San Francisco.

San Francisco Bay Trail​

• Distance: 350 miles
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Sights: Bay views

The San Francisco Bay Trail is an extensive and well-maintained trail that travels through several cities and towns near San Francisco! There are several legs near the city that tourists and locals alike love to cycle. Try out the Fort Mason (San Francisco) to Sausalito Ferry via Crissy Field leg to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and enjoy bay views! There are also more stretches of the bay that leave the city views for more wind-swept bay and shoreline views.

Couldn't do it all in a day. Is that 350 miles one way? Shit! We got 50 miles in us before our asses are sore. So it would take us 14 outings to complete.

I go to Fort Lauderdale every February or March. Probably March this year. It's pretty good. But not 350 miles.

How about Long Beach to San Diego? 112 miles. I'd love to spend the winter in Cali.

 

[Stryder50]

And you still have all that hair? LOL. My nephew caught a snapchat of my butt crack and sent it to a group we are in. I'm the only 50 something in the group. The rest are either in college or just graduated. Anyways, I didn't care about the butt crack. I couldn't believe how thin my hair has gotten in the back. i thought I was looking at a video of my brother at first.

P.S. Are you saying you showed up to say don't raise your taxes? Isn't that voted on in the general election? It should be. Every 4 years. Like on my ballot there were two or 3 questions.

1. Do you want to raise taxes for parks and rec?
2. Do you want to raise taxes for roads, schools, oolice, fire, bla bla bla.
3. Can we raise taxes because of inflation?

We got it good out here in metro Detroit. I don't mind funding the parks and local government. So I always vote yes. Keep it nice.

Anyways, it should be on the ballot every 4 years. You shouldn't have to go to meetings to scream or cheer. I think it's GREAT that you are involved and fight for what you believe in, but WE shouldn't have to. But I think deep down, you like it. You like being a good/involved citizen. I don't even know your politics, but you seem like a decent person.

I'm not putting my pic up here. I've said HORRIBLE things on USMB. LOL. But a pic does say 1000 words. It humanizes you. Mortimer and Dakota Kai. I love having a vision of who they are after seeing their pics.

I've told Mortimer he looks Peter Lorre
View attachment 1050352

The hair thing is luck of the draw, genetics wise. A family trait.

Some tax increases are voted on by general public, others are part of the "leeway" sanctioned to city/county councils.
There is a lot of back and forth on the taxation and authorization issues, leftist-statists so far win most often.

One issue is the new appraiser who extremes to over values property, nearly doubling those taxes in past couple years.

Our taxes are way beyond inflation rate.

Part of the public comment was the need to reduce the budget, not grow it.

The underscore here is that while some want economic growth and attract more businesses and industries, others are restricting land use/zoning make it more difficult to increase housing, combined with increased taxes, which drive new and existing businesses away.

I don't go to all meetings, but enough of us do to monitor what "they" are doing and be their conscious. Representative democracy is based upon active citizen participation.

 

[sealybobo]

The hair thing is luck of the draw, genetics wise. A family trait.

Some tax increases are voted on by general public, others are part of the "leeway" sanctioned to city/county councils.
There is a lot of back and forth on the taxation and authorization issues, leftist-statists so far win most often.

One issue is the new appraiser who extremes to over values property, nearly doubling those taxes in past couple years.

Our taxes are way beyond inflation rate.

Part of the public comment was the need to reduce the budget, not grow it.

The underscore here is that while some want economic growth and attract more businesses and industries, others are restricting land use/zoning make it more difficult to increase housing, combined with increased taxes, which drive new and existing businesses away.

I don't go to all meetings, but enough of us do to monitor what "they" are doing and be their conscious. Representative democracy is based upon active citizen participation.

Each city is different. My brother bought 65 acre vacation/hunting property up north. His view used to be all mountain. But the guy who owns the mountain he looks at stripped it of all the trees and looks like it's a gravel pit now. My brother is pissed but nothing he could do about it.

The same guy wanted to build self storage on the main road that goes from Boyne City to East Jordan. It's called Old Country Road. No one wants to see business' and self storage on that road. So my brother did get to vote and the city voted NO to him putting self storage there on his property. Business' have to be in town.

So some cities want to stay small. Or some people in the city want to keep it small. They don't want to grow too much. But keep it small and attract some kinds of business' obviously. The city he lives in (East Jordan) could use more business for sure. Boyne City is booming with condo's and yachts. East Jordan is more run down, less business, no supermarket. When you grow so does population and crime unfortunately.

 

[sealybobo]

I look a whole lot older than my age. Facial hair and early 20s baldness make me look like I'm in my 40s but I was born in 2001.

Where you been? Do you get SNAP?

Prominent Republican lawmakers and conservative think tanks have proposed cuts and other harmful policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could gain traction in Congress this year. These changes would cut food assistance across the U.S., making it harder for millions of people to buy the groceries they need to eat a healthy diet.

If it happens I'm going to remind you that you voted for it. That YOU took food out of your own mouth by voting Republican.

 

[daveman]

Where you been? Do you get SNAP?

Prominent Republican lawmakers and conservative think tanks have proposed cuts and other harmful policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could gain traction in Congress this year. These changes would cut food assistance across the U.S., making it harder for millions of people to buy the groceries they need to eat a healthy diet.

If it happens I'm going to remind you that you voted for it. That YOU took food out of your own mouth by voting Republican.

This isn't the thread for that.

 

[d0gbreath]

I was searching for a handsome picture of moi, when it occurred to me that such a thing doesn't exist.