Snoopy49 Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Please understand one thing. I am a civilian with the US Army Corps of Engineers. I think the world of the men in uniform that I work with. I have lost friends over here but I can not and will not ever put myself in the same class as them. Are you a civilian contractor working with the US Army Corps of Engineers or do you work directly for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel 007 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Now, I am hoping you, after your lecture above to me without understanding my opinion, are one of those people who can perceive someone may have motivations different from your own. . I am sorry if it appeared that I was giving a lecture to you. I certainly did not mean it that way. I was standing on my soap box ranting at the world for saying I am an idiot for paying too much. It would appear to me that most people paid the ADM but it is few and far between of the people that admit it. I think you may have been collateral damage from my indirect fire. I appologize for my rant if it seemed skewed toward you. My VW comment was meant to relate to a house. Houses were greatly over-inflated and people would look at a $400,000 house and want it bad but could not pay the inflated price and therefore purchased a $200,000 "downsized" house. Nobody yelled at the people who paid over "Market Value" saying they were crazy to pay that much. It was what it was. Yes, you got what you wanted and you have a plan with the GT and I hope you enjoy it tremendously. Something about a man and a car that is surreal. You know, if the wife says: "It's me or the car!" and you catch yourself thinking about it for a minute. Gotta love the car! Boy am I going to get it if my wife sees this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel 007 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Are you a civilian contractor working with the US Army Corps of Engineers or do you work directly for them? I am contracted by them. I am a Master Electrician inspecting on all the FOBs, COBS, Camps Etc. I worked in Iraq for the DCMA from 2008-2010. Then I tried to call it quits but the military said they needed me for USACE in Afghanistan. Been here since 2010. I expect to go home in 2014 unless they tell me they need me in Africa. Djbouti (yes it is a real place) is really picking up with US interests. My car will wait for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Please understand one thing. I am a civilian with the US Army Corps of Engineers. I think the world of the men in uniform that I work with. I have lost friends over here but I can not and will not ever put myself in the same class as them. THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT! I know many many MANY contractors and every single one of them will say the same thing but as soon as *I* say it, I'm suddenly unpatriotic, a pacifist, a communist, a socialist, blah X 3. (EDIT: I also know many many MANY deployed Troops!) It AIN'T the same thing folks. One is giving, the other is getting..... Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy49 Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I am sure the Taliban will take his civilian status into consideration next time they decide to kill an American. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJinLV Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I am sure the Taliban will take his civilian status into consideration next time they decide to kill an American. Knock on wood, hoping none of that happens. Lets just hope Hillary and other Obama-ites now decide to increase the security around our bases, interests and embassies instead of decreasing them. I say machine gun nests, RPGs and air cover for our folks overseas, who put their lives on the line for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel 007 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I am sure the Taliban will take his civilian status into consideration next time they decide to kill an American. I have been all over this country and have been under rocket attack, mortar attack and AK47 fire. In fact, at FOB Masam Ghar I was living in a shipping connex that the Taliban decided would be a lot of fun to kill whomever was in it. They started shooting the crap out of it and I was hoping like crazy as I watched daylight start shining through the bullet holes that none of them fully penetrated. Luckily, since they were shooting from 400 meters out, none of the bullets made it inside with me. The Taliban has a $100,000 bounty they will pay for any soldier that somebody turns over to them and $50,000 for a civilian. They just want to kill Americans. Crazy people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Knock on wood, hoping none of that happens. Uhh, it happens often, and QUITE often. I don't know if it still holds true but the death rate for contractors (Black Water at the time) was higher than military deaths. They just don't get reported as war casualties. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madlock Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 In two years my car will still be brand new with only factory miles on it as it is being purchased and parked while I am over here. Dealer is putting it in my garage after delivering it in a covered trailer. And there it will stay. Check again with me in two years and see what it will be worth. (Hint: I paid $70,000 for my 2002 Saleen Extreme and it is still in brand new condition with minimal miles on it and I have been offerd $100,000 for it which I turned down.) Of course it was 1 of only 56 that were made so I am sure that had a major bearing on the offer. One other thing, this car will not be sold while I am alive. All my vehicles will go to my daughter and she can do what she wants with them. So for me personally trade in value is a non-factor. For the majority of others I am sure it is. AND, when the looming CAFE standards come fully into effect by 2016 and such cars are no longer made, there'll be even GREATER upward price support for the last handful of examples being made today. SOME people's ability to see ONLY in two dimensions (and sometimes not even THAT deep) and be oblivious to the quantum tipping points the economy has reached and the unprecedented effects it's likely to have is amazing. Whatever the 2015 and beyond cars may be, they WON'T be the rip snorting huge-displacement supercharged behemoths we have today. If only two such virginal cars exist at any given point in the future, only three people with sufficient desire are needed to create a seller's market to sustain values. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJinLV Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 If only two such virginal cars exist at any given point in the future, only three people with sufficient desire are needed to create a seller's market to sustain values. Well stated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madlock Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Well stated!! Thanks! This economics stuff really isn't all that complicated and nobody has to believe the trough of horsesh*t BOTH sides of the aisle keep shoveling. I'd say about 80% of the most meaningful fundamental economic principles are just as simple and about 90% of anything that makes it seem more complicated originates from interests attempting to disguise as fact something that happens to suit their own interests. Once I managed to figure that out for myself, my economics grade went from C minus to A with about half as much time spent studying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madlock Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 I have been all over this country and have been under rocket attack, mortar attack and AK47 fire. In fact, at FOB Masam Ghar I was living in a shipping connex that the Taliban decided would be a lot of fun to kill whomever was in it. They started shooting the crap out of it and I was hoping like crazy as I watched daylight start shining through the bullet holes that none of them fully penetrated. Luckily, since they were shooting from 400 meters out, none of the bullets made it inside with me. The Taliban has a $100,000 bounty they will pay for any soldier that somebody turns over to them and $50,000 for a civilian. They just want to kill Americans. Crazy people! "People" is being VERY generous . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel 007 Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thanks! This economics stuff really isn't all that complicated and nobody has to believe the trough of horsesh*t BOTH sides of the aisle keep shoveling. I'd say about 80% of the most meaningful fundamental economic principles are just as simple and about 90% of anything that makes it seem more complicated originates from interests attempting to disguise as fact something that happens to suit their own interests. Once I managed to figure that out for myself, my economics grade went from C minus to A with about half as much time spent studying. Dare I say it, of course I will! Madlock for President of the Good Ol' USA in 2016. Maybe with your economic understanding you can get this country off of it's collective behinds and back to a manufacturing base nation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
662HP631TQ Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 What an odd statement. I'd love to debate whether 2 + 2 equals 4 some time. It is odd, because what I meant is, while I don't agree much with you, I don't state that I don't agree with you on the forum. I just coast onto the next topic.......and isn't that how it should be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickW Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Because not even close to nearly everybody buys them in terms of cash-based ROI. To anybody who intends upon keeping a car in perpetuity, depreciation is utterly irrelevant. Why don't people just wait two years? Talk to the guy who saved his entire life to live on his own terms beyond age 40 and was hit by a bus on his way to his birthday party. You can even ask the guy who knows just a whit about economics and sees the kind of inflation that's inevitably headed our way and would rather buy what he knows he can afford today rather than risking not being able or not wanting to afford it tomorrow. I'm not at all surprised by peoples' myriad unique reasons for doing things (or not). But I'll NEVER cease to be amazed by the number of people who seem unable to perceive things from ANY perspective but their own. Well said! I gather, sir, that you yourself know more than a "whit" about economics. (The Austrian School, perhaps?) It is indeed amazing that, of the billions of financial transactions that occur on a daily basis, some people would pre-suppose their inputs on the willing transactions of others. It's also a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
662HP631TQ Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT! I know many many MANY contractors and every single one of them will say the same thing but as soon as *I* say it, I'm suddenly unpatriotic, a pacifist, a communist, a socialist, blah X 3. (EDIT: I also know many many MANY deployed Troops!) It AIN'T the same thing folks. One is giving, the other is getting..... Phill Yep, this is right! I am a contractor too. The thing is, many of the Contractors (My guess about 60-70%) are former Military. I am I was in the Air Force for 6 years. Deployment pay is NO comparison for the service members to the gigantic salaries of the Contractors. Like any opportunity though, you have to grab it while you can. I am really glad the Service memeber are getting paid better nowadays than many years ago. Even while I was in I was earning a pretty nice wage as an E-4/E-5! They still aren't making equivalent civillian pay, but with the skills and discipline I learned I was certainly ready for a better job when I got out. God bless them for doing a job with not much in monetary compensation but so much sacrifice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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