[Johnny Cache]

The only 3 that have been in that park are the two already mentioned and
GC14R00

GCPM94 Archived 2006
GC14R00 Archived 2008
And the Active Puzzle Cache

[Johnny Cache]

Glad it’s over. Now I can concentrate on FF. My team needs attention, or maybe a lot of luck. VG ended with a “KaBoom” and put a 10-0 whoopin’ on Sunshine’s Twins. Good season all.

[Johnny Cache]

I bet VG and Mouthman would love to be in the “Consolation” division to play you twice. Their road to the promise land is a tad more difficult. 😈

[Johnny Cache]

Mike,

My family was out that way last month, as well as a year ago.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is 5 miles south of Cleveland. Starts in Independence and heads south. Plenty of old Erie Canal locks can be seen there. There’s a bike trail that runs the length of the park and a train can carry you back if you don’t want to do a round trip. Certainly more than driving by and grabbing a cache or two.

http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/maps/showmap.cfm?alphacode=cuva&parkname=Cuyahoga%20Valley%20National%20Park

In Buffalo, we stopped at the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. Only a handful of Presidents have taken the Oath of Office outside DC. TR’s was in Buffalo after McKinley’s assassination. About a one hour tour of the house. Great history if you’re into that.

http://www.nps.gov/thri/index.htm

In Rome, NY (30 miles east of Syracuse) is Fort Stanwick. The kids loved this site. To see the before and after shots of how the reconstruction of this fort was completed is unbelievable. The visitor center is quite large and has loads of history with great exhibits. And the fort is “real cool” as one of my sons described it.

http://www.nps.gov/fost/index.htm

Cooperstown, NY (about 40 min. south of I90) has the Baseball Hall of Fame. You can spend lots of time checking that place out.

http://baseballhall.org/

Wasn’t sure if you were looking for caching locations or just interesting spots to see. Enjoy your trip.

[Johnny Cache]

Do you want me to tell you your new password? 😈

[Johnny Cache]

I found 3 caches in Playa Del Carmen about 2 years ago. Those 3, along with 2 newer ones, are in pretty safe areas.

Playa del Carmen (virtual)
Playa Del Pinus
Ruinas Arqueologicas

Tequila
Three Squeezes

[Johnny Cache]

Regarding the top 56 salaries, it is a matter of perspective. That list is sad. I’d love to see 100 or even 200 guys on that list. The only ones that have a legitimate gripe over those wages are the owners/share holders.

If you don’t like Harley, go buy a rice burner and see what that does for our economy. You want to raise the corporate tax for Harley and open this pandora’s box again?

“On April 29, 2010, Harley-Davidson stated that they must cut $54 million in manufacturing costs from its production facilities in Wisconsin, and that they would explore alternate U.S. sites to accomplish this. The announcement came in the wake of a massive company-wide restructuring, which began in early 2009 and involved the closing of two factories, one distribution center, and the planned elimination of nearly 25% of its total workforce (around 3,500 employees). The company announced on September 14, 2010 that it would remain in Wisconsin.”

Raising taxes has consequences. Elections have consequences. If the sky is falling, like you predict, the pendulum will swing the other way.

[Johnny Cache]

Like Captain & Mate, I have not confirmed the following, so you may want to tread lightly as BBG suggests.

• 110 – The number of state employees laid off since 2007 (Source: DOA – excludes UW, Legislature & Supreme Court)
• 154,500 – The number of jobs lost in Wisconsin since December 2007 (Center on WI Strategy)
• $1.37 billion – Amount taxpayers contributed to the state’s pension fund 2009 (Leg. Fiscal Bureau)
• $1 billion – Amount WI taxpayers spend on state government health insurance each year (ETF)

For more see: http://maciverinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/WI_Fiscal_Crisis_Fast_Facts.pdf

’01-03 47.0B
’03-05 49.8B 5.9% Doyle
’05-07 52.7B 5.9% Doyle
’07-09 57.7B 9.4% Doyle
’09-11 62.7B 8.7% Doyle
’11-13 59.2B? -5.6%? Walker

BTW, the ’09-11 budget was passed without compromise from the democrats when they increased taxes by over $2B (the largest in our history). I don’t recall any republicans running to Illinois.

And what about those Koch Brothers and their PAC monies? They do give a lot. The real kicker was this report I found (http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?type=A). Koch Industries was number 83. Now take a look at the top 20 and tell me how many unions you see. Unions have spent a ton of money supporting candidates and board members that sit across the table during negotiations. There’s a lot of tax payers that don’t like this conflict of interest.

So take the above any way you want. Actions speak louder than words. We’ve all heard that the public unions have given in to the financial concessions regarding pension and health care, but look at how many contracts have been negotiated WITHOUT those concessions since the repair bill was introduced.

[Johnny Cache]

@The Crippler wrote:

Hey, do you think I will be able to ask for a refund of the portion of money I spend at most businesses that goes to their corporate lobbying efforts?

Not that I know of. But you do have every right NOT to do business with those that upset you. For a list of those, just read some of the signs in Madison. You have that choice. Now flip the argument. Does my wife have a choice NOT to be in the union?

This is a good discussion, and one that was inevitable. Yes, there will be a lot of sad stories and I’m sure they’ll be front and center in the news. My family will be affected by whatever is eventually passed. I’m concerned for my brother, who has 4 kids and a wife that works part time. I’m deeply concerned for my S-I-L that is a single mother with 2 kids. But this is a situation where I think everyone needs to think with their heads and not with their hearts.

It’s obvious where I stand, but I’m really trying to understand some of the arguments for collective bargaining. The repair bill states that the public employees will still have the right to organize. Yes, I realize that it’s only for wage concession and not for benefits or work rules. But it also states that a public employee would now have a right NOT be part of that organized effort. I’m really looking for answers here to better understand.

Do you feel a public employee should have a right NOT to be part of an organized group?

The question I asked earlier and have yet to see a response:

Do you feel public employees should be a protected class and have employment protections not seen in the private sector?

That question has been the #1 concern throughout this thread. Yes it would be horrible if experience and years of dedication was brushed aside to protect the bottom line and I would be pissed if I were replaced. But it’s something that the majority of workers in this state live with. What makes public service special? When it’s mentioned that you are different and should be treated better than all other workers, you are going to upset a lot of people.

In the many states that don’t have collective bargaining for public workers, have their public employees been treated like crap? Is there a lack of qualified employees to fill all of those positions? Are there job openings? I doubt it.

Let’s take some of the heat away from the teachers.

STAFF: (salary and benefits) DPI Database

Arrowhead – Bus Manager – Kopecky – $169,525
Arrowhead – Principal – Wieczorek – $152,519
Burlington – Bus. Manager – Smet – $148,512
Burlington – Asst. Principal – Burling – $122,601
Germantown – Asst. Principal – Dave Towers – $123,222
Elmbrook – Burleigh Elementary – Principal Zahn- $142,315
Madison – Asst Principal – McGrath – $127,835

UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN STAFF (2009) (salary alone):

Michael Knetter – Prof of Bus – $327,828
Carolyn Martin -Chancellor Mad- $437,000
Hector Deluca – Prof of Nutritional Science – $254,877 (really?)

MADISON GARBAGE MEN (2009) (salary only):

* Garbage man, Nelson earned $159,258 in 2009, including $109,892 in overtime and other pay.
* Garbage man, Tatman, earned $125,598
* 7 Madison garbage men made over $100,000
* 30 Madison garbage men made over $70,000

MILWAUKEE CITY BUS DRIVERS (salary only – Source WTMJ)

136 Drivers made more than $70,000
54 Drivers made more than $80,000
18 Drivers made more than $90,000
8 Drivers made more than $100,000
Top Driver made $117,000

The average private bus driver makes $9-13 an hour (about 20,000 yr) with no pension, or healthcare.

Now it was mentioned earlier that June and I are two of the lucky ones. We are fortunate that her contract goes until 2013, but in no way, do I feel we are lucky. I feel we’ve worked extremely hard, been dedicated and made sacrifices to get to where we are. We both worked and paid our own way through college and graduate school. Maybe we we’re lucky to have parents that taught us to respect others, have a strong faith, work hard, be responsible, appreciate what you have and that life will have some rocky roads. Blessed, yes. Luck, no.

In my opinion, the lucky ones are the tens of thousands of public workers that are able to retire after 30 years of service at age 55 with a nice pension and health benefits. Show me that in the private sector.

[Johnny Cache]

Let’s see, we’ll go with the number you came up. $235.32 for pension. I guess if we really need the money to pay bills, I could cut back on my self directed 401k contribution.

$3360 for Health Insurance? I guess I’ll finally have to look at getting health insurance with my company instead putting it on the backs of the 5 million tax payers of the state. Taking me off her plan, will reduce her number but increase my health insurance. Last time I looked, I think the employee only cost at our company was around $10K, so @ 25%, my $2500 portion could save us some money. I guess I’ll have to look at co-pays, deductibles, drugs and co-insurance to see which plan I’m better off with. So let’s just agree that the health insurance bite won’t be as bad as advertised.

The math for eliminating 100 teachers in Milwaukee is off. Look closely at starting pay for a teacher with a BA. To make up the hypothetical 5 million budget gap, you’d have to get rid of a few more. Wait for the state budget in March. A $5 million budget gap in Milwaukee would be probably be a good thing.

As I said earlier, June Carter and my other family members are concerned about job security, quality of education, class room size… there’s no doubt about that. But is a union the only way to secure those? Are you suggesting to the 5 million taxpayers of this state, that we should guarantee all public service their jobs but not have the same guarantee? Do you think it is a basic right that everyone be guaranteed a job? That’s part of the problem. There are a few crappy teachers out there. Do they deserve that guarantee too?

We hold out hope and optimism that Milwaukee and the other 1000+ municipalities will want to keep their high educated and experienced teachers and find other ways to trim there budgets.

I found this amusing:

@The Crippler wrote:

the Republicans and their PACs to spread their messages of doom and gloom

@The Crippler wrote:

Too bad Mrs JC doesn’t have seniority left as an argument for not letting her go, but as it was stated earlier, this is the way business operates.

Sandlanders started out the thread with a reminder to be respectful, civil and no name calling. It’s been pretty tame and yet I see the tell tale labels of Dictator, Doom and Gloom and suggestions that Walker will take us back to the Coal Miner years. There’s plenty of labels I could use for Union, but will have to give it some more thought.

[Johnny Cache]

@BigJim60 wrote:

My understanding is that we’re looking at losing 8% of our salary, or $4000 on a $50,000 salary

Losing??? This is going towards your pension that you get back at retirement. I suggest that the language of the bill be changed to suggest that the municipalities continue to contribute 50% of the pension(which is still a sweet deal) and that the employee have an option to contribute up to the remaining 50% or more. All formula’s then then be calculated based on what each individual employee has contributed to WRS. If someone can’t afford to kick in now, there’s no reduction in salary. Get that weak argument off the table.

Currently MPS is pumping $470.65/check into my wifes WRS plan (Close to $10k/yr), $28K/yr for our families health insurance, $1k for dental insurance, $126.21 for vision with a salary of $73k. Not bad. And there’s plenty of ways to earn much more than that. Milwaukee’s teachers aren’t doing that bad in my opinion (http://www.mtea.org/Public/pdf/salary_schedule.pdf). That’s the ’08-’09 tables. The current contract goes to 2013, with a 3% lump sum raise in 2010, 2.5% increase in 2011 and 3% increase in 2012. This relief bill does not tear up this contract, so it may be a while before Milwaukee teachers kick in to their pensions.

We’ve seen the writing on the wall for the past few years and we’re prepared. To suggest that state employee’s need time to prepare financially would mean they’ve had their head in the sand, expected the gravy train to continue, and are a bit irresponsible to their families.

If you’ve listened to the governor, you’ll realize that the upcoming budget will have massive cuts to counties and local municipalities. By dis-certifying the unions he’s giving the local municipalities the tools they’ll need to help balance their budgets. You think people are upset now? Give it another week or two.

Yes, my wife, brother and S-I-L are concerned about job security, quality of education, class room size… but they feel the union is way out of control. My wife is disgusted that she has to pay over $1100 in union dues to a union that spends a huge portion of it’s funds to endorse candidates she’d never support, bargains for health insurance for domestic partners and doesn’t make the residency rule a top priority in negotiations. And what can she get back if she requests a refund for the political action portion of the dues? $80. What a joke. She’s willing to invest a few hundred dollars in a professional teachers organization to lobby the local and state law makers on the things that are important to her.

A huge problem with this country is that people are spending way beyond their means, trying to keep up with the “Jones” and don’t know how to save.

I wish the Packers had a game this weekend. Things were so different two weeks ago.

[Johnny Cache]

GR – with experience, comes wisdom. I haven’t learned my lesson yet.

“Governor acting like a dictator”? Not the way I see it. My education taught me there is more than one branch of government and it takes more than 1 guy to approve a bill. The sign waving comparisons to Mubarak are ridiculous.

“a governor coming into office and trying to change the face of the state, in just a few short weeks, without feeling the pulse of the people, is walking on thin ice.” I disagree. The pulse of the people was felt in November. I think the ice is getting thicker.

We need to make changes, but they should be discussed by both sides, thus the word “negotiation”. Where was this when ObamaCare was rammed through? And isn’t it a little difficult to negotiate when the Democrat law makers run away to another state? Democracy has a hard time succeeding with that type of behavior.

Would you prefer Governor Walker take New York Mayor Bloomberg’s course of action? Laying off 6000 teachers and asking Gov. Cuomo for the right to allow teacher layoffs to be based on merit and not based solely on tenure. At least Walker’s proposal has no layoffs.

So do I give a hoot what happens to the teachers in the state? You bet I do. They’re educating my kids and I have 3 teachers, all with 20+ years, near and dear to my heart (Sister-in-law, Brother and Wife). Each one has acted like a professional and went to work this week, except for today when Milwaukee shut down (That didn’t stop my wife from going to school).

I wonder what the teachers in Madison think of a single mom, with a few kids, that depend on her kids being at school so she can work. How can she afford to have the last 3 days off? What if she loses her job for not being there? And what about all the kids that are dependent on the schools being open to get a breakfast or lunch? I’m guessing that most of those teachers in Madison didn’t give it a single thought. I commend the majority of teachers that stayed at work and acted like professionals.

[Johnny Cache]

@BigJim60 wrote:

Why would he ask Sam Shields about the Bears?

Because he didn’t think the guy at the bar with the IQ of 10 would understand the question. He had a dazed look on his face and a goofy sweatshirt with “Lovie” monogrammed on the front.

[Johnny Cache]

It appears that VG doesn’t win a darn thing for winning the division. I expected both division winners to get the bye. It based the seeding on record. Hopefully the NFL takes note of this situation and doesn’t award a playoff spot to the NFC West and instead has 3 wildcard teams. Don’t ya think?

And look who get a bye in the “Loser Bowl”. If it isn’t the commish himself. 😆

[Johnny Cache]

@benny7210 wrote:

Here I thought that I broke the internet…..Glad to find out that it wasn’t me.

That saved you the time, energy, and postage of sending a maintenance request to Al Gore. Lucky you.

[Author]

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