I think you're mixing two different things. A company that doesn't give raises tends not to across the board, excepting perhaps the execs. I think what you're referring to is offering new hires more than the current hires are making for the same position. As in, you could technically quit and then get rehired at the same company for more money. That *does* happen, but back when you got hired, it probably happened to you too, in comparison to the people who had been working there for a while. And sometimes you really do have to shop around in order to advance. But that's still different from being handed a cushy job.

I don't get it. Why the hell not? I did. Work in a factory, I mean. I'm currently working from home as a consultant, with sounds cushy if you ignore all the years of sweat and long hours and travel that led up to it. Where did we as a workforce get the idea that we're just handed cushy jobs without having to put in the sweat first?

"Workers say they don't have sick pay, receive minimal benefits and are paid as little as $19 an hour," according to the article, "forcing some to work multiple jobs to make ends meet." Sam Regan, a data analyst contractor

So, um, why work there at all? There are no jobs better?

I personally think that's optimistic, but ok.

Consider, the F35 is a single seat fighter, and is likely to be a significant way away from anything that could provide a sudden stop, should there be a catastrophic failure that would prevent the pilot from seeing. In most instances, only one person is at risk, and they're likely to have time to correct the problem, even if that only means taking off the headset.

A busy freeway is a considerably less tolerant environment, and gives the driver a lot less time to recover from catastrophic failure.

Moreover, when I said "hardened electronically", I was referring to the ability to electronically break into the device. In order to provide the "transparent cockpit", the visor needs to communicate with a control center that turns the output of several cameras into a contiguous view and seemlessly blend it into the experience.

The point being, there has to be some wireless communication going on , and that provides a vector for attack.

Yes, true, but, a couple of things.

F35 pilots get a massive amount of training before they fly the thing. A nineteen year old goes into a store, buys a headset, and wears it. Quite the contrast.

F35 headsets are military grade, and assuming the designers have done their job, are probably pretty hardened electronically. Less likely for a consumer device. Leaving open the idea of breaking into the things and causing mayhem on the open road, if they're popular, perhaps causing serious chaos on a busy freeway. This is ignoring the accidents caused by simple platform failure.

Wearing a VR headset while DRIVING isn't already banned? Good Lord!

"The best" what?

I remember telling my boss, I really don't want to learn CP-67, these PCs are the future, I'm gonna learn Windows 3.11. And finally, hey! That's paying off.

Maybe?

It's my understanding that there are two types of solar for the house -- (1) the "always connected" type where your solar just supplements the grid, and your power still shuts off if there's a power outage, by design, ostensibly so that the lines are not live when the linemen work on them, which you buy into in theory so that your electrical bill goes down, and (2) the systems that not only power the grid but are true backups, automatically switching to local batteries if the grid goes down. (Either a rack of deep cycle batteries or something like Tesla's "powerwall".)

Is type (2) still allowed in California? (Honest question -- I don't know.) If so, I'm thinking there's a possibility to keep your house switched to local power, while still meeting the government's requirements to be on-grid.

Or, just a though, you could move the heck outta California. I did.

I have solar for an outbuilding to which I can't run power, and I have solar for the trailer for dry camping, and in each case I bought (not leased or rented or financed) the components and set it up myself.

Twice I looked into solar for the house, had salescreatures out both times, did a lot of reading, (starting with The Complete Idiot's Guide to Solar for your Home and branching off from there), looked at the financing side, read the reviews, and decided that the great majority was a scam. You see the ads all the time for "free solar" and "if you're paying more than $15 a month for electricity you're an idiot" and the like. But the great majority of these companies are in the same vein as the ones that want to sell you "one simple trick" to cure diabetes. The great majority are scams.

Sidebar: That goes for the great majority of "solar generators" offered for sale. THEY'RE JUST BATTERIES. Fine if a bit pricey for charging up your iphone, but forget powering your house. A friend bought one with a patriotic name as he regularly experienced outages. I sat down with him ahead of time and ran the numbers -- adding up power requirements and availability, he'd get only a few minutes on a full charge, then days of recharging on the wimpy solar panels provided, and horribly overpriced for what he was getting. But he bought it anyway. These things are designed to sell to hopeful people who don't understand electricity.

Anyway, for me it took a lot of time and was a bit frustrating, and I had to endure high pressure sales, but I'm glad I did the groundwork. It appears that I dodged a bullet.

THAT SAID, there are definite uses for solar. My trailer will run indefinitely on 350W provided by solar panels, using AGMs to store power for nighttime use, (don't get me started on lithiums -- people usually don't understand what lithium batteries actually buy you) but solutions like that require planning and knowledge. Everything in the trailer that doesn't run on propane, including the fridge, runs on 12 volts, (except air conditioning, which requires shore power) and everything is designed to use the minimum power possible.

And admittedly, I have a notion of isolating the house fridge and freezer on their own circuit, buy some deep cycle batteries, sine wave converter, soft start, and sufficient panels so that I could keep my food from spoiling if the power went off for a long period of time. And now, with companies going out of business, may be the time to look for deals on remaindered solar panels.

Addendum: Modern, self-contained wireless security cameras will also recharge off solar panels. The ones I put up have a separate panel rather than attached to the camera itself, allowing me to put the camera where it needs to be and run a line to the panel on the roof. It simplified the setup tremendously not to have to run any wires from the house to the cameras.

I guess the overall point being, solar has its uses, but if you're not knowledgeable, there's a strong chance that you will be scammed.

Maybe... we could buy some other brand besides HP?

I mean, what, besides really expensive ink, is HP offering?

That's what they say every year.

Perhaps, but it occurs to me that, in the highly competitive world of grocery retail, a way to differentiate your store is to have all human checkers. Or at least, more than the mega department store down the block.

Profits do win. But they have to realize that they're losing sales by insisting on self-checkout. Maybe not a lot. But maybe some, and maybe it's increasing.

I used to be a grocery checker, so in most cases I'm ok with doing the work myself. The problem enters when I need the one clerk on duty for the four rows of kiosks to do something that requires an authority I do not have, like verifying ID for alcohol. There have been times when I got tired of waiting (10 or 15 minutes) abandoned the kiosk, and switched to a line with a live checker. And yes, I realize I'm leaving a kiosk in an unworking state, but what other choice is there?

There are stores where I don't buy beer or wine because the wait for verification is so long.

And finally, I've noticed recently at least two grocery stores who have shut down the self serve lines and added more checkers. Apparently, in at least some environments, it's not a good idea.