So much for Toyota's job creation

hey wait a minute....

 

Like all those McMansions that were built over the past 10 years? Most of them are so flimsy and poorly made that screw pops destroy the sheetroc after 3-4 years.

Like my unfortunate friend who purchased a McMansion in SLC in 2003, cost him $490,000 too. He couldn't figure out why the A/C just couldn't handle the cooling load for the second floor, no airflow at all. The "contractor" claimed it was "normal."

While visiting I agreed to snoop around. Fortunately, there was a suspended ceiling in the laundry room I could access, so I took along a spotlight and a video camera, and started rooting around the ceiling.

None of the HVAC ducts were insulated, nor were the seams sealed with aluminum foil tape. The actual culprit was the way they literally slapped together the second floor trunk: it had come apart and there was about an inch gap. All the airflow was going into the ceiling between the floors.

My little 2 day visit stretched to over a week. I had to bust out some drywall, discovering one of the studs hadn't even been toenailed in. It was just loose in the cavity. After properly securing, taping, and insulating the ductwork, magically the airflow and A/C worked again.

I built my new home at my hobby farm almost 5 years ago, doing 80% of the work myself. I have around $120,000 in material, not counting my time and effort. It doesn't look fancy, but it's very sturdy and cheap to heat/cool.

The Manitoba Hydro inspector told me the wiring was "way overdone" like that is somehow *bad.* The municipal inspector told me the home itself was "way overbuilt" but I prefer that to a flimsy McMansion.

One thing you had better learn is that a *lot* of con artists take advantage of ignorant consumers who believe that Price=Quality. So they'll automatically charge twice what everybody else is charging, and the ignorant consumer will believe that con artist *must* be the best. Wrong.

 

Actually, I bet you'd look hot as a woman.

 

Because a government that is joined at the hip with the Big Money allowed it to happen. Deal with it. You probably voted for them too.

 

Actually no.

The REASON for that is inherently simple. With the way things are going, at some point, people are going to start drafting up profiles based upon your medical condition (yeah, and I know they already are). MIB, the ominous Medical Information Bureau, stores your info. FOREVER. Also, it's not that unreasonable to assume, that sometime down the line, your car insurance could go up simply because your risk of having some health issue while driving is XXXXXXX based upon your medical information... Just to illustrate one of the many mechanisms that could be implemented, not to mention items no one may have thought of yet.

Credit is one thing, medical "credit" concepts go too far...

 

:lol: I thought that was *your* field of expertise?

 

Not as hot as you, you're the tall lanky guy... must have nice legs...

:lol:

 

now this is what i call amusing. :lol: :lol:

 

Well, what do you know. A point we actually *agree* on.

[Dramatic pause to allow other readers to pull themselves off the floor or use their Automated Defibrillator to restore normal heart function]

Given the out-of-control medical costs already confronting the industry, are you surprised by this turn of events? For example, why the hell should I have to help pay for a heavy smoker to receive treatment for emphysema?

I would be far more worried about Medical Profile theft, and that has already happened. Rules like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) are too little and too late to prevent it. Much like the soaring Identity Theft, the crooks have figured out there is a *lot* of money to be made of data.

Especially data you’d rather keep private, either due to fear or common sense. I for one could give a rat’s nice person if you have a STD, but I imagine a potential future employer might use that as an excuse to not hire you. Or if already hired, to conveniently arrange a layoff.

At this point, I see no solution as the problem has escalated far beyond any hope of easy control.

 

here some companies acknowledge their crap workmanship by offering to do all maintenance work for 5 years, so that people actually buy the houses.

otherwise there would a plenty of empty new buildings on the north side of town here.

 

Well, I hate to brag, but now that you mention it ...

 

I've had the "pleasure" of working with China too, and it must have have been with all of the dullards. They're simply buying ideas and innovations from around the world. It's a shortcut to get them up to speed. Great for them that they can afford it. However, they don't seem to understand a lot of what's going on in the development world. Their testing practices are just plain bad, and they don't follow procedures or use common sense in troubleshooting.

Bottom line is they'll always find fault ... even when the product provided exceeds expectations. It's part of their nationalistic loyalty to their own products. It's the Chinese way.

 

I have mentioned that fact on other posts and agree. I don't agree that our system is the best in the US, but I believe MN has a pretty good system.

 

It sure sounds like it. The Chinese I've worked with in China are all very bright, and very shrewd businessmen to boot.

That's not to say their bureaucracy isn’t a huge problem. Just like the Public Service Sector anywhere, it’s not staffed by the Best and Brightest.