quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

Me of all people.

My job is no piece of cake. I have to do research at home, learn things all the time, and manufacturer support is just about non-existent. I have to innovative and think omnidirectionally just to get the job done. The units are incredibly complex and some in the field speculate that they are made that way on purpose, though it cannot be proven.

So this immigrant from Mexico takes one of my jobs. He is legal, has a green card and everything. Been in Tennessee for ten years fixing bigscreens. Ten years is not long enough to learn the field, I can guarantee it.

Now if they have big screen TVs in Mexico, why do they come here ? I mean if you can get in with some of the (I guess few) rich folk and make some money, those around you are a bit poorer than you. You can buy alot of influence and plenty of other things with that.

I worked for this company for about 20 years on and off, and my last stint was around ten. Somebody else took my job there about three years ago, so what I did was simple, I went and took his old job. Didn't even see an application, on the phone it was "Bring your tools".

Well this guy left the field altogether, and that is bad to do. He is gone about eight months now, managing a hardware store. So my phone rings, as it always has. Once he is gone for about a year he will fall behind in the technology to the point where he will no longer have his former earning power.

So now my eggs are all in one basket. That's OK.

But I just find it hard to believe that today, with Mexicans killing to get in here, that someone could be educated to the point that they can take my job. Ten years in Tennessee is not enough, of that I am sure. He must have had some skill to start with. Where did he get it ? If there are enough electronics schools and opportunities to get experience down there, why did he ever leave ? Or perhaps I should consider going to Mexico.

If I worked in a foundry I wouldn't be so puzzled. This field is so specialized that, well the people who design these products would not have a prayer of fixing them. If asked they would openly admit it.

I know why that company always wants rid of me, I am very expensive. They pay it, but business is business. Even considering being friends, business is still business. But that has nothing to do with what my Grandfather told me "MAKE THEM PAY YOU". He was right, time is the most important thing we have, and when we sell it we should get as much as possible.

I wonder how cheap this guy is working. I know I am expensive, but I also know I can do things that almost nobdy else can do. Maybe they don't need that so much, at my price.

Well that was a week ago, and since my phone hasn't rang I assume I am gone. But it will, it always does eventually. Perhaps when it does I will not have the time for them.

As I age, and the industry shrinks I might have to make some concessions. For one, I do not pay my own taxes or anything. The company pays that, I talk in terms of takehome pay. I do not care what they have to do to meet my demands, and they do not care what I have to do to meet theirs.

As time goes by I might have to reconsider. Or just go into business. That has been on the back burner for too long. I can do many other things. I can build a house, the only thing I don't do is the masonry and roofing. I can design and install all of the HVAC, wiring and plumbing. I can do just about all of the carpentry, including finish carpentry.

However do I have the earning power in that ? The first problem I see is that there are too many people doing it. I need to offer something different if I am to succeed, at least in my eyes. You might see a $30,000 bill from a contractor, but very few of them guys on the job are making more than $15 an hour. I don't mean to sound snooty or anything, but I just couldn't work for that. Not these days.

For a couple of years now I have contemplated going into the home improvement business. I already have a company name and a logo. Perhaps it is time. Just get out of the electronics game altogether. Or, perhaps build media rooms for people. Install projection units and surround sound systems. Even satellites and computer interfaces, because that is where it is going. When you get a movie from Netflix you don't want to watch it on a computer monitor, you want to watch it on your ten foot wide screen with the thousand watt sound system.

People build room additions for this. Fits right in.

I dunno what to do. I know I will go work the other job to pay my bills, but eventually I would like something better. Maybe I should take the plunge.

It's not that big of a plunge, and I have the manpower, I know alot of people who are at least underemployed. I know who I can trust and I know who can do what.

It is getting tempting.

T

quote:

ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub

Terminator, i am sorry to read Your news.  It's a scarey idea that middle class incomes for people born here could disappear as immigrants offer to do them for lower wages.  For example, when i call tech support for att's dsl system, the phone gets answered in India.  The only thing worse would be 100,000 Indians moving here to perform those jobs and more.
 
(No, i'm not griping about P/pl of Indian descent, so don't even go there.)
 
For years we were told that immigrants posed no threat because -- especially illegal aliens -- did work like stoop labor that no American would think of doing.  Well, lemme tell You, the landscaping companies in my old town of Tallahaassee, Florida were making great money and crowding out the American-born landscapers, then raising their prices.
 
WTF is the problem with enforcing our immigration laws?  You cannot work here without a green card, which You should not be able to get if an American can do the job.  Gather up the illegal aliens and send them back.  This is not brain surgery; someone is benefiting from their influx.  Someone rich and powerful who is careless about the effect on the middle class in this country.
 
pinksugarsub

quote:

ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub

WTF is the problem with enforcing our immigration laws?  You cannot work here without a green card, which You should not be able to get if an American can do the job.  Gather up the illegal aliens and send them back.  This is not brain surgery; someone is benefiting from their influx.  Someone rich and powerful who is careless about the effect on the middle class in this country.
 
pinksugarsub

quote:

ORIGINAL: ownedgirlie

quote:

ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub

WTF is the problem with enforcing our immigration laws?  You cannot work here without a green card, which You should not be able to get if an American can do the job.  Gather up the illegal aliens and send them back.  This is not brain surgery; someone is benefiting from their influx.  Someone rich and powerful who is careless about the effect on the middle class in this country.
 
pinksugarsub

The immigrant referred to in the OP is here by completely legal means.

My mother is an immigrant by legal means.

As is my uncle.

quote:

ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub

My daddy emigrated here from Scotland.  This country sent him to war, gave him a college education on the GI Bill and lifetime care at a VA Hospital.  i'm not bashing immigrants.
 
i just don't understand what is so freaking hard about enforcing immigration laws.  i may like Mexico or Canada but i cannot take up residency in either one without permission; why isn't it the same for the USA?
 
pinksugarsub