Both my brother and his wife retired from the railroad; they had excellent benefits, insurance and a great retirement. I don't remember them ever saying they didn't have paid holidays or sick time...?? I'll have to ask my SIL about that. My next-door neighbor is retired railroad, too.
I am quoting online news sources. Yeah, they make up for some lost benefits with great retirement, but that is a federally-managed system similar to what Congress gets that is better than SS. I think the retirement is the carrot that keeps the railroad folks working.
It just occurred to me that my brother and SIL were in staff positions (non-represented) so they may not have had the same benefit plan as union-represented employees. I really have no idea. I did see this, though... "In a subsequent vote, lawmakers passed a separate measure that would give rail workers seven days of paid sick leave per year, addressing a chief concern unions and progressives had with the agreement."
Yeah, I was going to ask about the positions they held. The union workers are different from management...big time.
This is on Twitter this morning. I have been reading about the missing explosives for a while now, but didn’t know about the anti-radiation stuff being purchased. Apparently a whole train car full of explosives ended up empty when it arrived at where it was being sent, and they do not know where or when along the way it was taken out of the railroad car. The news about 50 senators getting satellite phones for emergency doesn’t make much sense. If they needed them, then all of the senators should have gotten them. (I am pretty sure that the senators could afford their own satellite phones)
Just one of the conservatives i follow on Twitter, no one special as far as I know, but she was tying several news items together, and I thought she had a good point. I have been concerned what was going to get blown up with that stolen load of fertilizer , too. It has been in the news for several days now. She is not the only one talking about this, by any means, many people are concerned, especially with the latest invasion coming across the border, sometimes it seems like too much is happening all at one time.
Pewee! I hope they have enough dryers to keep all those soy beans dry until they can be moved. If the barges are container barges and not open bay barges they could survive, at least until it rained.
How are shortages in food and meds showing in your area? I know we are different here than in most areas of the country, but shopping yesterday brought things back to mind. Bread is is short supply but not terrible (by Alaska standards) in price. Pork and chicken was reasonable but beef prices have gone through the roof. White vinegar is not available and there is little cider vinegar. Butter prices on generic forms dropped by 50% so something must be up there. Meds, supplements, creams lotions, and such have risen dramatically in price but are still available. I didn't pay attention to flour, sugar, or pasta, but I have seen reports that there are some shortages in those areas. Canned soups were higher by 25% since last month, but canned tuna seemed steady.
Over the last year food prices have definitely gone up. I am giving up diet soda because of the price. Generic is cheaper than Pepsi but, I guess they want their higher profit too. I wanted to get a whole (cleaned) chicken as I don't eat mine and I decided it wasn't worth it. I could get a good pre laying pullet for that. Price of Cattle at auction is not that bad but meat in the case is up about 40%. Canned goods are much higher over the year. And cereal and oatmeal. I don't eat them but hubby does. Feed/animal food is up there and the chickie babes don't want to eat it. Not sure what the producers do to it. There were rumors. My cat doesn't like any of the canned food I have gotten him lately.
I commented on how fragile the yolks in fresh eggs had become, and a friend pointed out that the %Protein in chicken feed had been greatly reduced. I believe the price of processed beef is intentionally being increased by the Fed because it all has to go through USDA facilities and there aren't enough to meet demand. As you likely know, beef growers used to schedule a Processing Date when the cattle approached maturity. The backlog is so great these days that growers schedule a Processing Date before they even buy the calves, and then they have to mange the cattle to mature on that pre-selected date. That choke point likely keeps the auction price repressed because if there's no available processing facility, the owner or the buyer can only use it for himself or his family and not for resale.
I understand a lot of beef producers are slaughtering much of their herds due to increased feed prices and they don't want to feed more than necessary over the winter. I can still get high protein chicken feed, but it is always a bit more expensive, but the protein in most chicken food is from soy, and soy beans seem to be in short supply. I have heard that very little soybean oil is available. Perhaps the Chinese are buying all the soybeans. I don't know. Also be aware that egg yolks become more fragile as they age, so you may be getting older eggs than you are used to. You have land...just grow your own
I've been buying my eggs local. Since it's just me, and I don't eat eggs every day, there's no sense in me messing with critters. The fragile yolks were from this one woman's chickens, and was for a few months. Backyardchickens.com said that the issue was most likely a lack of protein in their diet. The problem has rectified itself.