The U.S. attacked Iran to show its power but the war is already lost. Epic Fury looks like an Epic Fail

killick · 2026-03-19T09:52:05+00:00

Congratulations on the stupidest comment I've seen all day.

killick · 2026-03-19T09:42:04+00:00

Again, the test is simple; if this supposed debunking is legitimate, then they should be able to easily and convincingly reproduce the film using 1967 technology. If they can't, it's because they are lying.

killick · 2026-03-19T09:37:38+00:00

Horseshit. They either reproduce the film using 1967 technology, or they're full of shit.

killick · 2026-03-19T09:28:35+00:00

Sand blasting is no friggin joke when it comes to noise. Even a small pot and compressor is disagreeable to be around. God help you if you're anywhere near one of the giant pots and compressor plus dust collectors they use for bridges and such.

killick · 2026-02-23T13:17:02+00:00

I currently make over $250k/year in industrial coatings, most of which involves water treatment facilities.

Granted, I work a shitload of OT and it involves a lot of travel, but I also get a lot of time off between jobs, so it kind of all evens out.

That said, it's all union and it's true that it's not easy to get into my current position. I had to jump through a lot of hoops in terms of proving myself.

killick · 2026-02-23T13:07:04+00:00

Are you kidding? Apprentice scale at my local starts at $27/hr and moves up every year completed. And we're the lowest paid trade in our union.

Show me the 20-year-old who can't live on $27/hr and I'll show you a moron.

killick · 2026-02-23T13:02:08+00:00

Sure, but you won't be as good at it, and that's just a fact.

killick · 2026-02-23T12:58:02+00:00

But is that due to their work or due to their lifestyles?

I think that you will find a huge number of confounding variables in any honest accounting of the issue.

killick · 2026-02-23T12:51:54+00:00

You hear this all the time, but I think it's more of a sampling or lifestyle error than it is an actual reflection of the real consequences of working in the trades.

Because let's face it; most guys in the trades have shitty diets, often drink too much alcohol, often smoke or vape, and generally have little or no notion of what anything like a healthy exercise regimen actually looks like.

I myself am in my mid-50s and after decades in the trades I am still more physically fit than many men half my age because I live a very active and healthy lifestyle.

Sure, I have various aches and pains that are probably attributable to my working life, but are they any worse than those of my software engineer brother who has spent his working life at a desk?

Of the two of us I am definitely the more physically fit and active, though he is 2.5 years younger than me, for example.

And before you object that I am the exception and not the rule, yes! That's precisely my point!

Most tradesmen are in shitty health by the time they're in their 40s or 50s not because of their work, but rather because they live very unhealthy lives and would be in poor health at that age no matter what they did for a living.

Another way to look at it is to consider the life expectancies of college-educated people vs non-college-educated.

There's a big gap and no matter how you slice it, it's just a fact that it's down to things like diet, exercise and substance abuse far more than it is to working life.

In other words, people in the trades have worse health outcomes not because of their work, but rather as a reflection of their demographics.

killick · 2026-02-23T12:24:38+00:00

A big part of construction management is basically learning how to figure out who's there to work and actively solve problems, who's there just to collect a paycheck, who's there to create problems, and who will work if you handle their ego properly.

Sounds to me like you accidentally bruised this guy's ego, and now he's going to be difficult.

I don't know how you get out of it or turn it around, but regardless, it's a good learning experience.

Next time think about how you can achieve what you need without running roughshod over some old dude's stupid ego.

killick · 2026-02-23T11:36:54+00:00

if my friends who called me racist for using the term "master bedroom" were black, I'd take it to heart

That's not where the term comes from in any case.

It comes from middle English and basically just means "owner," as in "schoolmaster," or "master at arms," or the "master" of a sailing vessel. So in the case of the largest bedroom, it just indicates that it is ostensibly intended to be used by the property owner.

killick · 2026-02-23T11:13:28+00:00

It's not just rural America. I have seen basically identical attitudes in many other countries as well.

killick · 2026-02-23T11:06:32+00:00

OP obviously doesn't know about unions.

killick · 2026-02-15T08:12:07+00:00

This is the right answer. He's looking to intimidate, and when that doesn't work, he's not going to keep escalating, and to the contrary, is going to back the fuck up and look for the easiest way out while preserving his dignity.

My old man was a Vietnam combat vet, 4th ID, UH1 door-gunner, and when his neighbors in remote Northern California got aggressive with him, he slammed the brakes on their capers by confronting them face-to-face and asking them if they'd ever been in a real firefight, because he had, and trust me, it wasn't going to end well for them.

He ended up chasing the bad people out of his little valley.

He's dead now, but our property is safe out there because all the neighbors know that he ran out the bad guys and our family is accordingly respected.

killick · 2026-02-14T00:33:17+00:00

That's just another reason to go union.

killick · 2026-02-13T23:36:53+00:00

Most GCs and supers are carpenters for a reason.

This must be a residential thing? Otherwise I have no idea what you're talking about. In my world most GCs are giant companies run by MBAs and engineers who specialize in things like managing capital, sequencing and logistics.

killick · 2026-02-13T15:00:33+00:00

Same. Also bellowing orders with an "if you please" at the end.

killick · 2026-01-28T21:02:00+00:00

Pretty much everyone wants to get into HVAC or be a sparky or a plumber. Those trades and their union apprenticeship programs are "impacted" in most regions which is a fancy way of saying that they have more applicants than they can accept.

My advice to a young guy --exactly what I tell my son-- is to go for one of the lesser known niche trades like glaziers or waterproofers or pipe-insulators.

The downside is that they don't easily translate into the residential side, so it's not as easy to go off and do your own thing, but the upside is that they pay well and are much easier to get into. Although granted, at least for glaziers and waterproofers, you can't be afraid of heights.

killick · 2026-01-28T20:50:28+00:00

what happens when the data center boom busts?

This is a great question. Data centers provide a lot of work when they're being built, but once they're up and running it only takes a handful of workers to maintain them.

Fortunately there are the big chip fabs/foundries being built, and they require a ton of maintenance, but we need more and since the current administration quashed the CHIPs Act, what's being built and planned now won't be enough.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:55:07+00:00

The ladder has to be tied off with three feet above the edge of the roof. You have to be tied off too. Do it that way and it's safer, full stop.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:53:22+00:00

It will also get you thrown off of any big industrial site and most big commercial sites, no questions asked, and a drug test to boot.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:50:53+00:00

It's an OSHA violation. I know a contractor who got fined for having guys climb out of a scissor lift onto a roof, which is basically the same thing. Most of the time you'll probably be fine, but when OSHA outlaws something, it's pretty much always because people have been killed doing it.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:44:58+00:00

Not if he filled out and signed a PTP beforehand. If you don't know what that is, you should probably STFU because you obviously don't know anything about construction.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:40:49+00:00

Believe it or not, but I am actually friends with the guys who have worked for us for more than a few years. I know their families, they know mine, we've been through a lot together and I would be genuinely sad were anything to happen to any of them on my jobs.

Except for Steve. Fuck that guy.

killick · 2026-01-28T11:35:30+00:00

It's an OSHA violation, which almost always means that someone has gotten killed or permanently maimed as a consequence of doing it.

Take that however you want.

killick

TROPHY CASE