My post was not extolling the virtues of shrooms or other legalized mood altering drugs but rather how in the world are you gonna find employees who are not stoners, drunks or hallucinating.
Back when I started in this business 2 man crews were the norm and 3 man a regular thing. You had a lot more career "grunts" whose skill set did not extend much beyond setting up tripods, cutting lines, and hammering hubs. There were always guys who would fill that role for not much money and continue in it for years because it didn't interfere too much with their lifestyle (ie/they could do it half drunk and/or stoned).?ÿ Today a guy has got to progress beyond that point within a few months or find other employment.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
I'm here in legalization central and I'm telling you that it just hasn't caused any new problems on this front. Except maybe that we no longer have to worry about stumbling on a booby trapped illegal grow op.?ÿ
My post was not extolling the virtues of shrooms or other legalized mood altering drugs but rather how in the world are you gonna find employees who are not stoners, drunks or hallucinating.
I am generally supportive of legalized marijuana even though I have never used it but you guys in Colorado have to contend with people who just want to eat your lunch and take a nap and I have no clue what the effects of a shroom are besides hallucinations.?ÿ
Finding competent employees has got to be especially tough out there.
Understood.?ÿ Until the past few years, pay in the survey community sucked,( from my experiences anyway) so they got/get what they were willing to accept, and the rotating door effect just makes it near to impossible to get and retain good people.?ÿ
While I was working for a high end Geospatial Mapping company, there was an employee?ÿwho absconded away with over 75k worth of equipment. Mostly because of the poor pay, the lack of respect, and ultimately hiring someone that would steal to get ahead.
I'd hire a stoner or a good scotch?ÿdrinker as long as they keep it off the job and were reliable, and had an acetic wit about the world we live in. :)?ÿ
Old story about Dean Jennings who supervised the Southern California survey crews for California State Parks back in the 1960s.
If someone was too hung over to go to work in the morning he would go in the hotel room and drag the employee out of bed, literally.?ÿ If you can drink all night like a man then you can get up and work all day like a man too.?ÿ The job involved a lot of travelling.
If someone was actually sick that might be different.
Based purely on past experience with both, I'll take a mellow hardworking stoner over a raging drunk any day of the week.?ÿ
I've heard tell from them that knows that 'shrooms are plentiful on Sage Mountain, Tortola ?ÿ
Off topic...sort of....how's rebuilding on St John and over in the BVI going? ?ÿ
I saw that of the places I've stayed before on Tortola, Sebastian's is open and I saw rumors that someone from California bought Long Bay and are going to rebuild it. ?ÿAnd it looks like White Bay Villas on Jost is open, but the Sandcastle isn't. Also looks like you still need to take out a second mortgage to eat at Corsairs. ?ÿ
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I grew up around a significant amount of functioning addicts.?ÿ I don't believe that daily manipulation of your body's dopamine is a wise long-term health strategy.?ÿ I also don't care what people do to themselves if they are capable of holding it together.?ÿ?ÿ
What annoys me is this assumption that drug use automatically brings an individual to a mental and/or physical state below the average sober/straight person.?ÿ A great example of the foolishness of our gross assumptions of motor skills can be found in our issuance of drivers license.?ÿ Likely due to a fear of gender and racial biases in statistical data, we don't seriously evaluate the true ability of prospective drivers despite the incredible potential threat to other drivers.?ÿ I've met career drunks that can drive better than certain straight edge men and women I've met.?ÿ If I were dictator for a day, I would transform our drivers test into something like a demolition derby mixed with a rally race.?ÿ Really test people and give them a license that allows them to use a positive or negative speed limit modifier based on their ranking.?ÿ I'd even let them go through the course to test their tolerable BAC limits.?ÿ My guess is that it would be shocking how many people's basic motor skills fall well below what is needed to drive safely.
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Following this left turn in the thread, I see some merit in better assessment of driving ability.?ÿ But the personal speed limit idea is impractical to implement. And it is counterproductive in that accidents are more likely when there are bigger differences in the speed of vehicles on the same highway.
"?ÿI'd even let them go through the course to test their tolerable BAC limits."
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That could make it a?ÿlot more fun going to the DMV...?ÿ 🙂
Off topic...sort of....how's rebuilding on St John and over in the BVI going? ?ÿ
I saw that of the places I've stayed before on Tortola, Sebastian's is open and I saw rumors that someone from California bought Long Bay and are going to rebuild it. ?ÿAnd it looks like White Bay Villas on Jost is open, but the Sandcastle isn't. Also looks like you still need to take out a second mortgage to eat at Corsairs. ?ÿ
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On St. John, the Westin Hotel just reopened, but missing a lot (reception building, 2 of the 3 restaurants, tennis courts). Caneel Bay Resort isn't rebuilding. They have a few years to go on a lease from the National Park, can't afford to rebuild on that basis, so are asking for a very long lease extension (80years?). That's a big hit to our economy. About half of the hundreds of vacation rental villas are not useable, but the other half are all booked solid. Besides FEMA we have gotten tremendous help from billionaires Bloomberg, one of whose?ÿpartners has a house here and Chesney who has had a house here for?ÿmany years. They have?ÿspent lots of $$ and their own time and effort providing real help where it is needed most. Also, I think that real estate?ÿprices have actually gone up and the market is hot because when people see them helping, they think this must be a good place to invest in. We also got a lot of help from many other charities and groups.?ÿ"All Hands and Hearts" has sent hundreds of volunteers to help with cleanup. 5 of them worked almost a?ÿweek to dismantle and remove a roof that flew 400 feet into my yard. ?ÿI'm swamped with work. BBC Electric of Missouri is still here working on the poles and wires. They are replacing timber poles with?ÿcomposite. They are about 30" diameter at the base typically have 4 to 10 guys on each pole. A crew told me they will be here at least another year. The power was out for an hour last evening, but that's another story - the power plant on St. Thomas keeps failing. Elon Musk offered to put in a solar/battery system, but WAPA turned it down. The schoolyard / ballfield is now filled with modular classrooms so there's no place for the kids to run around.
I spent Xmas to New Year on my boat in North Sound, Virgin Gorda. It's a mess. Leverick Bay is open and OK and Saba Rock is rebuilding but Bitter End and Biras Creek are?ÿdestroyed and the YC Costa Smeralda megayacht dock has disappeared without a trace. In West End, Tortola, the Customs office just got a portable office. Until a month ago they were working on plastic tables under a cheap awning with rocks to hold down their piles of papers.
I agree with Murphy about the BAC requirements. Means very little about ones ability to drive, up to a point. Around here drinking and driving used to be considered a sport. Then they really started cracking down on it. I know guys that lost there jobs after blowing .09 and dang near lost everything else as well. Yet they were driving OK, just had a tail light out and got pulled over. One guy got stopped for weaving in his lane. Most of us do that stone sober. The possibility of going to a track to prove your driving skills would be great! Dangerous maybe, but it sure would be fun to watch. Some guys can drink all day and drive fine. Others, I wouldn't get in a car with them sober. The BAC is not an accurate indicator.
