I heard one guys opinion, an interview, where he said
"recover to do like WHAT?". That we no longer manufacture
much anymore, "race to the bottom" in getting costs down
(hmmm -- wouldn't some countries call that "treason", shutting
down factories, shipping them overseas, and teaching THOSE
people (obvious potential enemies!) all the technology, all
so that "we" (guess who) have higher earnings.
We had a VERY nice run after WW2 -- we and the Germans had bombed everyone to
hell, hardly more than 10 or 20 bombs had hit our shores (was Alaska even a
state then? NO! When I was growing up (50's), we had 48 states on the flag!
FINALLY, they started to recover.
I recall Japanese transistor-radios (miracle of tight packaging!)
in late 50's, and their EXCELLENT cameras (early 60's); German cars,
cameeras, ...
But we were still the source of machine-tools, etc.
Then came the 70's, and the gap was narrowing.
Now we live on borrowed money, they say, and get away
with it ONLY because the dollar is the world's reserve
currency -- and how long can THAT last, really?
The game might actually be over.
Capitalism (well, let's call it "*Patriotic* Capitalism" made the
U.S. into the world's richest and most powerful conuntry.
In the last 20 or 30 years, that "patriotic" capitalism has
turned into "Gordon Gekko" (from the movie) capitalism, and
in the last maybe 15 years into "Gordon-Gekko-SQUARED Capitalism",
into now:
I want it ALL -- ALL ALL ALL!!! ALL of it. EVERYTHING!
So I'm screwing the small guy? Fuck him -- he deserves everything
he gets. MAYBE if he'd WORKED a little harder, and SMARTER,
to. Mother Nature -- that's what Darwin said. "Bloody in
tooth and claw". Survival of the fittest.
Damn, it's GOOD that's he's down in the dirt, groveling like
the worm he is. And early to get sick and die.
Help raise him up, give him another chance? NO WAY! He'd
just propagate himself a bunch -- exactly how it's NOT supposed
to work out!
Treason? Huh? You kidding? My collapsing of industries in
the U.S., moving them to China, Vietnam, Malaysia? To countries
that either will soon or have already been our DEADLY ENEMIES?
And you call that TREASON?
Wouldn't I have to be an AMERICAN for that to hold?
Look, you don't get it. We entrepreneurs who're out
there doing this kind of work, remaking the world --
We're not citizens of ANY particular country --
we're citizens OF THE WORLD!
I don't know. It's 3:24am. I go off for a few words on a tangent,
and I'm still typing an hour later. Not the first time, either!
Hey, Cheers! We're in the Garden of Eden, and everything is
in front of us. The gods are smiling, our children and their
children and their children's children, et al, life will just
be getting better and better and better.
And if it gets to croweded here, thanks to W. Bush we'll be
able to go to Mars -- the whole place is empty, wide open,
and heck, for something really big, there's Jupiter -- golly,
it'll take us a long time to fill up THAT place up, not even
for a LONG time having to live in 5-story houses, or apartment
buildings, the place is so big.
Gosh, I was born too soon. These young people today, entering
their teens, man have THEY got it made.
And all the while the stars and stripes will be flying from
Moscow and Peking, and Beh-jing too!
God, do I envy them!
David (the rarely-seen optimist part)
On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:34:41 +0000 (UTC), snipped-for-privacy@panix.com (David
Combs) wrote Re Re: Sealcoat a new driveway????:
Not long. The Euro is gaining attractiveness as an alternative. China
is talking about switching from 100% dollar reserves to a mixed-bag of
various currencies. I would guess that over the next 8 - 10 years our
currency loses another 30% of it's value.
When that happens, we will have to start doing what we should have
started doing 20 years ago.
No "might actually" about it. We are a financial "has been" nation
that doesn't realize it yet.
And off the driveway itself, at the first hard rain.
Guy across the street uses that stuff (junk? HD! Big black can, more
than a foot in diameter, maybe 15in high.
I once lucked out in meeting a guy who worked for a repaving company;
did big parking-lots, special mix of sand and this and that, trucked
in from Pa (to New Rochelle, NY). Had a big trick with big tank on
back, looked like typical gasoline-truck. Lasted maybe four years
before we had to do it again.
Unfortunately, they caught him and fired him. So current I am
at a loss at what to do.
David
To Blueman.
Asphalt does not have aggregate. Asphalt Concrete or AC has aggregate.
Note that the term concrete refers to much more than just portland cement mixtures.
yes, where I grew up (western PA) they would "tar and chip" most main
roads about once a year. Was a PITA to drive on for about a week or so,
and cleaning up the car afterwards was a pain as well.
Generally you'd wait until the chips had worked down into the asphalt
before you'd give your car a good waxing, because the only way to get it
clean was to wash, then wipe down with Diesel fuel, then wash again...
nate
--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel
on 7/11/2009 11:47 AM (ET) Bob F wrote the following:
About 10 years ago on a county road near where I live, they used what's
called a 'Hot In Place Asphalt Recycler". A large road machine that
scraped up a layer of asphalt at the front, heated it internally, then
put it back down on the road behind the machine. I though it was pretty
cool, but within a year that recycled layer came unglued in spots so
there was largish areas that were like 2" deep potholes. They had to
repave the road in the conventional manner.
Yes. I had a 250' x 14' drive plus parking area laid in the spring, then
sealcoated in the fall just before it got too cold. Sealed every 2-3 years
thereafter and it's still looking almost new after 8 years with very little
weather damage in a very mixed climate. (-40 to +95).
Keep in mind getting the base right and not skimping on the asphalt depth is a
major factor in how long it lasts. I did 4" of asphalt over 6" of well packed
roadbase.
replying to Arthur (or Alberta) Costello, Gary Clark wrote:
Even though this is an old post, I thought I would add to the conversation for
those who may happen upon this in the future.
I have worked in the road maintenance and improvement industry for the last 9
years, and have had good conversations with civil engineers who have focused on
roads. I am currently an asphalt sealcoating contractor. Our goal is to look
out for the homeowner and we hate it when other contractors "stick it" to the
homeowner.
Does a driveway need sealcoating soon after the asphalt is applied? The simple
answer is no. Asphalt should hold it's own for a few years at least. As many
have mentioned, the roads don't get sealed. This is true, but roads are usually
also engineered MUCH stronger than a driveway. That said, I recommend waiting
until you start seeing some slight cracking in the driveway before sealing
coating. This cracking may be an indication of a poor subgrade, which
sealcoating unfortunately cannot cure. But the sealcoating CAN keep help seal
the cracks and help keep water and ice from expanding those cracks further. The
danger is water getting to the subgrade and starting to wash the sand out from
under the asphalt, causing further degradation.
If you have larger cracks, it is helpful to fill them with a commercial grade
Acrylic crack filler. By larger, I mean the width of a pencil eraser or
greater.
For more thoughts on questions to ask your asphalt sealcoating contractor, visit
this link:
https://sharbrador.wordpress.com/2017/06/05/questions-about-sealcoating-asphalt/
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