• CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 day ago

    Bus lanes and trams are a symbol of “communism” and car is a sign of “freedom” until you realize that the ultimate freedom is choosing to walk, bike, take transit, or drive to your destination.

    his employer won’t reimburse him for mileage once he fully transitions into his new role next month

    2018 Chevy Silverado, which he uses to carry equipment and supplies for the hotels, this year.

    Well, that’s a fucking problem. Don’t take a job in which you are expected to use a personal vehicle for work purposes. Work provided vehicle and submit receipts for gasoline. Insurance company won’t like it. You won’t like how fast your car goes through tires and then dies. Etc.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      I still don’t get truck culture.

      I grew up kinda out in the sticks, fair number of religious nuts and racists.

      You know what they’d say about trucks, in the late 90s?

      If you need a truck, like, really actually need a truck, you get it and use it only for actually hauling shit, or towing something.

      Then you have a sedan or similar for everything else.

      Like, … the yokels of 20/30 years ago would all be laughing at the yokels of today.

      I don’t get how these people can be this aggresively stupid, its literally an insult to their ‘heritage’, fucked up as that heritage may or may not be.

      • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        They would! I remember my gear head uncles scoffing and laughing at the extended cab in the 90s.

        They would absolutley laugh at these yuppies. Now some of them are the yuppies.

        its wild.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 day ago

          Yep I remember that too, specifically

          Extended cab? Ridiculous. Like ‘hwaaaak ptooie’ ridiculous.

          Whatchu gonna do with that?

          Take your wife down to the feed and seed, ask her for help liftin bags into the bed?

          Ahhahahahah!

          Swear to god I heard nearly exactly that at some point.

          • Katana314@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            This implies your wife is so large she couldn’t just sit in the passenger seat to one’s right.

            • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              3 hours ago

              … correct.

              Multi-stage / trap joke, they want you to walk into that one so they can start making fun of you and her from that angle too.

      • Fluffy Kitty Cat@slrpnk.net
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        1 day ago

        It’s masculine insecurity. Our culture doesn’t produce men who are secure in their gender identity so they have to constantly proofs it to themselves and others all the time. Once you see it, you realize it’s the root cause from everything from truck nuts to looksmaxxing

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 hours ago

          Right but like, I’m basically from them.

          And I am a guy.

          And I have been insecure.

          I addressed this via self reflection, learning about myself and others, finding things I wanted to become good at and then becoming good at them.

          Like I totally agree with you that trucknutz are literally gender affirming care, but I… I don’t get it.

          I can’t relate to or understand such people beyond pathologizing them and basically treating them as an NPC sub type.

      • eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 day ago

        Your description of the 80s and 90s lines up with Charleston SC, but not with backcountry SC, or anywhere I went in Alabama or Texas.

        The default is a pickup, sedans are for posh people.

    • Stern@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I feel like the legality of not reimbursing him for using his personal vehicle for work purposes is fairly dubious though I’d be lying if I said I knew the specifics of the laws there.

        • Stern@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          I think in his case he’s salary as a regional manager. Contractor is a whole other thing.

      • Duranie@leminal.space
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        1 day ago

        I can only see so much of the article so I don’t know where he’s based, but I know in some places the reimbursement is mandatory. Per IRS mileage reimbursement is currently $0.725/mile. Working in hospice I drive to patients homes with my supplies full time, which cuts me a check for about $300-450 mo, which more than covers gas.

        I actually just switched to a hybrid so since reimbursement stays the same, it’ll start paying for the car a well.

    • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      EXACTLY. GIVE A CHOICE!!

      I myself am a car person but still. Give us a choice. I would be ALL FOR banning cars in our downtown area and just having to bike walk or bus to get there from farther away. Cars ruin cities.

      We need them in rural. But thats far fewer people.

    • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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      1 day ago

      Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo.

      6 years ago, that was $375/mo.

      I don’t think the issue is limited to car drivers, I suspect more than a few folks who took public transit with me are looking at a pretty impactful monthly cost.

            • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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              1 day ago

              Would be wonderful.

              Unfortunately the time to do it was years ago. Obviously the next best time is to start now, but it will be years before results and that doesnt help those impacted now.

            • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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              1 day ago

              I think you missed the part where I pointed out that I do work from home.

              I’d also point out that riding a bike for the commutes I’m mentioning is a non-starter, its too large of a distance for a daily commuter ride.

              Again, the point is that this is not a car commuter exclusive problem, and its going to impact people who use mass transit. There are plenty of train lines that aren’t powered and require dual electric/diesel engines. Infrastructure installation to extend lines takes time, not to mention the lack of rail infrastructure in the first place that impacts the overwhelming majority of the US.

              • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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                20 hours ago

                where I pointed out

                Yes I did where was it

                the infrastructure to deal with this problem does not currently exist because we tore it all down after world war 2 and that is a problem with building this infrastructure even though the problem will only get worse.

                That’s a hell of a take

                relief now!

                You pissed in your bed America. I was telling you to stop now you’re too tired to stand and complaining about all the piss.

                • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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                  18 hours ago

                  Yes I did where was it

                  Very first sentence.

                  Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo.

                  Also, don’t make shit up and fake quote because you misread and want to be shitty about it.

              • Hawke@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                too large of a distance for a daily commuter ride

                You didn’t mention this: what distance did you have in mind?

                • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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                  1 day ago

                  The current average commute for my state is about 15mi, but that number (annoyingly) includes WFH which skews the numbers.

                  Mine, for example, would be a 60mi commute if I still had one.

                  Edit: And I don’t think I should have to really mention that the overwhelming majority of commuters are leaving their town for work…

                  • Hawke@lemmy.world
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                    1 day ago

                    Well, that’s the core problem. No one should be commuting for an hour by car.

              • eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                20 hours ago

                I do know a guy who rides his bike everywhere and he is HOT. Saw him in a suit and he has the kind of body that suits were designed to flatter. Wow.

              • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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                20 hours ago

                Some people do they’re in great shape from all the biking and don’t need gym memberships

                You want infrastructure the nerds have been shouting about since it was torn up 81 years ago and infrastructure to make this not happen again or not matter takes time which is why we didn’t want it torn up and then wanted to build it back maybe listen to us next time

                You ignored my last suggestion of quitting the job and joining with your neighbors to ban evictions in your community.

        • eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 day ago

          We had electric buses with overhead wires in São Paulo in the 80s.

          The US had electric interurban railroads in the Rockies a hundred years ago.

          It can happen very fast.

      • eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 day ago

        Yeah. I feel very lucky to have moved to a place where I have an electric train and an electric bus system powered by hydroelectric.

        Oh wait, climate change means our glacial flow is 12% of the typical rate and the province is announcing a datacenter construction plan?

        Well fuck me too I guess.

        • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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          1 day ago

          Northeast US.

          The bus stop by me also was shut down, so if I were to do it now, I’d have to drive 25min east. The parking is limited though, so either its pay someone for a monthly parking spot, get there early enough (5:50am, after that its unlikely you’ll find a spot), or get dropped off. Or take the risk of a parking ticket I suppose.

          Or I could drive 15 min west, away from where I’d be going, and pay an hourly rate for parking. About $25/day, or a monthly cost of ~$250 (last I checked with someone who goes this route). It’ll add another $30/mo to the commuter pass for the bus as well.

          (EDIT: Just checked out of curiosity - and no more monthly parking there, its now only flat rate of $2.50/hr. There are other lots a block or two away in a few directions that may still offer monthly, but I couldn’t say.)

          If I drive for about 30 minutes, I can get to a train station where its $400/mo, though the parking cost there is higher at $300/mo, my cousin does that ride but his wife drops him off.

          These are not uncommon costs for commuting into major cities.

          • blarghly@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            That is horrifying. I can get a monthly transit pass in my city for $88, which is actually down from 10 years ago, when it was $100.

            • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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              1 day ago

              in my city

              There’s the difference. Most people aren’t commuting inside the city. If I were to live in the city where my job is, commuting would be drastically cheaper (though I’d also just bike it, but thats a different matter).

              The cost of living there, though, is astronomically high. It also wouldn’t work out for my wife, who works more in the agricultural industry, not even getting into the other factors like public schools/quality of education, air quality, etc.

            • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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              1 day ago

              In 2008, I think the train pass for where I was then would have been $65/mo

              Now that pass is… (Checking)… Oof, $100 for the weekly, $295 for the monthly.

              • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                1 day ago

                on a bus? what state?

                idk why a train is so much more, I think I am comparing apples to oranges here, apologies, ill hush now.

                • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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                  1 day ago

                  I was just commenting on the train pass I had at that time with the last comment.

                  And NJ. NJT doesnt run everywhere (honestly it runs very little outside of a few counties IMO), there are companies that service a large portion of the state as NJT registered operators.

                  I took mass transit the moment I went more than a few miles (of course it also jumped to a 30mi each way commute at that point), but ive been pure WFH for a long while now.

                  That said, the increases in bus costs of late directly caused by the increases in fuel costs are astounding. A lot of people are going to be hurt by this.

                  My main point in this thread has been simple - its not just car drivers impacted by fuel costs. Commuters taking mass transit are already being hit by it, and its going to get worse.

    • jtrek@startrek.website
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      1 day ago

      Bus lanes and trams are a symbol of “communism” and car is a sign of “freedom”

      This is basically it.

      I saw a post the other day that argued to the conservative mind there must be an underclass. There must be poor people whose lives suck. If you try to make things good for everyone, you’re going against nature and will just make things bad for everyone.

      Thus good public transit is bad. If different classes of people all mingle then it’s like mixing your food up on the plate and that’s just wrong!

      They really are like children