Request to add my enforcement idea: after your car gets towed/ticketed for multiple blocking a bike lane violations, you get a loaner bike to commute with for x months until your car comes out of impound. You get the car out of impound at No or reduced cost when you return the bike in good condition.

Fair enough. Thank you.

Dude, you are a coder who was just in the Denver sub bragging about how much you water your lawn. Stick to your flip-flops and fescue in the county and quit flexing like you know shit about a city you can't even handle living in.

>yet your first link literally describes it as a valid condition.

Being a "valid condition" and claiming those wage increases are the primary driver of a price increase "spiral" is not the same thing. So claiming that increasing wages will cause price increase spirals is nonsense.

​

>Given the paths of prices and pay in the past year, I believe these concerns are probably overblown. And one reason is simple math. Labor isn’t the only input into most goods and services. When the cost of labor increases, the costs of the other inputs don’t necessarily change. So the overall cost of producing a good or service doesn’t increase as much as the cost of labor alone.

Or to put it another way, this is part of what your analysis left out:

​

>Worrying about wage‐​to‐​price passthrough after a period of excessively expansionary policy is therefore akin to lamenting gravity as the cause of hurtling to the ground after someone has thrown you from a plane. Encouraged by politicians such as Johnson, the wage‐​spiral concept encourages businesses and workers to blame each other, mistaking the consequences of inflation for its origins.

The same thing exists in cities all over the country. It's not exclusive to Baltimore. And I don't really know or give half a fuck what you call yourself, but claiming that because a kid rides a dirt bike s/he is part of a gang and doesn't have a family to support them is one dumb generalization. These guys ride past my block all the time. I see white dudes riding with them and older dudes riding along with the teens and 20-something’s. They seem like they’re having fun.

People don't ride dirt bikes around town because they lack opportunity any more so than people street race cars because of lack of opportunity. You're just jonesing to shit on someone doing something you dislike.

Damn. I was just there a little over a week ago and they were pretty busy. I thought the Stout I had was pretty good. A friend really dug his beers as well. My food was, well, bar food. But the place was full of families eating with their kids all hanging out.

Yeah, it's the person who has a problem with an activity "because of the culture."

I guess I just figured people here are smart enough to understand that part of the whole "lack of jobs" thing is the fact the city lacks jobs people can actually get hired for and live on.

Implicit in the "lack of jobs" argument is the need to train people for the jobs we do have. And that requires investment beyond the means of your average individual who is struggling from underemployment. That need exists regardless of how much you pay people.

You have to meet people where they are. An overabundance of jobs writing cursive doesn't matter if 99% of the population doesn't know how to write cursive. So train people in how to do that. The problem is, most people can't afford the kinds of training required to do these jobs. And if we're being honest, the argument is more holistic than just "more jobs." It includes the need to get people training and support them while they learn.

And also let's don't pretend that some $15/hour service sector job that puts someone on a bus 4 hours a day in addition to their shift is sufficient and will support someone in this city.

Yeah man, all the folks in Baltimore who are struggling from lack of work need to do is take that few thousands bucks they have in savings, move to Austin Texas, put down a few grand for a deposit and first months rent on the average place there, pull their kids out of school, and start working in one of those awesome tech sector jobs!

This is absolutely not how labor price increases work in the real world.

So, first of all this claim about "wage price spiral" is a myth debunked by multiple economists who cover the topic.

What's funny about your claim is, folks who say similar things never point to C-Suite/Executive compensation as part of some "wage price spiral" or talk about how much stock buy backs contribute to lack of re-investment which can affect consumer prices and reduce employment compensation.

One doesn't have to touch margins to address executive compensation. That doesn't require re-wiring an entire economic system.And placing regulatory restrictions on stock buy backs does not require "re-wiring" an entire economic system.

So you don’t like the people riding them and their “culture.”

But that’s not the problem the commenter cited. The comment starting all this back and forth over numbers cites as literally the #1 issue the idea that a “large majority" of the bikes ridden illegally are stolen. When someone begins with a false premise people who disagree with their conclusion are going to question that premise. That is natural. If you don't have a factual premise your argument is a house of cards.

If it’s a red herring (or “sugar”) why even bring it up?

IMO that claim reads like an ad hominem. And here's why: Let's say we knew for certain that 100% of the bikes being used were bought legally; would that make the street riding any better/safer? Of course not. Unsafe riding is unsafe riding. (aside: I've been riding motorcycles for over 15 years and I'm not aware of anything proving a stolen motorcycle is less safe than a legally purchased one. Seems like that would be covered in the MSF Motorcycle Safety Course. The pavement hurts just as bad when you land after a high-side at speed regardless of how you got your bike)

If the issue upsetting folks is unsafe street riding, then providing a non-street place to ride is a good starting point. So debate that idea on the issues that you can verify; not dubious numbers and ad hominem attacks leveled at the riders.

Ad hominems don’t prove shit. Show me this “large majority”.

I mean, we build spaces specifically for people to get attention all the time.

“It’s an easy assumption…”

That’s the point.

Your own numbers average out to about 43%.

Not a “large majority.” Not even a majority. But hey, you “know how math works” so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

The claim was that “a large majority” of the bikes are stolen. Your claim is it’s 25-50% of them. So which is it? Because 25-50% is not “a large majority.“

We had an insurance adjuster who got fired over similar comments when he came out to write up our roof replacement a few years ago. We had hail damage and he came out to do the adjustment on our roof, so I was deferential because the guy basically held our claim in his hands.

At one point he said something about "sweating like Jesses Jackson in a paternity test." Then he started talking about "Mexican crews." I waited for him to finish. Then called my friend who runs a roofing company. He put a call into the adjuster's owner/boss. The guy called me and said he fired the guy. Totally apologized. He was humiliated. HE also ended up writing the adjustment to cover every possible cost from the roof to storm windows, gutters, inside ceiling. All of it.

But failing to do so would only be caught on inspection. And that would mean an inspector saw the underlay before the membrane covered it up -- assuming the inspector climbed up on the roof at all.

Here's the thing, once the contractor decided to violate their contract, they lost whatever leverage they acted like they had over you. Now they have none.

In over 30 years as a home inspector and P.E. my father has done expert witness testimony and inspections/reports on dozens of cases where homeowners were scammed, taken advantage of a defrauded of their money. Coincidentally, he used to run a roofing company that specialized in torch-down, flat roofs (mostly commercial because they were located in where there are few residential flat roofs). So when we bought a home with a torch-down flat roof he was really concerned and helpful and gave me a lot of information and things to look for. Also, one of my best friends runs a roofing company. So when we bought our row home I had the privilege of some really helpful people like your uncle.

From your write up it appears Kelbie Roofing ripped you off and possibly perpetrated a breach of contract and potentially fraud. Specifying materials to be used in a contract, and then not using those materials is a breach. If they did that willingly and attempted to conceal it, they potentially defrauded you. If those materials do not meet code, they are in violation of the permit they supposedly pulled.

I don't want this to be misconstrued as I'm wagging a finger at you so please don't take it that way. I understand how these experiences can make you feel humiliated and extorted; that is because you were humiliated and extorted. And this is NOT a reflection on you, it is a reflection on Kelbie Roofing's dubious business practices. You absolutely deserve the proper roof that matches what you paid for and is installed completely to code. And you have the power to make that happen. Regardless of how little leverage they made you feel like you had.

To anyone else reading this; this may be typical of unethical businesses, but it is not and should not be typical of a home improvement/repair contractor.

OSB or particle board is not appropriate for roofing underlayment. But specifically, it's not in your contract.

Other people have pointed you towards Maryland's Home Improvement Commission and I encourage you to talk to them. Before we bought I read the cases involving the GC who did the work on our house. They are there to assist you, the homeowner. Using the improper (and not to code) roof underlayment could mean you or a potentially new owner, will have to replace that roof much sooner. Worse, if you know you have the wrong underlayment you now have to disclose that upon the sale of your home. And that could mean a new buyer requests you replace the entire roof (again) to bring it up to code.

Again, I'm not trying to make you feel worse. You did nothing wrong here. The roofing contractor is in the wrong. It is absolutely worth fighting them over this. Because your new $40,000 roof could end up being $53,000 roof prematurely. I know it all sounds like a giant pain in your ass, but it is well worth it.

Sorry if I went off a bit here but in addition to growing up with a father "in the business" and friends in the business and a BIL in the business of home repair and improvement I've also spent several years doing work for a few different larger home foundation repair contractors with very good reputations. So I understand that good companies doing good work and doing right by their customers are out there. But over the last few decades I've also seen way too many contractors take advantage of decent people by getting them to pour their money into dubious home repairs and improvements. Too often people don't have something like MHIC or they just let it slide. This is definitely worth you taking to the Commission.

OSB is not fine for a roof.

The Ruth M. Kirk Recreation and Learning Center. Direct, dollar-in-dollar out assistance: food, clothing, education, training, summer camps for kids, meals for older folks, Christmas toy give aways. All of it.
The boots-on-the-ground work Squeaky Kirk, his wife and Carlos and their volunteers do there do for the people of Baltimore is truly humbling and uplifting.
This city needs a hundred more of this organization's model.

We only found it once it was finished and listed for sale.

Because you're too busy trying to make people feel dumb on the internet?