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'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

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Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#51

Post by Scoundreller »

marmaduke wrote: post #43
wcunning wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Round numbers? Something approximating zero... In all seriousness, I actually sat down and read the FEMA recommendations on things to keep on hand. It's surprisingly thorough and surprisingly difficult to keep all of it in stock, rotated so that it doesn't spoil and checked on on a regular basis. Growing up, my mom was an avid coupon shopper, not necessarily because we needed it, just because she could. That meant th…

How much space did that take up? I live in a compact apartment in a European city and don't think I could possibly stock more than 2 weeks, there's just not enough space.

And you probably can’t even get to the water from your toilet’s upper reservoir ;)

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#52

Post by Scoundreller »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #25
wcunning wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation on the average wage? Federal minimum is $7.25/hr, and at least in my midwestern town, McDonald's is paying $11.25/hr, starting, so that seems shockingly low as an average. Or is that the average of the tipped staff, before tips?

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Waffle_House%2... https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Waffle-House/salaries But really, if the employee was making $11.25/hour, would that somehow make it more ethical? $22k/year is still borderline impoverished for a 3 person household: https://www.thebalance.com/federal-poverty-level-definition-...

Does it?

Here’s the kind of house that $35k BUYS you in Cleveland:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2840-E-122nd-St-Cleveland...

I can only assume the neighbourhood and/or it’s schools are atrocious, but damn.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#53

Post by dragonwriter »

falcongod082 wrote: post #32
dragonwriter wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an organization is centralized by definition No, it's not. An organization can be distributed/decentralized as well as centralized. “Organization” does not specify the latter in opposition to the former.

*as well as centralized?...sure it can, which means that it's centralized. What it cannot be is completely independent.

> *as well as centralized?...sure it can, which means that it's centralized.

No, you aren't understanding. “organization” can label something that is centralized or something decentralized/distributed. Or it can be anywhere in between. “Organization” implies some structure, it doesn't imply that the structure is heirarchical/centralized, though.

> What it cannot be is completely independent.

Yes, whether centralized or distributed an organization can also be completely independent (or not, either way), which is a separate issue.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#54

Post by [deleted] »

ryanmcbride wrote: post #12
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #3

Whenever I read about this I always wonder if this is one of those modern dystopia things where a business is endangering its employees in order to stay open in a disaster zone. Like what kind of waivers are people in these Jump Teams signing?

If it's _actually_ run by employees who volunteer that'd be cool, but my personal experience of service industry work is that you are are volunteered to do something or you are volunteered to be unemployed. Impossible to know unless some WH employees actually weigh in.

[deleted]

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#55

Post by chiefalchemist »

chrisseaton wrote: post #49
chiefalchemist wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said " but I'm going to play Devil' Advocate and ask:" Translation: There's another way WE can look at this. I'm not taking sides. I don't care about the WH one way or another. If you have a problem with the idea(s) tabled then address those ideas. That's all. Put another way: Don't shoot the messenger.

I am addressing your ideas - they're cynical, selfish, and unnecessarily assume the worst in people who are working hard to help others. https://xkcd.com/1432/

Whwn did facts become "my ideas"?

If you want to dispute WH's advantages over M&Ps in the context of disaster, please feel free to do so. Just keep in mind I don't own the truths listed.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#56

Post by Izkata »

Scoundreller wrote: post #50
wcunning wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Round numbers? Something approximating zero... In all seriousness, I actually sat down and read the FEMA recommendations on things to keep on hand. It's surprisingly thorough and surprisingly difficult to keep all of it in stock, rotated so that it doesn't spoil and checked on on a regular basis. Growing up, my mom was an avid coupon shopper, not necessarily because we needed it, just because she could. That meant th…

The problem with FEMA’s recommendations is that they’re too general. If you will have a water supply no matter what (I’m near the Great Lakes), Canned foods are a waste of space and weight. Dry beans, rice, a 5gal collapsible container and purification tablets (or bleach) are better.

> If you will have a water supply no matter what (I’m near the Great Lakes)

Algae blooms make this no guarantee (and in fact more likely than other disasters people do keep in mind): https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/us/lifting-ban-toledo-say...

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#57

Post by ethbro »

kiba wrote: post #30
wcunning wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Round numbers? Something approximating zero... In all seriousness, I actually sat down and read the FEMA recommendations on things to keep on hand. It's surprisingly thorough and surprisingly difficult to keep all of it in stock, rotated so that it doesn't spoil and checked on on a regular basis. Growing up, my mom was an avid coupon shopper, not necessarily because we needed it, just because she could. That meant th…

If google's right, canned food doesn't go bad if properly stored though taste will change, and in any case the recommended minimum is three days of food and water.

Depends on the can. The "vintage military ration collection crowd" (yes, that's a thing) says that after decades you start to get some nasty leaching from can -> food, especially if it's an acidic food product (e.g. tomato sauce).

Nowadays, they coat the cans. But I'm pretty sure whatever tests the coatings go through aren't simulating 20+ years of storage.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#58

Post by cyphar »

lucifirius wrote: post #45
falcongod082 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't we already try the bread and circuses thing? Capitalism is exploitative by definition, civilizations lasted longer that it has existed so how "stabilizing" it is is certainly not a given, in fact there's evidence for the exact opposite. Capitalism doesn't "restore equilibrium", it dictates it, it's authoritarian and non-merit based.

Capitalism is the private ownership of capital. That's the definition. Capitalism is also 100% merit-based and unauthoritarian. Nobody is forcing people to use Amazon or McDonalds or Walmart. You might be confusing it with socialism, which is authoritarian as hell and has no regard for merit...

> Capitalism is also 100% merit-based and unauthoritarian.

Except for inherited wealth, government subsidies and large-business-friendly tax cuts, and regulatory capture (among many other examples)?

Even for people who believe in capitalism as a religion, that statement is a bit too much.

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