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Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

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Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#61

Post by hessenwolf »

Xurinos wrote: post #51
cubicle67 wrote: post #11

I work between 25 and 30 hours a week. I don't earn a great income, especially compared to figures mentioned here, but it's enough to pay the bills and I'd rather spend more time at home than at work. It works because we have a very modest house with an equally modest mortgage. We own the car, my wife runs a very tight budget and we don't have many other outgoings. Our largest expense (greater than the mortgage payme…

The downside to the extra time I have, is that I haven't exactly used it wisely - in fact I've mostly squandered it, which makes me sad looking back at the year gone by. I have been thinking about this myself, and I realized something: This squandering that I am doing... I WANT to squander. I want that playtime or whatever. It was what I enjoy at that time. Is it truly time wasted?

I did a PhD, a postdoc, and I worked from home for a little while. Home time mostly seems unproductive. I find it useful not to regret and just to try and do a little bit more each day.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#62

Post by yummyfajitas »

neild wrote: post #57
yummyfajitas wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you provide a source? It sounds interesting, if true. Such a result has interesting implications. Since we know the demand for medicine is not perfectly inelastic (various experiments with copays prove this), it would suggest that some external force (insurance companies?) is keeping prices down and the constraining factor is supply.

There's one article in particular that I'd like to link to, but I'm having difficulty digging it up. If you'd like some data to play with, however: https://www.cms.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/05_NationalHeal... http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank18.htm... The former contains Medicare spending per enrollee on a per-state basis, and the latter has the number of doctors per capita. Of the top ten sta…

Interesting, but hardly conclusive. Two problems with the conclusion you are trying to make:

Cheaper health care != less money spent on health care. Consumers might purchase more health care even as prices come down (resulting in more money spent).

This data doesn't show the direction of causality. It could just as easily reflect doctors chasing money as it could reflect prices increasing as a result of doctors becoming available.

(Similarly, states with more illegal immigrants tend to spend more money on farm labor. Do illegal immigrants raise the prices of farm labor?)

Still, it's interesting data to see.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#63

Post by billjings »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #52
billjings wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven't already read Atul Gawande's New Yorker piece comparing medical care expenses in McAllen, TX vs El Paso, TX, then here you go: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_... Obviously it covers more than just this particular topic, but the odd behavior of markets for health care is a central concern he addresses.

I was kind of hoping for more than just 2 data points (McAllen and El Paso). Maybe even some hard numbers.

The two towns are a framing device for the article and provide a rhetorical starting point for an investigation of various issues and trends with health care in America.

I'm pretty sure that you could skim the article and find some numbers if you wanted to.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#64

Post by sp4rki »

jasonkester wrote: post #42

I often hear people making statements like the one in the title (I'd kill to...), but usually the first response that jumps into my head is "No, you wouldn't." If you really wanted a four day work week, you would have one. You'd make it a priority and either negotiate it into your current job or go find an employer who was flexible enough to allow it. The fact that you're working 5 days a week can be taken as a state…

I don't know about other countries, but where I live the default is working six days a week. Some lucky people work half time on Saturdays. I work five days a week. It's the first thing I tell a potential employer. I've tried to get a four day week, but it's just not happening. I can surely tell you that getting a four day week where I live is 99% impossible. And what gives that that 1% is in my industry?

I'd kill for a four day week, but it just isn't happening in my country. I'd rather have a job (and one I enjoy at that), than not having one. I wish I had a four day week, but I can't because then my family doesn't eat while I look for this utopian workplace (which may not exist) that caters to all my wants.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#65

Post by testosteles »

I was working for a company that has every second Friday off, which was pretty good. However the work wasn't. So I started looking around, but was not finding any work I was interested in doing. Eventually an old client called (I'm a contract software dev) and asked if I'd be interested in coming back. I wasn't really excited about going back there, but I knew it would be better than where I currently was. So I figured I'd just throw out a question:

"Can I work 3 days a week?"

They accepted a week later, and I spent the entire summer working 3 days at this company, while spending more time with my wife and newborn son.

Sometime in September/October, I received another email from another old client who was desperate for developers. I told him that I could only spare 2 days a week, not expecting him to accept this. Only he did. Shit, now I have to work 5 days again! But this job is only a 15min commute, and I can work from home 1 of these days.

I guess the point of this story is that sometimes you will get what you ask for, especially if you have a good reputation. All you have to do is... ask for it.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#66

Post by lkrubner »

sp4rki wrote: post #64
jasonkester wrote: post #42

I often hear people making statements like the one in the title (I'd kill to...), but usually the first response that jumps into my head is "No, you wouldn't." If you really wanted a four day work week, you would have one. You'd make it a priority and either negotiate it into your current job or go find an employer who was flexible enough to allow it. The fact that you're working 5 days a week can be taken as a state…

I don't know about other countries, but where I live the default is working six days a week. Some lucky people work half time on Saturdays. I work five days a week. It's the first thing I tell a potential employer. I've tried to get a four day week, but it's just not happening. I can surely tell you that getting a four day week where I live is 99% impossible. And what gives that that 1% is in my industry? I'd kill fo…

What country do you live in?

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#67

Post by lkrubner »

hessenwolf wrote: post #61
Xurinos wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside to the extra time I have, is that I haven't exactly used it wisely - in fact I've mostly squandered it, which makes me sad looking back at the year gone by. I have been thinking about this myself, and I realized something: This squandering that I am doing... I WANT to squander. I want that playtime or whatever. It was what I enjoy at that time. Is it truly time wasted?

I did a PhD, a postdoc, and I worked from home for a little while. Home time mostly seems unproductive. I find it useful not to regret and just to try and do a little bit more each day.

It depends what you mean by "regret". Some reflection on the mistakes you made is necessary to correct your course and move in the right direction.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#68

Post by sp4rki »

lkrubner wrote: post #66
sp4rki wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about other countries, but where I live the default is working six days a week. Some lucky people work half time on Saturdays. I work five days a week. It's the first thing I tell a potential employer. I've tried to get a four day week, but it's just not happening. I can surely tell you that getting a four day week where I live is 99% impossible. And what gives that that 1% is in my industry? I'd kill fo…

What country do you live in?

Panama

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#69

Post by oscardelben »

jpr wrote: post #39
StavrosK wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless they don't speak a foreign language.

One would assume that most people of working age would speak at least English, which should be enough to get started in many countries.

I don't know, I'm italian and people here don't know English, yes a few do, but it's still the exception. I've also just lived 6 months in Madrid and it's even worse. I know that countries in the north of Europe are better in this sense but I see Greece to be more like Italy and Spain education than say, Netherlands education.

Re: Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week...

#70

Post by StavrosK »

oscardelben wrote: post #69
jpr wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would assume that most people of working age would speak at least English, which should be enough to get started in many countries.

I don't know, I'm italian and people here don't know English, yes a few do, but it's still the exception. I've also just lived 6 months in Madrid and it's even worse. I know that countries in the north of Europe are better in this sense but I see Greece to be more like Italy and Spain education than say, Netherlands education.

Yep, most people here don't speak English to any passable level. Even if they did, though, it's a bit hard for everyone to up and move out. Many people do, but that's not a viable way of solving the problem for an entire country.
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