STAL quote

[RANGER1]

Found this old quote.
Must have been on $4 an hour back then in1974


IMG_2833 000.jpg

[Rob White]

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Nice one.

Rob

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[al]

When you could buy a house for 50quid!

[Tycho]

That's a good one!

So if we do some math

The company will charge $8 per hour, and if I go by today's rate, my hourly pay is 32% of what the company charges the client.

so if it was the same back then, then the hourly rate for the guys doing the job would be 32% of $8, so their hourly salary would be $2.5

Now we check the inflation calculator, and get this, $2.50 in 1974 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $24.49 today, an increase of $21.99 over 49 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 4.77% per year between 1974 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 879.77%.

Luckily I guess the average salary for a Industrial Refrigeration Mechanic in Australia per datum is higher than $AUD 24.49 hopefully close to of above AUD$ 50

When I were working as an apprentice in Kvaerner Kulde (kulde=refrigeration) in 1996-1999, the top salary was 75 Norwegian Krone (10 Aud with the current exchange rate)

and back then that was like "wow, that guy must be like superman to earn that much!"




as an apprentice I had a % of the minimum wage for a skilled worker.
Started out at 25% and then it increased by 25% every 6 months, but if I worked overtime I would be paid minimum wage + 50 or 100% overtime, so my ears were finely tuned to the word "overtime".
I were like a dog that hears the word "walk" my ears would pick it up from across the room and I'd walk over and ask "did I hear overtime? do you need help? I can help, or just tell me what to do, I can do it"

My hourly pay back then were like AUD $1.75 per hour, so after I bought a car, after reaching the 50% of minimum wage, on pay day I could pay the loan on the car, fill up with petrol, and that would be juuuuust enough to get me to and from work until next payday.

one time I drove some friends to a party, and three days before pay day I ran out of petrol on my way home as I were driving through one of two under sea tunnels that lead to the island where I live... and it had a toll booth...

Had to leave my car in the tunnel, hitchhike up to the toll booth, call my mom and she came with a petrol can that she gave me and then did a 180 on her side of the toll booth, then I had to start walking back down the tunnel to my car.

back then they didn't give a hoot.

Now the same tunnel has cameras and radars and if a car stops anywhere in the tunnel, the whole thing shuts down

Ah, good times


A slight digression as always with me