CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,319
- United States
Twinkies are back!!!
- Thread starter FoolKiller
- 172 comments
- 10,620 views
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,319
- United States
Thought about it.
If it means anything, I have Australia "liked" on my Facebook and no other country, including my own.
Anyway, I have health insurance through my work so it's not bad. They wouldn't ask me to drop in pay I hope.
In fact I'm probably making less than I should. 
Edit: [/OFFTOPIC]
- 3,826
- Melbourne
- Milldrum
R1600TurboThought about it.
If it means anything, I have Australia "liked" on my Facebook and no other country, including my own.
Anyway, I have health insurance through my work so it's not bad. They wouldn't ask me to drop in pay I hope.
If they did you could organize a strike and send them bankrupt! đź’ˇ
Back to the twinkies, it's hard to trust companies now. All that has gone down over the last 5-6 years with different scams etc. Its hard to just take a companies word as true. Unions have made life hard for themselves with different deals that they have done too.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,319
- United States
I honestly don't expect these things to disappear. Someone will purchase the recipe and they'll be all over the place again. In the mean time there's plenty of knock-offs.
Keef
Premium
- 25,159
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
Ah, union contracts. I assume the company wasn't able to simply fire all its workers and hire non-union ones, besides the cost of that of course. This is the next best decision. I mean, hey, if people won't work then you should get rid of them. All of them won't work? Fire all of them. Hopefully this union and others will learn a lesson from this, as will prospective union members. The union can protect your job until they bankrupt the company and you and 18,000 of your friends are out of work.
ROAD_DOGG33J
Premium
- 14,294
- IL, USA
- holyc0w1
- holyc0w
- 24,553
- Frankfort, KY
- GTP_FoolKiller
- FoolKiller1979
At least in Kentucky, you don't qualify for them until your unemployment insurance runs out, unless your pay was already so low you received them anyway.
Now, for a straight out of school person, with no money in their unemployment account, they go straight to the welfare/whatever line.
Scientific names are often used for regular things because the idea of what it is commonly called seems odd for food, like calling vinegar acetic acid, or calling vinegar salt sodium acetate, or baking soda sodium bicarbonate. I can buy nearly every one of those ingredients at an Amish market up the road, and possibly even Amazon. Depending on which ones you may need to search for a food grade variety if looking online.
Surely "amateur chemist" is a more accurate title?
My first job out of college was $24,000 a year, or $11.54/hr. I had 100% coverage insurance, lived in a 1,000 sq foot, two bedroom apartment with a friend making the same amount, we each had our own cars, paid for our own groceries, had a big screen TV w/surround sound, all the video game systems, and that was when I started my huge collection of DVDs.
All while dealing with my constant medical issues.
I am guessing they are able to tax this.
To pay for this:
My health insurance was paid 60% by my company, 40% from my paycheck, pre-tax. My health insurance was essentially part of my salary. So, when you see what appears to be ridiculously low pay in the US remember that is middle class (lower-middle, but you're a few tax brackets above the bottom) in a two-income household, we pay way less in taxes, and what your government provides you we also get from our employers sometimes.
$12 is not glamorous, but it is a decent entry level office pay. Under $10 an hour is where you get into no-skill labor, like McDonald's.
You also have to take into account where people live. A $1 million home in LA or New York is a $90,000-$100,000 starter home in Kentucky. A two-story, 3,000 sq foot house is in the $200,000-$300,000 range here, and is ungodly expensive in large cities. Businesses pay competitive wages based on location, often times.
I had a manager who moved from New York. For the money he got from selling his NY house he bought three high-end homes (two to run as rental properties) here in Kentucky. A guy who transferred from Boston immediately bought a G37 with his leftover housing money.
- 195
- 3,826
- Melbourne
- Milldrum
FoolKiller
My first job was $8,900 per year. But that was a long time ago and I was an apprentice.
In Australia you don't pay tax until you earn $18,000. But you don't pay for the medical part (Medicare) until you reach about $30,000.
But the increasing normal in America seems to be that companies are withdrawing medical insurance as a working condition for the lower paid workers. For the higher skilled they need to offer insurance to keep them.
With the twinkie makers it seems that the reductions needed for the management to be satisfied was a step too far. I would be curious to know if the executives took pay reductions too. If they did then they were at least trying to change the company before it sank. If they took a pay freeze and suspended bonuses like GM executives then they just delayed their payday until a later date.
- 26,628
- OREGON
- a6m5zero
Exactly. I heard about the bankruptcy from guys at work, and they are all talking about how there will be no more Twinkies. These brands, products, names, they are assets. Whoever are entitled to these "assets" after bankruptcy, they are not going to just forfeit & walk away without recovering their investment.I'd imagine someone will be buying at least the Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos brands as they are well known brands.
Unfortunately I will probably be losing my Zingers.
I expect very little change, and maybe different operator?
P.S. My favorite was that chocolate creme-thing Twinkies. Zingers were OK.
- 758
- Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
- gtp-jaydoc
G.T. Ace, You really never had a twinky? If you want some, PM me your address before it's too late, I'll send you some! The factory, just as a side note, is right here in Tulsa where I'm from (one of them at least).
They are nothing special, just one of those long time american icons I guess!
They are nothing special, just one of those long time american icons I guess!
- 2,037
- Colorado
$12 per hour is a heck of a lot different here. I know many people who live decently on that. But as was stated above, our cost of living here is low too. Median home prices in my area run around $80,000 and you can pick up a decent 5 year old car for about $6,000 - $7,000. Food for a single individual comes in around $350 a month. So let's roughly break it down. For an $80,000 house you can expect your monthly mortgage payments to come in around $650 with good credit. Car payments about $200, including insurance, so without health insurance you can expect to pay $1200 per month for your own home and a decent car. If you work 40 hours a week your after-tax income should be approximately $1600 per month. Which leaves $400 per month for utilities, gas, cell phone etc. Just rough math here. If the car is paid off that's $500 per month. It's not glamorous living, but if you don't want your own house you can rent a decent place in my area for $400 per month, which leaves $600 - 800 per month in discretionary income. Like I said, not great but for a single person starting out it could be way worse. Trust me, from experience I know $600 per month in discretionary income goes fast and bills definitely add up quick, gas, phone, utilities, extra food/eating out, and you still end up living paycheck to paycheck, but my point is $12 isn't great but it's nothing to scoff at either.
nobuffalo
Premium
- 2,692
- USA
When I moved to the big city(STL) at 19 I was living off 8.50 an hour and only 25 hour work weeks. Go to school kids, or get second jobs.
People really underestimate what one can get by with. I had a car, sometimes 2, cell phone and internet. In fact I remember some weeks only bringing home $160 after taxes.
People really underestimate what one can get by with. I had a car, sometimes 2, cell phone and internet. In fact I remember some weeks only bringing home $160 after taxes.
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- 24,553
- Frankfort, KY
- GTP_FoolKiller
- FoolKiller1979
Before the bust, yes. I don't know housing prices in other areas that well now.Is it really that bad?10x's the cost of living?
But everything is that different. Gas can be $3.20 a gsllon here and $4.50 in LA. When I was in Hawaii the grocery store had a pound of strawberries for $12. I have never paid more than $3.99.
You have to remember though, LA has as more people than all of Kentucky, but doesn't have as many resources. A farmer's market in LA or NY means guys who drove in from outside the city or maybe have a neighborhood thing on a roof or patch of green space. Here, everyone at the farmer's market is my neighbor. I can buy chicken and eggs (and rabbit) from a guy at church.
And most neighborhoods around here are more likely to have houses on 5 acre lots than 1/2 or 1 acre. In Kentucky we only have one city with a skyline made up of more than one building. Resources, even those shipped in, are more available for less people. Supply and demand.
Apprentice might be like an intern here? You are still studying in school or just finished and getting on the job education?
Those can be unpaid here.
That bit is not so different here.
When/where did you hear that? Technically, plenty of low paying jobs had no benefits, but then what is the value of a fry cook or a shelf stocker? These are jobs intended for teenagers to work part-time. The average worker in these positions has insurance from thier parents.
That said, have you not heard about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)? Any company over a certain number of employees must provide insurance or pay fines. The finalization of that step is 2014. But, if you do not have insurance you must buy it somewhere (with low income exceptions). Right now companies are looking at whether it is more profitable to take the fines or meet all the new regulations. Since health insurance is now mandated it doesn't matter a lot if they provide it or not.
I do not know what role management played in the company's financial issues, but if the wages mentioned above are accurate the staff was way overpaid for the jobs they did in some instances. But I can't argue that having to suddenly take a cut like that is tough. But even if they weren't over paid and even if the company was in trouble due solely to management, going on strike in bankruptcy is a class-A stupid move. Considering Hostess said something about what the strike could do before, and one has to assume there were ongoing union negotiations where it was mentioned, I think it is safe to assume that the final blow to the company has equal blame on both sides. Employees should be equally mad at their union leaders.
I think part of their issue is that they really only had a few iconic brands. Little Debbie was kicking their asses on the multiple high popularity items. Let's be honest, Nutty Bars and Star Crunch are far superior to most Hostess items.The answer is never unions crying for more to do less. In a loose way I can see in this instance that the problem is the product is really not valued by the consumer. We are in hard times, ain't no one got time for a twinkie
- 11,985
- Australia
- I_Grayson_Fox_I
I am sure there are Twinkie copies under some other name like jam logs or similar.
Plus with this company out, I see others companies making them too fill the void.
The one that can buy the rights to the "Twinkie" name will see record profits.
If you earn less than $6,000 a year you do not pay tax(well you do based apon the amount you earned in the week multiplyed by 52, but if total earnings in the finance year(1 july to 21 june) are under $6,000 you get the tax back(tax return)), which is $113 a week or 8.8hours
Plus with this company out, I see others companies making them too fill the void.
The one that can buy the rights to the "Twinkie" name will see record profits.
If you earn less than $6,000 a year you do not pay tax(well you do based apon the amount you earned in the week multiplyed by 52, but if total earnings in the finance year(1 july to 21 june) are under $6,000 you get the tax back(tax return)), which is $113 a week or 8.8hours
arora
(Banned)
- 4,098
Man, when my older child was a child I spent way too much money on nutty bars and swiss roles, what can I say? I loved the kid to death.
- 26,628
- OREGON
- a6m5zero
OK, maybe you guys can panic a little. I just got back from grocery shopping, and I couldn't find Hostess-nothing! I think the panic has set in, at least in the Beaverton(OR) Winco store. They are all-gone. 
P.S. Little Debblie's Twinkie knock-off's pretty close to the real thing. Not quite there, but close.
I think the panic has set in, at least in the Beaverton(OR) Winco store. They are all-gone. P.S. Little Debblie's Twinkie knock-off's pretty close to the real thing. Not quite there, but close.
- 24,636
- Anoka, MN
OK, maybe you guys can panic a little. I just got back from grocery shopping, and I couldn't find Hostess-nothing!
We had people calling the store I work at asking if we had any Twinkies.
When we closed at midnight all that was left were some bags of Donettes and a few single packs of Vanilla Zingers.
- 11,985
- Australia
- I_Grayson_Fox_I
Get'em while there hot
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hostess-Twinkies-/281025034867?pt=AU_Food&hash=item416e65ba73
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hostess-Twinkies-/281025034867?pt=AU_Food&hash=item416e65ba73
- 5,494
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Not really.
Traditionally an apprenticeship is for four years. The first three years also include schooling for roughly one week per month. The employer still pays the apprentice while he/she is at school.
An apprenticeship is never unpaid, it's a job with the pay rate increasing for each year you complete. Once you complete your time and pass all relevant schooling and exams you become qualified in whatever field is relevant.
On the $12/hour bit.
It's all swings and roundabouts, a lot of Americans freak out when they hear how much we pay for cars and other commodities. Just like I freak out when I hear some of the pay rates in the US.
To put it into perspective the last time I would have earned $12/hour would have been in 1993 as a 3rd year apprentice.
Cheers Shaun.
BobK
Premium
- 7,020
- Massachusetts, USA
I think we can be sure there will be Twinkies available in the future, either from a restructured Hostess or from whoever buys the rights to the name. And I'm pretty sure it won't be the same thing; some modification will have been made to the recipe. But then again, the recipe has already been changed several times through the years.
- 24,553
- Frankfort, KY
- GTP_FoolKiller
- FoolKiller1979
If minimum wage is $13 an hour and you make less than $6,000 in a year that isn't even working.
But my point is that if your minimum pay is twice as high as the US then the rest of your pay ranges are also higher. It means there is more dollars overall to be taxed. But because it also inflates your costs it does not mean you all walk around richer.
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