I would agree that most SINGLE or CHILDLESS people don't have to worry about healthcare. My employer offers pretty good insurance for my are and I still pay about $300 (pre-tax) a month, they pay over twice that. It's fine for must things, but if one of my kids has strep throat and we all need to get checked I'm suddenly looking at $100 out of pocket to cover the co-pays on five people. Follow up visits can easily make that over $150 for the month. I have three kids.
I too am at an excellent employer who pays for training (no certs), offers fairly generous vacation time and offers insurance for pretty much everything except vision, too bad my eyes are so bad:(.
I can't speak for a direct comparison to all your numbers, but I know I effectively get back almost all of my federal taxes each year when I file. However I do pay an income tax to the state and the county, sales tax (6%, no tax on non-prepared food), FICA (Social Security) is 6% from me and 6% from my employer, health care is about $300 / month from me and $700 from my employer, childcare is around $150 / child per week (mine stay home with my wife), gas is $2.89 per gallon). I just bought a new (to me) 2006 minivan for about $18,500 after taxes and warranty (sticker was $15,499 + about $2k for the 60 month/ 60k mile warrany). I also pay about $30 / month for dental, and maybe $10 for some basic life insurance. Employer pays for some life insurance and disability, they claim I cost them around $80k when all expenses and benefits are taken into account, my annual gross is around $50k.
Something similar happened to me with packet8. I filed a dispute with the State Attorney General and even got a company lawyer to call me and indicate he would waive the charges when I reactivated. However, nobody I called to reactivate was ever aware of this and they wouldn't active me without the charges being paid. I did end up getting them to waive most of the charges by filing a dispute with the Better Business Bureau.
I never paid the part they didn't waive and haven't heard anything about it in over a year. I had already moved to Vonage.
I'm not trying to come off as jealous, it just strikes me as odd that some people don't understand what a status symbol is. Certain things are a status symbol whether you like it or not. A luxury car is a status symbol whether you purchased it for that or not. The list of "mass market" items you provided are status symbols. Just because you, I, and others in our income bracket can afford these things doesn't mean they are an easy purchase for everyone.
I do aspire to better myself financially, and my income has increased substantially in the past few years. I'm doing very well thank you. I just don't see people's obsession with toys and trinkets that depreciate. They are nice, but most people can't really afford them even if they have the cash in their pocket (hint, that cash is probably borrowed and many people have a negative net worth).
Let's do two simple calculation.
1. cost per hour of device
($60,000/52)/40 roughly equals 28.84, this means a $200 item costs you just shy of 7 hours of pre-tax work. Almost a day of your life.
2. percentage of your emergency fund (emergency fund should be 2-3 months of income)
($60,000/12)*3 = $15,000 so $200 is only about 1.3%
($60,000/12)*2 = $10,000 so $200 is an even 2%
Most people don't have this kind of money in their emergency fund so they are buying luxury items with the money they should be using to insure their future.
I love the BMW 3 series, because it is an engineering marvel, at any cost, and would never buy it as a status-symbol. I would buy it because it is a GREAT car and I could care less what the rest of you think.
Flaunting the ability to buy an engineering marvel, at any cost is a status symbol. Just because a BMW does something better then a Hyundai doesn't mean it is better for it's intended use, some people treasure utility. And a $200 item is a luxury item in most of the US. There are many people who spend days agonizing over any purchase more then $100 when it is not a necessity.
(30-ish, $50,000/yr, Associate degree, 3 kids, rent)
Late Hours - Check. Generally few and far between, I usually know about it in advance and plan it around my schedule.
Overtime - Check. The only IT job where I wasn't hourly had none, I get compensated.
Days Off - Check. I'm on call, and I usually answer. I'm compensated overtime and can do most fixes remotely.
Not able to go home - check. There have been times I had to stay late, but there are also times I have to "stay late" at home in the morning and I remote in and work on things while I watch the kiddo's.
Not all IT jobs are created equal. There are alot of bad ones and alot of good ones. I've found the best luck working in IT for non-IT companies.
I think he's talking more about the way that drupal organizes things as "nodes" (I think) and promotes the newest entry. It's more blog like. I don't like that myself. It also means that pages are not necessarily linked together, although they can be searched for. I prefer the way a wiki strings things together with links and gives you more control over your content. It also appears more static.
I submitted a story about the "bird's eye view" function on maps.live.com, it's much more useful in my opinion. It seems to cover more places and you can rotate to see things from whaterver direction, N, S, E, or W. The angled view lets you see things like how the face of a building looks.
No, what I'm saying is these devices are designed and marketed as having weeks long battery life, if you use them afew minutes a day to check your schedule or look up a phone number. If you actually use them to read books, or play games, or anything that involves keeping them on for an extended period of time the battery life sucks and you will be constantly changing the batteries. Do yourself a favor and get one with a rechargable battery.
I might be biased because the one palm I owned that took removable batteries had a bad capacitor and needed to be re-synced every time I changed the batteries.
Slashdot Mirror
ewww...You still have earlobes?
A recent study has shown men who have been butchered have only a fraction of the sexual pleasure as normal, intact men.
Good thing my parents circumcised me then, because I probably would die from a stroke when my wife does that thing....
Seriously, how can two people compare pain or pleasure. Different people have different abilities and expectations.
Try OWL, it's a neat little project that looks like it can easily handle your requirements.
I would agree that most SINGLE or CHILDLESS people don't have to worry about healthcare. My employer offers pretty good insurance for my are and I still pay about $300 (pre-tax) a month, they pay over twice that. It's fine for must things, but if one of my kids has strep throat and we all need to get checked I'm suddenly looking at $100 out of pocket to cover the co-pays on five people. Follow up visits can easily make that over $150 for the month. I have three kids.
I too am at an excellent employer who pays for training (no certs), offers fairly generous vacation time and offers insurance for pretty much everything except vision, too bad my eyes are so bad :(.
I can't speak for a direct comparison to all your numbers, but I know I effectively get back almost all of my federal taxes each year when I file. However I do pay an income tax to the state and the county, sales tax (6%, no tax on non-prepared food), FICA (Social Security) is 6% from me and 6% from my employer, health care is about $300 / month from me and $700 from my employer, childcare is around $150 / child per week (mine stay home with my wife), gas is $2.89 per gallon). I just bought a new (to me) 2006 minivan for about $18,500 after taxes and warranty (sticker was $15,499 + about $2k for the 60 month/ 60k mile warrany). I also pay about $30 / month for dental, and maybe $10 for some basic life insurance. Employer pays for some life insurance and disability, they claim I cost them around $80k when all expenses and benefits are taken into account, my annual gross is around $50k.
Something similar happened to me with packet8. I filed a dispute with the State Attorney General and even got a company lawyer to call me and indicate he would waive the charges when I reactivated. However, nobody I called to reactivate was ever aware of this and they wouldn't active me without the charges being paid. I did end up getting them to waive most of the charges by filing a dispute with the Better Business Bureau.
I never paid the part they didn't waive and haven't heard anything about it in over a year. I had already moved to Vonage.
I'm not trying to come off as jealous, it just strikes me as odd that some people don't understand what a status symbol is. Certain things are a status symbol whether you like it or not. A luxury car is a status symbol whether you purchased it for that or not. The list of "mass market" items you provided are status symbols. Just because you, I, and others in our income bracket can afford these things doesn't mean they are an easy purchase for everyone.
I do aspire to better myself financially, and my income has increased substantially in the past few years. I'm doing very well thank you. I just don't see people's obsession with toys and trinkets that depreciate.
They are nice, but most people can't really afford them even if they have the cash in their pocket (hint, that cash is probably borrowed and many people have a negative net worth).
Let's do two simple calculation.
1. cost per hour of device
($60,000/52)/40 roughly equals 28.84, this means a $200 item costs you just shy of 7 hours of pre-tax work. Almost a day of your life.
2. percentage of your emergency fund (emergency fund should be 2-3 months of income)
($60,000/12)*3 = $15,000 so $200 is only about 1.3%
($60,000/12)*2 = $10,000 so $200 is an even 2%
Most people don't have this kind of money in their emergency fund so they are buying luxury items with the money they should be using to insure their future.
I love the BMW 3 series, because it is an engineering marvel, at any cost, and would never buy it as a status-symbol. I would buy it because it is a GREAT car and I could care less what the rest of you think.
Flaunting the ability to buy an engineering marvel, at any cost is a status symbol. Just because a BMW does something better then a Hyundai doesn't mean it is better for it's intended use, some people treasure utility. And a $200 item is a luxury item in most of the US. There are many people who spend days agonizing over any purchase more then $100 when it is not a necessity.
(30-ish, $50,000/yr, Associate degree, 3 kids, rent)
He's pretty good in "The Gift" although Giovanni Ribisi steals the show with his crazy man act, "Shoot me! SHOOT ME! SHOOT ME, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
But don't expect the Wing Commander series to be released as freeware any time soon. It's own by EA now. :(
check this out
running through the HVAC system is a real no-no unless you use the more expensive Plenum cable. Plenum cable doesn't give of toxic fumes when burning.
You also forgot my favorite place for cables, under the carpet. I use a fishtape to run it down the hall.
I wonder if it showed that drivers receive more citations toward the end of the month (when quotas are coming due...).
Late Hours - Check. Generally few and far between, I usually know about it in advance and plan it around my schedule.
Overtime - Check. The only IT job where I wasn't hourly had none, I get compensated.
Days Off - Check. I'm on call, and I usually answer. I'm compensated overtime and can do most fixes remotely.
Not able to go home - check. There have been times I had to stay late, but there are also times I have to "stay late" at home in the morning and I remote in and work on things while I watch the kiddo's.
Not all IT jobs are created equal. There are alot of bad ones and alot of good ones. I've found the best luck working in IT for non-IT companies.
I love my job
When best isn't possible better does the job.
As an unimpressed current user of a Cisco PIX, what is your alternate recommendation?
I've been looking for something similare, try solucija, or CMS made simple.
However, I'm starting to think a wiki is the best way to go.
I think he's talking more about the way that drupal organizes things as "nodes" (I think) and promotes the newest entry. It's more blog like. I don't like that myself. It also means that pages are not necessarily linked together, although they can be searched for. I prefer the way a wiki strings things together with links and gives you more control over your content. It also appears more static.
I like pmwiki, it's simpler then mediawiki.
Obviously this guy is not platform agnostic. It sounds like he only knows windows.
Time to break out my old books.
If they are poisoning the database, why would they only poison one entry?
I submitted a story about the "bird's eye view" function on maps.live.com, it's much more useful in my opinion. It seems to cover more places and you can rotate to see things from whaterver direction, N, S, E, or W. The angled view lets you see things like how the face of a building looks.
Take a good long look at NearlyFreeSpeech.net
They have been really good for me, and their prices can't be beat.
haha....
I mean "It's a god-damn satchel!"
No, what I'm saying is these devices are designed and marketed as having weeks long battery life, if you use them afew minutes a day to check your schedule or look up a phone number. If you actually use them to read books, or play games, or anything that involves keeping them on for an extended period of time the battery life sucks and you will be constantly changing the batteries. Do yourself a favor and get one with a rechargable battery.
I might be biased because the one palm I owned that took removable batteries had a bad capacitor and needed to be re-synced every time I changed the batteries.