These wouldn't be bad places to live, unless it's too close to the cesspool that is L.A.
Actually LA itself is a major producer of oil in the US. LA has oil wells all over the city and surrounding area.
Africa isn't exactly a safe place to live. Latin America... depends which country. Brazil would probably be ok, Venezuela or Columbia would be a bad idea.
Like Latin America, there are good places and bad places to live in Africa. Personally I'm hoping to go to Brazil in a few years.
Australia would be ok, but East Timor would definitely not considering what happened there recently.
It's better in East Timor than it was fro 1975 to after independence in the late '90s. However as far as oil drilling is concerned right now Australia controls almost all of the Timor Gap oil. This is from when Indonesia ruled East Timor they signed an agreement with Australia. East Timorese are fighting the agreement though.
Basically, my point here is that, for offshore drilling, in the near future, a career here will take you to far-away and possibly highly unsafe places, not places where you'd want to bring your family.
And my point was that not all of the oil drilling is in the Gulf of Mexico, irrespective of safety.
Honestly I've learned more about metalworking at this site than my local SCA folks. It's a pretty great resource if you're still interested.
Thanks for the link. Perhaps the reason you haven't learned much from those SCAers in your area is because they don't know much themselves. Provided there are some experienced metallurgists you can learn more by having them to help than by reading. One of the things I wanted to, dreaming, is to apprentice under a master samurai sword maker.
It's a little harder for a man ot learn to be a woman. At least one attractive enough to make money. And plus, that is a lot more of an investment then just learning how to program in HTML.
From what I understand she taught herself CGI and other languages as well as html.
In our summer jobs and part time jobs at school, a $800 or $1000 in net monthly pay was a big deal. Then you get a decent job after college, and suddenly your monthly take home is above $2000 each. We felt like it was an unbelievable amount of money, and lived large for years before realizing that it was all too easy to eat through $4000 in net monthly income, and we had a mountain of debt.
I think that's a common mistake, especially among college grads. They get a good paying job and they spend the money plus. Some, figuring they'll soon get a raise will spend more than they make. What's easy to say but harder to do is that when they start they should keep most of their discretionary money, money left after living expenses are paid, in the bank. And keep those living expenses low. Then open up an account with a broker to buy stocks and consistently add money to it. Heck my income is less than $1100 a month, and right now about half of it goes to pay off my credit card, I put my new laptop and software on the card. I pay at least $500 a month now so once it's paid off I figure I'll be able to save at least half that. Then if I can make $100 a week as a photographer I should be able to invest at least $500 a month.
Of course this is all talk. As much as I want to do this a disability, injury, I have makes it hard to do almost everything I want to do.
You and I have some serious fundamental disagreements about how the world works. That is fine--I will be the first to admit that economic theory is voodoo to me. However, I have the feeling that if you try this magical get rich business plan you will find that Reality is waiting for you and when it finds you it will not be kind.
Yea, reality is strange isn't it? My sisters and I came from a low income family with no money to speak of. While my parents didn't have any college education, their children worked their way at least partially through college. My older sister is now a nurse. My younger sister got her Masters degree and now a partner in her own business as well as owns some rental property. Maybe it makes a difference than our parents raised us to believe we could be and do almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it hard. My mom would be among the first to tell the person asking what he should do to start his own business.
It's better to dream, work on fulfilling that dream, and fail than not dream at all.
Sorry, family comes first. You provide for them then you provide for yourself.
What every family needs is a grouchy parent. Even if you try to hide it many kids can still pick up on how their parents feel.
sorry but IT is easy street
Easy for some, not for everyone.
I watched the guys building my house in the hot hot Georgia sun and was thankful I had a different set of skills
That's it, a set of skills. For you IT may be easier, but construction may be easier for those construction workers. In a sense I've had it both ways, in college I was majoring in Computer Engineering, however for 3 years I worked in construction, specifically with concrete, and I lived in Florida then.
my understanding is that all the offshore drilling is off the Gulf Coast: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, etc
There's drilling or potential drilling sites along the US Atlantic coast as well. The Sierra Club has been trying to block exploration and drilling off the Atlantic as well as off California. Meanwhile drilling's picking up off the coast of Latin America, Africa, China and Taiwan, and in Australia especially in the Timor Gap, between Australia and East Timor. The high prices of petroleum makes drilling in these places economically feasible.
If enough people can afford to eat meat at that point. I'm not an anti vegan by any means. Although I've never had the opportunity, I want to slaughter and animal and eat it, and have my children witness the same at a young age as well as do the same when they get old enough.
I have hunted and fished so I'm not a vegan, or a vegetarian either. And I have cleaned what I got, "you caught, you clean it". That right there would turn many a meat eater into vegetarians.
However, a vegetarian diet is cheaper and easier to sustain.
This is oh so true. The water and corn needed to raise one cow is more than what a person will get from the meat.
Thirty years in the IT industry, and my fallback career is cattle rancher. My in-laws own a small ranch where I work from time to time. If peak oil predictions prove to be optimistic, I'll still be able to put food on the table.
People will always need to eat, so in that sense you're right. However, while cows are ruminants and are natural grass eaters, today cattle eat mostly corn and it takes a lot of petrochemicals to grow the corn. Even more important is the water the cattle need, and they need a lot of water. Forget about peak oil, we're heading into peak water. "Aquifers and Rivers Are Running Dry."
If you know how to manage your own funds and pick the proper stocks for short and long term gain in the stock market (beating the last 10 years worth of M2/M3 inflation alone would've taken some serious financial market skills) and you also seem to have a backbone, it would seem someone taught you things that aren't taught in public schools and college.
Investing for retirement may not be taught in public schools now, but it was taught when I was in Jr High school, a public school. The teacher I had for one class even taught us a little trading. For a class exercise he had us pretend we had I think it was $20 or $25,000 to invest. What we did was decided what we wanted to invest in, shares of company X and company Y's bonds or whatever. When we bought and sold we checked the selling price of whatever it was. We did this for something like 6 weeks then we tallied up the value of our holdings. I don't recall which one it is but at least one of the online brokers has a game like this for kids.
Then again my sister, who's younger than I am, had to ask me for investment advise when she was working on her BA in Accounting or Masters in Taxation. So I guess secondary education has gone down.
So far, the only company I've heard of that has done this, has been Berkshire Hathaway. Name related to that is Warren Buffet. Short of him, I've yet to hear of any other company doing that for their customers.
Wait until those people start retiring en masse, and they do what they must, by law. Liquidating shares to pay their retirement.
Unless they already have when investors reach retirement they should switch their investment strategy to producing income. Young investors should invest in aggressive growth. And as they age they should shift their investment into growth before finally in income. But I guess that's not taught in schools anymore. Oh, what this "by law"? There is no law in the US that mandates how retirees are invested. According to a new law it may be better for retirees to keep their investments in stocks instead of in bonds or other instruments that pay interest instead of dividends. Maybe that's what you're thinking, if so it isn't a law that requires liquidating shares, the law actually makes them more desirable.
all my previous landlords in a major metropolitan city have either been gay couples, married couples without kids, and bachelor men in the 40s without kids. This struck me at one point that perhaps that not having children might be related by being financially successful and my parents didn't have me until they were well in their 30s
From another anecdotal perspective: My sister got married while earning her BA to a blue collar construction worker. After the wedding she moved to his homestate whereupon she got pregnant. Between morning sickness and homesickness they moved back. Once back while working and raising her son she finished her BA and then her Masters. Now she works for a business she and some friends started. On top of that she now owns some rental property.
Sure there are plenty of exceptions of people able to be financially successful while having kids at an early age but for the vast majority of Americans having kids early hampers your ability to finish college and get a successful career.
Ok, I see you say there are exceptions.
The major point that many people overlook when having kids is that not only are you impacting yourself but you are all impacting the person you bring into the world because if you can't afford to send them to college, stastically speaking on the average they aren't going to go.
I come from a low income family. My dad enlisted in the military and my mom worked part tyme, while raising my 2 sisters and me, and attended a technical school to be certified as a lab tech in a hospital. Both of my sisters and I went on to college. My older sister is now a nurse and my younger one, as I say above, runs her own business.
Now with the recession, having kids will be almost intolerable for an entire generation. There was an article on CNN about people putting off having kids with the economic situation we are having these days. Anyone seriously responsible would give it a great deal of thought at this point of our history whether or not to have children.
Not only do I agree but I'd add that almost everyone should think long and hard on whether they will have children no matter the state of the economy. People never know the future, there could be a booming economy like there was in the 1990s to have the economy go south like it is today.
People always say "do what you love", but I have a different mantra. Most things that people love to do they love to do ON THEIR OWN SCHEDULE. When you HAVE to do it, eventually you come to hate it.
If so maybe you should have more than one hobby. Years ago, before I had an accident, while majoring in Computer Engineering in college I also took classes in dancing and theatre. People who knew me and my major couldn't understand why I'd take these extra classes. I took them because I love dancing and theatre. I also love hiking, gardening, and scuba diving.
In short, my opinion is that most people are going to come to loathe whatever they do for a living. Might not happen as fast if you pick something you like, but EVENTUALLY, you will hate it.
Then when you hate what you do at work change your career. The average American changes careers a number of tymes.
Financial aid is the problem. We are so far in debt that now I need to move in with my parents because a B.A. will not pay the rent if we have to pay $2,000 a month for 30 years to pay for our education. Teachers make shit.
I don't know your situation but have you thought about one of you working full time while the other works on a degree, then once one gets the degree they can work while the other is working on a degree? Unless the economy in your area is really depressed and or prices are high one income should be enough for a couple of years or more. Or maybe both of you can work part time.
Yup. I'm a lifer - been in 10 years or so already. =)
Northshield is the kingdom here, though I'm not a member or been to any meets. I moved years ago but I used to go to meets and events in the Kingdom of Trimaris. Like you one of the things I wanted to learn was metallurgy.
I can't speak for elucido, but to me being a stay at home Dad is a fantastic profession. I was out of work for a while, and caring for the kids was much harder but much more rewarding than the day job that I lost.
I don't work, or have kids, but I'd like to work from home when I can. I'm planning, well hoping really, to start working in photography. I want to work as both a photographer and a consultant for other photographers who want to take their business online.
Also, we don't know the financial situation of the person who started this discussion. His current debt situation may put him in a position where he can't accept a pay cut.
That's oh so true. I hadn't considered it and from all the posts I've read so far no one else has either. You're the first to bring this up.
That's just one more reason for careful financial planning - so if you want to make a change, you have the option.
Unfortunately too many people do not have any financial planning past the next weeks or months. It's hard when you first start working but once you've been working a few years you should have enough money saved to cover your living expenses for 6 months, besides your investment fund for retirement that is. Something like CDs and Money market accounts or Money market deposit accounts.
Part of your responsibility is to care for your children. They cannot care for themselves. If you do not care for them, the state will take them away, and most of your loved ones will probably turn against you.
You can only give them the best chances by taking care of your children. It reminds me of something Sidney Poitier's character in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" tells his dad that if he ever has children his duty will be to give them the best chance they have.
But as far as giving them the "best chance" possible? Best chance for *what?* Entering the next couple of higher rungs on the social/economic status ladder? Winning a Nobel prize? Reproducing?
The best chances of them doing what they want to do or be what they want to be, the best chance to have a happy life.
We are so *not* at risk as individuals in developed countries of dying of hunger and exposure, but we still have a lot of the language that suggests that we are.
Our society may, and to a degree is that way, but not all individuals are like that. I grew up "in the woods" so to speak. I could and did go into the woods and knew how to find food and water and how to make a shelter. Any kids I have I want to be able to do the same thing. I love to garden, actually I have about 2 weeks until our last frost date here and have been preparing my garden, and I want my kids to be able to garden as well. When my produce is ready I plan to can most of what I've grown.
When I think of the interesting, courageous, successful and self-confident people I know, they report childhoods filled not with sacrifice, resentment and martyrdom, but with optimism, curiosity, life-long learning, travel, change, even risk (including periods of real poverty.)
That basically describes how I was brought up. My family was poor but mom taught us we could be almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it. I have two sisters and though our parents didn't go to college my sisters and I did. My older sister's a nurse. My younger sister got her Master and now runs her own business. Unfortunately for me, while in college majoring in Computer Engineering I had an accident that ended that. I survived, and I mean "survived" because I wasn't expected to live, a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. While in a coma the docs told my family it would be a miracle if I did live.
Speaking as a U.S. Navy veteran myself, the military is not the key to a quality college education. The GI Bill provides barely enough to get you through a state school, but for many people only private institutions provide the studies they seek. You'll also get nothing done while in the military, unless you are incredibly lucky and stationed in the right place
That depends what how much you contribute, for how long you contribute, and whether or not you take college classes while in the military. While I was in the Army stationed at Ft Benning, GA I took one class that was taught by a professor at Troy University for which Troy University gave credit. At the tyme it was considered one of the best in the Southeast and still is. The one problem I had with it was that you had to have the money up front to pay tuition, books, and fees once you got out.
Did you forget about the FCC? FDA? SEC? Or any of the other regulatory organizations whose underlying purpose is to enforce fairness to the common man in situations where a 100% capitalist system would be inhumane?
As I just told the GP the US isn't a capitalist country, it's a Corporate Aristocracy.
America is a capitalist country. Under capitalism, people sacrifice themselves for money.
Under capitalism people have the free will to choose what they want to do.
Under capitalism, society does not care whether or not happiness is increasing, thats why we keep working 8 hour days even though we don't have to work 8 hours a day. Thats why 2 parents work 8 hour days even though we don't have to work so hard.
You have the choice of living how you want to, within ability or whatever.
As long as we are a capitlaist country, everything I said in my post will remain true.
The US, I assume that's the country you're talking about, is not a capitalist country. It is a corporate aristocracy bent on making people believe that in order to be happy they have to consume more and more.
The 21st century is calling, today a man is not required to provide. Stay at Home Dads are growing in numbers. While my sister runs her own business my brother-in-law stays home taking care of their daughter.
But when you talk about the below $100k range, well, I'd rather sacrifice my happiness to get into the $100k range so my kids can go to Yale.
Ever hear of financial aid? Even Yale offers financial aid. Me, I went into the military to save money to go to college as I came from a low income family. The military will even help you take college classes while in the military. While I was in one Sargent I knew in my unit was awarded his BA degree, that was the happiest day for him. You can also get leadership training while in. Neither of my parents got so much as a BA degree yet my mom taught us that we could become almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it. There's me and two 2 sisters in my family, my older sister's a nurse and my younger sister, the one above, has her masters.
I'm not saying that it's the sole measure of success, but it's one of the most important measures of success. A father is a provider as well as a mentor.
The father doesn't need to be the "bread winner". Several years ago my sister who's a Certified Public Accountant, CPA, quit her job working for others and with friends started their own accounting firm. Her husband, who's a Certified Financial Planner, CFP, now takes care of their 3 year old daughter.
Heat metal - smash it with a hammer. Make beautiful things. Very therapeutic. Come home from work, have dinner, then every so often wander out into the garage and fire up the forge.
Have you heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism, SCA? Different Kingdoms, groups in specific areas, hold classes and events in different areas of knowledge including metallurgy.
If you want to do what you love for all of your life, you shouldn't have kids. The moment you have kids, what you love no longer matters anymore.
you'd better love your kids, otherwise you shouldn't have had them.
The moment you have kids, all your hopes, your dreams, you can throw all of it in the trash. Once you have those kids your purpose in life is those kids and nothing else matters besides those kids.
Once you have children your job is to give them the best chances in life you can. That's doesn't mean you have to stay in a job you hate. Actually by changing careers you can show them there's more than one way to do something.
Do what you love. In the end it is all that matters.
But pr0n don't pay if you are male
Sure it does, start your own paid porn site. Actually about 10 years ago I read an article in an internet magazine about how Asia Carrera taught herself how to program so she could start her own porn website, I think it said she made a lot more from the website than she did acting.
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These wouldn't be bad places to live, unless it's too close to the cesspool that is L.A.
Actually LA itself is a major producer of oil in the US. LA has oil wells all over the city and surrounding area.
Africa isn't exactly a safe place to live. Latin America... depends which country. Brazil would probably be ok, Venezuela or Columbia would be a bad idea.
Like Latin America, there are good places and bad places to live in Africa. Personally I'm hoping to go to Brazil in a few years.
Australia would be ok, but East Timor would definitely not considering what happened there recently.
It's better in East Timor than it was fro 1975 to after independence in the late '90s. However as far as oil drilling is concerned right now Australia controls almost all of the Timor Gap oil. This is from when Indonesia ruled East Timor they signed an agreement with Australia. East Timorese are fighting the agreement though.
Basically, my point here is that, for offshore drilling, in the near future, a career here will take you to far-away and possibly highly unsafe places, not places where you'd want to bring your family.
And my point was that not all of the oil drilling is in the Gulf of Mexico, irrespective of safety.
FalconHonestly I've learned more about metalworking at this site than my local SCA folks. It's a pretty great resource if you're still interested.
Thanks for the link. Perhaps the reason you haven't learned much from those SCAers in your area is because they don't know much themselves. Provided there are some experienced metallurgists you can learn more by having them to help than by reading. One of the things I wanted to, dreaming, is to apprentice under a master samurai sword maker.
FalconIt's a little harder for a man ot learn to be a woman. At least one attractive enough to make money. And plus, that is a lot more of an investment then just learning how to program in HTML.
From what I understand she taught herself CGI and other languages as well as html.
As he said, "pr0n don't pay if you are male".
Sure it does, as I said start a paid website.
FalconIn our summer jobs and part time jobs at school, a $800 or $1000 in net monthly pay was a big deal. Then you get a decent job after college, and suddenly your monthly take home is above $2000 each. We felt like it was an unbelievable amount of money, and lived large for years before realizing that it was all too easy to eat through $4000 in net monthly income, and we had a mountain of debt.
I think that's a common mistake, especially among college grads. They get a good paying job and they spend the money plus. Some, figuring they'll soon get a raise will spend more than they make. What's easy to say but harder to do is that when they start they should keep most of their discretionary money, money left after living expenses are paid, in the bank. And keep those living expenses low. Then open up an account with a broker to buy stocks and consistently add money to it. Heck my income is less than $1100 a month, and right now about half of it goes to pay off my credit card, I put my new laptop and software on the card. I pay at least $500 a month now so once it's paid off I figure I'll be able to save at least half that. Then if I can make $100 a week as a photographer I should be able to invest at least $500 a month.
Of course this is all talk. As much as I want to do this a disability, injury, I have makes it hard to do almost everything I want to do.
FalconYou and I have some serious fundamental disagreements about how the world works. That is fine--I will be the first to admit that economic theory is voodoo to me. However, I have the feeling that if you try this magical get rich business plan you will find that Reality is waiting for you and when it finds you it will not be kind.
Yea, reality is strange isn't it? My sisters and I came from a low income family with no money to speak of. While my parents didn't have any college education, their children worked their way at least partially through college. My older sister is now a nurse. My younger sister got her Masters degree and now a partner in her own business as well as owns some rental property. Maybe it makes a difference than our parents raised us to believe we could be and do almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it hard. My mom would be among the first to tell the person asking what he should do to start his own business.
It's better to dream, work on fulfilling that dream, and fail than not dream at all.
FalconSorry, family comes first. You provide for them then you provide for yourself.
What every family needs is a grouchy parent. Even if you try to hide it many kids can still pick up on how their parents feel.
sorry but IT is easy street
Easy for some, not for everyone.
I watched the guys building my house in the hot hot Georgia sun and was thankful I had a different set of skills
That's it, a set of skills. For you IT may be easier, but construction may be easier for those construction workers. In a sense I've had it both ways, in college I was majoring in Computer Engineering, however for 3 years I worked in construction, specifically with concrete, and I lived in Florida then.
Falconmy understanding is that all the offshore drilling is off the Gulf Coast: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, etc
There's drilling or potential drilling sites along the US Atlantic coast as well. The Sierra Club has been trying to block exploration and drilling off the Atlantic as well as off California. Meanwhile drilling's picking up off the coast of Latin America, Africa, China and Taiwan, and in Australia especially in the Timor Gap, between Australia and East Timor. The high prices of petroleum makes drilling in these places economically feasible.
FalconIf enough people can afford to eat meat at that point. I'm not an anti vegan by any means. Although I've never had the opportunity, I want to slaughter and animal and eat it, and have my children witness the same at a young age as well as do the same when they get old enough.
I have hunted and fished so I'm not a vegan, or a vegetarian either. And I have cleaned what I got, "you caught, you clean it". That right there would turn many a meat eater into vegetarians.
However, a vegetarian diet is cheaper and easier to sustain.
This is oh so true. The water and corn needed to raise one cow is more than what a person will get from the meat.
FalconThirty years in the IT industry, and my fallback career is cattle rancher. My in-laws own a small ranch where I work from time to time. If peak oil predictions prove to be optimistic, I'll still be able to put food on the table.
People will always need to eat, so in that sense you're right. However, while cows are ruminants and are natural grass eaters, today cattle eat mostly corn and it takes a lot of petrochemicals to grow the corn. Even more important is the water the cattle need, and they need a lot of water. Forget about peak oil, we're heading into peak water. "Aquifers and Rivers Are Running Dry."
FalconIf you know how to manage your own funds and pick the proper stocks for short and long term gain in the stock market (beating the last 10 years worth of M2/M3 inflation alone would've taken some serious financial market skills) and you also seem to have a backbone, it would seem someone taught you things that aren't taught in public schools and college.
Investing for retirement may not be taught in public schools now, but it was taught when I was in Jr High school, a public school. The teacher I had for one class even taught us a little trading. For a class exercise he had us pretend we had I think it was $20 or $25,000 to invest. What we did was decided what we wanted to invest in, shares of company X and company Y's bonds or whatever. When we bought and sold we checked the selling price of whatever it was. We did this for something like 6 weeks then we tallied up the value of our holdings. I don't recall which one it is but at least one of the online brokers has a game like this for kids.
Then again my sister, who's younger than I am, had to ask me for investment advise when she was working on her BA in Accounting or Masters in Taxation. So I guess secondary education has gone down.
So far, the only company I've heard of that has done this, has been Berkshire Hathaway. Name related to that is Warren Buffet. Short of him, I've yet to hear of any other company doing that for their customers.
Warren Buffet it's the only one to do it, George Soros has also done it.
Wait until those people start retiring en masse, and they do what they must, by law. Liquidating shares to pay their retirement.
Unless they already have when investors reach retirement they should switch their investment strategy to producing income. Young investors should invest in aggressive growth. And as they age they should shift their investment into growth before finally in income. But I guess that's not taught in schools anymore. Oh, what this "by law"? There is no law in the US that mandates how retirees are invested. According to a new law it may be better for retirees to keep their investments in stocks instead of in bonds or other instruments that pay interest instead of dividends. Maybe that's what you're thinking, if so it isn't a law that requires liquidating shares, the law actually makes them more desirable.
Falconall my previous landlords in a major metropolitan city have either been gay couples, married couples without kids, and bachelor men in the 40s without kids. This struck me at one point that perhaps that not having children might be related by being financially successful and my parents didn't have me until they were well in their 30s
From another anecdotal perspective: My sister got married while earning her BA to a blue collar construction worker. After the wedding she moved to his homestate whereupon she got pregnant. Between morning sickness and homesickness they moved back. Once back while working and raising her son she finished her BA and then her Masters. Now she works for a business she and some friends started. On top of that she now owns some rental property.
Sure there are plenty of exceptions of people able to be financially successful while having kids at an early age but for the vast majority of Americans having kids early hampers your ability to finish college and get a successful career.
Ok, I see you say there are exceptions.
The major point that many people overlook when having kids is that not only are you impacting yourself but you are all impacting the person you bring into the world because if you can't afford to send them to college, stastically speaking on the average they aren't going to go.
I come from a low income family. My dad enlisted in the military and my mom worked part tyme, while raising my 2 sisters and me, and attended a technical school to be certified as a lab tech in a hospital. Both of my sisters and I went on to college. My older sister is now a nurse and my younger one, as I say above, runs her own business.
Now with the recession, having kids will be almost intolerable for an entire generation. There was an article on CNN about people putting off having kids with the economic situation we are having these days. Anyone seriously responsible would give it a great deal of thought at this point of our history whether or not to have children.
Not only do I agree but I'd add that almost everyone should think long and hard on whether they will have children no matter the state of the economy. People never know the future, there could be a booming economy like there was in the 1990s to have the economy go south like it is today.
FalconPeople always say "do what you love", but I have a different mantra. Most things that people love to do they love to do ON THEIR OWN SCHEDULE. When you HAVE to do it, eventually you come to hate it.
If so maybe you should have more than one hobby. Years ago, before I had an accident, while majoring in Computer Engineering in college I also took classes in dancing and theatre. People who knew me and my major couldn't understand why I'd take these extra classes. I took them because I love dancing and theatre. I also love hiking, gardening, and scuba diving.
In short, my opinion is that most people are going to come to loathe whatever they do for a living. Might not happen as fast if you pick something you like, but EVENTUALLY, you will hate it.
Then when you hate what you do at work change your career. The average American changes careers a number of tymes.
Falconand my wife almost has a masters.
Financial aid is the problem. We are so far in debt that now I need to move in with my parents because a B.A. will not pay the rent if we have to pay $2,000 a month for 30 years to pay for our education. Teachers make shit.
I don't know your situation but have you thought about one of you working full time while the other works on a degree, then once one gets the degree they can work while the other is working on a degree? Unless the economy in your area is really depressed and or prices are high one income should be enough for a couple of years or more. Or maybe both of you can work part time.
FalconYup. I'm a lifer - been in 10 years or so already. =)
Northshield is the kingdom here, though I'm not a member or been to any meets. I moved years ago but I used to go to meets and events in the Kingdom of Trimaris. Like you one of the things I wanted to learn was metallurgy.
FalconI can't speak for elucido, but to me being a stay at home Dad is a fantastic profession. I was out of work for a while, and caring for the kids was much harder but much more rewarding than the day job that I lost.
I don't work, or have kids, but I'd like to work from home when I can. I'm planning, well hoping really, to start working in photography. I want to work as both a photographer and a consultant for other photographers who want to take their business online.
Also, we don't know the financial situation of the person who started this discussion. His current debt situation may put him in a position where he can't accept a pay cut.
That's oh so true. I hadn't considered it and from all the posts I've read so far no one else has either. You're the first to bring this up.
That's just one more reason for careful financial planning - so if you want to make a change, you have the option.
Unfortunately too many people do not have any financial planning past the next weeks or months. It's hard when you first start working but once you've been working a few years you should have enough money saved to cover your living expenses for 6 months, besides your investment fund for retirement that is. Something like CDs and Money market accounts or Money market deposit accounts.
FalconPart of your responsibility is to care for your children. They cannot care for themselves. If you do not care for them, the state will take them away, and most of your loved ones will probably turn against you.
You can only give them the best chances by taking care of your children. It reminds me of something Sidney Poitier's character in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" tells his dad that if he ever has children his duty will be to give them the best chance they have.
But as far as giving them the "best chance" possible? Best chance for *what?* Entering the next couple of higher rungs on the social/economic status ladder? Winning a Nobel prize? Reproducing?
The best chances of them doing what they want to do or be what they want to be, the best chance to have a happy life.
We are so *not* at risk as individuals in developed countries of dying of hunger and exposure, but we still have a lot of the language that suggests that we are.
Our society may, and to a degree is that way, but not all individuals are like that. I grew up "in the woods" so to speak. I could and did go into the woods and knew how to find food and water and how to make a shelter. Any kids I have I want to be able to do the same thing. I love to garden, actually I have about 2 weeks until our last frost date here and have been preparing my garden, and I want my kids to be able to garden as well. When my produce is ready I plan to can most of what I've grown.
When I think of the interesting, courageous, successful and self-confident people I know, they report childhoods filled not with sacrifice, resentment and martyrdom, but with optimism, curiosity, life-long learning, travel, change, even risk (including periods of real poverty.)
That basically describes how I was brought up. My family was poor but mom taught us we could be almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it. I have two sisters and though our parents didn't go to college my sisters and I did. My older sister's a nurse. My younger sister got her Master and now runs her own business. Unfortunately for me, while in college majoring in Computer Engineering I had an accident that ended that. I survived, and I mean "survived" because I wasn't expected to live, a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. While in a coma the docs told my family it would be a miracle if I did live.
FalconSpeaking as a U.S. Navy veteran myself, the military is not the key to a quality college education. The GI Bill provides barely enough to get you through a state school, but for many people only private institutions provide the studies they seek. You'll also get nothing done while in the military, unless you are incredibly lucky and stationed in the right place
That depends what how much you contribute, for how long you contribute, and whether or not you take college classes while in the military. While I was in the Army stationed at Ft Benning, GA I took one class that was taught by a professor at Troy University for which Troy University gave credit. At the tyme it was considered one of the best in the Southeast and still is. The one problem I had with it was that you had to have the money up front to pay tuition, books, and fees once you got out.
FalconIf you aren't involved in your kids life, don't be surprised if your kids turn to organized crime, or gangs.
It's parents who think like you who are part of the problem, not being involved enough is why we have so much crime.
Is this a strawman or a troll? GP says nothing about not being involved in children's lives, actually it's all about balance.
FalconDid you forget about the FCC? FDA? SEC? Or any of the other regulatory organizations whose underlying purpose is to enforce fairness to the common man in situations where a 100% capitalist system would be inhumane?
As I just told the GP the US isn't a capitalist country, it's a Corporate Aristocracy.
FalconAmerica is a capitalist country. Under capitalism, people sacrifice themselves for money.
Under capitalism people have the free will to choose what they want to do.
Under capitalism, society does not care whether or not happiness is increasing, thats why we keep working 8 hour days even though we don't have to work 8 hours a day. Thats why 2 parents work 8 hour days even though we don't have to work so hard.
You have the choice of living how you want to, within ability or whatever.
As long as we are a capitlaist country, everything I said in my post will remain true.
The US, I assume that's the country you're talking about, is not a capitalist country. It is a corporate aristocracy bent on making people believe that in order to be happy they have to consume more and more.
FalconThe 21st century is calling, today a man is not required to provide. Stay at Home Dads are growing in numbers. While my sister runs her own business my brother-in-law stays home taking care of their daughter.
But when you talk about the below $100k range, well, I'd rather sacrifice my happiness to get into the $100k range so my kids can go to Yale.
Ever hear of financial aid? Even Yale offers financial aid. Me, I went into the military to save money to go to college as I came from a low income family. The military will even help you take college classes while in the military. While I was in one Sargent I knew in my unit was awarded his BA degree, that was the happiest day for him. You can also get leadership training while in. Neither of my parents got so much as a BA degree yet my mom taught us that we could become almost anything we wanted as long as we worked at it. There's me and two 2 sisters in my family, my older sister's a nurse and my younger sister, the one above, has her masters.
FalconI'm not saying that it's the sole measure of success, but it's one of the most important measures of success. A father is a provider as well as a mentor.
The father doesn't need to be the "bread winner". Several years ago my sister who's a Certified Public Accountant, CPA, quit her job working for others and with friends started their own accounting firm. Her husband, who's a Certified Financial Planner, CFP, now takes care of their 3 year old daughter.
FalconHeat metal - smash it with a hammer. Make beautiful things. Very therapeutic. Come home from work, have dinner, then every so often wander out into the garage and fire up the forge.
Have you heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism, SCA? Different Kingdoms, groups in specific areas, hold classes and events in different areas of knowledge including metallurgy.
FalconIf you want to do what you love for all of your life, you shouldn't have kids. The moment you have kids, what you love no longer matters anymore.
you'd better love your kids, otherwise you shouldn't have had them.
The moment you have kids, all your hopes, your dreams, you can throw all of it in the trash. Once you have those kids your purpose in life is those kids and nothing else matters besides those kids.
Once you have children your job is to give them the best chances in life you can. That's doesn't mean you have to stay in a job you hate. Actually by changing careers you can show them there's more than one way to do something.
FalconDo what you love. In the end it is all that matters.
But pr0n don't pay if you are male
Sure it does, start your own paid porn site. Actually about 10 years ago I read an article in an internet magazine about how Asia Carrera taught herself how to program so she could start her own porn website, I think it said she made a lot more from the website than she did acting.
Falcon