In Si Valley, you'd have to live in a dump w/ that pay
When I moved into my apartment complex 11 years ago, it looked like a 1960's housing project and the neighbors smoked 20 different variety of weed. It was dirt cheap with $800 per month rent, $199 security deposit and a free microwave oven. Three corporate owners and multiple rent increases later, the complex is being renovated and marketed for its "luxury" apartment. Despite a brand new luxury apartment complex opening down the street, the rents haven't gone down despite being a 50-year-old apartment complex.
I could but it would require firing everyone and bringing in a new crew. I've done it few times. Nothing more fun than working your way through a 900+ ticket backlog in 30 days.
Except this is what is wrong with IT Security. People with papers without any actual experience doing the work.
I got 20+ years of IT experience and A+/Network+/MCP certifications from 15 years ago. My current job is computer security. I'm two years into a five year contract in government IT.
[...] a bunch of inexperienced, overpaid paper hangers [...]
Most people who get certifications don't know that they're supposed to get certified AFTER they get the experience.
Poverty-level shit is owning a house with an underwater mortgage, still paying off the down payment borrowed from the wife's 401k plan, leasing two or three cars, and buying $180 blue jeans. That's my brother and his family. He's rich, I'm poor. But only one of us can afford to retire — and it ain't him.
Are you kidding? I could get a three-bedroom house in Sacramento for what I pay for a studio apartment in Silicon Valley. If I moved out to Placerville, I could get a nice cabin with a deck above the snowline and watch the football-sized squirrel run around.
Nobody should work hell desk for 20 years.
I've done software testing, help desk, data center, PC refresh projects and, currently, computer security. I'm studying for my InfoSec certifications. Next job should be $100K per year.
If I couldn't find something better (pro mechanic?), I'd open my veins..
When God hands out lemons, do you make lemonade or suck your lemons? I make lemonade.
You are getting too old to live like an undergrad.
When I was an undergraduate, I lived in five-bedroom Victorian house with 12 other guys. A studio apartment is a palatial mansion in comparison. When I retire in 20+ years, I'll move into a trailer in Las Vegas that's slightly smaller than my studio apartment.
Some people like the position they have currently and don't want to change/climb higher in the pay rank.
I'm studying for my InfoSec certifications, as that is my current position in government IT. When the contract expires in three years, I'll make the jump to $100K with a new job.
Not if you're living a modest lifestyle. The mistake that most people make is chasing the American Dream: big houses, big cars, big toys, big women, big kids. That gets expensive in Silicon Valley.
Within 2-3 years you'll pay will have advanced only joke 1-3% amounts while new hires will make as much or more than you.
I turned down a job when I ran into an old coworker during an interview. He was still making the same amount of money that I made when we worked together nine years earlier. If I had accepted the position, I would had made 80% more money than him for doing the same kind of work. Those 2% raises don't add up over the long run.
I talked to a recruiter a few years ago about an HP help desk position with a high turnover rate at an unnamed company in North San Jose. He refused to explain the turnover situation. I told him that I wasn't going to interview if I didn't know how bad the situation was. I had no problem cleaning up messes but I don't do lost causes. HP help desk at that unnamed company sounded like a lost cause based on what little the recruiter told me.They were also underpaying their techs.
When I worked at the Google help desk, I had to walk a new CS graduate through the process of turning on his own computer and explained to him that a cubicle farm isn't the same as a university computer lab. You're be surprised by how many computer scientists don't know squat about hardware.
by definition "early voters" wont wait until election day...
Not necessarily. Some people wait until the very last minute. I know several people who take their mail in ballots to the county office on election day.
Pretty racist to assume that all other voting blocks vote in lockstep.
It's called the Southern Strategy. Republicans have been appealing to racist white males to swing the election their way for decades. Problem is that the United States is no longer a lily-white nation. A typical election splits 47% each way, leaving women, minorities and independents a 6% margin to throw the election one way or another. For Trump to win the election with only white male voters, he needs a turnout rate of 70%. That's unlikely to happen.
Isn't part of his selling point... that he's not a politician?
Even a non-politician recognizes the need for a nation-wide organization, especially in the battleground states that will decide the election. Trump has next to nothing — and proud of it. He's not running to win.
The public has a short memory. There is still time for him to reinvent himself - throw away the offensive persona that served him well in the primary, bring on a new moderate one that will stop talking about or outright change position on all his worst primary stances.
Trump has less than two weeks before early voting starts in some states. If he haven't reinvented himself before then, he will get locked out of those states. Early voters are unlikely to wait until Election Day to cast their votes.
By offending every voting bloc except white males, Trump has one and only path through the electoral college. He must win Florida (which can go either way), Ohio (no Republican has ever won the White House without this state) and Pennsylvania (which haven't gone Republican since 1988). If he loses any one of these states, it's game over. His support among white males is starting to weaken.
On the other hand, our system is supposed to be resistant to wannabe Emperors.
The electoral college is stacked against Trump. He has to win Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania to win the election. Florida can go either way. No Republican has ever won the presidency without Ohio. The last time Pennsylvania went Republican was in 1988. If he loses any of these states, it's game over.
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In Si Valley, you'd have to live in a dump w/ that pay
When I moved into my apartment complex 11 years ago, it looked like a 1960's housing project and the neighbors smoked 20 different variety of weed. It was dirt cheap with $800 per month rent, $199 security deposit and a free microwave oven. Three corporate owners and multiple rent increases later, the complex is being renovated and marketed for its "luxury" apartment. Despite a brand new luxury apartment complex opening down the street, the rents haven't gone down despite being a 50-year-old apartment complex.
You couldn't "clean up the mess": [...]
I could but it would require firing everyone and bringing in a new crew. I've done it few times. Nothing more fun than working your way through a 900+ ticket backlog in 30 days.
Wow. That male prostitution business must be going very well.
I'm not in management. ;)
Especially since most people with 20 years in a career have a kid or two [...]
Each kid costing $250K to raise from birth to college.
[...] (though likely not most who pay close to half their net salary to rent a studio apartment).
A studio apartment, no. A three-bedroom house that they can't afford, absolutely.
Except this is what is wrong with IT Security. People with papers without any actual experience doing the work.
I got 20+ years of IT experience and A+/Network+/MCP certifications from 15 years ago. My current job is computer security. I'm two years into a five year contract in government IT.
[...] a bunch of inexperienced, overpaid paper hangers [...]
Most people who get certifications don't know that they're supposed to get certified AFTER they get the experience.
I believe you just made the point.
Making a living from IT support? Absolutely.
Err, so about half your take-home is for rent?
Less than half. I put away 20% in savings.
That's some poverty-level shit right there.
Poverty-level shit is owning a house with an underwater mortgage, still paying off the down payment borrowed from the wife's 401k plan, leasing two or three cars, and buying $180 blue jeans. That's my brother and his family. He's rich, I'm poor. But only one of us can afford to retire — and it ain't him.
But when people say they live "in silicon valley" it normally means you cannot pay the rent on a small place with $50,000 per year.
I live in San Jose and work in Palo Alto. Last time I checked, it was the heart of Silicon Valley.
Sorry dude, 50K is crap in Sacramento.
Are you kidding? I could get a three-bedroom house in Sacramento for what I pay for a studio apartment in Silicon Valley. If I moved out to Placerville, I could get a nice cabin with a deck above the snowline and watch the football-sized squirrel run around.
Nobody should work hell desk for 20 years.
I've done software testing, help desk, data center, PC refresh projects and, currently, computer security. I'm studying for my InfoSec certifications. Next job should be $100K per year.
If I couldn't find something better (pro mechanic?), I'd open my veins..
When God hands out lemons, do you make lemonade or suck your lemons? I make lemonade.
You are getting too old to live like an undergrad.
When I was an undergraduate, I lived in five-bedroom Victorian house with 12 other guys. A studio apartment is a palatial mansion in comparison. When I retire in 20+ years, I'll move into a trailer in Las Vegas that's slightly smaller than my studio apartment.
How's the cardboard box you're living in going? I figure that's about all you're going to afford in the Bay Area at that salary rate...
I rent a 470-sft studio apartment for $1,466 per month. I've been here for 11 years.
Some people like the position they have currently and don't want to change/climb higher in the pay rank.
I'm studying for my InfoSec certifications, as that is my current position in government IT. When the contract expires in three years, I'll make the jump to $100K with a new job.
50K is crap in SV
Not if you're living a modest lifestyle. The mistake that most people make is chasing the American Dream: big houses, big cars, big toys, big women, big kids. That gets expensive in Silicon Valley.
Within 2-3 years you'll pay will have advanced only joke 1-3% amounts while new hires will make as much or more than you.
I turned down a job when I ran into an old coworker during an interview. He was still making the same amount of money that I made when we worked together nine years earlier. If I had accepted the position, I would had made 80% more money than him for doing the same kind of work. Those 2% raises don't add up over the long run.
Support staff is easily outsourced or replaced and you wind up bouncing from job to job and being cut any time your pay nears a livable level.
As an IT support contractor for 20+ years, I currently make $50,000+ per year and live in Silicon Valley.
I talked to a recruiter a few years ago about an HP help desk position with a high turnover rate at an unnamed company in North San Jose. He refused to explain the turnover situation. I told him that I wasn't going to interview if I didn't know how bad the situation was. I had no problem cleaning up messes but I don't do lost causes. HP help desk at that unnamed company sounded like a lost cause based on what little the recruiter told me.They were also underpaying their techs.
Computer literacy?
When I worked at the Google help desk, I had to walk a new CS graduate through the process of turning on his own computer and explained to him that a cubicle farm isn't the same as a university computer lab. You're be surprised by how many computer scientists don't know squat about hardware.
by definition "early voters" wont wait until election day...
Not necessarily. Some people wait until the very last minute. I know several people who take their mail in ballots to the county office on election day.
Pretty racist to assume that all other voting blocks vote in lockstep.
It's called the Southern Strategy. Republicans have been appealing to racist white males to swing the election their way for decades. Problem is that the United States is no longer a lily-white nation. A typical election splits 47% each way, leaving women, minorities and independents a 6% margin to throw the election one way or another. For Trump to win the election with only white male voters, he needs a turnout rate of 70%. That's unlikely to happen.
Isn't part of his selling point... that he's not a politician?
Even a non-politician recognizes the need for a nation-wide organization, especially in the battleground states that will decide the election. Trump has next to nothing — and proud of it. He's not running to win.
The public has a short memory. There is still time for him to reinvent himself - throw away the offensive persona that served him well in the primary, bring on a new moderate one that will stop talking about or outright change position on all his worst primary stances.
Trump has less than two weeks before early voting starts in some states. If he haven't reinvented himself before then, he will get locked out of those states. Early voters are unlikely to wait until Election Day to cast their votes.
Because... ? Trump Steaks? Vodka? Air?
By offending every voting bloc except white males, Trump has one and only path through the electoral college. He must win Florida (which can go either way), Ohio (no Republican has ever won the White House without this state) and Pennsylvania (which haven't gone Republican since 1988). If he loses any one of these states, it's game over. His support among white males is starting to weaken.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/politics/donald-trump-white-men.html
I'm no fan of Trump, however unlike you, I can recognize he has been very successful at enough to be in a pretty good spot today.
As a politician, Trump is failure. George W., as the first CEO president, was a success in comparison.
I got a watch at 20 years. Not gold, but pretty nice nonetheless.
That's nice. I'm looking forward to my annual $25 gift card I get each December.
Hello obvious shibboleth, is the truth squad money really that good?
Why should take money for telling the truth? Trump is a failure.
Giving people two bad choices is a classic way for them to accept being screwed over.
Four choices: Democrat, Green, Libertarian, and Republican.
On the other hand, our system is supposed to be resistant to wannabe Emperors.
The electoral college is stacked against Trump. He has to win Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania to win the election. Florida can go either way. No Republican has ever won the presidency without Ohio. The last time Pennsylvania went Republican was in 1988. If he loses any of these states, it's game over.
As a moderate conservative, I'll be voting for Hillary. Any other choice is criminal.