[OT] How are you doing?

[Irony]

{bitter rant]

Me = not so good.

I dont even want to think about Iraq right now. I have serious doubts about "Dubya." But enough about that. Dont want to offend Grandma.

Anyway...

[edit] I'm a junior in high school. Already a bad start.

Four of my six classes are Advanced Placement (IE: college classes taken in highschool), so most nights I have rediculous amounts of homework.

My girlfriend lives in conneticutt and me in california, which is, well, no fun.

I'm totaly out of the social scene at school. My MOM knows more about current events there than I do.

And my back is growing more and more painful because of school. Our school has "chesks", which are basically crappy school desks attached to crappy school chairs as one big, bulky metal unit. They claim "one size fits all", but when you're 6'4" like me, well, you definitly dont fit. And since they curve the backs of the chairs, the curve that supports most people (IE: shorter people) actually messes up my back.

And I play water polo. Which is fun. Except that our coach is making us practice even more heavily in the off season. The normal season is late August to about Halloween. We've practiced continuously since august. And the coach basically said, if we dont practice all year, we wont be on the team next year. Not playing my senior year is unthinkable, so I'm basically stuck doing massive amounts of hard hard practice four days a week. I barely even have time for DND anymore.

Plus, its about to be valentines day. Alone. I plan on watching Gone With the Wind, and then crying myself to sleep.

But thats just me.

Plus, its raining!

[/ bitter rant]

 

[mistergone]

My life is a void. I'm agoraphobic with anxiety disorder, and that has pretty much ruined my life. I have no job, no woman, and no fun much. Can't stop thinking about how someday I will just die though, like everyone does. I'd like to have a lot more fun and sex before then, just in case there's no afterlife. Otherwise, I'm fine.

I've been building a display shelf (set of shelves.. rack?) for all my stupid Heroclix figures. I don't play the game, but I like comics and superheroes and toys. I'm 31. Yesterday I think the woodstain made me sick. (hee hee poor ventilation)

As for general gaming, for a guy with a LOT of time on my hands, I don't do much. I play in a mediocre DnD game every other week. The getting out and socializing is more fun than the game. Hopefully I can get a Mutants and Masterminds game started soon here. I used to love to GM, and people told me I was pretty good at it. I'm also planning on writing soem gaming stuff.

Any day now I think I might start to do something more meaningful. Being a jerk on e-boards ain't cutting it. There's always bigger and better jerks around.

It's time to laugh again!

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Alright, all things considered.

Dealing with not having the courage to ask a girl that I really, really dig out (something I have mucho problems with). I want to for Valentine's Day. Call me a cornball.

But other than that, it's same ol' same ol'. Painting miniatures, reading, sleeping, working for only $7.50/hr. Could be better, could be a helluva lot worse.

 

[der_kluge]

No. She's got student loans pouring out of her ears, and there's some debt left over from my unemployment. We're barely scrimping by, trying to pay off my debt from unemployment, trying to save a little for a down payment, before we get kicked in the gut by my student loans coming due when I graduate from college.

If she wants to take time off with the kids, due to the student loan situation, I would have to double my income. It's not a matter of simplifying our lifestyles - we're already a single car family, and we've scrimped and pinched every penny that we can, and we're barely making ends meet and a dent in our debt. A bad thing.

Vargo, I believe there are numerous options for deferring student debt. You might consider looking into those.

 

[Vargo]

Vargo, I believe there are numerous options for deferring student debt. You might consider looking into those.

Actually, due to the unemployment situation, we've already done this. The problem was one of moving goalposts - when my wife went to college (Psychology) the state rules for certification were fairly lax. She was looking forward to making a good amount of money, and probably getting her loans paid off in about two years.

Three months before graduation, the rules were tightened significantly, with people already certified grandfathered in to the new program, and now she can barely make $25k a year - which covers her student loans, food, and that's about it.

Did I mention she went to a private college?

Moving to another part of the country isn't really an option for us right at this moment - we both have some family here that may not be around too much longer, and we've made the decision to stay in this area for now. However, read the link I posted - very good argument about why any white-collar job that can be exported WILL be exported, regardless of where it is in the United States. Hate to say this guys, but the employment situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Simplicity]

I'm also a full-time college student, working on my bachelor's in Computer Science. Quite frankly, I don't know if it's worth it any more, what with massive unemployment occuring in the IT field - braindraining to India, China, et al. Something like 60% of my friends in the computer industry are unemployed, with few prospects for finding jobs.

There are a number of computer jobs being exported. This is one
reason why you SHOULD continue with your degree. You might even want to consider grad school, if you think you're any good. Crazy? Hear me out.

First off, you've admitted that you're an alpha geek, and so
this is an area that you have at least some skill in. The first
jobs that are going to be exported are the non-specialized
ones. Let's face it. Anyone can program a simple GUI, and thus, yes, this work doesn't need to be done in the country.
Advanced computer science jobs are going to be around for
a very long time to come yet, however.

Without a degree, losing your job in the current economy is a GUARANTEE that you won't get a new computer job without
good connections. With a degree, you at least throw yourself
into the pool of the hopeless masses. The advantage to getting a Master's Degree in the current economy is enormous (speaking from experience). Also as important is the fact that as a grad student, you get to know your professors quite well... And professors are sent job offers from companies looking for employees ALL THE TIME...

Okay, one more thing that stops people from considering the grad school option. People think that grad school is really expensive. NOT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. Here was my situation
(I know it's crass to throw out the numbers, but I really think
people discount the grad school option because they think it's too expensive... it's not):

At UCSD (where I went to grad school) I stayed in subsidized housing most of the time (cost: $300/month... In La Jolla... Most apartments around here are $1000+/month.). They ALSO provided subsidized housing for married grad students at similarly outrageously low cost. My tuition was entirely paid for by being a research assistant. I got $1400/month in pay for the assistantship. I also took a part-time TAship for $700/month.
My summers were free, and because I started as a PhD student, I was able to get nicely paying summer internships.

By the time I was done with grad school, most of my undergrad loans were paid off, and my car was completely paid off. The subsidized housing brings your costs down so much it's ridiculous. I also found a new job immediately when I was done because I knew a whole bunch of computer scientists.

Anyways, just a suggestion you might want to consider.

My wife and I would like to start a family some time. We'd like to buy a house first. We're both working, so you think this would be easy, yes?

This is one disadvantage to the plan above. More waiting...
A feeling of "okay, can we begin our life yet?"

 

[Simplicity]

I'm a junior in high school.

Ah, high school. Those were the days.
Don't worry. It'll be over soon...
I'm guessing you're one of those guys who aren't
going to look back at your high school days with
fondness. I think society is split 70-30 on whether
they hated their high school experience or loved it
(respectively). Thankfully, it has a limited duration.

My girlfriend lives in conneticutt and me in california, which is, well, no fun.

You play D&D and you actually have a girlfriend in high school?
I see great things for you in your future.

And my back is growing more and more painful because of school. Our school has "chesks", which are basically crappy school desks attached to crappy school chairs as one big, bulky metal unit. They claim "one size fits all", but when you're 6'4" like me, well, you definitly dont fit. And since they curve the backs of the chairs, the curve that supports most people (IE: shorter people) actually messes up my back.

6'4" myself, and I don't think they EVER claimed "one size fits all". I think it was much more like: "If we extrude the plastic into the thinnest possible wafer, it will still LOOK like a chair."

Stupid chesks. I feel your pain. The only thing cool about them is the fact that if you wet your finger, and rub the little book holding contraption underneath the parachute-thin chair-like structure, you can get the whole thing to resonate like crazy.

 

[der_kluge]

Alright, all things considered.

Dealing with not having the courage to ask a girl that I really, really dig out (something I have mucho problems with). I want to for Valentine's Day. Call me a cornball.

But other than that, it's same ol' same ol'. Painting miniatures, reading, sleeping, working for only $7.50/hr. Could be better, could be a helluva lot worse.

Andrew, you need to buy this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._books_3/002-2741476-8921652?v=glance&s=books

The last few chapters deal with seducing women (i.e., loving and leaving), which probably isn't what you want, but the first part of the book is not bad. I'm not ashamed to admit that I own the book myself, and it does have a lot of useful insight.