The Friday Rant Thread

[Don]

It doesn't matter how quick you graduate when employers won't hire someone straight out of college. If I had a dime for every time an employer turned me down because I have no experience I wouldn't need to work anymore. Right now, employers want someone with 5-10 years experience who can jump right in the position with no downtime for on-the-job training. It's cheaper that way.

Can't you do a post graduate internship while you are living at home?

[ebake02]

This isn't 1990, graduating from a small college is just as good as going to a well known institution these days. There is no need to bury yourself in debt just to have a big name school on your diploma.

I agree, but the problem is that a lot of these smaller schools are private institutions and private colleges tend to be outrageously expensive so your buried in debt no matter how you look at it.

[ebake02]

It doesn't matter how quick you graduate when employers won't hire someone straight out of college. If I had a dime for every time an employer turned me down because I have no experience I wouldn't need to work anymore. Right now, employers want someone with 5-10 years experience who can jump right in the position with no downtime for on-the-job training. It's cheaper that way.

Can't you do a post graduate internship while you are living at home?

I'll have to look into that.

[StevePerryHair]

I got the prepaid thing for both of my kids once they were born and am so glad. I can't imagine trying to get them through college now with no plan, let alone when they are old enough to attend, which is 8-9 years away still for my oldest kid, lol. Student loans are one thing IMO that should be interest free as long as payments are being made, or at least very low interest. It is crap for people to have the same burden for something that is at least WORTH the loan, as people who spend ridiculous amounts of money loaned to them for nothing but fun stuff (not necessary stuff) and then bitch they are so far in debt.

Well they had that when my kids were little too. But it wasn't in our budget at that time to do it for 3 children. Plus I'm with the philosophy kids shouldn't necessarily have everything handed to them. Working for it, they will take it seriously, like I had to! So that was another part of my decision making. But everyone feels different, I know.

Luckily the oldest wants community college first, which will be fine. And the other two I think will be able to get scholarships to help, if they continue on the same path. The 9th grader knowing this, is what's giving her incentive to work hard. She wants to go to UF, and knows she can't without the grades for scholarships. So I see a good side to our deficiency in planning too! I feel bad sometimes we didn't do it, and made plans to travel and stuff instead, but those are all learning and life experiences for them too. I might be naive, but I think in the end, they'll be ok. We were told that saving money for education was better than prepaid plans, because if your children don't pick a Florida state school, they hand you your money back after all those years, with no interest accrued. But then we didn't save money either, so it's not like that advice mattered!

Another thing is kids need to be advised to pick fields where they are most likely to find work. I think degrees like business, are a dime a dozen these days. All this being said, I'm scared to death with my first finishing junior year this year. College for him starts in 2012! I freak out thinking about it!

[Don]

I really don't know what to say, I was out of the house before I turned 18. Fuck, go teach English in Korea or some other country who's economy is on the rise. A degree in English isn't mandatory for a lot of those positions.

[StevePerryHair]

I really don't know what to say, I was out of the house before I turned 18. Fuck, go teach English in Korea or some other country who's economy is on the rise. A degree isn't mandatory for those positions.

Yep, my husband had no degree when I met him. He worked at Disney, making just a tiny bit over minimum wage, and still did after I married him! But we slowly put him through community college for his 2 year degree in criminal justice, and he has been a cop for 17 years now, and he's very happy. He even worked in that time, at the cities expense, to get his bachelor's degree, and work on part of his masters. That's another thing people should consider too! Sometimes, there are some occupations, where they will give you incentive to work on your education while employed, and help pay for it. I know that is probably a dying thing though, with budgets and economy the way they are now. I don't expect that to be there forever. But some people actually succeed without going right to college at 18! That's for sure!!

[Melissa]

Well they had that when my kids were little too. But it wasn't in our budget at that time to do it for 3 children. Plus I'm with the philosophy kids shouldn't necessarily have everything handed to them. Working for it, they will take it seriously, like I had to! So that was another part of my decision making. But everyone feels different, I know.

Luckily the oldest wants community college first, which will be fine. And the other two I think will be able to get scholarships to help, if they continue on the same path. The 9th grader knowing this, is what's giving her incentive to work hard. She wants to go to UF, and knows she can't without the grades for scholarships. So I see a good side to our deficiency in planning too! I feel bad sometimes we didn't do it, and made plans to travel and stuff instead, but those are all learning and life experiences for them too. I might be naive, but I think in the end, they'll be ok. We were told that saving money for education was better than prepaid plans, because if your children don't pick a Florida state school, they hand you your money back after all those years, with no interest accrued. But then we didn't save money either, so it's not like that advice mattered!

Another thing is kids need to be advised to pick fields where they are most likely to find work. I think degrees like business, are a dime a dozen these days. All this being said, I'm scared to death with my first finishing junior year this year. College for him starts in 2012! I freak out thinking about it!

I didn't do it for both at the same time, one was getting paid off while starting to get the other one going, and it wasn't exactly in the budget either, but I felt I needed to do something, and that was the most affordable choice at the time. That was just my feeling. And it definitely won't be handing anything to them IMO as I didn't get the dorm plan or any of that, just tuition and fees, so they will be expected to work just like I did. I'm not giving them any kind of free ride simply for setting just a little something up to help with the brunt of the cost. And that's not true that if they don't pick a FL school it won't be accepted, there are some states that will recognize other states' plans now, one of my co-workers daughters is doing that very thing right now. And we simply didn't want to get involved in the whole stock market type 529 plans and rely on that over the prepaid, yeah that might have been more money by the time they go, but then again could have tanked, happened to my brother in law. But everyone needs to do what they feel is best.

[Angel]

I've had a fabulous day. I have a GREAT job where I make a decent living. My kids are the bomb. I have a nice home and a really cool dog. I have a cute pedicure with pink toes and white flowers on my big toenails. My friends love me and I love them. I can't find anything to complain about, sorry to ruin your thread, steveo triple 7.

[StevePerryHair]

Well they had that when my kids were little too. But it wasn't in our budget at that time to do it for 3 children. Plus I'm with the philosophy kids shouldn't necessarily have everything handed to them. Working for it, they will take it seriously, like I had to! So that was another part of my decision making. But everyone feels different, I know.

Luckily the oldest wants community college first, which will be fine. And the other two I think will be able to get scholarships to help, if they continue on the same path. The 9th grader knowing this, is what's giving her incentive to work hard. She wants to go to UF, and knows she can't without the grades for scholarships. So I see a good side to our deficiency in planning too! I feel bad sometimes we didn't do it, and made plans to travel and stuff instead, but those are all learning and life experiences for them too. I might be naive, but I think in the end, they'll be ok. We were told that saving money for education was better than prepaid plans, because if your children don't pick a Florida state school, they hand you your money back after all those years, with no interest accrued. But then we didn't save money either, so it's not like that advice mattered!

Another thing is kids need to be advised to pick fields where they are most likely to find work. I think degrees like business, are a dime a dozen these days. All this being said, I'm scared to death with my first finishing junior year this year. College for him starts in 2012! I freak out thinking about it!

I didn't do it for both at the same time, one was getting paid off while starting to get the other one going, and it wasn't exactly in the budget either, but I felt I needed to do something, and that was the most affordable choice at the time. That was just my feeling. And it definitely won't be handing anything to them IMO as I didn't get the dorm plan or any of that, just tuition and fees, so they will be expected to work just like I did. I'm not giving them any kind of free ride simply for setting just a little something up to help with the brunt of the cost. And that's not true that if they don't pick a FL school it won't be accepted, there are some states that will recognize other states' plans now, one of my co-workers daughters is doing that very thing right now. And we simply didn't want to get involved in the whole stock market type 529 plans and rely on that over the prepaid, yeah that might have been more money by the time they go, but then again could have tanked, happened to my brother in law. But everyone needs to do what they feel is best.

I'm talking about if they don't choose college. Not every child will for sure attend college. That is when the money is returned. I realize even some private schools will accept some of that money, but then they have to come up with the difference. But that could make them less likely to get other scholarships or other loans too, we were told, if they have that money, sitting there for them. We talked to some financial people before we made the decision. I'm not saying that you are giving your kids a free ride. I was just telling you MY mind set at the time that I made that difficult decision for myself, A LOT of years ago, since my kids are much older!

[Melissa]

I really don't know what to say, I was out of the house before I turned 18. Fuck, go teach English in Korea or some other country who's economy is on the rise. A degree in English isn't mandatory for a lot of those positions.

Yep true, and I was out on my own at 19, lol. I don't have a college degree, I went to a technical school, and have had a great career for 17 years now.

[Don]

I really don't know what to say, I was out of the house before I turned 18. Fuck, go teach English in Korea or some other country who's economy is on the rise. A degree in English isn't mandatory for a lot of those positions.

Yep true, and I was out on my own at 19, lol. I don't have a college degree, I went to a technical school, and have had a great career for 17 years now.

Certifications and licensing are better than a degree in some aspects. After financial assistance, you're probably only going to paying 5 or 6 grand for even the more expensive courses. You usually get guaranteed job placement upon graduating and within a year you stand a good chance of at least making 35-40k, even in the lesser skilled fields (at least here in California). For only one year on the job, that isn't bad at all.

[Melissa]

I'm talking about if they don't choose college. Not every child will for sure attend college. That is when the money is returned. I realize even some private schools will accept some of that money, but then they have to come up with the difference. But that could make them less likely to get other scholarships or other loans too, we were told, if they have that money, sitting there for them. We talked to some financial people before we made the decision. I'm not saying that you are giving your kids a free ride. I was just telling you MY mind set at the time that I made that difficult decision for myself, A LOT of years ago, since my kids are much older!

Sure not every kid will go, I know that for sure, I didn't and neither did my brother, but we both have great careers still. I've known all along that there are several scenarios where we would just get our money back if they choose another path, and that's fine, at least we'd get back what we put in. And yes they can still get scholarships even with prepaid, my coworker Emmarie's son is attending UCF right now with his prepaid and a scholarship. I know some financial advisors don't like the prepaid, but their only reason is usually because of the interest thing, and that simply wasn't a good enough reason to me to choose a 529 or something else instead. It was just what we could squeeze into budget at the time.

[Melissa]

I really don't know what to say, I was out of the house before I turned 18. Fuck, go teach English in Korea or some other country who's economy is on the rise. A degree in English isn't mandatory for a lot of those positions.

Yep true, and I was out on my own at 19, lol. I don't have a college degree, I went to a technical school, and have had a great career for 17 years now.

Certifications and licensing are better than a degree in some aspects. After financial assistance, you're probably only going to paying 5 or 6 grand for even the more expensive courses. You usually get guaranteed job placement upon graduating and within a year you stand a good chance of at least making 35-40k, even in the lesser skilled fields (at least here in California). For only one year on the job, that isn't bad at all.

Exactly

[StevePerryHair]

I'm talking about if they don't choose college. Not every child will for sure attend college. That is when the money is returned. I realize even some private schools will accept some of that money, but then they have to come up with the difference. But that could make them less likely to get other scholarships or other loans too, we were told, if they have that money, sitting there for them. We talked to some financial people before we made the decision. I'm not saying that you are giving your kids a free ride. I was just telling you MY mind set at the time that I made that difficult decision for myself, A LOT of years ago, since my kids are much older!

Sure not every kid will go, I know that for sure, I didn't and neither did my brother, but we both have great careers still. I've known all along that there are several scenarios where we would just get our money back if they choose another path, and that's fine, at least we'd get back what we put in. And yes they can still get scholarships even with prepaid, my coworker Emmarie's son is attending UCF right now with his prepaid and a scholarship. I know some financial advisors don't like the prepaid, but their only reason is usually because of the interest thing, and that simply wasn't a good enough reason to me to choose a 529 or something else instead. It was just what we could squeeze into budget at the time.

Well I DO think it's great you did! Don't misunderstand! If I felt we had the money to do it back then, I would have too. But looking at our budget at the time, and 3 kids, we had to make a choice, so I had to come up with reasons and scenarios of my own to hope that I was making the right choice! Some of those outside influences, and how I felt at the time, played a part in it too. My choice could end up being the dumbest in the world! Don't think I don't know that!!

But we starting having kids before my husband was even a cop, we were in our early 20's, and even then, our income was SO low, there was just no way. We started having kids right away in our marriage, and it was really just the choices we made then, that made our budget impossible for it. We had them all just a couple or a few years apart too, so there was no spreading it out really either. Not to mention that I had student loans I was paying on, while my income paid for his college education and the police academy, something else we had debt from when he was done. It was stay in our dinky 980 square foot house and pay for prepaid college, or move into a bigger house for our growing family. I know we could never have gone on half the vacations we have either, had we gone that route. We would have had completely different life choices had we been paying into those plans. By the time our incomes grew, we had 3 kids, and we would have been doing the prepaid for all 3, at a higher cost.

It's just what we did and we hope for the best, but I said I may be naive! And I may be very sorry too! But my kids are very aware, and so far, that is giving them incentive to work hard, so I hope that keeps up!

[Melissa]

Oh forgot to add too, chose the prepaid because it was safer too, lol. Being that it was squeezed into budget to begin with, I didn't want that to just be gambled in some 529, that's for rich people to do

[Everett]

Here i thought steveo was gonna rant about grey's anatomy not being on till the end of the month

[Michigan Girl]

I haven't watched the soaps since college and the rare occasion I'm home on a weekday, but it
still makes me sad that One Life To Live and All My Children are being cancelled.
I guess these fake reality shows about people noone really cares about are taking over the tube.
Poor Susan Lucci!!

[Don]

I haven't watched the soaps since college and the rare occasion I'm home on a weekday, but it
still makes me sad that One Life To Live and All My Children are being cancelled.
I guess these fake reality shows about people noone really cares about are taking over the tube.
Poor Susan Lucci!!

At least Lucci finally won her Emmy.

[Everett]

I haven't watched the soaps since college and the rare occasion I'm home on a weekday, but it
still makes me sad that One Life To Live and All My Children are being cancelled.
I guess these fake reality shows about people noone really cares about are taking over the tube.
Poor Susan Lucci!!

I agree. I won't be surprised if days of our lives is cancelled in the next year.

[StevePerryHair]

I haven't watched the soaps since college and the rare occasion I'm home on a weekday, but it
still makes me sad that One Life To Live and All My Children are being cancelled.
I guess these fake reality shows about people noone really cares about are taking over the tube.
Poor Susan Lucci!!

I was always a CBS soap watcher when I was younger.. my mom watched all of them. As I've gotten older, I've caught them hit or miss, and am always amazed if I skipped for weeks, I could catch up on story lines in about 5 min. They cancelled 2 of CBS's long time soaps in the last 2 years, with only 2 soaps left now. They replaced them with TWO talk shows. I just don't get it. It must be cheaper or something? I am tired of reality tv and talk shows and medical advice shows and all of the other boring television. Less and less people are home during the day these days though, so I'm sure that accounts for the changes in ratings. I was really surprised to see ABC follow in CBS's footsteps today though!! What about Walt Disney World's "super soap weekend"!! What WILL they do without the soaps!!

[ebake02]

I think congress should seriously think about wiping out all student loan debt that is over 10 years old. Folks are drowning in it.....

Amen!!! Perfect example is one of my student loans I took out this year: $8,500 principle @ 12% for 15 years; The final payoff balance.......$36,000!!!!

Here's a neat easy trick...instead of paying $102 a month for 15 years, pay $200 a month instead. Be done in 4 years at a cost of only $9800.

That's a lot easier said than done. When I was at the factory the only time I could pay extra was when we were working 10-20 hours a week of overtime. On a regular 40 hour week I could barely afford the minimum payment.

[S2M]

The fact remains that the government needs to pardon student loans that are over 10 years old....you could get rid of every other social handout there is, but education is the most important....the more educated the country is, the more beneficial the citizenry is....and the bigger the tax base.....there should be FREE college....and you know what, make it competitive like France. If you don't pass an entrance exam, you don't get the free ride....simple as that.

[ebake02]

Another problem are the federal grants. When I was pursuing my Bachelors, I wasn't eligible for the Pell grant because my parents made too much money. Now I can't get it because I already have a Bachelors degree.

[scarygirl]

My rant is, I put $6 of gas in my car, and it didn't even register. It was like I put in $6 worth of air?

[Saint John]

You're an ass ...there's not a loon on the planet that has
an ass as big as the ass you are ...Your Journey forum
isn't plokkerville and it certainly isn't sacred ...I'm personally
inviting you to SJ's church so I can kick your ass ...course,
I'll be leaving following the food fight at the entrance!!

This is a fucking classic post!!!

[Melissa]

You're an ass ...there's not a loon on the planet that has
an ass as big as the ass you are ...Your Journey forum
isn't plokkerville and it certainly isn't sacred ...I'm personally
inviting you to SJ's church so I can kick your ass ...course,
I'll be leaving following the food fight at the entrance!!

This is a fucking classic post!!!

Hey speaking of this food fight, which foods are allowed? Because mashed potatoes are an AWESOME food for that, especially with the right spoon! Not that I'd know this from experience or anything

[Saint John]

You're an ass ...there's not a loon on the planet that has
an ass as big as the ass you are ...Your Journey forum
isn't plokkerville and it certainly isn't sacred ...I'm personally
inviting you to SJ's church so I can kick your ass ...course,
I'll be leaving following the food fight at the entrance!!

This is a fucking classic post!!!

Hey speaking of this food fight, which foods are allowed? Because mashed potatoes are an AWESOME food for that, especially with the right spoon! Not that I'd know this from experience or anything

Lol ... I think MG was just playing on my "you'll get shit thrown at you for using the word faith." I never did say *what* we'd throw, but I like her initiative. That's the type of person we're looking for! But to answer your question, Mel, mashed potatoes are allowed!

[Melissa]

You're an ass ...there's not a loon on the planet that has
an ass as big as the ass you are ...Your Journey forum
isn't plokkerville and it certainly isn't sacred ...I'm personally
inviting you to SJ's church so I can kick your ass ...course,
I'll be leaving following the food fight at the entrance!!

This is a fucking classic post!!!

Hey speaking of this food fight, which foods are allowed? Because mashed potatoes are an AWESOME food for that, especially with the right spoon! Not that I'd know this from experience or anything

Lol ... I think MG was just playing on my "you'll get shit thrown at you for using the word faith." I never did say *what* we'd throw, but I like her initiative. That's the type of person we're looking for! But to answer your question, Mel, mashed potatoes are allowed!

Yay!

[S2M]

Another problem are the federal grants. When I was pursuing my Bachelors, I wasn't eligible for the Pell grant because my parents made too much money. Now I can't get it because I already have a Bachelors degree.

I think the rule was that once you reached the age of 25 - they no longer went after the parents. It was all on the student, and he/she was eligible for everything....

[ebake02]

Another problem are the federal grants. When I was pursuing my Bachelors, I wasn't eligible for the Pell grant because my parents made too much money. Now I can't get it because I already have a Bachelors degree.

I think the rule was that once you reached the age of 25 - they no longer went after the parents. It was all on the student, and he/she was eligible for everything....

They did for me, I started my BA right after high school. As for now, I'm not eligible for any state or federal grants because I already have a Bachelors degree (I'm currently pursuing an Associates).