Your year of big changes - what / where / how / why ?

[ohgood]

This is going to be a big year of changes for me and the family. We're taking on new education, new jobs, and hopefully new housing. Kids make everything seem easier.

what was your cakewalk ?

[The Buddha]

Not much for me, I am going to say I have been very very very very very very very lucky ... I only spent ~6 weeks without a job in 09 and I only ended up broke on 2 ocassions (once last week when 2 paychecks were lost for weeks ... grrrr  ). Luckily I missed getting axed in dec, though it may be comming now though.

Anyway ... about going to college ... I am going to really walk out onto the ledge and say, that will be one of Obama's biggest follies and one in which he cannot point the finger at someone else as the starter (meaning a previous president) of his presidency unless he gets back on for a second term and makes a bigger blunder.

Why OK He has gived people grants to get education. So people eager to get what may be 5K if you're very lucky are taking on 30K debt. The problem there is, well, people aren't getting engineering or accounting degrees. They're studying useless junk like CSI science. Worse yet, those that are studying useful stuff, will still be left having to find jobs that dont exist cos they are in china. He's letting employers and industries off the hook.

The reason people are unemployed is not because they dont have the skills, every class of employee is unemployed.

No sense teaching a carpenter to type cos there is plenty of typists wihtout work. Now there is going to be the carpenter with a typing certificate and some office skills with 30K debt without a job. Sorry, Wrong solution to the problem Obama, educating people is only 1 small part of the picture. India used that method, it took 30 years before it bore fruit and only because the US was importing brains out of India did it even happen. And that was in a society where education was cheap and no one went into debt to get one.

Cool.
Buddha.

[tt_four]

The problem there is, well, people aren't getting engineering or accounting degrees. They're studying useless junk like CSI science. Worse yet, those that are studying useful stuff, will still be left having to find jobs that dont exist cos they are in china. He's letting employers and industries off the hook.

I work in the welfare office, and 99% of the girls going to school are all going for criminal justice and medical assistant. I knew it was a scam, but I thought it was a reasonable $5k or so scam. I couldn't believe it when one of the girls sent in one of her papers that showed she was paying $22k for 18 months of school. I almost peed myself. That's a ton of money to pay for a worthless degree that won't even get you a job at mcdonalds. I'd much rather have an MV Agusta F4 than one of those degrees for that kinda money!


Anyway, back on topic..... No real resolutions, I do have a couple plans though. First, on the topic of school. I'm sending my little boy back to training classes to get him certified as a therapy dog so he can be a good example for his breed.


As for myself, I've been saving and I'm gonna buy a bigger bike for myself, preferably a gsxr750 or a 636r, but I'll see how it goes, then Heather can reclaim the GS.

Last goal is to finally finish the basement. I need to do the basement floor, frame/drywall the back corner of the basement, build some new work benches, buy a cheap welder, and learn to weld, paint, and fiberglass.

If I can pull all of that off I think it'll be a pretty productive year.

[The Buddha]

Thanks for corroborating that tt_four.

People think I am kidding and exaggerating when I say crap like this ...
I unsuccesfully tried to talk my neighbors son in law (he lives here till they move back to NYC ... when ? I dunno) out of going to study some crap like that ... it was pharmacy tech or some like that.

However the school wanted to charge them out of state fees (which to be honest, he is, cos he moved from NY 2 months before applying and he wanted to move back ...) and it went from 1800 to 5G+ for the first semester.
So he backed out.

TBH I tried to talk him into going to engineering school, UNC agreed to in-state fees but he was pretty sure he'd flunk out cos he's not good at math and physics and engineering related subjects. Plus 4+ years he was not sure he'd be here that long.

I know someone who's got 40K debt is 36 yrs old and makes 35K a year ... sad actually, any one who will take on that much debt while just going to school has not learnt any thing in high school, essentially they oughta have their high school diploma taken away and render them ineligible for applying to college. Save them from themselves.

Cool.
Buddha.

[yamahonkawazuki]

i plan on going back to school, either interior design, or a graduate gemologist degree, or massage therapy. but since im male and white. st barack is doing me no favours. plus since i had wrecked my car on dec. 9, i have to get another car, or move to an area with mass transit, or both, plus ive got to straighten my health out as well. maybe ill get a car for my birthday in 2 weeks, yeah ill go ahead and say   that aint happening. my goal is to get some gloves and a warm hat tho. had pneumonia 3 times, and number 4 is trying to get in as well. sister gave me a car to use. but heater is bunk lol. anyhoo. my goals for education and health are what keep me looking forward, instead of giving up  

[BaltimoreGS]

I know it's not the point of the thread but I have to agree with Buddha.  Unless you really know what you want to do and pick a track with actual career opportunities, college is a big waste of time and money.  I went to college because it was expected of me, not because I wanted to.  After graduating college I became an auto mechanic which is something I could have done straight out of high school and saved a lot of time and money.  And quite frankly, I've learned more from reading and watching the History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. than i ever did in a formal educational setting.  It's even worse for those who are graduating now during the recession.  A friend of mine got his finance degree 2 years ago, he's now a waiter at Red Robbin.

As for my personal goals, unless some tragedy befalls me I should achieve my goal of becoming debt free this year.  That is a goal I've been working on for the last 5 years.  Once that happens I want to explore America, either by car or motorcycle.  Best wishes to all that are reading this on achieving their goals for 2010!

-Jessie

[The Buddha]

Thanks to Bush and Obama debt is cheap saving is counter productive cos inflation is running at 10-12% (for consumables, the way they started counting in 1980's but big items like cars and houses its running negative 10% so they're trying to redefine it and say its approaching 0%) and interest rates on deposits barely break 3-4% ... saving costs you 5-7% ... Bogus if you ask me.

It oughta be illegal to pay interest that is over 1-2% below inflation and it oughta be illegal to add 1 time purchases to cost of living.

Anyway, debt if its low interest is OK get rid of any thing over 10% ...

I dunno, I have no goals for 10 and I have not had them for quite a few years. Maybe to "not go broke" this year could be a goal for me.

I dunno the point of this thread either, but I am sorry I crapped on what was a nice one by ohgood. Hey that is another goal I should have.

Cool.
Buddha.

[tt_four]

haha, yeah this thread went down hill pretty fast. Even if the specific comments were off topic, I think it still sticks to the general question, because apperantly people are planning on not having all that great of a year.

I also went to college just because that's what I was supposed to do. At this point in my life I really think I'd be happier if I had learned a trade and worked with my hands. I also realize that you can learn to not like anything that you do every day, so I don't get that upset about it. I used to LOVE working on bicycles. I'd hang out in the basement cleaning one of mine up until 3am and not think anything of it, but after 2 years of working in bike shops and making a chore of it, I hate even spending the 3 minutes to put air in my tires. I like to keep work and pleasure seperate.

[The Buddha]

Oh yea trade ... right, have you checked schools recently ... they used to do that 10-15 yyears ago ... now, gone.
Idiotic, there is always a need to repair things. Manufacturing has gone off to china, but no one can send their washing machine to china when sheite breaks. Idiots have no clue how anything works.

Anyway I am never going to work as a mechanic in bike shop per se ... I have often thought about being a salesman though ... maybe not ...

Cool.
Buddha.

[ohgood]

trades = dead end

no matter how good you are- you're crap compared to 3 billion chinamen that will do the same job 20x cheaper.

the one and ONLY leg up a local (US/canada) tradesman has on china is being local. lead times for parts made overseas kill things on the REBUILDING side of things. otherwise, you can't compete.

i'm doing some medical htings now, that seem to be recession proof. will congress and other richer-than-god people f%$k up healthcare worse than it is now ? abso-freaking-lootely.

dump all over the thread.... i want to see genuine goals along with a nice spicey mix of ranting to keep the flavor alive

ultimate goals this year: hate less, love more, enjoy the kids more. money. pfffft- that green stuffs overrated.

[PaviSays]

Uh, well I need to decide on a career path of some kind, and I need to settle on what college I'm going to attend.  As far as the career goes, I think I've narrowed it down to either Pharmacy or Chemical Engineer.  Umm, other than that, enjoy the rest of my senior year, apply for some scholarships, and finish out on top.

[jserio]

I'm going to chime in my .02 about college education. I don't think it is a complete waste of money. IF you spend that money wisely and do proper research to obtain schooling in something worthwhile. When I got laid off last January, I looked into and subsequently chose to better my education. Through the unemployment office I was referred to a program here called The Workforce Investment Act. What it amounted to was grant money from the State. (that's the way I understand it at least) However, they told me that they wouldn't give just anybody the money for any type of education. I had to thumb through pages and pages of job descriptions. The state came up with a list of what types of jobs are needed in which areas of the state. In order for them to give you the grant money to get said degree, it had to rank so high on the list of jobs that are needed /projected to be needed. The other thing was they would only help you for two years. So that narrowed down my choices of college to institutions that generally offer Associates only programs. I am currently pursuing my associates degree in Network Engineering Technology. The college I am attending has working relationships with many of the larger four year institutions around the state as well so if/when I want to pursue a Bachelors, most, if not all of my credits will transfer. They also have a working relationship with many of the businesses from around here. I don't know what the job market will look like in my field once I graduate however, I feel that I made an informed decision to further my education. Between the Workforce Investment Act grant money and the Pell grant, my books and tuition are paid with a little bit extra left over. Sure you could make the case that the grant money isn't really free and that in a sense I'm borrowing it from the rest of the taxpaying community(even fellow members here). However, I think it a wise investment, because once I've graduated I should be better qualified to find better, more gainful employment which in turn will cause me to pay higher taxes which in the long run will pay back what I've been given in grant money plus some. Or so that's my thinking, however twisted it may seem.

[The Buddha]

Right jserio, its only worthwhile to spend $ studying field/type of work that has under 3% unemployment.

Ohgood - Building things = no future. China has every one creamed. Rebuilding stuff = huge cos china makes crap, very cheap but total crap. You cannot help but buy that shiny new washing machine tossing out the old and noisy and ugly green washer from your great aunt's basement even though it worked.
Of course a year later the shiny new washer will die in a puff of smoke and you'd give your right arm for that ugly washer that cranked on for 40 years. Repair is always a local industry (as in if you live near a town where the local maytag factory was - you're SOL) ... but there is a need to have people who can repair stuff. No one will send their washer out by mail ...

That was what I was trying to say.

Cool.
Buddha.

[tt_four]

Sure you could make the case that the grant money isn't really free and that in a sense I'm borrowing it from the rest of the taxpaying community(even fellow members here).

Give it back you jerk! 

Just kidding, glad I could help!

[Cal Price]

Big changes? well I might grow old gracefully and retire properly, my promotions business is slipping down the tubes thanks mainly to the Euro-Pound exchange rate but given past form I'll probably start something else if only for "occupational therapy" reasons and then there is a tax bill to be paid.........isn't there always.
Look on the bright side, shortest day has past, start thinking about trips and I have just been offered a lockup garage for rental so I might have somewhere to do a few jobs, probably end up with another restoration project....

[The Buddha]

The thing is in charlotte atleast from 29th dec to Jan 12 sun rise is @7:32 am. Sun set however gets 1+ minute later every day.
In fact sunset has been getting later since the 8th or 9th of dec. And I have actually noticed cos my time for leaving work is more or less exactly the same. 5 pm shut off, 5:10 packed and dressed. 5:15 starting the bike and it used to be dark in early dec, and now it gets dark when I am 1/2 way home ... maybe by Jan 12th (my birthday) it'll be light till I get home
BTW this is the first year since I have lived in NC that there has not been a 70 degree day between thanksgiving and new year.
08 was a very significant year when it got below freezing Nov 10th (the day I attempted to ride a sv1K home) and it was 79 degrees on dec 19th when I regretted not having that sv still together having split it on thanksgiving.

09/10 the year global warming left town.

I swear though, if I get let go now, I am doomed. No $ and no jobs in this podunk town and I cannot move ... screwed all the way round.

Cool.
Buddha.

[manofthefield]

My goals for the year are really all vehicle related.

1. Sell my Tacoma that I rarely use as a truck and buy a car.  Leading choices are 2006ish Mazda3 hatch or Impreza 2.5i
2. Figure out what to do with my GS.  Fix mysterious leaky seal, sell and not replace, or sell and replace (Versys?)
3. Save for a performance driving school or rally driving school.  Probably won't actually go until 2011

[bettingpython]

Expand our ethnic diversity.... have 3 somes with women from as many different ethnicities as we can this year...
Wife finally decided there was more to life than blondes.

[The Buddha]

Expand our ethnic diversity.... have 3 somes with women from as many different ethnicities as we can this year...
Wife finally decided there was more to life than blondes.

Right right ... though 2 hot blondes can change my mind any time.

Cool.
Buddha.

[vtlion]

For those of you considering working on an education this year, consider this:  There is a reason that traditional universities and courses of study have thrived for so long.  It is because they work!  Like with any good idea, however, there will be snake-oil salesmen trying to take advantage and sell you an inferior product in a similar wrapping.  Chose carefully and you will never regret getting a *real* education.

Ok... trying to get this thread back on track:

2009 was a pretty good year.  I sold my home and officially moved from the Commonwealth of PA (not such a bad state) to the Commonwealth of Virginia (greatest state in the land).  I bought another home in late summer.   Sadly it was too soon to get the giant tax credit now being offered *sigh*.  I held the same job, car and bike for the entire year; quite an accomplishment for me considering my history!  I have been done with my PhD for about two years now, so school is a close but fading memory.  I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad it is over.  Living on 18k a year for 5 years was brutal.

Now that I am established, I am hoping that the "big change" in my life this year will be not having any big change at all.  That would be something new for me.  I'm really content where I am and I hope I can keep this ball rolling for a few years!  I am hoping that my big changes will be things like attending town hall meetings, getting new windows installed on the house and starting a backyard garden.  You know, domesticated-type stuff.

One resolution I made is to put more miles on my bike than on my car this year.  I came within a few miles of it in 2009.