I made a major improvement in my ability to not give a fuck about my job.
I work in American retail.
I didn’t know you could insert that here. I just needed that on my previous comment.
Thanks.Don’t give a fuck about it. Get a skilled labor job. Retail is soul-sucking. You want to be the guy who can build a work shed out of a pile of wood, not the guy who knows where the aisle of tuberware is.
Can’t I just not be a guy and be done with it? Lol, my boobs would thank me for sure.
Sorry I didn’t mean “guy” like male, but that isn’t an excuse I should have chosen my words more carefully.
There is nothing wrong with women in the trades. I was in Bangkok for vacation this year and saw an army sized group of women working a construction site. All of them much physically smaller than I am.
Hey, you’re all good. I was just messing with you. I know you weren’t implying anything. Haha.
Electricians are well paid and among the least physical trades
Do they make as much money over a lifetime as a Washington DC based economist? Which one adds actual value to the world?
The economist makes more money, the electrician adds more value.
I can elaborate but you can imagine the world muddling along without people telling you about inelastic demand but society would collapse in about two weeks if all the tradespeople disappeared.
Sure and think about how better things would be.
Besides for Keynes all economists worldwide thought the New Deal would be a failure. Meanwhile the US recovered first.
Only a fraction of economists think the bank bailouts were a bad idea and the US lost over a decade when you look at the Workforce Participation Rate and CEO-to-worker pay ratio.
No economists thinks student loan debt amnesty is a good idea. Meanwhile the percent of people seeking degrees continues to drop, the age of first time homeowners continues to rise, the number of small businesses started is falling, and the fertility rate hits new lows.
It isn’t that economists keep getting it wrong. It is that they are paid to advance agendas. It is like a lawyer, you don’t pay a lawyer to find justice and fairness, you pay a lawyer to be your champion. An economist is paid by financial institutions to be a zealous advocate. Which is why there is a lobbyist company whose entire job is to sit economists on congressional hearings and advance the client’s viewpoint.
Meanwhile our infrastructure rots.
What’s wrong with you?
Don’t make it personal, answer the question or don’t.
I reiterate their statement: what the fuck is wrong with you?
And no, we won’t answer the question as it’s a question with absolutely no possible answer since it completely depends on how you define the form that value takes. All you’re doing is trying to stir up animosity. Well, it’s working.
Kindly fuck off.
Sorry your job adds no value. Must be hard.
The dude above was agreeing with you and you attacked. You’re deranged.
You can join him on the block list.
i made a person
Congratulations! Me too!
Congratulations! Me three!
that’s always a good time
next few years will be busy
WTG
I made the decision to go back to school. There were various life reasons why I was unable to make that decision in my 20’s, but I am happy to have the opportunity to learn again with a renewed sense of drive and direction.
Hey there, I went back at 33, and it took me 4 years to get my AA. But I did it, and got a job that more than doubled what I was making before.
You’re going to love classes in your 30s! It’s so fun to learn, and you’ll make friends with your teachers. It was hard at times, but it felt really good to accomplish! If you need support to talk about it, r/backtoschool was a great place for me to vent or ask for advice.
First, let me say thank you for this kind comment. Oddly enough I also happen to be 33, so it really means a lot to me to get that encouragement from someone else who was literally in the same boat, and made it out the other side successfully. If you don’t mind me asking, what did you study when you went back?
I’m happy it was helpful! I love that we went back at the same age! :)
I went back for drafting and industrial design. I got a job as a CAD drafter at a Substation engineering firm, and was promoted to a designer about 8 months in. Been there for 1.5 years now. Best job I’ve ever had. :)
Good luck! :D
My parents officially cut the life line – I didn’t need their money anymore and they’re retired now.
But it made me take stock of my expenditure in a way I hadn’t previously.
That’s super cool that you think that’s positive.
I wish my parents-in-law would cut our life line. They’re retired, too, and have a lot of time to make recommendations about your finances when we use a zero-based budget. They don’t know the particulars of the budget…but that doesn’t stop them from expecting impossible stuff. I just want to be free again…
So, my folks gave me a chunk of cash along with it.
It was basically “hey, economy is maybe going tits up. You’re doing fine. Here’s you’re lifeline in cash. It’s you when you were unemployed during the pandemic before the govt funds hit x 3years. Do with it whatever but we can’t predict the future and you’re doing ok and we’re gonna need to budget the rest ourselves.”
It’s funny because in the same breath they were like “Christmas is gonna be slimmer this year. Don’t expect much for gifts.”
I’m super grateful. But it made me realize: I wish they calculated this number fucking 10 years ago. I know I woulda fucked up a chunk of it but Im sure I’d be better off today.
So, my advice to someone in a situation I was in a year or three ago would be to have an honest conversation with your parents. If you’re financially responsible and debt free or at least able to save while making clear progress on that debt…
"Hey… Listen… I don’t need an exact number. But I have a proposal. So be conservative here: what amount of my lifeline would you reach out and say “hey what’s going on?” To get info?
Let’s just say it’s $250 in 1 month.
"Okay… How long are you planning on … keeping this here for me? Until you die? You’re what 70? Okay, so if you live til 90, then it’s what? $60k? I’m asking you to just wire me 60k and let me start taking more responsibility.
Hell, make it 40k! Go on a wild vacation!"
Or suggest the two of you sit down with his or your own financial planner. Talk about how best to handle this, instead of taking advice from some dude named foggy on the fediverse.
I met a wonderful woman. We are dating now
I got an invitation from someone I had been talking to online to come and have dinner with their family. It. Was. Awesome. I got a tour of their gardens, talked pest management, chicken composting, and propagation strategies, got a ukulele concert from their usually shy daughter with some special medical needs (and got to play something for her on the instrument she never shares), and had a lovely meal from their garden. Oh, and we traded plants and cuttings with each other to help diversify our gardens (and who they support)!
That is a lovely little vignette. Thank you for a glimpse into your world :)
For complicated reasons over which we have had very little control, we have had to move house 3 times in the last 5 years.
In April of this year, thoigh, we finally found somewhere that we both really love and which should be pretty much permanent. I am very happy about that.
Moving sucks so much, and can be extremely emotionally and physically disruptive for a lot of people. So, massive congratulations 🎊
I got hella teeth pulled.
I know it sounds terrible, but it really needed to happen. I’m waiting on my bone grafts to set before starting on my first set of implants. Even with my plastic partials, it’s a whole new world. I don’t think I had cracked a genuine smile since highschool. Now I can’t stop.
I have a boss who’s in his mid-forties. After I was out a few days for my wisdom teeth, I was talking to him and he says ever since he was a kid his dentist has said he seriously needs his wisdom teeth removed. Man gives me the biggest smile and says "and I’ve been putting it off for 40 years! ", made me wince. I would be terrified at the prospect of getting them out after that long.
It really depends on spacing and if they’re impacted. I had mine out at 35. Wasn’t a big deal, but I had other teeth that were congeniality missing, along with gum disease, so nothing was really well attached.
My car was totaled and I walked away.
Bought a house and started my dream job
I started turning away from atheism. I’ve always wanted to believe in God but i was literally unable to.
it is really bugging me that you are getting heavily downvoted for this. it’s not like you are actively proselytizing here. i am sorry people are so shitty.
i think belief in (some type of) god is probably pretty healthy. unfortunately, my life experience has led me to a failure to believe in anything at all.
anyways… you do you. be well.
i did not say “atheism bad”. sure, i dont agree with a lot of atheist beliefs, but the last thing i want to do is spread hate.
and, if you feel good about yourself, “failure to believe in anything” might not actually be a failure. 👍
What are atheist beliefs? I thought being atheist just meant you were non-religious?
Atheist really means a definite belief that there is no god. Agnostic is less ‘strong’, asserting that it’s impossible to know how the universe was created and whether or not divine beings exist.
Atheist is a non-believer. Prefix “a-“ means absence. Every human is an atheist unless they believe in every god. The word was first used in relation to Christians.
Anti-theist is someone opposed to religion or belief in supernatural. “Anti” means “opposed / opposite to”.
Agnostic is a bullshit cop-out term that at some point in a Christian discourse briefly meant “someone who considers supernatural to not be knowable”, but doesn’t have a proper meaning nowadays. It has a transactional role in conversation - it most often relays unwillingness to continue the conversation on religion.
A “definite belief that there is no god” would be “gnostic atheist” in proper terms. I.e. “god is knowable and he’s absent”. But those proper terms were barely ever alive. Instead, people dance around topic of religion as if it didn’t enjoy enough fucking dances for millennia past.
Interesting what meaning these words have in English.
That’s quite specific, tbh. And both are very American in that they are defined around the bed too establish and stand off “sides”. As if there is a right or wrong to children believing in a Santa Claus until a certain age, or grown ups believing into an adult variant if that. The morality comes from the actions taken under such a belief.
Atheist really means a definite belief
No.
Which one did you choose?
Christianity. No church, just me studying the bible.
Cool, I hope it goes well for you.
Interesting. A lot of people who study the bible become Atheist. If you filter out all the bad stuff, maybe it will be useful.
As someone who has found a faith that works for me, personal, nonreligious and without a figurehead god, I’ve seen a lot of concrete benefits from exploring different ways of walking through reality. For me there was a huge difference between the sensation of feeling like a cosmic fluke, blown around in a confusing and random reality, and finding a way to feel like I’m an integral part of time and space.
It was a decision I had to make, years ago, for my own well-being. I’ve seen many others make their own personal, spiritual changes, for similar reasons to mine. Some move away from their childhood religions, towards faith structures that feel more healthy to them. Some return to theirs. I’ve also known people who’ve found meaning, comfort and purpose through studied, focused atheism and agnosticism.
You can probably tell by my tone that I’m not a big fan of organized religion. Any god that can be boxed up isn’t really what I’m looking for. That said, I know from personal experience how powerful that sort of change in perspective can be. It’s exactly the type of thing that could find high ranks in one’s best of the year list.
Happy New Year!
Definitely would like some more detail on this.
That’s great! I wish you all good stuff for the New Year, spiritually and otherwise.
I know how you feel. I started turning away from not collecting stamps. It’s such a good feeling finding faith in stamps.
(wink)
Happy new year!!
Are we thinking in the short or long term here?
Short term (enjoyment for this year): I bought a motorcycle, something I’ve wanted to do for years but finally had the money and independence to do so this year
Long term (this will affect my future life in a good way): I got a summer research internship as a college student, which gives me valuable experience for later in life
Congrats and congrats!
Thanks!
Everything sucked. 2023 was a calamity for me. I lost my best friend, I had a burnout, I got sick a lot, and it forced me to take 2 full weeks off to take care of myself in early December.
Those 2 weeks for myself are arguably the best thing I had this year however. I’ll try to repeat this every year.
That sounds a lot like my 2022. Burnout is rough, I still feel I’m not fully where I want to be. I’m glad you were able to get some rest, and I hope 2024 is kinder to you
Thanks friend!
Finally sold that damn boat!!
The best boat is someone else’s boat.
A boat always gives the owner two good memories. The one when you bought it and the one when you sell it
I was told this repeatedly before I bought it. I naively thought it would be different for me. It was not!
Sweet freedom
My daughter (born 3 months early in mid-2022) was discharged from needing oxygen 24/7. After months of having to lug her tank and pulse oximeter around everywhere, even across a room, a wireless baby was a game-changer.
She’s made huge progress in so many other ways, but this was the big one for us
