So I should buy CDs ? Got it
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My wife hit me with something interesting the other day. She said, āwell the inflation rate isnāt as high as it was in the 80ās but back then it didnāt take two salaries to pay the billsā
I just got let go this week, so I guess we are going to test that theory out. Iāve been in IT for over 20 years and Iāve never seen the job market this bad. Even in the recession, it was easy to get a job then.
Iām just going to chalk it up to election year jitters and get real good at cooking that lady dinner.
I donāt believe hard workers starve but if so I could stand to lose about 50lbs anyway.
Last time I was unemployed I was 12 so I have a few weeks to enjoy this feeling before I start getting worried.
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I got out of the military in Feb. of 2009. I halfway considered reupping but I just simply couldnāt stand the lifestyle anymore. The job market sucked ass then, I was unemployed until September (thankfully I had been in Afghanistan for the year prior to that and banked a ton of money). I decided somewhere in May or so to use my vet status and started applying for federal IT positions and one came through with USGS in October. I get furloughed now when the govāt shuts down but Iāve really appreciated the stability that comes with the position.
If you just so happen to be an Azure admin, I think I know someone (my team) looking to hire 2 contractors at the moment. Fully remote, anywhere in the US. Edit: I canāt hire contractors directly, but I could get the details of the position and point you in the right direction. Just to not get hopes up too much.
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Really sorry to hear it @MattyD - good luck finding something new 
. I was also laid off earlier this year so I know it can be tough (I finally just started a new position).
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Thanks a lot for the offer! Over the last 8 years Iāve been pretty specialized in managing business systems ERP, CRM, Database, Salesforce, etc. Iāve also built my team from 2 to 8 down to 3 and wellā¦ The company didnāt stop shrinking and I guess they didnāt need a leader anymore. Iām kinda glad it happened because I got to the point where I couldnāt recognize myself from a technical perspective anymore. Time to re-tool.
Anyway Iām ranting but thanks for the love bass buddy.
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Congrats on the new job! Iāll be fine. Iāve been working since age 13 so this is actually kinda fun and terrifying at the same time. Iām half tempted to grab a battery amp and start playing the Billy Jean bassline over and over until someone throws change at me in disgust 
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Yeeeah, thatās the attitude 
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I wouldnāt say that it didnāt take two incomes to live reasonably well back then. In 1980 I was making around $30k a year and even at that we had a second income albeit not has much as mine.
$30k was a pretty good income in 1980 but a whole lot of people were making half that or a little more. Iād say the biggest difference is housing costs were far less. I rented a 1500sf townhouse for about $400 per month. By 1985 the cost had increased to $700 per month. I was able to buy a similar size home for $95k.
Right now Iām paying $1650 per month to rent an 1100sf apartment and that home I bought in '85 would sell for closer to $350k by now.
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An important thing to look at if/when you buy a house. How OLD is the HVAC. Home inspectors only check to see if it Blows hot & cold.
I bought my current 2-story house In January 2020. It has an HVAC unit for each floor. Living in Central Texas, having dependable air conditioning is critically important.
Since moving in, Iāve had HVAC techs annually inspect my systems every Spring, particularly the visibly older one that cooled the vitally important first floor. After inspection, each tech has marveled that the unit was still operational; it was in that rough of shape. But it kept on keepinā on, every year. Still, I knew I was living on borrowed time.
So last year I pulled the trigger on a pricey-but-totally worth-it Carrier system. Its benefits outweigh its relative steeper price tag compared to other options.
Goes to show that sometimes you can get what you pay for, especially after a lot of research. (Hmmmā¦that sounds suspiciously like my bass philosophy.)
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The unfortunate financial lessons you learn as an adultā¦
- Mortgage/purchase costs are only the beginning
- When the house isnāt costing you money your kids will.
- When your kids arenāt costing you money, your pets will.
- Mostly, all these things are costing you money at the same time.
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Kids are overated 
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I would have asked what they could give me for three really good basses and a Fender lol.
Seriously though we live in the centre of town and when I first bought my flat about 20 years ago, the whole blockās heating was run off a furnace in the basement - we used to have guys round every couple of weeks in a small truck shovelling coal into the basement through a hole. This was changed to āeco coalā a few years later (which was not eco) and then we finally got hooked up to the cityās heating system - for those who havenāt heard of this, thereās a big network of hot water pipes connected to the power station which gets turned on over the winter. Installation was pretty pricey but after then the bills are quite low.
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