^Youth is wasted on the young.^
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Am not as chronologically young anymore and my body often reminds me of this but in terms of attitude and spirit i’m pretty youthful.
And i’m trying to nudge lege into not doing the same destructive things i sally went through but i can’t stop them so..
@azyklus @BRicker @SwiftOnSecurity
Both are right.
Lots of olds might have wisdom but have no clue on delivery of the messages.
Lots of youngs could use those nudges but olds are, well, clueless and old and don’t get modern problems.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ can’t win
@Aphrodite @azyklus @SwiftOnSecurity
(alas far too many of us olds mistake mere accidental survival or even ^success^ as evidence of wisdom &/or heavenly favor &/or merit.)
@BRicker @azyklus @SwiftOnSecurity
after surviving enough things that should statistically have killed me i just marvel that i survived being hit by a taxi doing nearly 40mph in nyc, spiking the landing almost perfectly, and popping conscious only to chew out the driver for dirtying my clothes instead of wondering why i survived an event that has >80% mortality.
Chewing out a taxi driver is quintessential NYC response to stress.
Bravo!
Seriously tho, we're each the hero of our own tale from our POV, so asking why the movie didn't end just now isn't an in-frame question.
Of course we're alive, we're essential to the plot.
It's breaking the fourth-wall of our personal narrative to ask if we are perhaps inessential, the character's arc could end here.
(This works against realistic risk analysis.)
Chewing out a taxi driver is one thing. They deal with angry sweary people every day.
Having someone march to their window and complain after getting hit by that taxi in language that passes every broadcast standard that he got my clothes dirty?
That was priceless (except for the concussion, vertigo, and dramatically worse migraines).
@Aphrodite sounds like the early effect of concussion was suppressing the politeness filter?
(Concussed brains don't believe in concussions, so in that state, yes, dirty clothes was believably (wrongly) the worst offence. Broken brain tells on itself.)
I hate to disabuse you of this, but I was aware that I was in A Bad Way.
I did not drop a single profanity or vulgarity.
As I approached the driver, I thought how I could best ensure they’d never forget this moment.
Before I spoke to the driver, I advised the passenger, “Congratulations. You’ve won a free ride to this exact point.” This was based on being in that seat 7mo prior and in a taxi v truck accident where NYOD said that to me, more or less.
As soon as I made the complaint about my clothes, as this was 34th Ave between 7th and 8th, I directed a comment to the passing pedestrians, “I bet none of you thought that’s what I would say.”
On the phone with the ambulance, I correctly observed that if I sat down I likely would pass out, so instead I forced myself to stand upright until the bus took me to Bellevue, where I experienced diminished consciousness. Think grey out rather than blackout.
And I have witnesses. I like having receipts for the absurdities I’ve lived through. :)
@SwiftOnSecurity are you in my house right now?
Get out - Get out with you... I am in this damn post and I do not like it...
not one darn bit...
Damn... your honesty spouting this evening is cutting to my core of mistakes...
@SwiftOnSecurity So we both needed this post like almost 20yrs ago?
uhg.. I can verifiably say this is the most missed thing I wish someone had pushed upon me...
I even made the mistake FREAKING TWICE.
@SwiftOnSecurity It's really hard to do so when:
1. You've not had jobs that offered a 401(k)
2. You've HAD jobs that offered, but didn't pay enough to afford to contribute
I'm going to be doing a lot of catch-up now that I'm out of poverty, but I still have another year or so of catching up with my broke-ass past before I can really get started saving for retirement. :/
@sleeplessone @SwiftOnSecurity Our obsessively capitalist society has seen to it that comfortable retirement is either a lifelong rat race of scrounging together enough dollars to *maybe* pay the bills for about ten more years when you have a good 20+ left to live, or just hope and pray RNGesus is on your side each time you play the lottery.
There's no in between now, if you're not born into generational wealth. :/
@SwiftOnSecurity @dragonarchitect No need to apologize, it sounds like we had similar upbringing actually. It's mostly a failure on my part to not realize how underpaid I really was and stubbornly offsetting or rationalizing it in other ways.
Honestly hearing your work stories over the years is one of the things that gave me the confidence to take the shot I did and not give up after it didn't pan out the first time.
@sleeplessone @SwiftOnSecurity Yeah, I think I had like... upper lower class or lower middle class upbringing?
Parents both had full-time careers with benefits (mom, a teacher, dad, a photog for a university) and could afford to make sure I made straight A's in school and had at least one extracurricular (band).
But we also lived way out in the boonies where land was cheap and the internet sucked and all we got for TV was an aerial mast and four channels lol
@k9 @sleeplessone @SwiftOnSecurity I just refuse to understand and accept that we have to take nearly all of the responsibility for investing in our post-career futures, when pensions used to be a thing.
Like, seriously.
You didn't even have to save up your own hard-earned dollars for a cushy retirement!
Just work for the company for a couple of decades and bam! Pension!
Why can't our generations get that anymore? :((((
@dragonarchitect @k9 @sleeplessone @SwiftOnSecurity pensions do exist in government employment, and probably some corporations to some extent. If you’re young enough, the military is a good option. An 18 YO can retire at 38, get a pension, and do 25 years as a fed, and retire with two pensions. Not bad.
I couldn’t do this for a few reasons, not the least of which being that I didn’t figure that out till way too late.
@Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity My now-ex-Marine cousin has to live the rest of his life with a TBI that he got "retired out" for with naff all extended health or financial support.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg that is my disdain for the military-industrial complex as a whole.
Conscientious objector is describing my opinion in polite terms ever since I graduated from high school at the peak of recruitment when Bush Jr. was finishing up his daddy's little oil war in the middle east.
@dragonarchitect @SwiftOnSecurity
Ugh :( Sorry for the stacked life the US gives lower income ppl.
But even a few dollars adds up substantially over time. The story is $5/month from 18-32 and stopping completely will be more money at 65 than starting at 32 and going to 65.
@dragonarchitect @SwiftOnSecurity
yeah, just wanted to make sure ppl know that even a little bit really helps when you start early.
Albert Einstein is widely credited for saying that “compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe."
@pixelpusher220 @SwiftOnSecurity Albert Einstein very probably didn't say that. Those kinds of apocryphal attributions are typically more urban legend than factual. :P
@dragonarchitect @pixelpusher220 @SwiftOnSecurity I now make enough that we could own two new cars and carry the payments. I’d NEVER do that. I have a 2006 Toyota and a 2007 Pontiac. Sometimes I do have to make a substantial car payment in the form of a repair ($1,300 water pump and timing belt), but that’s still way less expensive than spending $400-700 a month on a car note.
And yes, the extra money gets invested. I max out my 401K, because I too am playing catch up.
@Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity My old Ford is basically costing me more in parts and labor than it's actually worth at this point, after 10 years of not being able to afford to keep up with maintenance & repairs.
I would LOVE to get something even ten years newer, but this money pit I have to call my car is still dragging me down from a strong enough financial position to replace it.
@FritzAdalis @Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity The answer to that simplistic question is, unequivocally, yes.
But the question that must be asked alongside it is this: Am I in a financial position to buy another car right now?
No.
At least not for another few months, and by then I'll've had to sink enough money into my car that I might as well keep going with it for another year and be in an even stronger position to buy something WAY newer and nicer next year.
@dragonarchitect @Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity I know the subject is much wider than this, but I wanted to zero-in and nerd-out on the "putting the repair money into the beater" issue. I drove my Focus for 14 years, as friends and coworkers were constantly upgrading or replacing vehicles.
From a personal finance perspective, the book value of the car and the cost of the repair are not important; the utility you get from the car and it's cost of ownership vs a new one is. My newish Mazda3 is gonna cost about $20K more than keeping my '07 Focus on the road for the same timeframe, even if the $500 Focus needed a $1,000 repair or two. Had we not consolidated housing costs and income (through marriage) over here, I'd still be the guy driving the $500 car on an ITSec paycheck.
@DarcMoughty I'm just tired of having to fix my car every time I turn around, and the repair bill costing me $100s every time.
Couple that with the fact that my car has basically Z E R O legacy aftermarket support, and a dwindling New Old Stock supply of OEM parts that aren't replicated on the aftermarket, and you get me being frustrated that I have to keep sinking money into this pit that's just going to keep costing more as time drags on.
@DarcMoughty But I also live in a state that mandates safety inspections, and it's only a matter of time before this rusting bucket gets to a point where there's no amount of money I can spend on it to pass inspection.
It's past time to move on to something newer.
@dragonarchitect @DarcMoughty there is a point of diminishing returns, yes.
Its vague and varies depending on the vehicle and the driver’s habits, but agreed there is a point where parts become rare enough or enough issues appear and dogpile, but until that there’s a good chance that grass being greener on the other side rationalization is happening.
@Blueteamsherpa @dragonarchitect @SwiftOnSecurity
Car costs are something the switch to EVs will really up end. So much less maintenance and things to actually repair.
And when you replace the battery, it's basically new again. Not chump change, but compare with a year or two of new car payments, it's gonna be cheaper.
@pixelpusher220 @Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity I would absolutely love to own an EV, but currently options are limited to:
> Crossovers
> A handful of trucks
> More crossovers
> Cars more compact than I care to own
> Cars that are just the right size but are expensive luxury brands I can't afford
> Cars with giant fuck-off screens in the middle of the dash that I care EVEN LESS about because it's a major safety issue in my eyes
> And Teslas (no thank you)
🤪
@pixelpusher220 @Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity Chevy Bolt has been high-up on my list though. The current generation has aesthetics that are a step backwards from the previous gen imo, but it also comes with a watered-down version of GM's MASSIVELY superior self-driving system that Cadillacs get.
Watered-down because the Bolt's platform simply can't support the full suite of SuperCruise capabilities.
@Carbonleafsurplus @pixelpusher220 @Blueteamsherpa @SwiftOnSecurity Crossovers annoy the shit out of me.
They fail at being the mix of things they try to be. They're not trucky enough to be a proper SUV. They're not spacious enough to be a soccer mom van. They're basically cars with thyroid issues and a fuel/energy appetite to match.
I also can't see around them when I'm driving my little "sport" coupe of a car.
They're more car than I want or will ever need when a station wagon is perfect.
@SwiftOnSecurity If you're starting early, choose the Roth 401k option if possible.
*Untaxable* income from the growth which will be the majority.
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