397 replies to this topic

[snookyrump]

A naked sleepwalking, cheddar cheese wielding, burrito induced farting/pooping in a bag incident is totally called for, if only for the wonderful memories and boost to board morale.

[Nichole]

IheartTesla, on 15 June 2012 - 11:24 AM, said:

Universal health care would make employers pass on all those health care savings in the form of wages to the employees.

There, the thread descent to boring is complete.

We could also make higher education free so we don't have people leaving universities and trying to start their careers already in debt.

[kairparavel]

Nichole, on 15 June 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

We could also make higher education free so we don't have people leaving universities and trying to start their careers already in debt.

The hell you say!

We could also bring employment requirements back into our stratosphere by recognizing not every job requires post-secondary education. No matter the education you have or don't have, no one walks into any job situation hitting the ground running. You need some on the job training, and if you get that, you might not need the fancy 40G+ piece of paper.

But this is an excellent topic for a different thread. Has it been discussed before?

Edited by Karitte Pedersen, 15 June 2012 - 11:36 AM.

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

Karitte Pedersen, on 15 June 2012 - 11:24 AM, said:

There's no need to pig in lipstick your response to me with a smiley.

Catfight!  Catfight!

[Sci-2]

heathergalaxy, on 15 June 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Ahhh DC group houses... I guess I technically live in one but it doesn't have that feel (y'know, things work and the landlords are responsive).

Yes DC is really expensive. It has all the Manhattan prices without any of its amenities. Our food and public transit are expensive and mediocre. That said, she could totally have made do with $30k a year...

We didn't have cars, we lived near Catholic U. We'd take the bus to the grocery store and back. I don't drink, I think that kept me above the red as well. Didn't go out much either [at first], which worked out well since we couldn't afford to go crazy.

Edited by sciborg2, 15 June 2012 - 11:54 AM.

[S John]

heathergalaxy, on 15 June 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Ahhh DC group houses... I guess I technically live in one but it doesn't have that feel (y'know, things work and the landlords are responsive).

Yes DC is really expensive. It has all the Manhattan prices without any of its amenities. Our food and public transit are expensive and mediocre. That said, she could totally have made do with $30k a year... I made less than $20k when I came here for grad school. Did it suck? Yes. Was it doable? Yeah. A cheap studio here is like $1400. An inexpensive room in a basement far away from grocery stores or any place you'd want to be is about $800 a month. Oh DC.

I lived in one for a year where there were 5 other people.  It really wasn't that bad, but I was still paying $800 / month for my share.  The biggest problem I had with the situation was fridge space.  We had a huge fridge and it was always so full that I could never get anything in there.  One of the perks, though, was several of the roommates liked to cook and have house dinners and stuff.  I hate cooking so I would bring beer or wine to pay for my meal and then I'd help with the dishes or something.  After that I went overseas for a year where all my meals were provided for me.  Now I come home and sit around til 9pm wondering why nobody has fed me yet.  Maybe I should have gone back into a group house.  

Karitte Pedersen, on 15 June 2012 - 11:35 AM, said:

The hell you say!

We could also bring employment requirements back into our stratosphere by recognizing not every job requires post-secondary education. No matter the education you have or don't have, no one walks into any job situation hitting the ground running. You need some on the job training, and if you get that, you might not need the fancy 40G+ piece of paper.

But this is an excellent topic for a different thread. Has it been discussed before?

I remember complaining about that very thing before, but I don't know that it was in its own topic.  I tend to view thread titles as suggestions.

[Sci-2]

Quote

I lived in one for a year where there were 5 other people.  It really wasn't that bad, but I was still paying $800 / month for my share.

Whoah. That's expensive. I lived in a two bedroom, with its own washer and dryer, and it was $750/month.

[S John]

sciborg2, on 15 June 2012 - 12:07 PM, said:

Whoah. That's expensive. I lived in a two bedroom, with its own washer and dryer, and it was $750/month.

My room was the cheapest one in the house.  

I was 3 or 4 blocks from the Columbia Heights metro, but still wasn't the nicest part of town.

[Sci-2]

DC is weird like that though, renter's market with people coming up with all kinds of silly prices. I had a friend doing the same thing in Philly, charging $700 [a month] for a rather small room. When doing the grad school thing, I paid $900 for the entire summer's rent.

Edited by sciborg2, 15 June 2012 - 12:18 PM.

[Fez]

Yeah the DC rental market can be strange.  Sure I live in a group house, but I have the third floor (2 rooms and a bathroom) to myself, while the other 4 only each have their own bedroom (only 2 of which are decent sized) and they share 1 and half bathrooms. My rent is only $50 more than the second highest (we all have separate leases with the landlord too, so don't accuse me of strong-arming the others).

And my rent is $150 less than my last place which was a 2-bedroom apartment that we converted into a 3-person by hanging a shower curtain across the entrance to the living room.  All I had there was a shitty little room about the size of one of my current ones.

That's why I don't want to move too quickly. I am really close to the metro, the gym, a few bars, and several shopping centers and am paying dirt-cheap (for the area) rent for my location and square footage.  The only downside is no pets and having to put up with stuff like the situation in my OP.

[Sci-2]

Quote

Sure I live in a group house, but I have the third floor (2 rooms and a bathroom) to myself

And suddenly the sympathy meter for Fez drops, once we realize he was one of the cursed 1%. ;-)

[Raidne]

I really read that smiley as meaning that she was just really happy about calling you a bitch.

To the poster who said DC transportation sucks - WTF?

And of course Fez is the 1%. You don't remember him crying over losing his sailboat?

Edited by Raidne, 15 June 2012 - 01:02 PM.

[Fez]

sciborg2, on 15 June 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

And suddenly the sympathy meter for Fez drops, once we realize he was one of the cursed 1%. ;-)

Well if the 1% lives in a place where the average temperature remains a balmy 87F in the summer no matter how high the AC is blasting (and its not in a tropical paradise), I think the Occupy movement vastly over-reached.  Let's not over sell my place too much.

[Atreides]

Raidne, on 15 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

To the poster who said DC transportation sucks - WTF?

Well, it's not great. It does eventually get you where you want to go, at the price of being over-expensive and prone to facepalmable failures. But I think this is the wrong thread for Metro-bashing, so I'll leave it at that.

[Fez]

Raidne, on 15 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

To the poster who said DC transportation sucks - WTF?

And of course Fez is the 1%. You don't remember him crying over losing his sailboat?

First of all, the Red line does suck. It absolutely sucks beyond belief and is the reason why I will never live in Maryland. Also, its Maryland. But the Red line is a big part of that.

Secondly, I never cried over that sailboat. I was commenting on how the hurricane had wiped out the livelihood for a lot of working class folks.  And anyway, the insurance payout I got for that boat was less than what i'd get if I totaled my car, and that's an 8 year old Corolla that's already been in one accident.  Let's not act like a 30 year old sailboat was the QE2.

My debt to income ratio is 205% right now, its gonna be a while before I even join the ranks of the upper middle class.

[heathergalaxy]

Raidne, on 15 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

To the poster who said DC transportation sucks - WTF?

I didn't say it sucks. I did say it was overpriced and mediocre (except the redline- which does suck. I'm on it and I know). I'm someone who doesn't drive (ever) and have lived in Chicago and NYC so I feel I know what I'm looking for when it comes to good transportation. We're much better than other cities, but it's not the best.

Why?

1. The system doesn't run 24 hours.
2. There are often 10 minute waits during rush hour.
3. The trains are frequently offloaded due to crowding, which of course makes the crowding worse.
4. We have a significant amount of broke down trains with little hope of replacement (we use a much higher percentage of our total fleet at a time than other cities).
5. Our escalators, elevators, and other things don't work very well, if at all.
6. Our system is so shoddy that they're closing entire swaths of lines for weekends at a time.
7. MARC and VRE doesn't run on weekends which would make it so useful to get to Baltimore or Richmond. Amtrak runs on weekends to these places but is so much more expensive.  
8. It's super expensive.
9. Our transit system is one of the many things that representatives from other places like to threaten (y'know like everything DC does). I mean look at the ridiculousness of the silver line. This should be a no-brainer.

Anyway, back on topic. The weather is going to be pretty nice here for the next couple days... good time for this person to leave, right?

Edited by heathergalaxy, 15 June 2012 - 01:28 PM.

[IheartTesla]

I think I may be part of the 1%, judging by the rental arrangements of you poor slobs,

[Raidne]

sciborg2, on 15 June 2012 - 12:07 PM, said:

Whoah. That's expensive. I lived in a two bedroom, with its own washer and dryer, and it was $750/month.

When? 1972?

[WillWork4NinjaPowers]

I more often than not, hate my job.  I deal with t he scummiest of people on a daily basis.  But, I am widowed and have kids to support, including one with Autism, a mortgage and have to pay my way through Grad school soon enough.  If it weren't for my Dad's help, I don't think i would have made it as far as I have.  Even little things like randomly sending an AC guy over to my house, when he lives half the country away, just to make sure that my AC is in working condition for the Summer.  Just in case.  My kids can live at home as long as they want, as long as they are doing something.  If they were sleeping on my couch, eating my food and turning down jobs, I would probably shit in a bag.  I do have a shed though.  They are welcome to live in the shed if they choose to be bums.

[WillWork4NinjaPowers]

Raidne, on 15 June 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

When? 1972?

lmao.  There are plenty of places like that out here as well.  They are older but in decent suburbs.  2 br w/ washer/dryer range from 750-2,500 within a mile.