A Rant About Work and Apartments

[Mad-Mike]

Let's see, through 2006, I've worked for almost every Information Technology company doing installs up here, kept great relations with all of them even up to now, barely even kept afloat at $450 a month on my first and only apartment, thanks to mom I got my rotting wisdom teeth removed to the tune of $1500 during July (though I wrote a great album of musical work under the influence of vicodin and coffee from it, lol). But come this past march I took up working at a big video game company here about 20 miles away from home (=$160 a month in gasoline), and have for the last 6 months on a raised up $515 a month rent, and now they just kicked it up to $600, and I'm starting to think, should I renew, or move closer? Or should I get back to what I originally wanted to do, because I really am starting to miss the smell of fresh new computers and ethernet, and my present job, while joyful, and with the perks of an on-site restaraunt, game store, and arcade, it's only paying $10.00 an hour....roughly $1200 a month, and still below poverty line, hell, I know at least one of my co-workers is homeless.

The thing is, I'm an A+ Certified technician, with roughly 7 years experience under my belt, why the hell am I ripping Wii's apart daily? I should be getting my Network + now, but I can't even afford to do that. I love my present job, but I can't afford housing up here the way rates are rising. I"m looking at a place for around $669 a month closer to work, so that'd make it $40 a month in gas, but both apartments are getting low ratings from whiners on the internet....but then I've never had trouble with my current place, go figure.

But how should I get into the industry with a STEADY job. It seems I've been misguided to think there was actually 9/5 steady work in IT, because all I seem to get are little 1 day-3 week projects for various places all over, sometimes even at payrates that are actually rather nice for what I'm doing (I have no complaint with driving around for $18/hr testing wireless for example).

Or if there is a possibility for future employment full-time, I don't get the job, or they don't hire anyone in the end, or they say I live too far away, or "don't fit in", which is pretty funny since all I ever hear from family, friend's co-workers, and anyone I've worked with from inside and outside the circle is that I'm a rather nice laid-back guy who's easy to deal with.

So I'm not sure....move closer to where I work and enjoy the benefits of working somewhere I enjoy, with the uncertainty that I will get my rent hiked up again as people drive rent prices up in good ole' WA, or stay where I"m at, which I like a lot, and find something that pays more money. Or should I just move somewhere else, or persue other job passions.

I dunno, what I want is to eventually own a house, somewhere in the country, and possibly somewhere cheaper when I get older, and just pay residence taxes and bills if possible, and I've been trying to save money, sometimes even to detriment to my health. So I dunno.

Life's a real bitch, just when I find a comfortable spot.....A-HA, a sink hole, grrr.

[chuckcmagee]

Just about every one of my steady jobs would swear that they "Respect your family time and life". Starting with my first "real" job in 1969, it was ALWAYS overtime, overtime, overtime. I do college awhile, then in '73 back at it (steady job thing). RING RING RING RING !!! Hello, what time is it? Oh, it's about 3:15 am, I have an error code on the computer job you setup. Client will be here at 8:15 am to pick up his work, get your a** down here and get this fixed.

... 30 years pass ....


RING RING RING Hello, this is a computer card with a simulated female voice, you have an error 1032 on the Novell server, click. Hmm, 1032, 1032, ah, room temp is overheating. Drive to work at 3:15am.

Conclusion: wrong career choice there bud. I only had one job where they actually cared if their employees died or not. That guy got bought out 3 years after I started there by a not so nice large company. End of that job.

[atari2600a]

Big N's only paying you $10/hr!? That's Wal-Mart wage!

[JDT]

I know how you feel, I make a "living" doing depot warranty repairs and setting up onsite service across the country.i LIKE fixing computers, its what im good at, its what I enjoy doing. However, (at least in my area) there is like no money in it. I am able to support my wife and kids, but thats it... no money for toys really. I have an associates and I need to get my bachelors in something... I dunno. Nothing else really interests me like fixing stuff.. and thats pretty basic. I took some cisco classes and.. BORING. I love where I work, I love what I do, but I'll never get rich from it. Thankfully my dear wifey will finish RN school soon and we can start looking for a house. We need to escape the ghetto....................................

[Unknown_K]

People are disposable these days. Why hire anybody and have to pay them a decent wage and benefits when they can just outsource the job to whoever is cheaper at the moment and if/when that person screws up you can just blame them for everything. Even if you do find a perm position (yea, like there is such a thing) you will be worked to death anyway or have to go globe trotting AND worked to death.

There is much to be said about liking your job, BUT you have to be able to make a living doing it or you need to find something else to do. If you are sweating the rent going up another $10 a month you are basically living paycheck to paycheck, why is that? Toys are over rated anyway, the best times of my life were with friends doing things that were cheap or free. My computer collection is fun and keeps my brain working, but I have to say that social interaction for me is more fun both short and long term.

[Mad-Mike]

Hmmm, funny part Is I keep hearing the subject of toys coming up, thus far I've kept a pretty tight check on things like that, besides, I have enough anyway. I think on average I've spent around $20 over the last 2 months, I could still afford that according to the calculator, but it's getting in the way of my future plans.

Ya know, that's where the rant here comes in.....IT itself. I remember in the 1990's and early 2000's, I'd see it on TV (thank god I don't have cable anymore), and friends, and everywhere else, that the world needed more computer people, that there are not enough in this country. That's why I set out to make the best of what I had, I wanted to become the best at my past-time so I could turn it into something profitable, and I kind of have.

My skills are ALL in repairing things that are almost obsolete to be repaired, because some twat in a suit decided it was "too much work" to go out there with a screwdriver and fix it. Appliances....heck, a new dryer only costs $550 nowadays, and sometimes even less! So I took up small engines, how many greasy old small engine repair shops do you see left around? Most people throw their lawn mower out in 2-3 years. So then I decided, screw this, I'll get into music.....well, just look at the music scene, so now I've made that another past-time of mine. I'm almost toward looking at auto mechanics and going t get ASE certified, but it looks like that is being dumbed down too....argh. Next thing you know we'll be driving disposable cars and sleeping in disposable tents! Everything in my apartment is at least 10 years old, and everything in my apartment has been tweaked/modified/customized/repaired by me personally. I don't think I own anything worth more than $15, save for the guitars, and even most of those are'nt worth more than $50, that's one way I've saved money over the years (heck, the guitars worth at most $50 were assembled from cheap/free parts from dumpsters and wood sheds). No sense in me spending stupidly as I love my old personalized stuff.

So I dunno, I'm sorta losing focus on what I want to do to make my cash, I like my present job, but I'm worried about going one step back and borrowing from the bank of mom again like I was not so long ago.

I have been doing some reading on it though, it seems the economy in the Seattle area is healthy, but the lack of foresight by developers paired with the booming housing market has caused a spike in rent across the state, and that it goes in cycles, so probably in a nother bunch of years it'll go down again. I guess it's time to try the 2% of each paycheck thing again.

[Yzzerdd]

OK, ran across the thread. Prepare for suggestions. I may be only 15, but I am rather wise and have moved around many states in my life. If you want computer work, DFW is thew way to go. I am constantly getting calls from people needing their 2000-2006 machines repaired. I am just north of Dallas, though. From what I here, there are all sorts of business tycoons with computer problems in Dallas.
Say you want a cheap but good house(needs SOME repair) and a decent job, like say, at a small business, or big corporation. East is the way to go. In West Virginia, my grandma bought a 103 year old house(in great condition, mind you) on a 3 acre lot right in town for $19,000. Her Impala costed about $6,000 more than that. In West Virginia, families have pretty much lived in the same house forever, and seems they don't buy a new house every 10 years, they take care of their houses. My grandmas just needed to be re-painted, and cleaned.
Now if you want real $$$ move south to the gulf coast, about 10 to 15 miles off the coast. I lived right by the coast of Mississippi and knew alot of men down there. They where making a crap-load of money per year, living in great homes because they re-build homes on the coast. Of course, you would need to be able to tell the difference between a hammer and a....ratchet.

--Ryan

[chuckcmagee]

Once upon a time, 2 wealth genies lived in the United States: the Goods genie and the Services genie. The genies were great and the wealth dripped off of them onto the people. The people were happy. Then, one day, Goods says "I am moving to China, cya Services.". This upset the people greatly. But they still had Services. Then, a blackness decended upon the land. Services was moving to India. There was great sorrow in the people. The shoe was on the other foot and the people didn't like it one little bit.

Alas, the genies are heartless and move as they like.

[atari2600a]

Don't forget prison labor.

[CP/M User]

Not that I ever regret taking up an interest in Computers, I simply regret taking up a career in Computers initially. Guess that comes as part of life since people around me said that I'll eventually end using a computer no matter what you end up doing. The news really hit home while unemployed and turning over Turbo Pascal programs - like I keep saying though it's a shame I can't do as much of it now with other interests and can only focus so far with my interests in those other interests anyway. Using computers is just one aspect with those interests, I became quickly bored with repetitive computer work - it was a bad choice in the first instance which only occurred because people didn't consider my programming to be up to notch due to my Handling in Maths - the truth of the matter was I always wanted to be better at Maths!

Anyway I've at least managed to satisfy myself to a degree!