| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| pcbTIM |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 01:04:17 AM
Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been on recently, but I've been busy. I graduated in May with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Lived in the house near campus until the lease was up at the end of July, and worked on-campus to kill time and make some money. Moved back home with my parents at the beginning of August and basically did nothing for about a month (except apply for engineering jobs and go on interviews). I bought a car (Toyota Corolla), which basically ate up all the money I had been saving for the past 4 years of college. Then my parents said that I had better get off my ass and do something, so I got a temp job at Activision as a game tester. I tested Quake 4 for the Xbox 360 for about 6 weeks, until I got a call from Fluor (worldwide engineering and construction corporation) and told me they wanted to hire me. So I had to move down to Huntington Beach because the job is about 75 miles from my parents house (and that's L.A. miles, mind you). I started on the 24th of October, work 9 hour days, and get every other Friday off. I had to buy a bunch of new clothes because the dress code is business casual and I had nothing even close to that.
So long story short, I bought a car, lots of "nice" clothes, leased a duplex in Huntingtn Beach, and bought a bunch of furniture for the place. In other words, I am in debt and hating every minute of it.
That is all.....return to your lives. |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tericee |
Posted - 11/17/2005 : 12:06:16 PM
I'd add that anybody who has student loans or will have should write their congressional representative and tell them what they should do with that evil piece of legislation! |
| Arthen |
Posted - 11/17/2005 : 11:41:20 AM
That article is very interesting. Looks like if I want to do Grad school I'd better do it soon, before more changest occurr. |
| tericee |
Posted - 11/17/2005 : 07:34:15 AM
Also on the topic of student loans, I read this article today...
The student-loan rip-off is a test of GOP rhetoric
By Dick Morris
Special-interest legislation doesn't get much more obnoxious than the bill now making its way though Congress to clamp down on students and former students who want to refinance their loans at lower interest rates. They are about to be severely punished for seeking not only an education but a debt-free life afterwards.
While homeowners can refinance their mortgages as often as they want and relieve themselves of high-interest debt when rates cycle downward, student and former-student debtors are only permitted to refinance once for the lifetime of the loan! And now the House is considering legislation that would stop students who are in school from keeping their current interest rate of 4.75 percent and would instead force them to pay 7.9 percent, creating a lifetime burden entirely unjustified by the lending market.
Many students are locked into rates that approach 9 or 10 percent, reminders of the grim economic days of the early 1980s, and find themselves with no flexibility. Frequently, students use their once-only refinancing option shortly after graduation and find themselves helpless as the market interest rates drop ever lower.
Home-mortgage refinancing, often similarly guaranteed by Fannie Mae, has become a huge industry and has given many families alternatives to bankruptcy as they face huge debt burdens. But student loan refinancing — beyond the one shot now permitted — is blocked by special-interest regulation and legislation.
The legislative efforts by special interests reflect the power of the once quasi-public body Sallie Mae (Student Loan Marketing Association), which has now cut off all connection with the government and instead become a profit-making company unrelated to the government called the SLM Corp.
With a 25 percent share of the student loan market — more than six times that of its rivals — SLM has cashed in on federal guarantees against defaults on the one hand and blocked student refinancing on the other. As a result, according to columnist Terry Savage, writing for thestreet.com, SLM has made a profit of 1 percent over its loan volume of $100 billion — $1 billion in profit!
Since student loans constitute one-quarter of all outstanding loans, SLM has huge market power that it has not hesitated to translate into political clout through campaign contributions that water and nourish the Republicans who control the legislative process. In all, the SLM PAC contributed almost $140,000 to the members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee to lock in their preferential treatment.
Once SLM abandoned its federal charter and went into business for itself, this public-private hybrid should have lost its quasi-governmental status and been forced to compete in the private marketplace like anyone else. All regulations restricting refinancing or consolidation should be repealed. If there was ever an area in which the Republicans should effectuate their rhetoric and deregulate, this is it.
Student loans are the shackles that most young people take into the rest of their lives after leaving school. Keeping this debt hangover large and rendering it inflexible is about as anti- family a policy as you can get, forcing young people to postpone starting families because of the load of debt with which they begin life burdened. Yet it is the Democrats, led by Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.), who are most vociferous in battling for deregulation.
For President Bush, desperately seeking traction with which to regain his popularity, a crusade on behalf of student debtors, announced in his State of the Union speech, might be just the ticket. He could help himself get out of political red ink by mitigating the financial red ink in which an entire generation finds itself mired.
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| tericee |
Posted - 11/15/2005 : 12:34:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by pcbTIM
my debt is not as bad as I thought.....granted student loans haven't started yet...
That is something I've never had to deal with. Say all the bad things you want about the military, but by going ROTC, I got my college paid for *and* I knew where I was working when I graduated. I owed four years instead of forty thousand dollars. |
| enthuTIMsiast |
Posted - 11/15/2005 : 12:27:24 AM
quote:
Originally posted by tericee
I can't believe all your discussion is making me miss LA! Or maybe it's just that I miss you guys. I have such fond memories of our last TR Task Force gathering.
A Task Force meeting would be great! I need to get back out that way again.... :) You're right, the first time (or at least the time I went) was great, I had a wonderful time.
And Patrick, good to catch up with you. Glad things are going great with the new job and all. I figure you have enough sense that the debt thing won't be a problem for long. Good luck! Don't make me hunt you down for the next update.... |
| pcbTIM |
Posted - 11/14/2005 : 11:51:19 PM
Yeah Kevin.....I take the 405 S until right after it intersects with the 5. I get off at El Toro Rd. And I have seen that off-ramp you're talking about several times.
Teri.....I'm living alone, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because I don't have that much free time when I work. Also, my debt is not as bad as I thought.....granted student loans haven't started yet, but I'm sure I can get back into the black before mid-December when they hit. |
| tericee |
Posted - 11/14/2005 : 05:48:54 AM
I'm glad to hear things are going so well for you Patrick -- except for the debt thing of course! Are you living on your own or with roommates?
I can't believe all your discussion is making me miss LA! Or maybe it's just that I miss you guys. I have such fond memories of our last TR Task Force gathering.
teri :) |
| KevinLesko |
Posted - 11/13/2005 : 10:15:17 PM
quote:
Hey Kevin....the place where I work is located in Aliso Viejo, which I think is the next town south of Irvine. So I probably go past you every day.
Oh wow, do you take the 405 South to get to work? If so then you probably do pass me. Next time you go to work, keep an eye out for the University/Jeffery exit, it's a bit before the Spectrum. I'm litterally about two blocks off the 405 off Jeffery. That's crazy. |
| pcbTIM |
Posted - 11/13/2005 : 01:21:28 AM
Hey Kevin....the place where I work is located in Aliso Viejo, which I think is the next town south of Irvine. So I probably go past you every day. However, I'm trying to get transferred to their Long Beach office because it's closer, the dress code is more lax, and I'd work 10 hours a day and thus get EVERY Friday off. Three-day weekends every week....man that would be awesome. I could do a lot of traveling. |
| Mechman293 |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 5:20:03 PM
I should be able to get my drivers license around Christmas and I could drive down there. |
| enthuTIMsiast |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 08:20:43 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Arthen
quote:
Originally posted by KevinLesko
HB eh? That's like 20 mins away from me. Have you discovered the wonders of Harbor House yet? Think of the good news, next time Tim plays Orange county we are so there!
I may have to drive down and we can have a mini West Coast TR Task Force get together.
Maybe I'll fly out again... :) |
| Arthen |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 03:24:39 AM
quote:
Originally posted by KevinLesko
HB eh? That's like 20 mins away from me. Have you discovered the wonders of Harbor House yet? Think of the good news, next time Tim plays Orange county we are so there!
I may have to drive down and we can have a mini West Coast TR Task Force get together. |
| KevinLesko |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 02:20:34 AM
HB eh? That's like 20 mins away from me. Have you discovered the wonders of Harbor House yet? Think of the good news, next time Tim plays Orange county we are so there! |
| Arthen |
Posted - 11/10/2005 : 01:38:16 AM
Too bad you hate it, but congratulations on getting a job after college, I've heard that's getting harder than ever to find (for certain fields) and I'm looking towards May with great apprehension.
How'd you like Quake 4? |
