Update XIX: Melancholy and the Infinite Napping

[Joe Biden 2020]

Here is a good update from the employment world.  While nobody can confirm anything at this point, there is growing speculation that we will have enough work to take us deep into the Spring.  It could still end in March, but everybody is guessing April or maybe even May.  Also, they are still very much intent on putting us all on another contract after this contract ends.  Again, nothing is confirmed nor denied at this point, but it took us 10 weeks to reach our first deadline, much of which was slowed down by holiday vacations.  We still have gobs of deadlines to go through before this contract is in the books.  This news all but closes the book on Tulsa.  Current thinking is that after I turn in the notice to vacate in Tulsa toward the end of March, I will start looking for an apartment in either Yukon or Mustang (western suburbs of OKC in eastern Canadian County) which are within 5-7 miles of work instead of 32 one way.  It would greatly cut down on gas money and wear and tear on the car.  I would just have the furniture moved from the Tulsa apartment to the Oklahoma City Metro apartment.  As far as the gas money goes, as soon as I get this new computer paid off, which should be by August or September, I need to trade in my car for a newer model to get out ahead of the repair bills.  My car still runs great, but I am seeing signs that the repair bills may be right around the corner.  It is a 2006 model with almost 140,000 miles.  Remember it did have a total body makeover last February thanks to a rendezvous with Bambi.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Here is a good update from the employment world.  While nobody can confirm anything at this point, there is growing speculation that we will have enough work to take us deep into the Spring.  It could still end in March, but everybody is guessing April or maybe even May.  Also, they are still very much intent on putting us all on another contract after this contract ends.  Again, nothing is confirmed nor denied at this point, but it took us 10 weeks to reach our first deadline, much of which was slowed down by holiday vacations.  We still have gobs of deadlines to go through before this contract is in the books.  This news all but closes the book on Tulsa.  Current thinking is that after I turn in the notice to vacate in Tulsa toward the end of March, I will start looking for an apartment in either Yukon or Mustang (western suburbs of OKC in eastern Canadian County) which are within 5-7 miles of work instead of 32 one way.  It would greatly cut down on gas money and wear and tear on the car.  I would just have the furniture moved from the Tulsa apartment to the Oklahoma City Metro apartment.  As far as the gas money goes, as soon as I get this new computer paid off, which should be by August or September, I need to trade in my car for a newer model to get out ahead of the repair bills.  My car still runs great, but I am seeing signs that the repair bills may be right around the corner.  It is a 2006 model with almost 140,000 miles.  Remember it did have a total body makeover last February thanks to a rendezvous with Bambi.

You financed a computer?!


And you don't need a new car. You really have no business making any major discretionary purchases until you've got an emergency fund of 3-6 months of wages put away somewhere. You have a Sentra. Like its Civic and Corolla brethren, it was designed to be driven into eternity with relatively few issues. I see plenty of old ones on the road all the time.

I put the computer on my Best Buy Credit Card.  Nothing wrong there.

I know my car better than you do.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Dare I ask how much your computer was?  Did you at least get no interest?

18 months no interest.  I'm not going to say the actual amount.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Dare I ask how much your computer was?  Did you at least get no interest?

18 months no interest.  I'm not going to say the actual amount.

Oh you dont have to tell me, you got the deluxe model with all the bells and whistles because you have to run all dem high powered CADD programs, that you don't use anyway.

It wasn't the top of the line.  I didn't put THAT much on my card.  It should only take me 6-7 months to pay off.

[Joe Biden 2020]

How many computers does Bushie have? I remember his parents bought him a touchscreen desktop when he started CADD school, a laptop just last month, a tablet a while back, and an iphone. Now he has another computer? The desktop I bought at WalMart about 5 years ago for $400 still works great for me. I thought it was getting slow on me, but the problem was Internet Explorer. I use Chrome now and it works great.

Same computer

[Joe Biden 2020]

How many computers does Bushie have? I remember his parents bought him a touchscreen desktop when he started CADD school, a laptop just last month, a tablet a while back, and an iphone. Now he has another computer? The desktop I bought at WalMart about 5 years ago for $400 still works great for me. I thought it was getting slow on me, but the problem was Internet Explorer. I use Chrome now and it works great.

Same computer

I thought the parents gave you a $750 gift card to buy it. Why the need to charge it?

$150 gift card.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm thinking that a Sentra (or its equivalents in other makes) will not offer ODF the level of back support that he now requires. I suspect he (or, rather Papa) will buy something more attuned to the needs of the full figured gentleman. Something opebo would approve of. Perhaps a Buick.

My Sentra is quite comfortable.  I will give it that.  And, any car purchase will be my purchase, not my parents.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm thinking that a Sentra (or its equivalents in other makes) will not offer ODF the level of back support that he now requires. I suspect he (or, rather Papa) will buy something more attuned to the needs of the full figured gentleman. Something opebo would approve of. Perhaps a Buick.

My Sentra is quite comfortable.  I will give it that.  And, any car purchase will be my purchase, not my parents.

They will simply finance all the payments, but it is IN NO WAY their purchase.

No, when I say this will be MY purchase, I mean it will be MY purchase.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm thinking that a Sentra (or its equivalents in other makes) will not offer ODF the level of back support that he now requires. I suspect he (or, rather Papa) will buy something more attuned to the needs of the full figured gentleman. Something opebo would approve of. Perhaps a Buick.

My Sentra is quite comfortable.  I will give it that.  And, any car purchase will be my purchase, not my parents.

They will simply finance all the payments, but it is IN NO WAY their purchase.

No, when I say this will be MY purchase, I mean it will be MY purchase.

NO ONE CAN SAY OTHERWISE.

Especially when it happens.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm thinking that a Sentra (or its equivalents in other makes) will not offer ODF the level of back support that he now requires. I suspect he (or, rather Papa) will buy something more attuned to the needs of the full figured gentleman. Something opebo would approve of. Perhaps a Buick.

My Sentra is quite comfortable.  I will give it that.  And, any car purchase will be my purchase, not my parents.

They will simply finance all the payments, but it is IN NO WAY their purchase.

I'm willing to cut Bushie some slack here. Maybe he is financing all of the payments on the computer himself; it only requires him to offload the rest of his payments onto Papa Bushie.

You forget that I have a steady, stable, and good paying job don't you?  I am quite good at setting a budget and I am quite capable of paying most of my bills, which is what I'm doing right now.  Mom and Dad are helping me out very little at this point.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You have a temp job with no paid time off. That's not a steady employment for a 36 month or long car finance.

^^^^^
If you had a good history of cobbling together short term freelance projects, that would be something. However, you don't. Your life is a shambles. No bank in the world is going to lend you enough money to buy a new car. You're completely delusional if you think otherwise. We all know how this will play out. Papa will cosign. Papa will pay.

I know my finances better than you and I am a darn good judge of my financial situation.  My life could not be better right now.  It is not in shambles like you stupidly proclaim.  I have made several correct decisions in my finances and I will continue to do so.  I am not completely worthless like this forum thinks I am.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Actually let's do the math. Bushie says this job pays $15/hour, but we know he's not working a full week with all the unpaid time off he's taking. But even if it ends up more like $12/hour, that means he's getting about $370/month after taxes on a rough estimate. If the job runs for about 20 weeks, as he's implied, that equals $7400. But of course Bushie has to flush probably about half that money down the drain all for fourth-tier college football games and some church picnic once a month or so.

In my defense we just got through with the holiday season when nobody at my place of work worked a full week.  Now, that the holidays are over, I can work 40 hours a week until my dentist appointment on February 2.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Actually let's do the math. Bushie says this job pays $15/hour, but we know he's not working a full week with all the unpaid time off he's taking. But even if it ends up more like $12/hour, that means he's getting about $370/month after taxes on a rough estimate. If the job runs for about 20 weeks, as he's implied, that equals $7400. But of course Bushie has to flush probably about half that money down the drain all for fourth-tier college football games and some church picnic once a month or so.

In my defense we just got through with the holiday season when nobody at my place of work worked a full week.  Now, that the holidays are over, I can work 40 hours a week until my dentist appointment on February 2.

You're missing the point. You're in a job where you don't choose how many hours you work - your employer arbitrarily shuts down the works for a light drizzle - and you aren't given any paid time off to make up for that. Essentially, your take home pay is at the whim of your supervisor. What would you do if you bought a new car and a couple of months later, the contract is suddenly going to be finished earlier than planned and they don't have any more work for you?

That is definitely something I have to take into account, because it is a real possibility with a contract job, some might say inevitable.  I am very encouraged with what I am hearing on the contract length, but then again, at some point the contract will end whether it is this Spring, this Summer, or next Winter.  I'm not entirely sold on a new car and there are a lot of variables that I have to consider.  You all are raising very valuable points and it would behoove me to take them into consideration.  On another hand, and this is something my pastor brought up Wednesday night after church, if I can hang on to the car I have now and ride it into the sunset, then I could still be on track to get out of debt sometime in late 2017 and be able to move to Kenya sometime in 2018 like I want to.  I cannot move while I still have debt.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You said that if you get another contract in OKC, you'd get an apartment close to work. You don't need a new car in that scenario because you're not going to be driving very much.

If you don't get another contract and go back to Tulsa, you have no business buying a new car until you get a full-time non-contract job.

I don't see any scenario where you both need a new car and can afford a new car.

All indications are that I will be moving to Oklahoma City anyway as this contract should go into April.  Of course, that didn't come from management and they can't say for sure because they really don't know at this point.  You're right, though, if I move to OKC, I'll be driving a lot less and if I go back to Tulsa, then I will still be driving less because it is a smaller metro.  So, coming to the conclusion that I really don't need a new car unless this thing really starts breaking down sooner than I anticipate.

Now, here's another question for everyone.  Even with the possible long-term factor of this contract, it is still a contract.  After I put in a couple more months, should I put in my two weeks notice and look for permanent employment, so I can start saving up in case my hand is forced into a new car?  Mind you, I wouldn't quit without a two weeks notice.

[Joe Biden 2020]

After talking to my mother about a few things, I am not going to give up this job to look for another job.  I've got too good of a job here and I have too good of a boss to let this one go.  I am going to let this job play all the way out.  It will eventually come to an end, but I'm going to let them tell me when the end is.  I'm not going to arbitrarily end it on my own.  I'm getting paid good money and now with the holidays over, I should be able to put in some good 40 hour weeks and assembling a few nice paychecks.  I'm going to put the car on the back burner for now and focus on gaining some good experience and paying down some of the bills I have now.

[Joe Biden 2020]

That was ominous. Sounds like Bushie will be let go sooner rather than later.

No, I assure you, nothing is afoot here.  This job will end at sometime, but it will end when the contract is over.  My boss is pleased with my work.

[Joe Biden 2020]

wait... bushie was (again) considering quitting his job to look for another one?  wtf?

I wasn't seriously considering it.  I was just throwing out the option of looking for a permanent job.  I'm not doing that now unless and until the contract ends.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I think looking for a permanent job is a great idea. Why would you think that you need to quit your contract job in order to do it?

I'm not going to quit my job to look for another one.  The only way I'm leaving this job is when the contract ends or I find a permanent job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

sounds like the job isn't going well. RIP

Then, you must be a very poor listener.  I have said the job is going great.  You cannot say that to mean the opposite.  You have to trust me.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I think looking for a permanent job is a great idea. Why would you think that you need to quit your contract job in order to do it?

I'm not going to quit my job to look for another one.  The only way I'm leaving this job is when the contract ends or I find a permanent job.

Why the f*** would you need to quit your current job to look for another one??  You can look for jobs while you are still employed you know...

Don't you think it would be a good idea to get the search started now, so you aren't unemployed when the contract runs out??

Did you even read my post?  I already answered your question.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I think looking for a permanent job is a great idea. Why would you think that you need to quit your contract job in order to do it?

I'm not going to quit my job to look for another one.  The only way I'm leaving this job is when the contract ends or I find a permanent job.

Why the f*** would you need to quit your current job to look for another one??  You can look for jobs while you are still employed you know...

Don't you think it would be a good idea to get the search started now, so you aren't unemployed when the contract runs out??

Did you even read my post?  I already answered your question.

Yes and your answer makes no sense whatsoever.   You can do both.  It isn't a one or the other option.

Again, did you read ALL of my post?  I clearly said I'm not leaving this job unless this contract ends or I find a permanent job.  This means I know it doesn't have to be one or the other.  Instead, though, words are being put in my mouth which I never said.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Obviously you were considering quitting until mama bushie talked you out of it.

I never seriously considered it.  I just brought it up to her (and to the forum) as a possibility.  It was a possibility I wasn't keen on, but was just trying to find the best path going forward in this contract.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I will probably commence with the job search sometime in February.  We should have enough work to go into at least March, if not April, so I think if I got started in the middle of February, I should have enough time to look comfortably without having to worry about the end of this contract.

[Joe Biden 2020]

It's not like you haven't quit a job to look for another job before.

That is true, and I'm not denying that, but I'm not doing that this time.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Have you considered looking for a new job while working your current one?

I will probably commence with the job search sometime in February.  We should have enough work to go into at least March, if not April, so I think if I got started in the middle of February, I should have enough time to look comfortably without having to worry about the end of this contract.