More millennials are moving back home - and it's making everyone depressed:

[Dexter]

You have a strange way of standing up for yourself.

I'm not going to fight the government. They will win. I can at least advocate for it to do things that help people.

[roamer_1]

Helping one another has never been the same as socialism.

Exactly right.

'And if you think they're wild, it's just because they can't be broken - It's a strong and gentle people living there' -John Denver, Wrangle Mountain Song.

[roamer_1]

One day technology is going to all but destroy the need for any human labor. It's very possible that technology will before too long become beyond human comprehension. One day the entire world will be socialist. It'll probably have one government too. I want to delay that for a while because I think it's better for me and mine, but yeah, it's happening.

Sorry.

Nah. It will eat itself. It has to. Your job is to get the hell out of the way, and learn how to make do, no matter what.

[Cyber Liberty]

You mean through things like college admission standards and scholarships for exceptional students?  Yes, let's throw more money into doing something that is already done.

Aight, I'm out, but it's been oodles of fun talking with the National Socialist about what a selfish creep I am for wanting to keep the money I earn.  Heil Dexter!

Me too.  This is starting to have a negative effect on my sunshiny personality.

[roamer_1]

They have forced me to live in the world they created. It's not that easy.

Bullshit. Get on your Keds and walk off. Make your own way. That's how it is done.

Are you married?

[roamer_1]

Me too.  This is starting to have a negative effect on my sunshiny personality.

I seen you're gettin that twitch under your eye...

[Dexter]

Bullshit. Get on your Keds and walk off. Make your own way. That's how it is done.

Are you married?

I have too much invested in society to leave.

[Cyber Liberty]

I seen you're gettin that twitch under your eye...

[Cyber Liberty]

I have too much invested in society to leave.

We all do, @Dexter.   

[Smokin Joe]

Young people often have ridiculous desires, like chasing their passions and dreams. When tiny ones in your life tell you they want to be scientists and astronauts etc do you tell them they should chase their dreams, or that they should be more practical and look for an AC repair or welding job?

What you tell them is that if they want to be a scientist, they'd better work hard on their schoolwork, be best in class at math, and science, and learn how to write well as well--in short push for a minimum GPA of 3.5, especially in their core courses. Tell them to expect to push through their Master's Degree, if they want a decent job, because a bachelor's degree has been devalued by the past couple of generations majoring in what used to be a chapter in an intro course. Tell them to expect to be poor for the duration, to consider it sweat equity, and expect to hold down at least a part time job to pick up expenses, too.

That's no guarantee that they will be successful in science. Even having a passion for their chosen field may not be enough--they have to have ability, too--and there are no guarantees.

As someone who has made a living as a geologist more years than not, it is helpful to know a trade as well. PArt time construction jobs teach skills which can come in handy for a scientist, and a scientist who can drive a semi or is a certified welder will always find work in one field or another.

Or, someone could cut to the chase, learn a trade and become a master at that and pursue science on the side. I knew a master cabinetmaker as an undergrad, who had worked on display cabinets in the Smithsonian, who was an expert in the identification of minerals on sight, who had studied physical crystallography on breaks and at home, and who was published in a scientific journal, quoted by my undergrad advisor in his doctorate dissertation.

There are no limits for those who really want to accomplish something, but they are going to have to bust ass so long that it will become second nature to do so. That will cause problems with those who only want to be mediocre (in college, "busting" the grading curve by actually getting test scores in the high 90s, for instance) because they will make them look bad without even trying. Depending on the work environment, that just might not work, but that means they need to work for a better outfit, not slack off.

[roamer_1]

I have too much invested in society to leave.

Oh baloney!

[Smokin Joe]

No one forced him to buy that expensive of a car to begin with.  He could have paid half what he did for that car and when it was totaled been able to afford another car.  Perhaps he spent more than he should have to begin with.  Shit happens.

Replacing air bags is the expense. I nailed a deer in a one ton van, paid about a grand to replace the grille, the radiator, the air conditioning condenser and a couple of other odds and ends. Not being in a state that requires a safety inspection, I cut the air bags off (they deployed when the deer hit the radiator, mimicking a serious frontal collision--even though I had only slowed about 5 MPH, the sensor was shoved backward from the impact, and the computer read that as a more severe collision) and duct taped over the holes. It would have cost more to replace the air bags than it would have cost to do the rest of the work. Since I'm driving a van, I have little doubt a head on impact would be fatal, with or without air bags, so the simple strategy is to avoid running into anything or letting anything run into me. (Jeez, just like the days before seat belts).

[Smokin Joe]

Obama's "Cash for Clunkers" took a lot of perfectly good used cars off of the market, and forced car prices up.

Even worse, the parts resource those cars would have been in salvage yards was denied those who kept their cars, because the "clunkers" had to be crushed, without anything removed, not even a door handle.

[Smokin Joe]

That was over 9 years ago now.  I'm betting most people don't have those cars they bought back then and the used car market has plenty of re-supply.

Say what? I have six vehicles on the pavement and the youngest is old enough to vote.

[Cyber Liberty]

Even worse, the parts resource those cars would have been in salvage yards was denied those who kept their cars, because the "clunkers" had to be crushed, without anything removed, not even a door handle.

Also the third-party market for spare parts.  Those people got the shaft too.

Interesting side story:  I bought my car in the summer of '09, and the sales guy breathed a huge sigh of relief when I told him, "My old car is not eligible."  People were waiting months for delivery because the government checks would not clear.  It was a nightmare for the Dealers who had to store the new cars.

[RoosGirl]

Replacing air bags is the expense. I nailed a deer in a one ton van, paid about a grand to replace the grille, the radiator, the air conditioning condenser and a couple of other odds and ends. Not being in a state that requires a safety inspection, I cut the air bags off (they deployed when the deer hit the radiator, mimicking a serious frontal collision--even though I had only slowed about 5 MPH, the sensor was shoved backward from the impact, and the computer read that as a more severe collision) and duct taped over the holes. It would have cost more to replace the air bags than it would have cost to do the rest of the work. Since I'm driving a van, I have little doubt a head on impact would be fatal, with or without air bags, so the simple strategy is to avoid running into anything or letting anything run into me. (Jeez, just like the days before seat belts).

I wasn't disagreeing about the expense of the air bags.

[RoosGirl]

Say what? I have six vehicles on the pavement and the youngest is old enough to vote.

Yeah, but the average person keeps a car about 6 years.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yeah, but the average person keeps a car about 6 years.

I've had my Hybrid Escape for over 9 years, and it has 21,000 miles.  The 300V Hybrid battery has me worried...it has a 10-year warranty and when it's out of warranty it would cost $10K+ to replace.  There's nothing wrong with it, and it's wayyy low mileage, but I have to get rid of it quick.  Mrs. Liberty's car is a 2005 Explore, gets better fuel mileage than my car, and has about 40,000 miles.

I'm actually a little old lady, and I live in Pasadena.

[Smokin Joe]

So he takes the $7500 and buys a used car. Sheesh. It’s not rocket surgery.

Edited to add: Your excuses for this guy is why he is the way he is. It’s not his fault. It’s the insurance company’s fault, along with the auto company, as well as all the generations before him that he can’t buy a reliable fricken car and properly insure it based on its value 

Not what I am seeing, here.

What I see here is that a mechanically capable vehicle is being totaled out because a safety device we did pretty well without when I started driving has deployed, and the State of New York has decided that the car isn't safe to drive without the safety device.

That law doesn't make the vehicle any less suitable for operation, except that arbitrary requirement for the device many of us grew up behind the wheel without.
I drove cars (and still own a couple) without seat belts, air bags, crumple zones, telescoping steering columns, 5 MPH bumpers, padded dashboards (just steel), Anti-lock Braking Systems, traction control, all wheel drive, radial tires, electric door locks, neutral safety switches, or any of a host of even more advanced doohickeys that are supposed to make it easier to avoid or survive a wreck. One even has the (optional) electric starter, crank behind the seat in case the 6 volt battery poops out.

What is taken for granted in a modern automobile is amazing to me, and what is considered essential for a vehicle to be driven has increased in amount, scope, and expense, when in actuality, very little of that stuff is essential to getting the vehicle to go down the road and stop when you want it to.
 
The best safety device remains between the driver's ears, and in some cases that is sadly deficient.
What's more, is that the more the vehicle is relied upon to do, the less the driver has to, and the less raw skill behind the wheel the driver develops. Simply put, the safer the vehicle is, the less so the drivers are.

[RoosGirl]

I've had my Hybrid Escape for over 9 years, and it has 21,000 miles.  The 300V Hybrid battery has me worried...it has a 10-year warranty and when it's out of warranty it would cost $10K+ to replace.  There's nothing wrong with it, and it's wayyy low mileage, but I have to get rid of it quick.  Mrs. Liberty's car is a 2005 Explore, gets better fuel mileage than my car, and has about 40,000 miles.

I'm actually a little old lady, and I live in Pasadena.

Yeah, and I still have my 1999 Blazer that has about 250,000 miles.  But we ain't the average bears are we?

[Smokin Joe]

Yeah, but the average person keeps a car about 6 years.

I get that nowadays, what with the plastic degrading from UV exposure, they just don't last like they used to. 

[Cyber Liberty]

@Smokin Joe

Yeah, but where can I get a job?  Lacking that, a Welfare check?  Do they do direct deposit?

[Cyber Liberty]

Yeah, and I still have my 1999 Blazer that has about 250,000 miles.  But we ain't the average bears are we?

Back in the 80's I knew a gal who kept her Mercedes for over 500K miles, and her dad bought it for her new.

We're pikers, sugar.

[Smokin Joe]

I wasn't disagreeing about the expense of the air bags.

It was the expense of replacing the sir bags that caused the vehicle to be totaled out. (That insurance consideration is strictly an economic one--expense to repair vs market value, and not necessarily a question of whether the vehicle is functional otherwise.)  In any state where the air bags have to be functional to pass safety inspection, the result would be the same.

[RoosGirl]

Back in the 80's I knew a gal who kept her Mercedes for over 500K miles, and her dad bought it for her new.

We're pikers, sugar.

Give me 20 more years.  I'll get there!