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Getbig Bodybuilding Boards => Gym/Stores/Industry Business Board => Topic started by: Tom on May 17, 2009, 05:45:01 PM
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hi! okay, so i'm going thru mid life crisis. soon i will be 45 later this summer and i still don't have what i consider a real career making real good money!
is it too late for me or what?! seriously!
background: i fucked around for alot of years, dropping out of school before going back 13 years later to get a b.a. in communications graduating in 2001! thinking i wanted to be in the film industry as an executive for a studio or production company. was in l.a. for a few years doing the peon jobs as production assistants and office assistants working my ass off 12 hour days dealing with 99 percent assholes and doing things that if i was 18 i would do but once you get to be a grown man ( i swear at my late 30's i must have been the oldest p.a./office asst. ever!) you cannot do! (i.e. picking up dog poop! getting yelled at for copying a script and page 62 is sticking out one millimeter!, etcetera, etcetera!)
left california in late 2003 so sickened and disgusted by that industry i didn't want anything to do with tv,film,radio or anything media related. so i guess my degree in communications was a waste people tell me?
so, back in 2005/2006 thought i should try to get a job in a "real" profession/career that there is a demand for, so i thought physical therapist like perhaps working for a sports team someday. then i found out that you have to go to school for like 6 years and get a doctorate degree to be a physical therapist! at my age 6 years is like 12! also the fact that i have a bachelor's degree already meant that i would have to get school loans and no grants! so were talking 20,000 a year or so for 6 years! no way! i already owe 30,000.00 from my previous school loans! i would be paying of school loans when i'm supposed to be saving up money to retire on! literally!
so then i thought "hmm, maybe i'll just be a physical therapy assistant as my full time job since the training is only 2 years and i wouldn't owe anywhere near the amount of school loans if i became a full fledge therapist and that perhaps for a couple of hours in the evening i could be a personal trainer at my gym and in the long run, working as a physical therapy asst and personal trainer i would make as much money as a therapist in the long run....
so, i started going to school to be a physical therapy assistant, however i soon realized a few things 1) it was harder than i thought it was going to be 2) all my instructors told me that for the first few years at least i would end up working at a nursing home or something like that before i ever got to work (if ever) a sports team and 3) i realized that physical therapy assistants don't make that much money perhaps somewhere in the vicinity of 13.00 to 18.00 bucks an hour! even if you do it for 20,30 years! that sucks! so i dropped out!....
now, i'm working only part time as a manager at a recreational center in the midwest hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up and i hate everyone i work with! and since it's only part time i'm actually living with my brother which while i love him, it sucks that i'm a grown man and living this way. meanwhile, he's 5 years younger than me, has a wife and 2 small kids and a nice house and he went to one, that is 1 semester of junior college and dropped out but years ago, he had a friend who had a friend who got him this job making surgical tools and so he wears a lab coat and has a desk and a microscope and now makes 60,000.00 a year doing that? and i'm the smart and educated one?! go figure!
so now, i'm sitting here thinking : where do i go from here? granted, i look alot younger and act alot younger than almost 45, but i'm still my age you know! and i'm tired of being poor and struggling and now with the economy the way it is nationwide, i'm searching for answers!!!!!!!!!!
part of me is thinking, it's too late for me to have a real successful high paying career because 1) i would have to go to school for something medical or finance like and i really don't care to do anything in those fields and 2) at my age i can't go back to school for 4 to 6 years and 3) i'm getting to that age that people wont' hire me because of my age although that's discrimination it's also reality they want to hire some young 20something guy
ive lately been thinking about what i'm good at and that's writing and talking and since i have a communications degree people tell me i should look into radio like i would be a great radio d.j. or radio talk show host, since i have the voice and personality for it, and since i like to write i could also at the same time perhaps write a column, or do a movie review column for a newspaper or free lance for magazines on topics that i care about those being: entertainment, sports, fitness, travel,etc)
but while i can see myself doing these things, and know i could do them, they don't seem to be in much demand and the competition is tough for these jobs in the first place. also, unlike so an accountant you have to go and live where these jobs are....
i want to move back to california, preferably orange county or north san diego county, and a radio/writing career there seems i don't know...? i mean what if there are no jobs there, then what?
also, anywhere in california is soooo expensive i don't even know if i could afford it working a radio job, writing and perhaps very part time like 10 hours a week some personal training? so unlike like i said if your an accountant those jobs are available everywhere! could not imagine though being an office worker, cubicle, wearing a suit everyday kind of guy, how horrible is that!
totally not my personality! i like my personal freedom and individuality too much to have a normal 9 to 5 job!
so for those of you who have read all of my venting and frustration so far (seriously thanks!) where do i go and what is your advice?
should i give up my dreams and go back to school even if only for 2 years and get some masters degree in a field that there is a demand for and that you make money in? finance, business admininistration, medical. (although i don't really care for any of this?) or ....
should i go for it and have faith in myself and screw my chronical age since i feel and look and act a decade younger and go after what i think i want to do and can do meaning the radio personality gigs, writing and some part time personal training and hope i can make a decent not struggling living in california?
thanks for your time and your serious advice! take care!
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What do you like doing?
Is there a way to make money doing it?
If you’re considering 2 more years of education, find out the probability of a payoff. A masters in COMM may not get you much farther than a BS in COMM.
Healthcare will always be around, and hence there will always be a demand for healthcare workers.
Lots of Allied Health fields have 2-year programs offering certificates or associate degrees. Diagnostic imaging is big in a lot of places, and nursing is often a hotbed.
If looking to move back to CA, consider a certificate in surgical technology. Pay rate might be a bit higher in the cosmetic surgery field – something to look into.
Graduating in 2001, your credits ought to still be transferable, so you’d probably need to take fewer classes to earn an additional degree/certificate, which equates to a lower tuition bill and more time to work and study.
If you have a good voice, then when you go back to CA, look for some auditions for voice work in commercials and film/cartoons. Could be a decent source of (at least) supplemental income. Maybe look for an agent who has some industry contacts and may be able to book you some casting calls.
If you like sports and are the type who’s quick & knowledgeable enough to call a game, talk to some people about entry level play-by-play work. If you’re able to inject some personality and “color” that people like, radio personalities can do quite well for themselves.
You’d probably like some of these industries a lot more being away from the administrative end of things.
Bottom line is that focus is good – you need that – but don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, either.
Always investigate before jumping into anything.
And above all, remain positive AND realistic.
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http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2009/dp/1580089305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242658055&sr=8-1
A good book - helps you to figure out what you want and then gives you some fairly neat & non-mainstream methods of getting there.
The first job I ever got was at 18 - a programmers job. They wanted a graduate. I saw the ad, I knew I couldn't apply through the ad as I didn't have the qualificaitons. I found out the name of the IT manager & wrote to them & explained I was looking to get in to IT and asked if they had any opportunities (which of course, I knew they did). They roped me into the aptitude tests with the graduates & I ended up getting the job, mainly because they thought I'd shown initiative. Well - I had shown initiative, just not the sort they thought I was showing.
Good luck.
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hi! okay, so i'm going thru mid life crisis. soon i will be 45 later this summer and i still don't have what i consider a real career making real good money!
is it too late for me or what?! seriously!
background: i fucked around for alot of years, dropping out of school before going back 13 years later to get a b.a. in communications graduating in 2001! thinking i wanted to be in the film industry as an executive for a studio or production company. was in l.a. for a few years doing the peon jobs as production assistants and office assistants working my ass off 12 hour days dealing with 99 percent assholes and doing things that if i was 18 i would do but once you get to be a grown man ( i swear at my late 30's i must have been the oldest p.a./office asst. ever!) you cannot do! (i.e. picking up dog poop! getting yelled at for copying a script and page 62 is sticking out one millimeter!, etcetera, etcetera!)
left california in late 2003 so sickened and disgusted by that industry i didn't want anything to do with tv,film,radio or anything media related. so i guess my degree in communications was a waste people tell me?
so, back in 2005/2006 thought i should try to get a job in a "real" profession/career that there is a demand for, so i thought physical therapist like perhaps working for a sports team someday. then i found out that you have to go to school for like 6 years and get a doctorate degree to be a physical therapist! at my age 6 years is like 12! also the fact that i have a bachelor's degree already meant that i would have to get school loans and no grants! so were talking 20,000 a year or so for 6 years! no way! i already owe 30,000.00 from my previous school loans! i would be paying of school loans when i'm supposed to be saving up money to retire on! literally!
so then i thought "hmm, maybe i'll just be a physical therapy assistant as my full time job since the training is only 2 years and i wouldn't owe anywhere near the amount of school loans if i became a full fledge therapist and that perhaps for a couple of hours in the evening i could be a personal trainer at my gym and in the long run, working as a physical therapy asst and personal trainer i would make as much money as a therapist in the long run....
so, i started going to school to be a physical therapy assistant, however i soon realized a few things 1) it was harder than i thought it was going to be 2) all my instructors told me that for the first few years at least i would end up working at a nursing home or something like that before i ever got to work (if ever) a sports team and 3) i realized that physical therapy assistants don't make that much money perhaps somewhere in the vicinity of 13.00 to 18.00 bucks an hour! even if you do it for 20,30 years! that sucks! so i dropped out!....
now, i'm working only part time as a manager at a recreational center in the midwest hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up and i hate everyone i work with! and since it's only part time i'm actually living with my brother which while i love him, it sucks that i'm a grown man and living this way. meanwhile, he's 5 years younger than me, has a wife and 2 small kids and a nice house and he went to one, that is 1 semester of junior college and dropped out but years ago, he had a friend who had a friend who got him this job making surgical tools and so he wears a lab coat and has a desk and a microscope and now makes 60,000.00 a year doing that? and i'm the smart and educated one?! go figure!
so now, i'm sitting here thinking : where do i go from here? granted, i look alot younger and act alot younger than almost 45, but i'm still my age you know! and i'm tired of being poor and struggling and now with the economy the way it is nationwide, i'm searching for answers!!!!!!!!!!
part of me is thinking, it's too late for me to have a real successful high paying career because 1) i would have to go to school for something medical or finance like and i really don't care to do anything in those fields and 2) at my age i can't go back to school for 4 to 6 years and 3) i'm getting to that age that people wont' hire me because of my age although that's discrimination it's also reality they want to hire some young 20something guy
ive lately been thinking about what i'm good at and that's writing and talking and since i have a communications degree people tell me i should look into radio like i would be a great radio d.j. or radio talk show host, since i have the voice and personality for it, and since i like to write i could also at the same time perhaps write a column, or do a movie review column for a newspaper or free lance for magazines on topics that i care about those being: entertainment, sports, fitness, travel,etc)
but while i can see myself doing these things, and know i could do them, they don't seem to be in much demand and the competition is tough for these jobs in the first place. also, unlike so an accountant you have to go and live where these jobs are....
i want to move back to california, preferably orange county or north san diego county, and a radio/writing career there seems i don't know...? i mean what if there are no jobs there, then what?
also, anywhere in california is soooo expensive i don't even know if i could afford it working a radio job, writing and perhaps very part time like 10 hours a week some personal training? so unlike like i said if your an accountant those jobs are available everywhere! could not imagine though being an office worker, cubicle, wearing a suit everyday kind of guy, how horrible is that!
totally not my personality! i like my personal freedom and individuality too much to have a normal 9 to 5 job!
so for those of you who have read all of my venting and frustration so far (seriously thanks!) where do i go and what is your advice?
should i give up my dreams and go back to school even if only for 2 years and get some masters degree in a field that there is a demand for and that you make money in? finance, business admininistration, medical. (although i don't really care for any of this?) or ....
should i go for it and have faith in myself and screw my chronical age since i feel and look and act a decade younger and go after what i think i want to do and can do meaning the radio personality gigs, writing and some part time personal training and hope i can make a decent not struggling living in california?
thanks for your time and your serious advice! take care!
Well, I'm 46 but I'd say it's been in the last 2 years things have really taken off. I got into forex (foreign currency trading) ..learned a lot about it. I found an automated trading program, I came up with some strategies. Now I program it..it trades while I sleep.. A lot of mornings I wake up and it's made $10,000.00 while I slept. My story isn't typical, but shows you can find stuff after 40. I will never work for anyone again. Stay positive and don't worry about your age. Nothing wrong with being a late bloomer.
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YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PATHETIC LIFESTYLE! I JUST TURND 41 TODAY, I STILL LIVE AT HOME CAUSE I CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE ON MY OWN IN THE STATE OF NJ, I ONLY MAKE $13.10 AN HOUR, AND I HAVE NO GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, CHILDREN, AND CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I GOT LAID LAST! SOMEBODY JUST PUMP A FEW ROUNDS OF BULLETS INTO MT CHEST CAVITY AND GET IT OVER WITH! :'(
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YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PATHETIC LIFESTYLE! I JUST TURND 41 TODAY, I STILL LIVE AT HOME CAUSE I CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE ON MY OWN IN THE STATE OF NJ, I ONLY MAKE $13.10 AN HOUR, AND I HAVE NO GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, CHILDREN, AND CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I GOT LAID LAST! SOMEBODY JUST PUMP A FEW ROUNDS OF BULLETS INTO MT CHEST CAVITY AND GET IT OVER WITH! :'(
King....you still have that Muscle-Tech contract right? Oh wait..... :-\
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Hey man,
A good suggestion is water treatment. 1 easy year in school will get you a job as a water treatment operator. They are in demand and starting pay is real good ~50k. I've been doing it for 2 years and made 61k last year. It's relaxing working with water too.
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Hey man,
A good suggestion is water treatment. 1 easy year in school will get you a job as a water treatment operator. They are in demand and starting pay is real good ~50k. I've been doing it for 2 years and made 61k last year. It's relaxing working with water too.
The sound of water is almost hypnotic to me - I’d probably fall asleep my first shift. :)
That sounds like a cool job, though.
What kinds of places offer the training? Is it through a trade school or an apprenticeship program?
Do you work for the DOE or the water company?
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The sound of water is almost hypnotic to me - I’d probably fall asleep my first shift. :)
That sounds like a cool job, though.
What kinds of places offer the training? Is it through a trade school or an apprenticeship program?
Do you work for the DOE or the water company?
Many small local colleges offer 1 year courses in water treatment. We currently have 2 summer students both in their 40's who have changed careers. I work for a municipality that serves about 1 million people. The good thing about water treatment is that its the same no matter what country you go. I'm thinking about doing a one year exchange with a guy from a treatment plant in Australia if my boss OK's it. It's very easy work too so you can do it into you late 60s if you don't have sufficient pension saved. The guy I started with was in his 50s and didn't have a penny saved for his pension but now has no worries.
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Hey man,
A good suggestion is water treatment. 1 easy year in school will get you a job as a water treatment operator. They are in demand and starting pay is real good ~50k. I've been doing it for 2 years and made 61k last year. It's relaxing working with water too.
i'd either fall asleep to the sound, or have to pee constantly lol
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You have a degree right? get your teaching certificate and teach, you can have a job in any state you want. granted the pay isnt that great but its good enough and you'll have more freedom. also being that youre a "young" 45, you'll interact with your students a lot better than most teachers..
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one word...4 letters...porn
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one word...4 letters...porn
ahh, porn no medical benefits? Still, basically having a career anymore is up in the air...Either the companies will force you to retire or they will fire you. Most young people in the companies want to see upward mobility by a yr, if not they'll leave. Or should I say when the economy was good...Basically I have a job, but at my salary I cannot get my DAMN BMW M3 >:(
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ahh, porn no medical benefits? Still, basically having a career anymore is up in the air...Either the companies will force you to retire or they will fire you. Most young people in the companies want to see upward mobility by a yr, if not they'll leave. Or should I say when the economy was good...Basically I have a job, but at my salary I cannot get my DAMN BMW M3 >:(
well you do porn too...porn is the answer...thats what im gettin at bro..stay strong
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Hey man,
A good suggestion is water treatment. 1 easy year in school will get you a job as a water treatment operator. They are in demand and starting pay is real good ~50k. I've been doing it for 2 years and made 61k last year. It's relaxing working with water too.
agreed. I am on the wastewater side of things, but in two years I was able to save for a downpayment and bought a house. its a pretty well paying job, and it will never ever go away. 40h per week is standard, most jobs will have good benefits too, and some (like myself) are unionized. I work for municipal government..
where there are people, they will always need clean water and treated wastewater.
its fairly recession proof..
its a good career IMO.
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YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PATHETIC LIFESTYLE! I JUST TURND 41 TODAY, I STILL LIVE AT HOME CAUSE I CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE ON MY OWN IN THE STATE OF NJ, I ONLY MAKE $13.10 AN HOUR, AND I HAVE NO GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, CHILDREN, AND CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I GOT LAID LAST! SOMEBODY JUST PUMP A FEW ROUNDS OF BULLETS INTO MT CHEST CAVITY AND GET IT OVER WITH! :'(
Holy shit! :o
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Hey man,
A good suggestion is water treatment. 1 easy year in school will get you a job as a water treatment operator. They are in demand and starting pay is real good ~50k. I've been doing it for 2 years and made 61k last year. It's relaxing working with water too.
;D That was good.
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I was an electrical engineering major in school. I played at the university radio station. In doing so, made some contacts who later went on into local broadcasting. Its very much harder now, most university radio stations are now professionally run.
I was laid off from a 24 year job with a broadcasting company in September, and even with being in broadcasting all that time, not one station even acknowledged my resume. You will almost certainly have to search outside of your hometown. But then, I didn't want to relocate because of my mother. Pay scales outside of the top ten markets are discouragingly low.
Over the air broadcasting is going to be going through some turbulence in the near future. This is mostly due to a new ratings technology called "personal people meters", which hasn't got the personal biases that was inherent with the old diary method of ratings. This technology is revealing that the audience for over the air broadcasting is lower than was thought previously. So if the audiences are smaller, the advertising revenue is correspondingly smaller, with less money for staff.
Try the websites called 'tvjobs.com',and 'tab.org'. Most TV and radio stations also have job listings as part of their websites.
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Sorry to hear it, Tom. I think that all you can ever do is figure out what you like to do, or are remotely interested in, and dive into some aspect of that. There is no quick solution but a couple fields that can pay out are law enforcement and medical. Either of these can be broken into relatively quickly too. I would look into state trooper, local PD, and even homeland security. The CIA is actually advertising positions on the radio and I know two people who walked right in (one a cop and the other with a BA degree). These are jobs that will always be needed. Also, working in anything pertaining to medicine would be a very smart move. Great benefits, pay, and flexible schedules if you choose right.
All the best.
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Most law enforcement won't take recruits over 36 years old...
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porn
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Well, I'm 46 but I'd say it's been in the last 2 years things have really taken off. I got into forex (foreign currency trading) ..learned a lot about it. I found an automated trading program, I came up with some strategies. Now I program it..it trades while I sleep.. A lot of mornings I wake up and it's made $10,000.00 while I slept. My story isn't typical, but shows you can find stuff after 40. I will never work for anyone again. Stay positive and don't worry about your age. Nothing wrong with being a late bloomer.
Can you give me any helpful hints on the forex? Who do you trade with?
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Dude, I feel for you, I really do. I'll be 40 next year. I have a well paying job, wife and kids. I'm blessed. But I view my job as just that, a job. Not a career. I could see myself somewhere else in two years ... just like every other job I've ever held.
Only you can figure out what's next.
I don't want to be rude, but I'm going to give it to you straight. Writing isn't your strong suit, at least proper capitalization. So, it's safe to say, you can scratch that off your list.
Good luck.
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has anyone mentioned porn yet?
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Someone just brought this thread to my attention and asked me to comment.
Tom:
I hate to tell you what you already know but… yes, it is too late to have a “real successful high paying career.” At 45 you should not be taking out student loans. In fact, you should already have anywhere between $100K and $500K in one or more retirement accounts (401K, 403b, Roth IRA, etc.) and that amount should be increasing rapidly as you get older. In reading your post above, a couple things really stand out.
1) You appear to jump in and out of occupations without any real commitment to them or a real understanding of what the work entails. That is no way to build a career.
2) You also appear preoccupied with the fact that you are pushing 45 but “act alot younger.” Has it occurred to you that this may be your problem? Stop acting “younger” and start acting like an adult. Young people “fuck around for alot of years” adults have a future orientation and make sacrifices that pay off in the long run.
The realist in me says, you have made your bed, now lie in it; the optimist in me says all is not lost. It is still possible to secure your future.
-- as someone suggested, with your degree you could become certified to teach in a local school district. No one gets rich being a teacher, but I think most people would agree that teaching is a more respectable profession than “working only part time as a manager at a recreational center.” Good school districts require all teachers to eventually get a master’s degree at some point in their career. But the district may have many options surrounding this requirement including helping you pay for the degree.
-- assuming you are very attractive with a killer bod (presumably you have been building your body all these years) you could pair up with a successful companion and build a life with that person. Sure, you would be the junior partner/trophy in the relationship, but would that really be a worse fate than the life you are living right now?
-- you could write your way out! You claim to be a good communicator and writer (though your post above calls that into question). :-\ Writing is something you can do right now—today—with no additional training or cost. Just one good novel could put you on the map and secure your future. Dan Brown literally became a billionaire with The Da Vinci Code. J. K. Rowling did the same thing with her Harry Potter books. Their billion dollar pay days do not even include income from the film rights to their books. But know that writing (especially a novel) requires more than imagination. You must be able to focus on the writing project over many months or even years! Can you do that? Even then your novel must be good!
As you noted above, California is expensive! Unless you have a suitcase full of money, moving back here in your present state would be utter folly. You appear to disdain the idea of being an office worker, sitting in a cubicle, and wearing a suit every day. Would doing that (and building a future) really be more “horrible” than the future you are facing right now? What will you do when your brother eventually puts you out? No matter how much he loves you, you can bet he doesn’t want you living with him in perpetuity...
It sounds like you want a 9-5, suit wearing income without doing what it takes to earn that income. As I said previously, it is time to stop acting a lot younger and start acting like an adult. ::)
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Someone just brought this thread to my attention and asked me to comment.
Tom:
I hate to tell you what you already know but… yes, it is too late to have a “real successful high paying career.” At 45 you should not be taking out student loans. In fact, you should already have anywhere between $100K and $500K in one or more retirement accounts (401K, 403b, Roth IRA, etc.) and that amount should be increasing rapidly as you get older. In reading your post above, a couple things really stand out.
1) You appear to jump in and out of occupations without any real commitment to them or a real understanding of what the work entails. That is no way to build a career.
2) You also appear preoccupied with the fact that you are pushing 45 but “act alot younger.” Has it occurred to you that this may be your problem? Stop acting “younger” and start acting like an adult. Young people “fuck around for alot of years” adults have a future orientation and make sacrifices that pay off in the long run.
The realist in me says, you have made your bed, now lie in it; the optimist in me says all is not lost. It is still possible to secure your future.
-- as someone suggested, with your degree you could become certified to teach in a local school district. No one gets rich being a teacher, but I think most people would agree that teaching is a more respectable profession than “working only part time as a manager at a recreational center.” Good school districts require all teachers to eventually get a master’s degree at some point in their career. But the district may many options surrounding this requirement including helping you pay for the degree.
-- assuming you are very attractive with a killer bod (presumably you have been building your body all these years) you could pair up with a successful companion and build a life with that person. Sure, you would be the junior partner/trophy in the relationship, but would that really be a worse fate that the life you are living right now?
-- you could write your way out! You claim to be a good communicator and writer (though your post above calls that into question). :-[ Writing is something you can do right now—today—with no additional training or cost. Just one good novel could put you on the map and secure your future. Dan Brown literally became a billionaire with The Da Vinci Code. J. K. Rowling did the same thing with her Harry Potter books. Their billion dollar pay days do not even include income from the film rights to their books. But know that writing (especially a novel) requires more than imagination. You must be able to focus on the writing project over many months or even years! Can you do that? Even then your novel must be good!
As you noted above, California is expensive! Unless you have a suitcase full of money, moving back here in your present state would be utter folly. You appear to disdain the idea of being an office worker, sitting in a cubicle, and wearing a suit every day. Would doing that (and building a future) really be more “horrible” than the future you are facing right now? What will you do when your brother eventually puts you out? No matter how much he loves you, you can bet he doesn’t want you living with him in perpetuity...
It sounds like you want a 9-5, suit wearing income without doing what it takes to earn that income. As I said previously, it is time to stop acting a lot younger and start acting like an adult. :-\
Good post, Bay.
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Bay nails it. The best advice you're gonna get on this one.
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Hint: You are in this situation because of your own personality attributes.
You should spend some time figuring out yourself, finding out what you want and perhaps talk to a professional that can help you gain a better perspective and help you work through some of the things in your head that has gotten you into this shit in the first place.
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Hint: You are in this situation because of your own personality attributes.
You should spend some time figuring out yourself, finding out what you want and perhaps talk to a professional that can help you gain a better perspective and help you work through some of the things in your head that has gotten you into this shit in the first place.
Then build a time machine... go back into the past... and make better choices. Bah ha ha ha ha ha Doom is amused by your buffoonery.
Seriously, you are 45 years old, have no savings or retirement to speak of, you have $30K in student loans, live with your younger brother, and work part time at a rec center. Bah! There is a word for “men” like you: L _ _ _ _.
Doom disapproves.
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My "advices"...
Option 1:
Got any money? Do they have a "lottery" where you live? If so, play it.
Option 2:
Find a lady a bit older than you and rich, and pull a an "Anna Nicole".
Option 3:
Buy a gun. Buy one bullet. Load gun....put gun to head, pull trigger. :-\
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My "advices"...
Option 1:
Got any money? Do they have a "lottery" where you live? If so, play it.
Option 2:
Find a lady a bit older than you and rich, and pull a an "Anna Nicole".
Option 3:
Buy a gun. Buy one bullet. Load gun....put gun to head, pull trigger. :-\
really ...you=dickhead
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It sounds like you want a 9-5, suit wearing income without doing what it takes to earn that income. As I said previously, it is time to stop acting a lot younger and start acting like an adult. ::)
Brutal honesty good advice Bay Man!
To the youngins (18-40) start early preparing for your financial future, don't leave anything to chance. You may have to go without in order to save for the future. If you are an average Joe like me it is imperative that you look toward the future, i.e. wills, savings vacationing etc., and for many of life's obstacles. Youth will not last so don't live in the moment, plan ahead not just to get some head.
Fortunately I lucked out and married someone who can support us (and vice versa) if the need arises.
Plan ahead and plan ahead again.
HM (old dog same tricks)
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Then build a time machine... go back into the past... and make better choices. Bah ha ha ha ha ha Doom is amused by your buffoonery.
Seriously, you are 45 years old, have no savings or retirement to speak of, you have $30K in student loans, live with your younger brother, and work part time at a rec center. Bah! There is a word for “men” like you: L _ _ _ _.
Doom disapproves.
Moron.
If he does not fix the source of the problem now, he won't be going far, and the problem persists.
Regardless of ones age, one fixes the problems by attacking the fundamental shit leading to them.
He is 45, he still has at least 20 good years left in him. Spending time working out his personal issues (the fundamental factor) while solving the practical problems simultaneously = the best route.
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Debussey, you and VonDoom are both correct. Notice that on the heels of what you suggest, Doom said “then build a time machine…” Obviously, going back in time without addressing his issues would not lead Tom to a different outcome. In any case, short of winning the lottery our friend’s future does not look too good.
I know a school teacher that makes $80k. He is 43, teaches junior high school, and is very happy with his career, retirement portfolio, etc. But becoming a successful teacher requires a degree of professional discipline, and Tom shows little evidence of that.
It is not clear why any successful person would choose Tom as a partner given his history of decision-making. Someone looking for a trophy can easily find someone a lot younger and probably in better shape.
Finally, if his post above is any indication Tom undertaking a writing career is a nonstarter. I think everyone here can see that.
I don't want to be rude, but I'm going to give it to you straight. Writing isn't your strong suit, at least proper capitalization. So, it's safe to say, you can scratch that off your list.
Good luck.
:'(
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Debussey, you and VonDoom are both correct. Notice that on the heels of what you suggest, Doom said “then build a time machine…” Obviously, going back in time without addressing his issues would not lead Tom to a different outcome. In any case, short of winning the lottery our friend’s future does not look too good.
I know a school teacher that makes $80k. He is 43, teaches junior high school, and is very happy with his career, retirement portfolio, etc. But becoming a successful teacher requires a degree of professional discipline, and Tom shows little evidence of that.
It is not clear why any successful person would choose Tom as a partner given his history of decision-making. Someone looking for a trophy can easily find someone a lot younger and probably in better shape.
Finally, if his post above is any indication Tom undertaking a writing career is a nonstarter. I think everyone here can see that.
:'(
GOD DAMN...yall mean as shit..what if he took up acting. Maybe he is a natural. Mature Porn, Invent something, Maybe he can get into fitness and train..i dont know..Im just saying, he dont need to give up on life at 45...
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GOD DAMN...yall mean as shit..what if he took up acting. Maybe he is a natural. Mature Porn, Invent something, Maybe he can get into fitness and train..i dont know..Im just saying, he dont need to give up on life at 45...
I’m not saying he needs to give up, but he does need to grow up!
Actor, voice-over work, water treatment operator, teacher, inventor, CIA, etc. we can throw out suggestions until we are blue in the face, but if he doesn’t grow up and start making adult decisions he will fail in any of those undertakings. By his own admission he “fucked around for alot of years.” Remember Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper? Tom is a grasshopper... and winter is coming! :-\
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I’m not saying he needs to give up, but he does need to grow up!
Actor, voice-over work, water treatment operator, teacher, inventor, CIA, etc. we can throw out suggestions until we are blue in the face, but if he doesn’t grow up and starting making adult decisions he will fail in any of those undertakings. By his own admission he “fucked around for alot of years.” Remember Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper? Tom is a grasshopper... and winter is coming! :-\
I gotcha..
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Debussey, you and VonDoom are both correct. Notice that on the heels of what you suggest, Doom said “then build a time machine…” Obviously, going back in time without addressing his issues would not lead Tom to a different outcome. In any case, short of winning the lottery our friend’s future does not look too good.
I know a school teacher that makes $80k. He is 43, teaches junior high school, and is very happy with his career, retirement portfolio, etc. But becoming a successful teacher requires a degree of professional discipline, and Tom shows little evidence of that.
It is not clear why any successful person would choose Tom as a partner given his history of decision-making. Someone looking for a trophy can easily find someone a lot younger and probably in better shape.
Finally, if his post above is any indication Tom undertaking a writing career is a nonstarter. I think everyone here can see that.
:'(
Some good points there.
Let's not forget that getting really really good in a field (which usually influences your bottom line) takes many years. This dude can't expect getting really good in a field unless he puts in 7-10+ years of really good effort, and given his questionable work ethic/decision making skills (as you pointed out) it's hard to see him really getting there unless he achieves some major changes in his personality.
:-\
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Some good points there.
Let's not forget that getting really really good in a field (which usually influences your bottom line) takes many years. This dude can't expect getting really good in a field unless he puts in 7-10+ years of really good effort, and given his questionable work ethic/decision making skills (as you pointed out) it's hard to see him really getting there unless he achieves some major changes in his personality.
:-\
Exactly!
Everyone feels entitled now... They all want to start out making 75k a year... That's bullshit.
You work your way up to that salary... You don't just graduate and get it.
Todays kids are ridiculous.
So are some of today's adults. :-[
I dont really know what to do with my life. I love to argue, and if I could make up my mind and set a goal I would reach it.
Here we go again... ::)
RPF... meet Tom.
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really ...you=dickhead
;D
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hi guys, well, here's my story: i just turned 44, (wow!) although i look and feel a decade younger. just started working out again ( going on 3 weeks) after many years of not working out, although thru my jobs have been "active".
i'm 5 feet 10 inches and weigh 225 pounds, just did a bodyfat test where i for me i thought was shockingly high bodyfat ratio: 23 percent!
the guy told me 10-15 is lean, 15-20 is average and 25 or more is obese.
There you go again! Stop trying to kid us (and yourself) that you are a younger than you really are. Low self esteem and insecurity about your age is nothing to brag about.
Forget what I said about having a killer bod and becoming a trophy wife/boy. Sounds like you can scratch that off your list as well. :-[
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Maybe there is hope for you yet. :)
Surprising Jobs that Pay $25 an Hour
Career websites typically compile a listing of jobs that pay $25 an hour. The list of professions -- and the career training you need to pass the muster of recruiters -- can be daunting. But you don't necessarily need a post-graduate degree to qualify for a job that pays several hundred dollars a day...
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-surprising_jobs_that_pay_25_an_hour-983
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I wish I’d known earlier in life that advanced degrees are not the only pre-requisite for earning a good living.
The above are all certainly good recommendations if you can find availability in your region.
One other I read about a few years ago is “crime scene clean-up.”
Particularly in higher crime areas where the demand is greater, personnel in this field can earn over $60,000 annually.
Job details include safe & sanitary removal of biological remains, meth labs, etc.
No formal training is required in most cases, although having a strong stomach is preferred.
And it doesn’t hurt to have a background in fire and/or HAZ-MAT – particularly when dealing with drug labs.
Some cities, though, rely on their own fire dept. or hazmat teams for this type of work.
One trick might be finding a privately owned & operated company that does this type of work.
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In many cases these “alternative” career options are not as appealing as they seem. Many of these careers do require training of some sort and the people who are looking for high paying alternative careers tend to hate the need for additional training—of any kind. They also often find that the requisite training is “harder than I thought it was going to be.”
Many of these alternative jobs are not as portable as one may like. Once you have the job, you are pretty much stuck; you can’t easily pick up and move to a new state to, for example, escape cold weather, be closer to relatives, or otherwise live the glamorous life in San Diego. And you often hit a professional ceiling rather quickly and realize there is no where else to go.
Finally, many of these jobs pay relatively well, because they are jobs that no one really wants to do. Yahoo managed to put together some attractive job titles (Paralegal, Police Officer, Interior Designer), but I think they are sugar coating the reality. Does anyone really aspire to be a Respiratory Therapist? In some markets garbage men make good money, but is riding on the back of a garbage truck how you want to spend the next 20 years? Given all you now know, would you steer your child into one of these professions or would you encourage him or her to increase their professional options by getting a degree and relevant experience?
We would all like to “fuck around for a lot of years” and then waltz right into a job as a studio executive in the film industry, unfortunately, that’s not the way the real world works.
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Does anyone really aspire to be a Respiratory Therapist? In some markets garbage men make good money, but is riding on the back of a garbage truck how you want to spend the next 20 years?
A lot of that depends on the individual and what he or she aspires to. Some people view their job as a means to an end rather than their life’s meaning.
My cousin is a respiratory therapist. She’s very passionate about her career, has her own business, and makes a decent living.
But I also know several people who are involved in other jobs in the medical field such as x-ray techs, who simply do the work because it’s relatively easy and pays well, thus providing them a decent life.
If the work is tolerable and affords you a satisfactory lifestyle, that may be enough.
Some people want a fulfilling job.
Others want a fulfilling paycheck.
The most fortunate are the ones who make a damn good living doing what they love.
The least fortunate have a miserable, shit job that pays a shit wage.
Everyone else falls somewhere in between.
Our friend Tom needs to find the best combination of the above for himself.
I wonder how he’s doing.
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American capitalism fucked up the entire world economy... Big corporations have it all, the individual is nothing but a cannon ball...
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The dude hasn't posted since his original post. Maybe he got a job.
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The dude hasn't posted since his original post. Maybe he got a job.
He has a job; he does not "have a real career." He still posts here . . . as recently as September 28.
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=299907.msg4287234#msg4287234
I’m sure if he went from “part time as a manager at a recreational center in the Midwest” to a satisfying, well paying career he would come back to tell us about it.
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Or he landed that CEO position & has forgotten about us "little" Getbig folk who guided him to greatness...
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Or he landed that CEO position & has forgotten about us "little" Getbig folk who guided him to greatness...
CEO is aiming a bit high. He merely "wanted to be in the film industry as an executive for a studio or production company." ::)
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Aw, Bay...be nice. :)
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You would be astonished at how little most people who work in film, radio, televison are paid. People who are what are called "above the line" make more than average because their pay is figured on the gross income of the business entity that they work for. Most workers in these fields are not "above the line."
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CEO is aiming a bit high. He merely "wanted to be in the film industry as an executive for a studio or production company." ::)
He's a modest man.
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Aw, Bay...be nice. :)
Have you ever known me to be mean spirited? ???
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Have you ever known me to be mean spirited? ???
HAHAHAHA! No, but you are so blunt (direct and honest though) at times that it can 'feel' borderline cruel. I know that you don't intend it that way at all. The CEO thing was sort of like salt in that poor guy's wound. :)
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I don't how anyone can work for someone else or a company where there are rules you HAVE to follow. I could never have a job where I have to be there at a certain time. The last time I punched a time clock was 1985. I worked at Chevron Refinery in El Segundo and bringing home $400 to $600 a week that we needed to help make sure we had everything for our new daughter. When I started doing commercials and stuff if I had to wake up at 4am I had no problem with it. I was so excited I could barely sleep anyway. In fact I would leave early and sleep in my car in the parking lot of where I had to be sometimes. I have worked many many jobs but just did not like the rules. Even when I owned the Gold's in Kona I had rules but they could be modified when I thought right. I love the way I make my money now and do it at my own pace and pays me very very well.
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I love the way I make my money now and do it at my own pace and pays me very very well.
I'm not sure if you've mentioned it in the thread already, but what do you do?
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I'm not sure if you've mentioned it in the thread already, but what do you do?
He owns a lot of stock in Caliber Fitness.
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He owns a lot of stock in Caliber Fitness.
:)
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I believe this is the kind of job the OP wanted. Notice they are in the same age range. I can't help but wonder what kind of coin Ross will be pulling in his new gig! 8)
In any case, it looks like he is living Tom's dream.
Rich Ross named chairman of Walt Disney Studios
Rich Ross, the television executive who helped revive the moribund Disney Channel, now has to prove he can work movie magic at Walt Disney Studios.
The 47-year-old former talent department head has been tapped by Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger to fill the post formerly held by Dick Cook, who was ousted last month after clashing with his boss and failing to deliver enough hits over the last year.
Iger will look to Ross to reinvigorate Disney’s flagging box-office fortunes and develop film franchises that can be sold across the entertainment giant’s lines of businesses — including theme parks, consumer products and television — as well as grapple with a host of technological issues that are quickly reshaping Hollywood.
“Rich has an outstanding record of creating high-quality family entertainment that delights audiences around the world,” Iger said in a prepared statement. “With his success in building the Disney brand across many of our businesses, his astute marketing sensibility, his proven ability in working effectively with talent and his skill at navigating complex global markets, I’m confident he’s the perfect leader for our studio group.”
By picking an executive from outside the clubby precincts of the movie business, Iger is signaling that he wants Ross to shake up a studio that the Disney chief views as entrenched in the past, from relying on high-priced, aging stars to open films to spending extravagantly on movie marketing.
To achieve this, Ross may be borrowing liberally from the playbook he followed to turn around Disney Channel, which has eclipsed the movie studio in recent years as a hothouse for talent and ideas that could be packaged and resold across the company’s various platforms. Ross has proved himself adept at turning entertainment into brands -- high profile examples include "Hannah Montana," which launched pop star Miley Cyrus' career, and "High School Musical,' which was created for television but quickly found life — and revenue — in recorded music, a big-screen blockbuster and a stage show.
Indeed, at a company that stresses team playing among its executives, Ross may be the ultimate team player.
“I am very excited to play a key role in continuing the storytelling legacy of The Walt Disney Studios. There has never been a better time to entertain our global audiences with high-quality and compelling content and introduce new characters that will become family favorites. I look forward to working with Bob, the team at the studios and all of our Disney family towards that goal,” said Ross.
Since his arrival at Disney Channel in 1996, Ross worked closely with other divisions of the Burbank-based company. For example, when the channel cast Cyrus as Hannah Montana in 2005, Ross ordered an internal “road show” to introduce the new program to other parts of Disney. Within six months of the show’s premiere, the consumer products group was shipping Hannah Montana clothing to stores — shaving a year off the time required for new TV-linked merchandise to reach retail outlets.
Such cross-division collaboration is a priority for Iger, and something he felt was lacking at the movie studio. Moreover, Disney Channel, under Ross' lead, has become a model for Iger’s oft-touted franchise strategy, in which entertainment properties can feed other parts of the Disney empire.
A prime example is 2006's “High School Musical” — a chaste tale of improbable high school romance between a brain and a jock. Ross revved up the Disney marketing machine, leading to the release of a soundtrack that was a top-selling CD, a sold-out 42-date concert tour in North and South America, a show at Disney’s theme parks and a slew of merchandise.
The 2007 sequel, “High School Musical 2,” became the highest-rated telecast in cable history at the time, and the third installment in 2008, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” raked in more than $250 million in worldwide box-office sales. Merchandise based on "High School Musical" and other Disney Channel movies and TV series accounted for $3.6 billion in retail sales worldwide last year -- not including DVDs and CDs.
But despite his success in television, Ross has virtually no experience in feature films — a more protracted process and one encumbered by big egos, longtime habits and much higher-cost structures. He must quickly reach out and calm anxieties among Disney’s movie talent, including director Steven Spielberg, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Scott Rudin, and stars like Johnny Depp — all of whom were close to Cook and distraught over Iger pushing him out.
High on Ross’ list doubtless will be figuring out how to integrate the latest planned addition to Disney’s family, Marvel Entertainment, whose library of super-hero characters the studio will seek to exploit. Disney has lagged behind rival studios that have successively produced film adaptations of Marvel properties such as X-Men and Spider-Man.
Another priority for the incoming studio chief will be forging ties with Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios, which recently signed a multiyear distribution deal with Disney and expects to supply the studio with four to six movies a year.
But Ross’ greatest challenge will be to address Disney’s creative dearth. Although Disney isn’t the only studio to have suffered a bad year at the box office, the division lost $12 million in its most recent quarter — its first loss in four years. A number of its recent movies, including the Adam Sandler family comedy “Bedtime Stories,” the costly 3-D guinea pig saga “G-Force,” and the latest installment in the 1970s "Witch Mountain" sci-fi adventure franchise, “Race to Witch Mountain,” failed to attract wide audiences.
And like all studio heads, Ross will find himself grappling with a number of sea changes in the business caused by a slump in DVD sales — the most lucrative part of a film’s revenue stream — and technological shifts that have changed how, when and where people watch movies.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/10/rich-ross-named-chairman-of-walt-disney-studios.html
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Yahoo calls it one of the Best Jobs in America! Tom had the right idea... just not the qualifications. :-\
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107932/best-jobs-in-america.html;_ylt=AisHfv0LCOmYHhhe1up9bfoz0tIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBuZmhqcDBvBHBvcwM4BHNlYwNhcnRpY2xlBHNsawMz
7. Physical Therapist
Median salary (experienced): $74,300
Top pay: $98,100
Job growth (10-year forecast): 27%
Sector: Healthcare
What they do: Restore strength, flexibility, and range of motion to people who have been sidelined by injury, illness, or disease.
Not that stability and growth don’t matter, of course. We put the heaviest weight on those factors when we began crunching the numbers to come up with our list of the 50 best jobs. But to make the final cut, a job had to get high quality-of-life marks too. Whether you’re thinking of switching careers, are job hunting, or want to nudge a child in the right professional direction, this list should give you plenty of fodder for discussion.
Why it's great: Unlike many health-care professionals, physical therapists generally see great progress in their patients. "I don't just treat the symptoms-- I give people the tools to get better," says Jennifer Gamboa, an orthopedic physical therapist in Arlington, Va. Plus, there's no overnight or shift work. Medical advances that allow a growing number of people with injuries and disabilities to survive are spurring demand, says Marc Goldstein, senior director of research at the American Physical Therapists Association. And hey, baby boomers' knees aren't getting any younger: An aging population means more chronic conditions that need physical therapy treatment.
Drawbacks: The impact of health reform on the profession is a wild card. Can be physically demanding.
Pre-reqs: A master's degree, plus certification and state licensing. Many employers prefer a doctor of physical therapy degree.
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Soon ALL employers will require a DPT.
Everyone I've heard of going through the PT programs now are working towards that.
And many of the therapists who currently have only a bachelor's or even master's are completing their DPT.
There are many sectors (location & company wise) that pay way below the average listed above.
But the cost of education is about the same for everyone everywhere.
And it's true there's no shift work, but there are many places that will require rotating weekends & evening work - either starting & finishing later, or working 10-12 hour days consecutively.
I've known a few of those, too.
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Looks like Tom was so busy being the smartest sibling he forgot to reply to this thread.....LOL?
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...so, back in 2005/2006 thought i should try to get a job in a "real" profession/career that there is a demand for, so i thought physical therapist like perhaps working for a sports team someday. then i found out that you have to go to school for like 6 years and get a doctorate degree to be a physical therapist! at my age 6 years is like 12! also the fact that i have a bachelor's degree already meant that i would have to get school loans and no grants! so were talking 20,000 a year or so for 6 years! no way! i already owe 30,000.00 from my previous school loans! i would be paying of school loans when i'm supposed to be saving up money to retire on! literally!
...so then i thought "hmm, maybe i'll just be a physical therapy assistant as my full time job since the training is only 2 years and i wouldn't owe anywhere near the amount of school loans if i became a full fledge therapist and that perhaps for a couple of hours in the evening i could be a personal trainer at my gym and in the long run, working as a physical therapy asst and personal trainer i would make as much money as a therapist in the long run....
so, i started going to school to be a physical therapy assistant, however i soon realized a few things 1) it was harder than i thought it was going to be 2) all my instructors told me that for the first few years at least i would end up working at a nursing home or something like that before i ever got to work (if ever) a sports team and 3) i realized that physical therapy assistants don't make that much money perhaps somewhere in the vicinity of 13.00 to 18.00 bucks an hour! even if you do it for 20,30 years! that sucks! so i dropped out!....
In other words, you found out you actually had to buckle down, sacrifice, and work hard. And that the 'work' wasn't going to be glamorous. So you bailed!
Bah ha ha ha ha Doom is amused.
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Does anyone really aspire to be a Respiratory Therapist?
Great way to put it, too.
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It'd take some severe ADD to plaster up a damned novel like that, supposedly asking for advice, only to forget it so fast that you never even come back to acknowledge with a single post.
Wow. ???
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Well, I'm 46 but I'd say it's been in the last 2 years things have really taken off. I got into forex (foreign currency trading) ..learned a lot about it. I found an automated trading program, I came up with some strategies. Now I program it..it trades while I sleep.. A lot of mornings I wake up and it's made $10,000.00 while I slept. My story isn't typical, but shows you can find stuff after 40. I will never work for anyone again. Stay positive and don't worry about your age. Nothing wrong with being a late bloomer.
Interesting! Are you using forex rebellion?
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hi, well according to california muscle i need to come back and reply to all the comments, mostly negative!? why in the hell would i need to do that! positive advice was/would be welcomed, but i guess i was asking too much, but i will state a few things before i sign off:
1)baygbm: you only know what i have told you so don't presume, as far as your sarcastic rolling your eyes icon about how i "only" wanted to be a studio executive, i never said that i expected it to happen overnight, i clearly thought if it did ever happen it would take me a 10 to 20 years or more and i realize that 95 percent of the people in lala land are assholes, nutjobs and not good people and wasn't willing to fill my life with these kind of people 12 to 14 hours a day in the hope that i just might get to be where i want to be and there is no guarentee. so no thank you!
2)victorvondoom: as far as your comment about how i realize i would have to work hard, sacrifice and buckle down and the pt assistant world wasn't glamorous i decided to bail out, YOU KNOW NOTHING. i've worked hard and sacrificed for shit for my entire life! 3 jobs at one time, 70 to 80 hours a week for years and so on. don' presume when you know nothing!
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hi, well according to california muscle i need to come back and reply to all the comments, mostly negative!? why in the hell would i need to do that! positive advice was/would be welcomed, but i guess i was asking too much, but i will state a few things before i sign off:
1)baygbm: you only know what i have told you so don't presume, as far as your sarcastic rolling your eyes icon about how i "only" wanted to be a studio executive, i never said that i expected it to happen overnight, i clearly thought if it did ever happen it would take me a 10 to 20 years or more and i realize that 95 percent of the people in lala land are assholes, nutjobs and not good people and wasn't willing to fill my life with these kind of people 12 to 14 hours a day in the hope that i just might get to be where i want to be and there is no guarentee. so no thank you!
2)victorvondoom: as far as your comment about how i realize i would have to work hard, sacrifice and buckle down and the pt assistant world wasn't glamorous i decided to bail out, YOU KNOW NOTHING. i've worked hard and sacrificed for shit for my entire life! 3 jobs at one time, 70 to 80 hours a week for years and so on. don' presume when you know nothing!
Don't presume what? You said yourself that you "wanted to be in the film industry as an executive for a studio or production company." In any case, you are correct. I know nothing more than what you have written (though everyone here agrees that what you wrote was decidedly unflattering). I actually thought of you yesterday . . . I was on a flight from LAX and reading The Lost Symbol, the new novel by Dan Brown (author of The Da Vinci Code); I thought of you because you previously mentioned the prospect of a writing career, and I endorsed it as a legitimate prospect. I did give you positive advice, but I also gave a dose of reality; if that troubles you, so be it. I am not the person you should be annoyed with as I did not author your present circumstances—you did that. I sincerely wish you good luck with your career…
...working only part time as a manager at a recreational center in the midwest hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up and i hate everyone i work with! and since it's only part time i'm actually living with my brother which while i love him, it sucks that i'm a grown man and living this way.
By the way, how can you be a "manager" at the rec center if you are only there "part time"? ???
Alas, Winter is still coming. :-[
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I don't how anyone can work for someone else or a company where there are rules you HAVE to follow. I could never have a job where I have to be there at a certain time. The last time I punched a time clock was 1985. I worked at Chevron Refinery in El Segundo and bringing home $400 to $600 a week that we needed to help make sure we had everything for our new daughter. When I started doing commercials and stuff if I had to wake up at 4am I had no problem with it. I was so excited I could barely sleep anyway. In fact I would leave early and sleep in my car in the parking lot of where I had to be sometimes. I have worked many many jobs but just did not like the rules. Even when I owned the Gold's in Kona I had rules but they could be modified when I thought right. I love the way I make my money now and do it at my own pace and pays me very very well.
LOL. Been there...done that. Sometimes I'd pull into honeyland, and security was always great.
Sometimes, they'd even open up the winne's. I can't tell you how many big name stars whose beds I've slept in. :P ;)
ps: You might be excited at the prospect of waking up at 4am, ...but i can assure you when you have to do it routinely, after a 22:00hr wrap, and 2 hrs travel time to get home...it gets pretty stale, pretty quickly. Turn around is crucial. Commercials are a walk in the park... try operating like that on a feature film... over time it'll take it's toll.
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Another studio opening at Disney! Don't cry for him though... I'm sure he is leaving with tons of money in the bank. ;)
Walt Disney Studios President Mark Zoradi resigns
November 9, 2009 | 4:01 pm
In a continued housecleaning at Walt Disney Co., studio distribution veteran Mark Zoradi is leaving the company after 29 years.
The departure of Zoradi, president of Disney's motion pictures group, follows the ousting of his former boss, Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook and Miramax Films President Daniel Battsek.
The studio is being remade under Cook's successor, Rich Ross, who was formerly president of Disney Channels Worldwide.
During his nearly three decades at the company, Zoradi worked in the television, home entertainment and film divisions, most recently overseeing worldwide marketing and distribution for pictures made under the Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and Disneynature banners.
This weekend, Zoradi received the Louis B. Mayer motion picture business leader of the year award from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
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LOL...well out of order!
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find a decent job you like and stay with it, consistency is the key to success!
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...so now, i'm sitting here thinking : where do i go from here? granted, i look alot younger and act alot younger than almost 45, but i'm still my age you know! and i'm tired of being poor and struggling and now with the economy the way it is nationwide, i'm searching for answers!!!!!!!!!!
Get used to it. Bah ha ha ha ha ha
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Any updates, Tom? :)
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Any updates, Tom? :)
Until we hear otherwise, it is safe to assume Tom is still "working only part time as a manager at a recreational center in the midwest hating it (the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up and i hate everyone i work with!)"
:'(
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Sitting at the right hand of Lucifer, Bay! :)
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Sitting at the right hand of Lucifer, Bay! :)
Why take the twig when you can own the whole tree? :D
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I laugh while tears of sorrow flow unabated. :)
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find a decent job you like and stay with it, consistency is the key to success!
Well not if you want to be self employed and start your own business. Then I guess learning something you can use competitively is more important than just being consistent at a pay-slave job for 10 years
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Does
left california in late 2003 so sickened and disgusted by that industry i didn't want anything to do with tv,film,radio or anything media related.
= I was fired? :'(
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Does
= I was fired? :'(
Normally I'd agree with that, ...however, having spent many years in the industry,
I can certainly see how one would leave it utterly disgusted by it and many of the people in it.
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Normally I'd agree with that, ...however, having spent many years in the industry,
I can certainly see how one would leave it utterly disgusted by it and many of the people in it.
Maybe, but "utter disgust" doesn't usually stem from jobs like "production assistants and office assistants"--unless you were fired. :(
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Bay, do they call you Legba or Ol' Scratch? Beelzebub? :)
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If only... ;D
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X ray techs make decent $ and the training is relatively short...8 months i think
Private Pilots...not commercial but yanno...ones that fly shit from point A to B...makes a decent living
Helicopter pilots make good money...plenty of places that train people...for that..just google em
Believe it or not...Truck Drivers (big rigs) make decent money hauling stuff...
or u could do what i do....
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Career_Certifications
just 2 certifications and you r close to the 100k Range.... the CCNA and CCNP ...
...and it can be done in around 4 months...i did it in under 4 months...thats the good news. The bad news is that ya found PT classes hard..i dont think they r hard...actually pretty easy..so you might have to put in more time and more importantly ITS HIGH TIME YOU STOP LOOKING FOR A DREAM CARREER AND PICK SOMETHING AND STICK WITH IT.Just think...if you start tomorrow..at 50 yrs of age you'll ONLY have 5 yrs of experience (experience = $)...so...GROW the fuck up...i got a wake up call last yr and at 33 & I FEEL BEHIND my 27 yr old friend that also does what i do. IF you pick the cisco path...its not easy..but STICK TO IT and maybe in 2 yrs you can be making close to 80k...get your CCNP...move to a tech heavy area...like VA or DC or Maryland or North Carolina and you'll land a 80k/yr job...that i can promise u
...G'luck
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For Tom who "hates everyone I work with..."
7 Things Never to Say to Your Boss
by Karen Burns
Everyone has a boss. Even if you "work for yourself," you're still an employee to your client.
A big part of maintaining the boss-employee relationship is to never allow a boss to think you dislike your work, are incapable of doing it, or--worse--consider it beneath you.
These sound like no-brainers, but many statements heard commonly around the workplace violate these basic rules. Looking for an example? Here are seven heard in workplaces all the time. They may seem ordinary, even harmless. But try reading these from your boss's point of view. You'll see right away why it's smart to never allow these seven sentences to pass your lips:
"That's not my job." You know what? A lot of bosses are simple souls who think your job is to do what's asked of you. So even if you're assigned a task that is, indeed, not your job, refrain from saying so. Instead, try to find out why your boss is assigning you this task--there may be a valid reason. If you believe that doing the task is a bad idea (as in, bad for the company) you can try explaining why and suggesting how it could be better done by someone else. This may work, depending on the boss. In any case, remember that doing what's asked of you, even tasks outside your job description, is good karma.
"It's not my problem." When people say something is not their problem it makes them look like they don't care. This does not endear them to anybody, especially the boss. If a problem is brewing and you have nothing constructive to say, it's better to say nothing at all. Even better is to pitch in and try to help. Because, ultimately, a problem in the workplace is everyone's problem. We're all in it together.
"It's not my fault." Yet another four words to be avoided. Human nature is weird. Claiming that something is not our fault often has the result of making people suspect it is. Besides, what's the real issue here? It's that something went wrong and needs to be fixed. That's what people should be thinking about--not who is to blame.
"I can only do one thing at a time." News flash: Complaining you are overworked will not make your boss feel sorry for you or go easier on you. Instead, a boss will think: (1) you resent your job, and/or (2) you aren't up to your job. Everybody, especially nowadays, feels pressured and overworked. If you're trying to be funny, please note that some sarcasm is funny and lightens the mood. Some just ticks people off.
"I am way overqualified for this job." Hey, maybe you are. But the fact is, this is the job you have. You agreed to take it on and, while you may now regret that decision, it's still your job. Complaining that it's beneath you only makes you look bad. Plus, coworkers doing similar jobs may resent and dislike you. And guess what? Bosses will not think, "Oh, this is a superior person whom I need to promote." Nope, they'll think, "What a jerk."
"This job is easy! Anyone could do it!" Maybe what you're trying to convey here is that you're so brilliant your work is easy. Unfortunately, it comes off sounding more like, "This work is stupid." Bosses don't like hearing that any work is stupid. Nor do they really like hearing that a job is easy peasy. It belittles the whole enterprise. If a task is simple, be glad and do it as quickly as you can. Even "stupid" work needs to get done.
"It can't be done." Saying something can't be done is like waving a red flag in a boss's eyes. Even if the thing being suggested truly is impossible, saying it is can make you look ineffectual or incapable. Better to play detective. Why is the boss asking you to do whatever it is? What's the problem that needs to be solved? What's the goal? Search for doable ways of solving that problem or reaching that goal. That's what bosses really want. Most of them do not expect the impossible.
Last words: When in doubt, remember that silence really is golden.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-Things-Never-to-Say-to-Your-usnews-226352592.html/print;_ylt=AglyCF2IeK2bjwnM6UPWvnMEbq9_;_ylu=X3oDMTBwNjZiaWw5BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b29scwRzbGsDcHJpbnQ-?x=0
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$1 million isn't enough anymore
A majority of experts now say $1 million is not nearly enough for a truly secure retirement.
by Joe Mont
Conventional wisdom says you need to save $1 million for retirement.
That target may be easy to remember, but it falls short of the true cost of what's required for post-career comfort. Longer life spans, the threat of inflation and the uncertain future of Social Security benefits make this long-touted savings advice inadequate for most, advisers say.
Scottrade recently polled 226 registered investment advisers on the topic and found that 71% don't believe $1 million is enough for the average American family. Most said families need to save double, or more than triple, the amount.
"Younger generations, especially, need to set their retirement goals higher than other generations and start saving as early as possible," says Craig Hogan, Scottrade's director of customer-relationship management and reporting.
The survey solicited opinions about the current investment habits of Americans. Questions were broken down by generations to determine advisers' opinions on average investment goals in today's dollars for various groups.
Generation Y (ages 18 to 26) needs to save at least $2 million, according to 77% of advisers. Forty percent put the figure at $3 million.
Nearly half of advisers (46%) said Generation X (ages 27 to 42) should at least double the $1 million goal. Twenty-two percent suggested more than $3 million.
For Boomers (ages 43 to 64), 35% recommended $2 million to $3 million. Thirty percent suggested $1.5 million to $2 million.
According to Scottrade's analysis, seniors are the only generation that may come close to needing only $1 million. Forty-four percent of advisers said $500,000 to $1.5 million is sufficient for average families in that age bracket.
Bill Smith, president of Ohio-based Great Lakes Retirement Group, is among the advisers who took part in the survey. As he sees it, too many people rely on online retirement calculators. Much of that guidance uses a target based on making do with 70% to 80% of pre-retirement income.
"I've never been a big fan of planning to earn less in retirement than you are making now," he says. "I'd like to see an individual continue making the same amount of retirement as when he was working. Who wants to set themselves up in retirement to make less?"
While most people will spend less when they retire, inflation or the onset of a long-term illness could wipe out savings without proper protection or planning.
That said, there's no secret to meeting a retirement goal: maximize your contribution rate, have a greater tolerance for risk when you're younger and downshift to bonds as you grow older. Successful preparation, however, begins with setting a realistic goal and understanding your true financial picture.
Debt needs to be carefully considered as well as leaving money for the kids.
"There are two extremes," Smith says. "There are individuals who say, 'We don't care if we have anything left the day we die -- we are OK with that last check bouncing when we are gone.' Then there are the individuals who don't do anything in retirement because all of their decisions are made around, 'I've got to leave it for the kids.' "
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$1 million isn't enough anymore
A majority of experts now say $1 million is not nearly enough for a truly secure retirement.
by Joe Mont
Conventional wisdom says you need to save $1 million for retirement.
That target may be easy to remember, but it falls short of the true cost of what's required for post-career comfort. Longer life spans, the threat of inflation and the uncertain future of Social Security benefits make this long-touted savings advice inadequate for most, advisers say.
Scottrade recently polled 226 registered investment advisers on the topic and found that 71% don't believe $1 million is enough for the average American family. Most said families need to save double, or more than triple, the amount.
"Younger generations, especially, need to set their retirement goals higher than other generations and start saving as early as possible," says Craig Hogan, Scottrade's director of customer-relationship management and reporting.
The survey solicited opinions about the current investment habits of Americans. Questions were broken down by generations to determine advisers' opinions on average investment goals in today's dollars for various groups.
Generation Y (ages 18 to 26) needs to save at least $2 million, according to 77% of advisers. Forty percent put the figure at $3 million.
Nearly half of advisers (46%) said Generation X (ages 27 to 42) should at least double the $1 million goal. Twenty-two percent suggested more than $3 million.
For Boomers (ages 43 to 64), 35% recommended $2 million to $3 million. Thirty percent suggested $1.5 million to $2 million.
According to Scottrade's analysis, seniors are the only generation that may come close to needing only $1 million. Forty-four percent of advisers said $500,000 to $1.5 million is sufficient for average families in that age bracket.
Bill Smith, president of Ohio-based Great Lakes Retirement Group, is among the advisers who took part in the survey. As he sees it, too many people rely on online retirement calculators. Much of that guidance uses a target based on making do with 70% to 80% of pre-retirement income.
"I've never been a big fan of planning to earn less in retirement than you are making now," he says. "I'd like to see an individual continue making the same amount of retirement as when he was working. Who wants to set themselves up in retirement to make less?"
While most people will spend less when they retire, inflation or the onset of a long-term illness could wipe out savings without proper protection or planning.
That said, there's no secret to meeting a retirement goal: maximize your contribution rate, have a greater tolerance for risk when you're younger and downshift to bonds as you grow older. Successful preparation, however, begins with setting a realistic goal and understanding your true financial picture.
Debt needs to be carefully considered as well as leaving money for the kids.
"There are two extremes," Smith says. "There are individuals who say, 'We don't care if we have anything left the day we die -- we are OK with that last check bouncing when we are gone.' Then there are the individuals who don't do anything in retirement because all of their decisions are made around, 'I've got to leave it for the kids.' "
BAY ,
Don't tell that to these peoplehttp://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=327143.50 (http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=327143.50)
They think with a couple mill they can live like Trump , carefree and high on the hog :D
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Tom,
Any updates?
My friend, I would seriously persue geetting your teaching certificate and be a HS/middle school teacher.
You could also do personal training in the summer or a/f school.
Start working toward a pension plan and saving with a steady paycheck.
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BAY ,
Don't tell that to these peoplehttp://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=327143.50 (http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=327143.50)
They think with a couple mill they can live like Trump , carefree and high on the hog :D
Too true. :-[
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$1 million is more then enough if you move to a part of the country where the cost of living is low, and you commit to a comfortable yet simple life style. Getting a job after retirement wouldn't hurt either. It's good for one's mental and physical health.
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$1 million is more then enough if you move to a part of the country where the cost of living is low, and you commit to a comfortable yet simple life style. Getting a job after retirement wouldn't hurt either. It's good for one's mental and physical health.
Should I expect an invoice from you for that bit of financial planning advice? :D
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Should I expect an invoice from you for that bit of financial planning advice? :D
No. It's free advice. :)
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The Worst Words to Say at Work
by Linnda Durre
Some words and phrases are often used to buy time, avoid giving answers, and escape commitment. If you use these words and phrases yourself, take a scalpel and cut them out of your thinking, speaking, and writing.
"Try"
"Try" is a weasel word. "Well, I'll try," some people say. It's a cop-out. They're just giving you lip service, when they probably have no real intention of doing what you ask. Remember what Yoda says to Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars": "Do or do not--there is no try." Take Yoda's advice. Give it your all when you do something. And if it doesn't work, start over. Put passion into your work, and give it your best effort, so you can know that you did all you could to make it happen. So if the outcome you were expecting didn't come to fruition, it's not because you didn't do everything you could to make it happen. It just wasn't the right time for it or it wasn't meant to be.
"Whatever"
This word is a trusted favorite of people who want to dismiss you, diminish what you say, or get rid of you quickly. "Whatever," they will say as an all-purpose response to your earnest request. It's an insult and a verbal slap in the face. It's a way to respond to a person without actually responding. When you say "whatever" after another person has said his or her piece, you have essentially put up a wall between the two of you and halted any progress in communicating. It's a word to avoid.
"Maybe" and "I don't know"
People will sometimes avoid making a decision--and hide behind words and phrases like "maybe" and "I don't know." There's a difference between legitimately not knowing something and using words like these as excuses. Sometimes during a confrontation, people will claim not to know something or offer the noncommittal response "maybe," just to avoid being put on the spot. If that seems to be the case, ask, "When do you think you will know?" or "How can you find out?" Don't let the person off the hook so easily.
"I'll get back to you"
When people need to buy time or avoid revealing a project's status, they will say, "I'll get back to you," and they usually never do. If people say they will get back to you, always clarify. Ask them when they will get back to you, and make sure they specify the day and time. If they don't, then pin them down to a day and time and hold them to it. If they won't give you a day or time, tell them you'll call in a day or week and follow up. Make sure you call and get the information you need.
"If"
Projects depend on everyone doing his or her part. People who use "if" are usually playing the blame game and betting against themselves. They like to set conditions, rather than assuming a successful outcome. People who rely on conditional responses are fortifying themselves against potential failure. They will say, "If Bob finishes his part, then I can do my part." They're laying the groundwork for a "no fault" excuse and for not finishing their work.
There are always alternatives, other routes, and ways to get the job done. Excuse makers usually have the energy of a slug and the spine of a jellyfish. You don't want them on your team when you're trying to climb Mt. Everest.
"Yes, but . . ."
This is another excuse. You might give your team members suggestions or solutions, and they come back to you with "Yes, but . . ." as a response. They don't really want answers, help, or solutions. You need to call the "Yes, but . . ." people out on their avoidance tactic by saying something like "You know, Jackie, every time I offer you a suggestion you say, 'Yes, but . . . ,' which makes me think you don't really want to solve this problem. That's not going to work. If you want to play the victim, go right ahead, but I'm not going to allow you to keep this up." After a response like that, you can be assured that the next words you hear will not be "Yes, but . . ."!
"I guess . . ."
This is usually said in a weak, soft-spoken, shoulder-shrugging manner. It's another attempt to shirk responsibility--a phrase that is muttered only when people half agree with you but want to leave enough leeway to say, "Well, I didn't really know. . . . I was only guessing." If you use this phrase, cut it out of your vocabulary.
"We'll see . . ."
How many times did we hear our parents say this? We knew they were buying time, avoiding a fight or confrontation, or really saying no. It's better to be decisive and honest by saying, "I need more information. Please present your case or send me the data--both pro and con--so I can make an informed decision." That way, the interested parties will contribute to an in-depth, well-researched "verdict."
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It's the choices one makes in the early years that usually determine one's fate. Options narrow. The path can become one-way. :-[
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Night school.
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It's the choices one makes in the early years that usually determine one's fate. Options narrow. The path can become one-way. :-[
Agreed! That's true for one's health too. For bad habits and ill treatment of your body when you are young, your body will punish you later when you are not so young. Likewise, for good habits and good treatment of your body when you are young, your body will reward you later when you are not so young.
Of course the above is the norm, and there are always a few exceptions to the norm.
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What NOT to do: 7 ways to ruin your resume
By Hillary Chura
In the time it takes you to read this paragraph, the average recruiter will have plowed through six resumes. (We know; we timed one.) Want to increase the chances of your resume making it to the next round? Then don’t do any of these seven things, which recruiters say — more than anything — make them want to push the “shred” button.
1. Apply for a job for which you are not remotely qualified
Many candidates believe the job hunt is a numbers game — drop enough resumes, and you’re bound to land something. But shotguns are for hunting pheasant, not finding jobs. The reality is that recruiters hate wasting time on resumes from unqualified candidates. Morgan Miller, an executive recruiter at StaffMark, recalls the security guard who applied to be a financial risk manager (maybe Lehman should have hired him), while Scott Ragusa at Winter, Wyman talks of the aerial photographer who sought out a position as a tax specialist.
“Sorting through unqualified resumes is frustrating, unproductive and puts an extra burden on staff,” says Katherine Swift, Senior Account Director at KCSA Strategic Communications in Natick, Mass. “It also makes it much more challenging to find the right candidate.” So the next time you’re thinking of blasting out resumes to all 60 of the job listings on Monster.com that have the word “finance” in them , save your time (and that of the recruiters) and only apply for ones for which you’re qualified.
2. Include a lofty mission statement
More than ever, today’s savage job market is about the company, not the candidate. As such, mission or objective statements — particularly ones with an applicant’s hopes, dreams, and health insurance aspirations — will dispatch otherwise fine resumes to the circular file. Employers don’t care about how they can solve your problems — certainly not before they’ve met you and possibly not even after they’ve hired you. Instead, write an “objectives” statement that explains specifically how your skills and experience will help the company you’re applying to, not the other way around. And be very clear about what kind of job you’re seeking.
3. Use one generic resume for every job listing
To stand out amongst the sea of resumes that recruiters receive, yours must speak to each and every specific position, even recycling some of the language from the job description itself. Make it obvious that you will start solving problems even before you’ve recorded your outgoing voicemail message. Your CV or query letter should include a just touch of industry lingo — sufficient to prove you know your stuff but not so much that you sound like a robot. And it should speak to individual company issues and industry challenges, with specifics on how you have personally improved customer loyalty, efficiency, and profitability at past jobs, says workplace and performance consultant Jay Forte. Plus, each morsel should be on point.
“Think hard about how to best leverage each piece of information to your job search advantage,” says Wendy Enelow, a career consultant and trainer in Virginia. “Nothing in your resume should be arbitrary, from what you include in your job descriptions and achievement statements, to whether your education or experience comes first [recent grads may want to put education first] to how you format your contact information.”
4. Make recruiters or hiring managers guess how exactly you can help their client
Sourcing experts want to know — immediately — what someone can offer, and they won’t spend time noodling someone’s credentials. “Animal, vegetable or mineral? Doctor, lawyer or Indian chief?That’s what I’m wondering every time I open a resume. If it takes me more than a split second to figure this out, I feel frustrated,” says Mary O’Gorman, a veteran recruiter based in Brooklyn.
5. Don’t explain how past experience translates to a new position
Though candidates should avoid jobs where they have no experience, they absolutely should pursue new areas and positions if they can position their experience effectively. A high school English teacher applying for new jobs, for example, can cite expertise in human resource management, people skills, record keeping, writing, and training, says Anthony Pensabene, a professional writer who works with executives.
“Titles are just semantics; candidates need to relate their ‘actual’ skills and experiences to the job they’re applying for in their resume,” Pensabene says. An applicant who cannot be bothered to identify the parallels between the two likely won’t be bothered with interviews, either.
6. Don’t include a cover letter with your resume
A cover letter should always accompany a resume — even if it’s going to your best friend. And that doesn’t mean a lazy “I’m _____ and I’m looking for a job in New York; please see my attached resume.” Says Lindsay Olson, a partner at Manhattan’s Paradigm Staffing: “I’d like to know why you are contacting me (a particular position, referral, etc.), a short background about yourself, and a career highlight or two. It’s important to attempt to set yourself apart from the competition.”
7. Be careless with details
Reckless job hunters rarely make for conscientious workers. As such, even promising resumes must abide by age-old dictums: typo-free, proper organization, and no embellishment. Susan Whitcomb, author of Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer, says that almost 80 percent of HR managers she surveyed said they would dismiss otherwise qualified candidates who break these rules. She tells the story of one would-be employer who, when looking for an assistant, decided not to hire anyone because every resume she received contained typos.
“With a 6-to-1 ratio of jobseekers-to-jobs in the current marketplace, you can’t afford to make mistakes with your resume,” Whitcomb says.
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Did anyone else see this? This kid has been unemployed for two years after graduating from Colgate (majored in political science and minored in history). Parents and grandparents paid for everything and still pay all his bills including rent, cell phone, etc. Meanwhile he turned down a job offer as an associate claims adjuster, at $40k. His brother has a job making $75k and that's what he's holding out for... Good luck with that. ::)
American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation
GRAFTON, Mass. — After breakfast, his parents left for their jobs, and Scott Nicholson, alone in the house in this comfortable suburb west of Boston, went to his laptop in the living room. He had placed it on a small table that his mother had used for a vase of flowers until her unemployed son found himself reluctantly stuck at home.
The daily routine seldom varied. Mr. Nicholson, 24, a graduate of Colgate University, winner of a dean’s award for academic excellence, spent his mornings searching corporate Web sites for suitable job openings. When he found one, he mailed off a résumé and cover letter — four or five a week, week after week.
Over the last five months, only one job materialized. After several interviews, the Hanover Insurance Group in nearby Worcester offered to hire him as an associate claims adjuster, at $40,000 a year. But even before the formal offer, Mr. Nicholson had decided not to take the job.
Rather than waste early years in dead-end work, he reasoned, he would hold out for a corporate position that would draw on his college training and put him, as he sees it, on the bottom rungs of a career ladder.
“The conversation I’m going to have with my parents now that I’ve turned down this job is more of a concern to me than turning down the job,” he said.
He was braced for the conversation with his father in particular. While Scott Nicholson viewed the Hanover job as likely to stunt his career, David Nicholson, 57, accustomed to better times and easier mobility, viewed it as an opportunity. Once in the door, the father has insisted to his son, opportunities will present themselves — as they did in the father’s rise over 35 years to general manager of a manufacturing company . . .
. . . Scott Nicholson almost sidestepped the recession. His plan was to become a Marine Corps second lieutenant. He had spent the summer after his freshman year in “platoon leader” training. Last fall he passed the physical for officer training, and was told to report on Jan. 16.
If all had gone well, he would have emerged in 10 weeks as a second lieutenant, committed to a four-year enlistment. “I could have made a career out of the Marines,” Scott said, “and if I had come out in four years, I would have been incredibly prepared for the workplace.”
It was not to be. In early January, a Marine Corps doctor noticed that he had suffered from childhood asthma. He was washed out. “They finally told me I could reapply if I wanted to,” Scott said. “But the sheen was gone.”
So he struggles to get a foothold in the civilian work force. His brother in Boston lost his roommate, and early last month Scott moved into the empty bedroom, with his parents paying Scott’s share of the $2,000-a-month rent until the lease expires on Aug. 31.
And if Scott does not have a job by then? “I’ll do something temporary; I won’t go back home,” Scott said. “I’ll be a bartender or get work through a temp agency. I hope I don’t find myself in that position.”
Full article here
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/business/economy/07generation.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
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It has been more than a year since his original post... is Tom still living in the midwest (with his younger brother because he can't afford his own place) working part time as a manager in a rec center "hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up" and hating everyone he works with? Or has he managed to turn things around, move to San Diego and live the glamourous life? 8)
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It is more than a year since his original post... is Tom still living in the midwest (with his younger brother because he can't afford his own place) working part time as a manager in a rec center "hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up" and hating everyone he works with? Or has he managed to turn things around, move to San Diego and live the glamourous life? 8)
Takes money to move bay.
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It takes money to buy a cup of coffee; what’s your point? Or should I take that to mean you don’t think he has turned things around?
I moved several times as a grad student, and a few times after that early in my career (across country more than once). I didn’t have much money when I did it, but I did it. There are cheap ways to move such as u-haul, http://www.doortodoor.com/ Where there is a will, there is a way. Tens of thousands of immigrants “move” to the US with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, often with children in tow--and not even speaking English, yet they still come here and manage to build a successful life for themselves. What do they have that Tom does not? Shouldn't someone who already lives here, already speaks the language, has the benefit of an American education, with knowledge of how America "works" be way ahead of some lowly immigrant? ???
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It takes money to buy a cup of coffee; what’s your point? Or should I take that to mean you don’t think he has turned things around?
I moved several times as a grad student, and a few times after that early in my career (across country more than once). I didn’t have much money when I did it, but I did it. There are cheap ways to move such as u-haul, http://www.doortodoor.com/ Where there is a will, there is a way. Tens of thousands of immigrants “move” to the US with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, often with children in tow--and not even speaking English, yet they still come here and manage to build a successful life for themselves. What do they have that Tom does not? Shouldn't someone who already lives here, already speaks the language, has the benefit of an American education, with knowledge of how America "works" be way ahead of some lowly immigrant? ???
I believe the character quality you're speaking of is called "INITIATIVE"
BTW: Where there's a will, ...there's a relative. ;)
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It takes money to buy a cup of coffee; what’s your point? Or should I take that to mean you don’t think he has turned things around?
I moved several times as a grad student, and a few times after that early in my career (across country more than once). I didn’t have much money when I did it, but I did it. There are cheap ways to move such as u-haul, http://www.doortodoor.com/ Where there is a will, there is a way. Tens of thousands of immigrants “move” to the US with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, often with children in tow--and not even speaking English, yet they still come here and manage to build a successful life for themselves. What do they have that Tom does not? Shouldn't someone who already lives here, already speaks the language, has the benefit of an American education, with knowledge of how America "works" be way ahead of some lowly immigrant? ???
Ouch! We will never know because Tom won't return to this thread... would you?
Doom disapproves of Tom. Bah!
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Tom reports that he was “dealing with 99 percent assholes” and he “hate everyone I work with.” He applied those descriptions to two different working environments. Does anyone else see the problem here? Are we supposed to believe that in two different settings everyone around him was the problem? I appreciate that Tom has Hollywood dreams, but it is past time for a reality check.
True, there is no shortage of assholes in the world, but a successful, capable, professional is able to work with and even thrive, when they have to work with assholes or people they hate. No matter how toxic the environment (and every environment is toxic to some extent) you still have to navigate the political minefield, negotiate your way past the frienemies, past the backstabbers and get the job done in a way that impresses your boss and makes you and your unit within the organization come out smelling like a rose. Winners can do this. Losers cannot. :-[
the question i have is what is considered abuse and treatment at the workplace to where you could hire a lawyer and sue for harassment/mistreatment?
examples?
i mean we've all worked for bosses who are assholes, who yell at you or make you the scapegoat for when things go wrong and etcetera, but what crosses the line in their treatment of you to where you have a legitimate case against them.
besides the sexual and physical and discrimanatory abuse based on your religion, ethnicity and orientation. obviously that is against the law those abuses, but like i said when does a person know how much abuse is quote "normal and just the way it is" and what is over the line?
::)
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It takes money to buy a cup of coffee; what’s your point? Or should I take that to mean you don’t think he has turned things around?
I moved several times as a grad student, and a few times after that early in my career (across country more than once). I didn’t have much money when I did it, but I did it. There are cheap ways to move such as u-haul, http://www.doortodoor.com/ Where there is a will, there is a way. Tens of thousands of immigrants “move” to the US with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, often with children in tow--and not even speaking English, yet they still come here and manage to build a successful life for themselves. What do they have that Tom does not? Shouldn't someone who already lives here, already speaks the language, has the benefit of an American education, with knowledge of how America "works" be way ahead of some lowly immigrant? ???
IT TAKES MONEY TO MOVE. that's my point. What dont you understand?
It's hard to move across country if you don't have $$$. Don't say he should sell everything and buy new things. That takes money too. Unless he starts sell family heirlooms. ::)
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I guess what I don’t understand is why you are stating the obvious. We all know things cost money. Presumably, the guy has been working and accumulated some funds since he is living (rent free?) with his little brother while he got back on his feet. Having read his previous posts, I do not get the impression that he has a lot of “things” to move and/or sell.
Anyway, moving across country, or anywhere else for that matter, is easy if you have a credit card. Most moves do not require a big cash outlay upfront. Be it a u-haul, a professional moving company, doortodoor, etc, one pays for it all with a credit card.
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I guess what I don’t understand is why you are stating the obvious. We all know things cost money. Presumably, the guy has been working and accumulated some funds since he is living (rent free?) with his little brother while he got back on his feet. Having read his previous posts, I do not get the impression that he has a lot of “things” to move and/or sell.
Anyway, moving across country, or anywhere else for that matter, is easy if you have a credit card. Most moves do not require a big cash outlay upfront. Be it a u-haul, a professional moving company, doortodoor, etc, one pays for it all with a credit card.
so you saying dude should get in debt moving?
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It has been more than a year since his original post... is Tom still living in the midwest (with his younger brother because he can't afford his own place) working part time as a manager in a rec center "hating it, the pay sucks and there is no chance for me to move up" and hating everyone he works with? Or has he managed to turn things around, move to San Diego and live the glamourous life? 8)
I hear that there are no problems in San Diego.
Everybody makes well over six-figures (including to the right of the decimal)
The climate is great (mudslides & wildfires keep things interesting for residents)
The cost of living is low (at least, maybe compared to Beverly Hills)
The jobs are plentiful and easy to get (if you're willing to work for illegal immigrant wages)
And people with the "why me" and "the world is against me" mantras...
Look - everybody has shit thrown at them.
It's how you work that shovel to get out of it that matters.
But moving to another corner of the room and crying will NOT protect you from the rising feces.
Pick up that shovel and practice shoveling the shit as far away from you as possible.
You can learn to do it quite well over time, and as your muscles build up, it will become easier, too.
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so you saying dude should get in debt moving?
You are sounding more and more like Tom. :-[
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You are sounding more and more like Tom. :-[
And You sound more and more like Latrell Sprewell :(
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Welcome back Tom. GB needs you as much as you need GB!
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Tom meet David.
What a difference! ::)
A millionaire who never stops worrying about retirement
David Moehlman, a 44-year-old schoolteacher on an extreme savings regimen, seeks protection for his sizeable nest egg so he won't fret so much.
By Ann Marsh
Schoolteacher David Moehlman has a money problem.
He has a lot of it — more than $1 million in savings accounts and mutual funds, plus half a million or so in real estate. And he has no debt.
Moehlman, 44, didn't amass the vast majority of this nest egg through an inheritance or other windfall. He worked hard and made some good investments.
And he took savings to an extreme. For example, he eats breakfast and dinner every day at fast-food places where he always orders off the $1 menu, and lunch is usually a 75-cent microwave burrito.
He has a car, but it comes out of the garage only a couple of times a year. Otherwise he rides a motorcycle to save on gas. When the weather turns rainy and cold, he dons a snowsuit for riding.
But he worries constantly about money — especially that he will not have enough for retirement — and has made saving a center of his life.
"If I had $10 million I wouldn't live any differently because spending money doesn't make me happy," said Moehlman, who lives in Moreno Valley. "I don't know where it comes from, but I've always been this way."
Happiness is not something a financial advisor can guarantee. But Sandra Field, a certified financial planner in Cypress, met with him to go over his finances to offer advice on how he could put his fiscal house in order and better protect the money he's worked hard to save.
And then maybe he could at least worry less.
"Overall it's refreshing to run into someone without debt on credit cards," Field said. "But there's more to life than money. He could end up like Scrooge."
Moehlman has about $74,000 in checking and savings accounts. And he has nearly $1.2 million in mutual funds, all of which are exclusively invested in U.S. stocks — a major red flag.
Just as Moehlman follows an extreme regimen for saving, he also goes to extremes in his investments.
"With him, it's full pedal to the metal or nothing," Field said.
Although Moehlman had done well lately with his focus on U.S. stocks, Field strongly recommended that he diversify his mutual fund investments. She suggested he put 50% of it in funds that hold U.S. stocks, 13% in international stock funds and 30% in funds that hold bonds.
The remaining 7% would be kept in savings or other cash accounts.
The planner applauded that Moehlman had put about 47% of his mutual fund investments in tax-deferred accounts, which greatly lowered his tax bracket. "It's really a triumph of tax-deferred growth," Field said.
She recommended he continue his practice of putting about $38,000 a year into the tax-deferred accounts.
Moehlman makes about $80,000 a year teaching fourth grade. Much of his additional taxable income comes from rental properties.
After the real estate crash, he scooped up five condominiums in Riverside County, which was especially hard hit with depressed property values. At the market's top, these condos had been valued at $275,000 to $350,000. He bought them last year for $70,000 to $118,000, and paid cash.
Moehlman lives in one and rents out the others. After paying homeowner's association fees and taxes, the condos generate $2,750 a month in rental income.
He has been so happy with the condo situation that he hopes to buy more. A lot more.
"If the prices drop to $50,000," he said, "I'll take all my cash and buy 10 to 15 more..."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-money-makeover-20110323,0,2830705.story
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"And he took savings to an extreme. For example, he eats breakfast and dinner every day at fast-food places where he always orders off the $1 menu, and lunch is usually a 75-cent microwave burrito."
What good is having a big savings if he's going croak before getting to enjoy it because he eats likes shit?!
Good diet trumps just about everything in life, in my opinion, including money.
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"And he took savings to an extreme. For example, he eats breakfast and dinner every day at fast-food places where he always orders off the $1 menu, and lunch is usually a 75-cent microwave burrito."
What good is having a big savings if he's going croak before getting to enjoy it because he eats likes shit?!
Good diet trumps just about everything in life, in my opinion, including money.
No one is endorsing his diet. Obviously, he could change his diet today if he wanted to. The point is, coming from a modest background he has made professional and financial choices that have given him a degree of independence that Tom will never know such as: getting an education, saving, investing, taking the long view, persistence in employment, sacrifice, follow through, etc.
A good diet is easily fixed. Poor professional/financial planning not so much. If you do not believe me, just ask Tom. :(
Btw, your question could be reversed: what good is living to 100 if you don’t have the resources to support yourself? For what it’s worth the article goes on to mention that he has changed his diet.
Moehlman, never wanting to do something halfway, bought 25 pounds of oranges from a roadside stand. He also began getting his students to walk with him during recess for more exercise...
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-money-makeover-20110323,0,7626488,full.story
Now, who would you rather trade places with? David Moehlman or Tom? ???
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X ray techs make decent $ and the training is relatively short...8 months i think
Private Pilots...not commercial but yanno...ones that fly shit from point A to B...makes a decent living
Helicopter pilots make good money...plenty of places that train people...for that..just google em
Believe it or not...Truck Drivers (big rigs) make decent money hauling stuff...
or u could do what i do....
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Career_Certifications
just 2 certifications and you r close to the 100k Range.... the CCNA and CCNP ...
...and it can be done in around 4 months...i did it in under
4 months...thats the good news. The bad news is that ya found PT classes hard..i dont think they r hard...actually pretty easy..so you might have to put in more time and more importantly ITS HIGH TIME YOU STOP LOOKING FOR A DREAM CARREER AND PICK SOMETHING AND STICK WITH IT.Just think...if you start tomorrow..at 50 yrs of age you'll ONLY have 5 yrs of experience (experience = $)...so...GROW the fuck up...i got a wake up call last yr and at 33 & I FEEL BEHIND my 27 yr old friend that also does what i do. IF you pick the cisco path...its not easy..but STICK TO IT and maybe in 2 yrs you can be making close to 80k...get your CCNP...move to a tech heavy area...like VA or DC or Maryland or North Carolina and you'll land a 80k/yr job...that i can promise u
...G'luck
I'm super interested in this. Did you have any previous IT training or experience? What type of learning did you do? How hard was finding a job while getting certified or after certification? Thanks...your post has inspired me!
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Tom?
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LOL...
It's almost two-and-a-half years later and Tom is still getting shit for his OP.
It would be interesting to know what things are like for him now, but I doubt he'll pop in here.
I hope he's been able to achieve at least some improvement in his life!
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LOL...
It's almost two-and-a-half years later and Tom is still getting shit for his OP.
It would be interesting to know what things are like for him now, but I doubt he'll pop in here.
I hope he's been able to achieve at least some improvement in his life!
A good self owning never gets old. This one has to go down in the owning Hall of Fame. :-[
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A good self owning never gets old. This one has to go down in the owning Hall of Fame. :-[
Agreed! I never read this thread before today, when I read Tom's original post, not noticing how long ago he'd posted this. I was even taking mental notes to use in composing a reply to him (which I won't bother doing since so much time has passed since he posted). I kept thinking how do I reply in a positive way to someone who is such a total loser?
I was a late bloomer according to some of my relatives. Although I am college educated, I never bothered with getting a degree. My first career was in an art related field.
When I was almost forty years old, I looked around at all my twenty-something co-workers and realized that it was time for me to move on. My career was in a holding pattern (going nowhere) and since I was unwilling to return to a major city, such as New York, San Francisco or L.A. where I could advance, I needed to make a change. So at thirty-seven I quit my job. After a year long sabbatical, I took a stopgap position with a school district. Twenty-seven years later, I retired from working at the school district with a great retirement plan which should sustain me without the need to work until whenever I die.
What is most important, is in looking back I have no regrets. I never made really big money, but so what? My family and I lived well and happily. Most of the time, I enjoyed working and the folks I worked with. Sure there were some moments here and there where I thought things should have gone differently, like when the school district contracted out my job and I was faced with either quitting or accepting a lesser position, neither of which was ideal since I was then fifty years old. I decided to hang in there and ride out the time until I could retire which ended up being a good decision.
I don't believe Tom will have be happy with what he is doing for a living. No one is going to hand him a career and he isn't really willing to work for one either. All he has is excuses for why things aren't going the way he thinks they should. He isn't foreward thinking at all.
I have a lady friend who thought she would marry a rich guy and live in a nice neighborhood with 2.5 kids, etc. She's a year younger than I am. She never married although she's a nice looking and intelligent woman. She never really had a career or even stuck with any job for very long. Today, she lives in her mother's house which she inherited. She collects a meager SSI check each month and when she's lucky she finds some temp work. Obviously, she didn't do something right. She's not happy.
The moral of this post, Tom (should you ever happen to read it), is that life is what you make of it.
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Primemuscle: you just affirmed the advice I gave two years ago. :-*
-- as someone suggested, with your degree you could become certified to teach in a local school district. No one gets rich being a teacher, but I think most people would agree that teaching is a more respectable profession than “working only part time as a manager at a recreational center.” Good school districts require all teachers to eventually get a master’s degree at some point in their career. But the district may have many options surrounding this requirement including helping you pay for the degree.
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hi, well according to california muscle i need to come back and reply to all the comments, mostly negative!? why in the hell would i need to do that! positive advice was/would be welcomed, but i guess i was asking too much, but i will state a few things before i sign off:
1)baygbm: you only know what i have told you so don't presume, as far as your sarcastic rolling your eyes icon about how i "only" wanted to be a studio executive, i never said that i expected it to happen overnight, i clearly thought if it did ever happen it would take me a 10 to 20 years or more and i realize that 95 percent of the people in lala land are assholes, nutjobs and not good people and wasn't willing to fill my life with these kind of people 12 to 14 hours a day in the hope that i just might get to be where i want to be and there is no guarentee. so no thank you!
2)victorvondoom: as far as your comment about how i realize i would have to work hard, sacrifice and buckle down and the pt assistant world wasn't glamorous i decided to bail out, YOU KNOW NOTHING. i've worked hard and sacrificed for shit for my entire life! 3 jobs at one time, 70 to 80 hours a week for years and so on. don' presume when you know nothing!
Lol, what were you hoping for everyone to blow smoke up your ass. Part of your problem is your shitty attitude and shitty work ethic. You have all the high ideas but they're fleeting. Call the whambulance whiny bitch!
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epic mob mentality here... poor tom. maybe look into social housing or something. then you will be set up for life.
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Bay nails it. The best advice you're gonna get on this one.
Bay is used to nailing things :D
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A job opening for Tom?
Rich Ross resigns as chairman of Walt Disney Studios
After less than three years on the job, Rich Ross is out as chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Ross' departure, which was largely expected throughout Hollywood, follows a period of management upheaval at the Burbank-based studio and a pair of two high-profile box office flops: last year's "Mars Needs Moms" and the Martian adventure film "John Carter," for which Disney acknowledged it expected to take a $200-million loss -- one of the largest in movie history.
Ross, who had built the Disney Channel into a global powerhouse, was promoted in October 2009 as successor to studio veteran Dick Cook. Despite achieving success with Disney Channel shows such as "High School Musical," Ross lacked experience in the movie business.
Many inside and outside Disney were skeptical at the time that a TV executive with limited film experience could transition successfully to running a large movie studio.
In an effort to improve the studio's performance, Ross restructured operations and ousted several experienced division heads and hired a movie outsider, MT Carney, as head of marketing. Carney was pushed out in January after less than two years on the job.
Ross sent an email to his colleagues Friday morning, saying, "I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me. For that reason, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective today."
In a statement, Disney Chairman Bob Iger touted Ross' contributions to the company. "His vision and leadership opened doors for Disney around the world, making our brand part of daily life for millions of people."
No replacement was named.
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A job opening for Tom?
Rich Ross resigns as chairman of Walt Disney Studios
After less than three years on the job, Rich Ross is out as chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Ross' departure, which was largely expected throughout Hollywood, follows a period of management upheaval at the Burbank-based studio and a pair of two high-profile box office flops: last year's "Mars Needs Moms" and the Martian adventure film "John Carter," for which Disney acknowledged it expected to take a $200-million loss -- one of the largest in movie history.
Ross, who had built the Disney Channel into a global powerhouse, was promoted in October 2009 as successor to studio veteran Dick Cook. Despite achieving success with Disney Channel shows such as "High School Musical," Ross lacked experience in the movie business.
Many inside and outside Disney were skeptical at the time that a TV executive with limited film experience could transition successfully to running a large movie studio.
In an effort to improve the studio's performance, Ross restructured operations and ousted several experienced division heads and hired a movie outsider, MT Carney, as head of marketing. Carney was pushed out in January after less than two years on the job.
Ross sent an email to his colleagues Friday morning, saying, "I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me. For that reason, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective today."
In a statement, Disney Chairman Bob Iger touted Ross' contributions to the company. "His vision and leadership opened doors for Disney around the world, making our brand part of daily life for millions of people."
No replacement was named.
Haha you're just cruel Bay!
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Haha you're just cruel Bay!
Not at all. It's merely updated news on an item previously discussed in this thread. No cruelty intended. :)
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Walt Disney Studios: Help wanted to manage films and egos
Few in Hollywood seem interested in heading Disney Studios, a tough job requiring working with outside partners and guiding the company into the digital age.
By Ben Fritz, Los Angeles Times
Once considered one of the most powerful and sought-after positions in Hollywood, running Walt Disney Studios — the 89-year-old Burbank institution behind "Snow White," "Mary Poppins" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" — now seems about as desirable as playing Goofy on a hot day at Disneyland.
But since Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger fired his studio head Rich Ross last week, the buzz in Hollywood has been less about who's angling for the studio chairman job and more about who would want it.
The reason: Iger's strategy of turning Disney into a collection of brands means that most of the films it releases are not overseen or greenlighted by the movie studio chief, as they are at rival companies. Next year, for example, Disney will release five movies, including two 3-D re-releases, from its Pixar and Disney animation units, both headed by John Lasseter and Ed Catmull; two superhero films from Marvel, a subsidiary run by Chief Executive Ike Perlmutter and President Kevin Feige; and at least one from DreamWorks, the independent studio run by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider that has a distribution deal with Disney.
Ross' successor must be someone all of those partners trust and with whom they are willing to work. And a big part of the job will be managing their egos.
Only two films on Disney's 2013 slate were approved and overseen by Ross: "Oz: The Great and Powerful," based on the classic book series and movie, and a new version of "The Lone Ranger" starring Johnny Depp. And both have powerful producers who are themselves forces to be reckoned with: Jerry Bruckheimer on "The Lone Ranger" and former Disney studio Chairman Joe Roth on "Oz."
The studio is responsible, however, for advertising and releasing the movies from all of its brands and partners, meaning Ross' successor would be an easy target for blame if those pictures didn't work. People close to Disney but not authorized to speak publicly say Lasseter, Feige and Snider are all intimately involved in marketing plans and were bitter about having their films promoted by inexperienced outsider M.T. Carney, whom Ross hired in 2010 and dismissed early this year.
Though Ross' departure came soon after the failure of "John Carter," for which Disney is taking a $200-million write-down, people close to the studio said it had more to do with his inability to win the support of allies inside and outside Disney. Lasseter, Perlmutter, Snider and Spielberg were said to have been unhappy with his leadership, and numerous lower-level employees at the studio, plus agents and producers around Hollywood, complained that Ross did not clearly articulate the types of projects he wanted or his vision to transform the studio.
In addition, Ross replaced nearly all of the seasoned movie executives at Disney with less experienced hands. Some newcomers, such as production president Sean Bailey, are well liked, but others, such as Carney, were spectacular failures. (So far, Carney's successor, Ricky Strauss, is winning higher marks.)
Thus, less than three years after Iger stunned Hollywood by replacing veteran Dick Cook with Ross, who had a successful tenure running Disney Channels Worldwide but had never worked in the movie business, the Disney CEO must go back to the drawing board — again.
He is faced with the humbling task of finding a chairman capable of endearing himself or herself to colleagues and Hollywood's creative community and who also possesses the skills to update the studio for the digital age — one of the ostensible reasons Cook was fired.
"All of this drama shows the changes at the studio are very much a work in progress," said Tony Wible, a media analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott. "But it's important they figure it out because the studio is a launching pad for the brands that make money in theme parks, in consumer products and on television."
Walt Disney Studios is now being run by several executives previously under Ross who now report directly to Iger, including Bailey and President Alan Bergman, who oversees distribution and business operations. It's an unusual situation in Hollywood, where top executives usually aren't fired without a replacement lined up to prevent the kind of instability and uncertainty now present on the Disney lot.
Already, many of the names that first popped up as potential successors for Ross have quietly made clear that they're not interested or are unavailable.
Feige, who has produced Marvel's string of hits including two "Iron Man" films, "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger," along with next week's hugely anticipated "The Avengers," is telling associates that he'd prefer to stay in his current job, according to two people familiar with the executive's thinking.
Lasseter, who lives near the headquarters of Pixar Animation Studios in Northern California's Emeryville, is said to be happy staying in charge of Disney's fabled animation operation. Snider, who ran Universal Pictures before moving to DreamWorks, is obliged to sign a multi-year contract extension as part of a $200-million refinancing with backer Reliance Entertainment, making her unavailable even if she wanted the job.
Roth, who ran Disney Studios from 1994 to 2000 and has headed 20th Century Fox and Revolution Studios, is not interested in the position as he is busy producing three coming movies for Disney: "Oz," a sequel to the 2010 blockbuster "Alice in Wonderland" and the "Sleeping Beauty" spinoff "Maleficent," as well as the FX/Lionsgate television show "Anger Management" starring Charlie Sheen. He also owns Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders.
At a presentation of Disney's coming movies at the CinemaCon gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas this week, things appeared to go smoothly despite the instability in Burbank. The studio brought out stars including Depp, James Franco and Mila Kunis and had executives including Bailey, Feige and Lasseter discuss the slate, along with Bruckheimer and Roth.
On the press line beforehand, however, the tension was evident.
Asked whether she was worried Ross' exit might affect the marketing of her Pixar animated film "Brave," producer Katherine Sarafian quickly changed the subject.
"We feel like we're in good hands and here to talk about 'Brave.' I think we're doing all right," she said.
Almost immediately after Sarafian had uttered the words, a Disney publicist rushed over and implored a reporter to stop asking filmmakers questions about Ross because it was making them "uncomfortable."
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really interesting thread. makes me worry.
i'm just about to turn 26 and graduate with a computer science degree. i've previously graduated with an english degree to avoid dropping out of school (i had no motivation for college the first time around, and just wanted to get it done with). sadly, as i near graduation once more (just one quarter left), the old malaise is getting back to me. can i really stomach an engineering career? can i make it in a highly competitive field when i have little to no interest in the industry?
i mean, sure i like writing code more than most other things i learned in school... but if i won the lottery today, i wouldn't write another line in my whole life! i'm graduating "at the top of my class" from a decent school, but i feel like i have nothing in common with my department peers, and even less with the few industry professionals i know of.
what's the alternative though? i know what it's like having no marketable skills -- that dreadful situation is what sent me back to school in the first place. i feel like i'm damned if i do, damned if i don't. all the talk of teaching in this thread has actually got me somewhat interested. as far as i know, though, computer programming isn't really taught below the university level.
i could try for a phd, but no one gets a phd just to teach, and you need even more passion for computation and math to pursue an academic career than to pursue an industry career...
i really don't know what i'm going to do. my job search is floundering. people can sense i have no enthusiasm during my phone interviews.
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really interesting thread. makes me worry.
i'm just about to turn 26 and graduate with a computer science degree. i've previously graduated with an english degree to avoid dropping out of school (i had no motivation for college the first time around, and just wanted to get it done with). sadly, as i near graduation once more (just one quarter left), the old malaise is getting back to me. can i really stomach an engineering career? can i make it in a highly competitive field when i have little to no interest in the industry?
i mean, sure i like writing code more than most other things i learned in school... but if i won the lottery today, i wouldn't write another line in my whole life! i'm graduating "at the top of my class" from a decent school, but i feel like i have nothing in common with my department peers, and even less with the few industry professionals i know of.
what's the alternative though? i know what it's like having no marketable skills -- that dreadful situation is what sent me back to school in the first place. i feel like i'm damned if i do, damned if i don't. all the talk of teaching in this thread has actually got me somewhat interested. as far as i know, though, computer programming isn't really taught below the university level.
i could try for a phd, but no one gets a phd just to teach, and you need even more passion for computation and math to pursue an academic career than to pursue an industry career...
i really don't know what i'm going to do. my job search is floundering. people can sense i have no enthusiasm during my phone interviews.
I could write a novel here, if I wasn't so dog-tired from writing code :)
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really interesting thread. makes me worry.
i'm just about to turn 26 and graduate with a computer science degree. i've previously graduated with an english degree to avoid dropping out of school (i had no motivation for college the first time around, and just wanted to get it done with). sadly, as i near graduation once more (just one quarter left), the old malaise is getting back to me. can i really stomach an engineering career? can i make it in a highly competitive field when i have little to no interest in the industry?
i mean, sure i like writing code more than most other things i learned in school... but if i won the lottery today, i wouldn't write another line in my whole life! i'm graduating "at the top of my class" from a decent school, but i feel like i have nothing in common with my department peers, and even less with the few industry professionals i know of.
what's the alternative though? i know what it's like having no marketable skills -- that dreadful situation is what sent me back to school in the first place. i feel like i'm damned if i do, damned if i don't. all the talk of teaching in this thread has actually got me somewhat interested. as far as i know, though, computer programming isn't really taught below the university level.
i could try for a phd, but no one gets a phd just to teach, and you need even more passion for computation and math to pursue an academic career than to pursue an industry career...
i really don't know what i'm going to do. my job search is floundering. people can sense i have no enthusiasm during my phone interviews.
Some brief points:
- Were you comparing yourself to Tom? There are twenty years between you. The guy has admitted he was fucking around for more than a decade, whereas you have two degrees.
- You have a top ten marketable skill. You don't have to "make it" if you don't want to. But you will live comfortably in harrowing times. You know as well as I do that not everyone can code. And you have an degree in english on top of that? Intellectually, you are head and shoulders above most people mate. This alone should be a source of immense pride to you.
- You may want to consider working for a small company... with only a couple other developers. You will grow very fast. In any case don't dismiss professional coding until you do it, you may get yourself into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Looking for job straight out of uni is always hard. It took me twelve interviews in six months to finally land my first job (I was saying all the wrong things anyway- trying to come across as too smart- people are looking for a team player in graduates. Make sure to emphasize this.) Do you know how long it took me to find my second job? Two weeks. I had three interviews straight away, two of which made an offer the next day.
Have a go at it. What's there to lose anyway?
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thanks ray! i'm definitely going to suck it up at least until i can land something and pay off the debt i've accumulated from school loans, so i'm sure i'll get some professional experience soon. i just can't shake the feeling i'm not cut out for it, that something's wrong, that i should be doing something else...
thanks for your advice, again. i'm sure i'll have more questions for you in the coming months!
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Tom is now 52. Did he ever find his "real career"? ???
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;D
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i am planning to retire by 40
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Tom is now 52. Did he ever find his "real career"? ???
If he didn't, I guarantee it's because "it's somebody else's fault."
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If he didn't, I guarantee it's because "it's somebody else's fault."
D'oh!
In fairness to Tom he spends his "days dealing with 99 percent assholes."
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D'oh!
In fairness to Tom he spends his "days dealing with 99 percent assholes."
I wasn't being mean, either - just realistic.
Seriously, which is more productive: excuses, or solutions?
FFS... EVERYBODY can say they deal with 99% assholes daily, when you can consider ANYONE an asshole!!
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I got laid off a month ago and have been searching for a technical writer position. Not many openings now but I will continue to my job search. I have also had proposal management and marketing experience.
A long time ago after college I was a personal trainer. Even then, I was making $60,000 a year.
And I still am a bodybuilder. At 6'2", 270 lbs. age 47 with a 53" chest and 20.5" arms, a lot of recruiters usually don't see guys my size. And I know there is some concern about me:
1. being a musclehead
2. Aggressiveness or roid rage
3. Too old
I had one recruiter ask me an illegal EEOC question: "How many years will it be until you retire?"
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I got laid off a month ago and have been searching for a technical writer position. Not many openings now but I will continue to my job search. I have also had proposal management and marketing experience.
A long time ago after college I was a personal trainer. Even then, I was making $60,000 a year.
And I still am a bodybuilder. At 6'2", 270 lbs. age 47 with a 53" chest and 20.5" arms, a lot of recruiters usually don't see guys my size. And I know there is some concern about me:
1. being a musclehead
2. Aggressiveness or roid rage
3. Too old
I had one recruiter ask me an illegal EEOC question: "How many years will it be until you retire?"
Any luck, brother?
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I got laid off a month ago and have been searching for a technical writer position. Not many openings now but I will continue to my job search. I have also had proposal management and marketing experience.
A long time ago after college I was a personal trainer. Even then, I was making $60,000 a year.
And I still am a bodybuilder. At 6'2", 270 lbs. age 47 with a 53" chest and 20.5" arms, a lot of recruiters usually don't see guys my size. And I know there is some concern about me:
1. being a musclehead
2. Aggressiveness or roid rage
3. Too old
I had one recruiter ask me an illegal EEOC question: "How many years will it be until you retire?"
Try to stay positive. You're not even 50 yet, that's not too old to get hired. Check out this link which offers some good solid job seeking advice, https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/get-your-50-plus-resume-right (https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/get-your-50-plus-resume-right)
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life is not about a career, life is about Jesus
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Tom is now 56. Anyone care to place a bet on how life has turned out for him since his original post ten years ago? Is he still living with his younger brother... or has he retired to a glam life in San Diego?
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Tom is now 56. Anyone care to place a bet on how life has turned out for him since his original post ten years ago? Is he still living with his younger brother... or has he retired to a glam life in San Diego?
Hi, Gay Tom!
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Probably just either has a low pay job or qualified for disability.
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Probably just either has a low pay job or qualified for disability.
Funny you should mention disability. I know more than a handful of people (men and women) in their 40s and 50s who have tried to get disability. On one level it makes sense: none of them have ever had what you would call a real career... and are unlikely to have one going forward. With no where else to turn they have manufactured a reason to seek disability. One claims to have rotating list of reasons why she cannot work: she was in a car accident two years ago... she has a misdiagnosed mental illness, she has anxiety related to Covid-19, she was abused by her "blood brothers" when she was a child... her mother died a few years ago... her ex husband is mean... and on and on. She was fired from her last job several months ago and she has given up looking for work preferring to beg people--including me--for handouts. In the last two years she has asked me for cash; to buy clothes for her kids; a laptop, an Uber ride, to pay her cell phone bill; a place to stay (for free) either in my house or in my rental properties, and more. Um, no.
Another guy I know is an aging circuit boy/gym rat who is pushing 60. He has no savings or assets and claims to be too injured to work reliably, but has no problem working out at the gym or finding his way to the next circuit party or street fair. He applied for disability several times and was denied several times. Finally his application was approved and he was overjoyed. His reaction was "now, I'm set for life." I suppose getting disability beats having to hold emergency fundraisers on Facebook (which he has done before), but it doesn't seem like something to celebrate. I once asked him why he didn't turn to his parents for help or move in with them when he was facing homelessness. He told me that while his mother was sympathetic his father would not allow him to move in with them.
Another guy is about 50. He has never had a professional life; his work experience is at the level of being a waiter. By sheer coincidence we have lived in the same city on opposite sides of the country. When his last relationship ended he asked if he could move into one of my spare bedrooms (No). His other option was to "go back to Arkansas with my tail between my legs" live with his family and apply for disability (he is now very overweight).
I could give other examples... It is hard to believe one can live 40, 50, or 60 years and having nothing to show for it but the clothes on your back and an application for disability. Alas, bad life choices have consequences. :'(
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"Let's call this Tom fella and make him an offer he can't refuse."
(https://media1.tenor.com/images/3988693e4ef16ba22d6173e1341b1386/tenor.gif?itemid=8127721)
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Tom recently posted just a few weeks ago.
Maybe he can tell us what he's up to.
Hope he's well. Getbig cares about Tom.
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=672048.msg9568265#msg9568265
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If life was expensive 11 years ago, imagine now... Weird direction this world is moving on to.
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If life was expensive 11 years ago, imagine now... Weird direction this world is moving on to.
"i fucked around for alot of years, dropping out of school…"
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"that sucks! so i dropped out!..."
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"i like my personal freedom and individuality too much to have a normal 9 to 5 job…"
+
56 years old
=
FUBAR :'(
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He might never become rich but he could still easily turn things around. All you need is a paid off house, good health and a handful of cash when you retire. If he's a ladies man he could even find a woman to marry who is financially set. He COULD do it but it's unlikely that he WILL do it based on his past so far.
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He might never become rich but he could still easily turn things around. All you need is a paid off house, good health and a handful of cash when you retire. If he's a ladies man he could even find a woman to marry who is financially set. He COULD do it but it's unlikely that he WILL do it based on his past so far.
Based on his previous posts we know a few things: he does not own a house, condo, or townhouse; he has $30k in student loans that he is trying to pay off; he does not have any retirement funds or investments to speak of; he is gay so the ladies man option is off the table; his physique is average at best. The last time he mentioned his living situation he had moved in with his younger brother to avoid homelessness.
Granted that was all several years ago but back then he was not on an upward trajectory--he was circling a drain. I hope he managed to turn this around, but the best predictor of future behavior is past performance... so... I am not sanguine. :'(
Paid off houses do not come "easily." At this point I would be surprised if he could come up with 20% to put down on a place.
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Based on his previous posts we know a few things: he does not own a house, condo, or townhouse; he has $30k student loans that he is trying to pay off; he does not have any retirement funds or investments to speak of; he is gay so the ladies man option is off the table; his physique is average at best. The last time he mentioned his living situation he had moved in with his younger brother to avoid homelessness.
Granted that was all several years ago but back then he was not on an upward trajectory--he was circling a drain. I hope he managed to turn this around, but the best predictor of future behavior is past performance... so... I am not sanguine. :'(
Paid off houses do not come "easily." At this point I would be surprised if he could come up with 20% to put down on a place.
I agree it isn't likely that he will turn it around, just saying it is possible but will take effort, something he hasn't exhibited much in the past. Even a job at WalMart could turn his life around. I have a buddy in California who bought a house in a desert town for $12,000.
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I agree it isn't likely that he will turn it around, just saying it is possible but will take effort, something he hasn't exhibited much in the past. Even a job at WalMart could turn his life around. I have a buddy in California who bought a house in a desert town for $12,000.
WalMart? Desert Town? That's a far cry from his stated goal of San Diego or Orange County, CA. :'(
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WalMart? Desert Town? That's a far cry from his stated goal of San Diego or Orange County, CA. :'(
He will have to move.
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::)
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According to my math the OP, Tom, is now 58. How is he doing? Paid off his student loans? Good job? Homeowner? Retirement savings? In good shape? ???
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According to my math the OP, Tom, is now 58. How is he doing? Paid off his student loans? Good job? Homeowner? Retirement savings? In good shape? ???
Bought crypto at the bottom and cashed out at the top, now living in a seaside villa in the Carribean.
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Bought crypto at the bottom and cashed out at the top, now living in a seaside villa in the Carribean.
What did he buy the crypto with? ;D
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What did he buy the crypto with? ;D
Found coins in a public fountain.
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Found coins in a public fountain.
Probably.
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Time is the one thing you can never recover… as Tom has learned this the hard way. Those 13 years he wasted derailed his educational and professional life in a way that severely limited his life options.
If he had it to do all over again, I wonder what he would do differently. What lessons has he learned? ??? :'(
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Time is the one thing you can never recover… as Tom has learned this the hard way. Those 13 years he wasted derailed his educational and professional life in a way that severely limited his life options.
If he had it to do all over again, I wonder what’s he would do differently. What lessons has he learned? ??? :'(
Most of success in life is based on what you don't do. He didn't get married or have kids which is the equivalent to millionaire wealth.A single man can live well on very little. Being happy and content is true success.
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Most of success in life is based on what you don't do. He didn't get married or have kids which is the equivalent to millionaire wealth.A single man can live well on very little. Being happy and content is true success.
He is unmarried and childless but happy and content was not the life Tom described. He was effectively homeless and living with his younger brother to keep a roof over his head. Working part time at a rec center and his future prospects were dim. Had that been his lot at 25 we could have a different take on his future but being in that situation in your 50s doesn’t leave much room for optimism. :-\
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He is unmarried and childless but happy and content was not the life Tom described. He was effectively homeless and living with his younger brother to keep a roof over his head. Working part time at a rec center and his future prospects were dim. Had that been his lot at 25 we could have a different take on his future but being in that situation in your 50s doesn’t leave much room for optimism. :-\
Yeah, but as a single man simply getting employed at WalMart would turn his life around.