Thursday

ei34

How is everyone today?

ei34

Kind of slogging through this week.  There's some work nonsense that has slowly but surely been getting worse, but a lot of us are feeling it now.  I'm super pro-union, but our current union heads have always acted in their own interest, and they and their closest friends are getting better treatment as a result. It's starting to feel a bit corrupt, unfortunately.  

banana468

ei34 said:

Kind of slogging through this week.  There's some work nonsense that has slowly but surely been getting worse, but a lot of us are feeling it now.  I'm super pro-union, but our current union heads have always acted in their own interest, and they and their closest friends are getting better treatment as a result. It's starting to feel a bit corrupt, unfortunately.  

That's a lot of the criticism that unions get.  I have mixed feelings on them as well especially when there is a mixed bag of information of 'think for yourself!' followed by 'if you don't do what we say then we'll put you on a list of scabs!' (happened to my dad when he didn't support his company strike and he took a different job in the same company.  The union published a SCAB / dox list.
But a different union also had my mom's back when she was physically assaulted in the classroom.  

I think I forgot to give Chiquita her meds today and my fingers are crossed she makes it through her half day OK.  We need to get her ready for a big trip this weekend for GS so it's going to be a lot of packing.  

While she's gone DH and I are likely taking Chiquito with us to go car shopping.  Mine is 14 years old and we've had it for nearly 11.  With the likely issues that are going to happen with the car market thanks to the current administration and how we were stranded with a busted alternator in 2023 we know that as future repairs are needed they'll cost more and do we want to wait or look.  Plus, in two years ish we are going to likely buy a car for Chiquita when she turns 16.  We *can* get by with her not having a car but man, it's going to be so much easier for her to have have her own mode of transportation.  Yesterday I went to the HS 2 times and Monday it was 3 times!

levioosa

I love unions but I'll also admit that they have their fair share of problems too. Trying to convince people not to throw baby out with the bathwater is endlessly frustrating. The solution to "we have some issues" is not to disband them completely. 

Rainy and cold here. I kind of snapped at H last night and now I feel bad. We discovered some water damage in our main bedroom closet, so he took everything out and bleached it, which then meant we had to sleep in the spare bedroom. It runs hotter and I was warm, so he got up to grab a fan and tried to set it up next to me on the bedside table. But he was so loud, the fan was loud and bright, and when I wake up I can't go back to sleep so I was super grouchy with him. Then I felt bad because he really was trying to do something sweet. Ugh. 

Good luck on the car shopping @banana468. I like my car a lot but it wasn't necessarily my dream car. This morning I was telling H I'm glad we bought it though, because all of the shenanigans happening mean everything is about to be a cluster with the auto industry. 

banana468

@levioosa we pretty much know what we want and now are starting to look at what's available.  I'm a minivan mom and will likely have one while our parents are around and may need rides and definitely while we're in the kids and their stuff phase.

My Odyssey is a 2011.  I love a lot of it.  The leather heated seats, customizable seating and ability to get 4 x 8 sheets of plywood are fantastic.  If things don't pan out it's going to be the workhorse for GS pick up in 2 weeks.   The thing holds SO MUCH.  We have a pic from when we bought beds for the kids in 2021.  Each got an Ikea loft bed that has a desk and closet under it plus mattresses and everything needed fit in the back of the van when all the seats were removed.  That kind of cargo just isn't available in most SUVs unless you're getting into GMC Yukon, Escalade, territory.  

That said, we're now looking at a Toyota Sienna which will have smaller cargo but still more than most SUVs.  I want AWD and having them as hybrids is a great selling point when I think of how much I'm driving a 4 mile clip at a time.    But we're lucky at the moment that we can be picky with the trim level I want.  

Honda hasn't really improved the noise issues in the cars (it's LOUD to try to hear Chiquito when he's in the back and I'm not saying it's loud because of the radio but ambient noise from the road) and they don't have a hybrid option.  And this may be our only completely free Saturday for months. 

VarunaTT

I'm keeping my car probably until it dies, b/c I saw some news that automakers are considering creating monthly subscriptions for features on cars and I just WILL NOT do it.  I'm tired of not OWNING anything anymore, full free and clear, without having to sign up to a monthly fee to make it work better.

Unions suffer from the same thing every community does -- humans.  We're only as good as our worst person/process.  That being said, they still do more good than harm and there's virtually nothing else that has proven effective against profit-hungry employers.  Not saying there's nothing else out there, but we haven't found it yet and until we do, unions until I die.

Met my new attorney this morning.  I shouldn't care about things like this, but he was asking me my work history.  Finally, he asked how much experience I had.  I replied 20+ years.  He said, What?  I said, I'm 48.  He said, I totally thought you were younger than me and in your 20s.  Which hey, it's not true, but I'll take it.  Taking good care of my skin and not being a ugly human or hater is paying off.  I'm excited to learn a new state system.

Otherwise, SSDD.  I'm a little behind from missing a day unexpectedly, but catching up.  Looking forward to the weekend where I don't plan to do much of anything.

levioosa

I was just talking about that this weekend @VarunaTT. The amount of rage I feel that you have to pay a subscription to keep using the heated seats or other features in a CAR YOU PURCHASED is absolutely disgusting to me. I am honestly feeling so angry at how nothing we have is actually owned any more. Everything is temporary. It's all subscriptions. I've told H I want to start actually buying media I like because I don't like the fact that things are temporary and can be pulled at any moment online. Pisses me off too, because I don't like clutter and was trying to decrease the volume of stuff. What is this end stage capitalistic wasteland? 

VarunaTT

Yep.  That is why I canceled all the streaming services and have starting checking out DVDs from the library and buying DVDs/CDs/vinyl again.  I'm annoyed b/c now it's an expensive habit, but guess what?  so are the damn subscriptions.  And most of them won't let you pay an annual fee.  I still use free ones or if they're under $5/month (Disney let me back in for $3 a month and I'm using Apple under a free agreement right now, have noted when to cancel, though Apple will do annual).  I will re-up for a month for something specific (Drive to Survive drops tomorrow, so I'll have Netflix for a month), but otherwise, screw AAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL of this BS.

banana468

I'm with you there on the subscriptions.  I do not want to pay to use the things I purchased!  We also don't have satellite radio but do have a few subscription services for TV and have canceled a few over time.  It went over like a lead balloon when BMW wanted to charge for their heated seats and I'm not going to do it.  

That said with kids, we need to stream some things so we do.

Also, who has two thumbs and forgot to give her kiddo her ADHD meds before she took the PSATs today?  I'll just see myself out. 

charlotte989875

I’m with you all- subscription models have jumped the shark and I’m over it all. I’m also very wary about what’s to come politically and economically and had therapy today. I love my therapist so much but we talked about the state of things. She ended our session by saying “I’d usually try and reassure someone that things are going to be fine but you know too much about how these systems work and know that’s not actually true” so at least I feel validated by the state of things. 

banana468

charlotte989875 said:

I’m with you all- subscription models have jumped the shark and I’m over it all. I’m also very wary about what’s to come politically and economically and had therapy today. I love my therapist so much but we talked about the state of things. She ended our session by saying “I’d usually try and reassure someone that things are going to be fine but you know too much about how these systems work and know that’s not actually true” so at least I feel validated by the state of things. 

DH is going to a seminar tonight while I take kid-wrangler duty.  The seminar is on how to pay for college and I said one question I have is WTF is going on and what is the actual intelligence on FAFSA and student loans.  This is now affecting us in 3 years when she'll theoretically have to decide and in 2.5 when she'll be applying and the two of us will be filling out the form.   

charlotte989875

I’m also pretty concerned about student loans- my own and the future. I’m in the SAVE plan that’s been on pause since last year, H is in a regular income driven repayment- we have no idea what’s going to happen to those. The applications for new enrollments are gone from the websites but we have no idea what that means for existing borrowers. 

ei34

Yes to reiterate again I'm very pro-union, I'd much rather have one than not.  Just feels very Boss Tweed right now, the departments the union heads work in are the ones that keep benefitting from things the rest of us do not.

And monthly subscriptions taking over simply owning things drives me crazy!!  

levioosa

I don't think any of us thought you weren't in support @ei34. It's super frustrating to be in support of a system but acknowledge its flaws and people tend to have an all or nothing approach which just isn't realistic. 

I am literally ostriching about student loans because me and my $300K of student loan debt have no real options besides the plan I'm already on and it's not that it's the least of my concerns, but the world is literally on fire and I have to fight other things right now. If it comes down to me paying $10K monthly for loan repayment I will simply default. So I hope they like when they get 0 dollars from people instead of lower more manageable amounts. I'm not going to work 100 hours a week so I can live paycheck to paycheck.