Michelle Palmer6 said:Man, they just keep throwing phones at me; I can't even defend myself! At least they aren't taking away the ones I actually bought for myself!
It probably depends on where you work. I suppose if you're working a government job, I agree that you probably won't get those perks. But I know some private companies have started handing out decent models to employees making around $60,000 net. Of course, management usually gets the flagships, but for someone like me who just uses a phone for messaging, Reddit, and news, I don't really need anything fancy. Maybe I'm living in a parallel universe, but over the last 5 or 6 years, I've spent about $167 on phones and laptops—including buying back a company laptop (a high-end model that cost $1,600 before tax, but I got it after three years for about $75). So, when I hear that people actually shell out thousands of dollars for phones, it feels a little strange to me.
I honestly find it a bit surprising when people actually go out and buy their own phones. I haven't personally bought one since maybe 2010, because my company usually offers me a new model every couple of years if I want one. Even with entry-level jobs these days, they seem to hand out work phones with data plans included.
I bought mine half in cash and half through financing. The loan itself wasn't the issue, it's more about everything else that comes with owning a car. For instance, my car is nearly 11 years old now, I've put about 100k miles on it, and it's still in great shape. I’ll probably need something bigger once the kids grow up, but maybe I can hold off for a few more years. Between driving around town and road trips, I cover about 9,000 miles a year, which is roughly $2,500 in gas. I always stick to the dealership for service, which usually runs me about $1,500 to $2,000 annually. Registration and fees come out to around $200. Then you've got two seasonal tire swaps and storage which total over $233. Until recently, I was also paying $67 in taxes. Gas is about $8, and other miscellaneous stuff is maybe $400. I sometimes get the feeling you spend the most on gas just because you're filling up every week. It is the biggest expense, I guess, but not by a massive margin compared to the rest. Though, I should mention my car is small, so everything costs a bit less. A buddy of mine recently picked up a used Mercedes for about $30,000; he's from a small town in Alabama. He inherited a place from his mom, so I assume he didn't have a mortgage, but still. $30,000 for a used car? You could probably find a tiny studio apartment in Chicago for a little more than that and rent it for life.
Oh, we actually drove to Germany recently, to this small town in Bavaria. I honestly thought people would look at me like some poor guy from overseas driving an 11-year-old clunker, but then I saw the exact same Fiesta—just an older model—parked twenty meters away on the same street. You see cars like that everywhere. I think the average age of cars is pretty high across Europe, and even in the US. My car is pretty much the average age for a vehicle here. Cars built in the last 15–20 years seem to break down way less; if you stay on top of maintenance and don't drive them too hard, they can last decades. Back in the day, my brother and I pushed an old Golf Mk2 to 300k miles before it finally ended up at the scrapyard for $300. I guess you just have to drive them as long as they keep rolling and make sure to take care of them.
Larry Fox5 said:Even the biggest, wealthiest corporations in the world use leased fleets. It's standard business practice these days. You write it all off as an expense immediately, then swap the old car for a new one once the lease is up—it’s simple, clean, and efficient.
I've actually been crunching some numbers lately since I'm looking at buying a new house. I was trying to see how much I managed to save over my career and during five years living in my first place (which was a mortgage). Looking at my company records, it turns out I’ve probably only saved maybe 15% of what I've earned—actually, probably even less. So, today I did a deep dive into everything I’ve bought, spent, or paid off over the last 12 years. Back in 2008, I bought a new Ford Fiesta on credit, and between the car itself, gas, maintenance, registration, and tires, I’ve spent roughly $35,000 to $40,000. 🤦 I've spent about $35,000 on travel. 🤦 For my first home, including the mortgage payments and furnishing, I spent about $40,000, though after selling it, I basically broke even—maybe even lost a little because those interest rates are tough to overcome. I guess that one car ended up costing me as much as a whole new house did in five years. It’s easy to miss how much these things swallow up, especially since that was one of the cheaper cars out there. If a Ford Fiesta does that, I can only imagine what a Mercedes or an Audi would cost... Lately, I've mostly been biking. That B-Twin from Target, $800, will probably serve me well for at least another 10 years.
I guess people have such unrealistic expectations of politics that they end up shocked by everything. It seems like some folks look for a third option or an alternative from groups that couldn't even manage a single local community entrance together. I wonder if these people can even coordinate a simple weekend soccer game, yet they're out there proposing solutions involving hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars. This whole circus isn't really surprising, though, since we're mostly looking at a crew drowning in debt who would probably all love to collect a high-end federal salary in D.C. Maybe those struggling financially should just stay out of politics altogether.
I think they're all pretty talented coaches. I guess Klopp will never be a loser, because he really took Liverpool to a whole new level compared to whoever came before him.
It feels a bit early to start a new poll or thread since we've already crowned Pele and Messi as our winners. Maybe we could try something else instead, like picking an all-time best XI, the greatest national team, or even the best coach? I guess we haven't really covered those topics yet.
Larry Fox5 said:I’ve said it a million times already—the way this whole system works just makes zero sense. Whether you're looking at Germany or even right here in the States...
It’s basically the same mess everywhere—it just looks different because some places have a slightly better political culture or a longer history of democracy, giving them that fake sense of stability.
People don't seem to know much about how things actually work; they mostly just philosophize and live in an illusion. Americans didn't invent corruption, political games, or theft—and we certainly didn't invent the necktie either. What we see here is just a small-scale local game with low stakes. If you look at our neighbors, you'll see all sorts of political swamps exist everywhere. We haven't truly had a long-standing tradition of democracy or stable governance; it's relatively new to us, so maybe it will take a lot more time to establish actual order. Everyone seems to think they're entitled to everything, as if a perfect life and justice are guaranteed by default. People want to be like Sweden or Switzerland without putting in the 300 years of hard work and education required to get there.
First off, I suspect no smart young person is going to jump into politics because, honestly, it doesn't make much sense or pay well. You can find much better careers and more comfortable lives in other fields. That’s probably why certain career politicians stay in power; nobody really tries to unseat them. I guess it's mostly just people who didn't succeed in their studies who end up chasing political office. In most countries, that's usually the case. Why would someone smart bother? They’d rather become engineers or doctors, where they can earn a good living and work with dignity without having to deal with idiots every day. Did Bill Gates ever go into politics? What about Steve Jobs or Richard Branson? Or even Elon Musk? The people who go into politics are folks like Bush, Clinton, Trump, or Nigel Farage. Who in a city like New York is actually stepping up to replace the old guard? Who is calling the masses to rise up? I don't think anyone is actually looking to do that.
I suppose it's encouraging that younger generations are different; they might eventually move past these old social mindsets. They don't seem to care much about left-vs-right politics or being weighed down by the past. Maybe young Americans have the same interests and values as young people in Germany. Perhaps then we'll see a Congress that isn't just filled with people who couldn't make it anywhere else. It feels like the current leadership, mostly people over 50 who grew up in a completely different era, doesn't quite fit the modern world. I guess it's hard to understand why people are surprised by how certain cities are run when the leaders often come from outdated academic backgrounds. If you asked anyone under 25 on the street to explain those old specialized degrees, most would probably just stare at you like you were speaking Mandarin.
Anthony Jackson2 said:Is it just me, or is this whole situation regarding the footage from the Mayor's trial completely insane?
There’s video of him telling his subordinates to basically manufacture a job opening just to hire one of his cronies—it’s blunt, zero subtlety, and the media reaction isn't just lukewarm; it’s practically non-existent. Then, as if it weren't obvious they're ignoring the actual crime, they pivot the entire narrative to focus on his "communication style" with staff. Like that’s the real issue here 🙏
Did I miss something?
I guess he might have leaked that specific clip on purpose to make himself look like some sort of benefactor. That would explain why there isn't much pushback; it might all just be part of the game.
Most historic landmarks face some kind of wear and tear eventually; I guess it’s just that nowadays, twenty major news networks broadcast a fire live while thousands of websites obsess over it. That tends to trigger a spontaneous backlash against all that media hysteria, especially with those massive donation drives everyone keeps talking about.
It’s definitely a shame that such a beautiful, iconic cultural landmark was damaged, but I suppose it isn't the first time this has happened. It feels a bit unrealistic to expect a wooden roof to stay perfectly intact for ten thousand years. Between earthquakes, fires, or even conflicts, something was bound to happen sooner or later. The most important thing is that nobody was hurt, and they'll probably find a way to restore the building eventually.
Larry Fox5 said:Five whole minutes—this guy just sits there filming from his car instead of getting out to help that poor Uber driver. And get this, he’s carrying a gun, yet he’s such a coward he won't even lift a finger in an actual emergency. What's the point of having that damn piece if you're too terrified to use it...
The fire at Notre Dame is obviously a massive tragedy. Within the first 24 hours, they already confirmed half a billion in donations for the rebuild. Europe needs to step up and shell out whatever it takes so they can fix it right and fast.
Man, I really hope we don't see a fire break out at Dodger Stadium anytime soon. We just can't catch a break. It feels like money just flows toward these big disasters.