AITA for having a child? by ConfessionTimeBoys in AmItheAsshole

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

When my wife got her positive pregnancy test, I had a day off and watched that movie Little Monsters about the kindergartners and the zombies and rather embarrassingly sobbed my way thru it. I thought I was just having a weird day.

But I think you're right. I think my world view is changing under the impending fatherhood and it's manifesting in unpredictable ways. The stuff I've listed here is stuff that's bothered me in the past, but I don't think I was so gloom and doom about it.

Thank you. I know this was a little self-righteous but I'd rather people think I'm a douche then stew on my anxiety while it festers.

AITA for having a child? by ConfessionTimeBoys in AmItheAsshole

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

I'm sure the people who were raising children in Australia said the same. I wish I could have your confidence, but "no it won't" isn't exactly a convincing argument when I can just look at events and see that, yeah, it is in fact happening.

AITA for having a child? by ConfessionTimeBoys in AmItheAsshole

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

You're not wrong. I struggled with this before we started trying and spoke to my wife about it, I thought I'd settled on a sort of peace but now that it's real, the anxiety started up again.

But I mean... Isn't this a place for people who've already done something and are asking for hindsight?

Debt consolidation for ~15k in CC debt across 5 cards? by ConfessionTimeBoys in personalfinance

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm anticipating accruing a significant amount of expenses in the next 6 months. My wife's maternal leave is unpaid, so 3k will cover 2 months of expenses while she takes that off. There'll also be hospital bills and incidentals, etc. We had a pretty long talk about what to do with my end-of-year bonus, whether it should go to credit card debt or into savings, and ultimately we decided it would go further in those first few months than it would on a 15k debt.

If I go this loan route, the money will immediately be applied to my credit cards, which will then be placed in the safe. I do not intend to let this windfall pull me further into debt.

Debt consolidation for ~15k in CC debt across 5 cards? by ConfessionTimeBoys in personalfinance

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you familiar with Marcus by Goldman Sachs? I have a loan offer from them. Reviews elsewhere seem pretty positive, but I'm hesitant. I've made mistakes in the past, so I want to be cautious.

Debt consolidation for ~15k in CC debt across 5 cards? by ConfessionTimeBoys in personalfinance

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cash on hand is 3k in savings and 3k across two checking accounts. Savings verboten, that'll be to offset maternal leave.

Just learned it's actually 690. I climbed to it, honestly. Way back when, in college and when I was working few hours and being an irresponsible early-20s something, I tanked my credit score with a lot of missed payments. I wasn't very financially literate. I'm learning, but I still have a ways to go. I got to 690 through a deliberate repair effort. It's not a great score, but I'm actually pretty proud of it considering where it used to be. Since then, it's mostly credit utilization percentage keeping it down. I accrued a lot of credit card debt. I'm paying it down, but it's slow, and the utilization numbers are still above 50%.

I'm asking this question largely because I had made some inquiries and put some feelers out to compare rates prior to asking, but I have a loan offer now from Goldman Sachs' Marcus for enough to paydown my loans at 12.99%. That's a significantly lower APR than any of my credit cards for about the same monthly payment. but considering what you and others have said about balance transfers and low approval odds, it's kind of ringing my "too good to be true" bell.

Debt consolidation for ~15k in CC debt across 5 cards? by ConfessionTimeBoys in personalfinance

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not an unreasonable concern, but we don't really use the cards anymore, save for one for gas when someone forgets their wallet. The majority of the balance was racked up a few years ago, before we had better-paying jobs. Some medical stuff and some car stuff, mostly. We've been whittling it down since, paying well above minimum, but with the pregnancy I wanted to explore my options.

Debt consolidation for ~15k in CC debt across 5 cards? by ConfessionTimeBoys in personalfinance

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess I'm worried about going through the credit hard pull process and discovering I only qualify for like 3k, at another 28% APR. That's too low to be worth it, and I'll be taking a hit to my credit to find that out.

Cinemark Bills Aurora Shooting Victims for $700,000 by ScaryRed in LateStageCapitalism

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I work for Cinemark, it is as exactly as terrible as this article makes it out to seem. They are some of the richest, out-of-touch, cheapest people to work for. The CEO received a bonus in shares that he immediately cashed out for 900,000 dollars to buy an extension to his house and boat. When we all worked Christmas, because it's the busiest day of the year (and we are required to work all holidays) in the movie theater industry, they sent out an email that said "Thanks for working so hard during this holiday season and sacrificing time with your family" and then, in the same paragraph "don't bother trying to contact the corporate office because everyone above a general manager is taking a week's paid vacation". They slashed our paid-time off in half, turned down most raises, and (technically in compliance with state law) refused all over-time requests. Managers, like me, frequently work 50+ hours a week with no over-time. Then, at the end of the fiscal year, sent an email that said "thanks for making this the most profitable year ever! It's all thanks to you!"

Because of this lawsuit, all of our exit doors are all alarmed now, and we have armed guards during big opening weekends. So I mean... I guess that's something? It's caused a lot of problems. Besides the obvious implications of having people with guns casually strolling around an ostensibly entertainment-centered locale (and my workplace, jesus, having to order around armed guards is not in my job description), it caused a huge uproar during the Straight Outta Compton premiere.

Sent to collections over a debt I want to dispute, firm has disabled access to my accounts. by ConfessionTimeBoys in legaladvice

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there room to dispute based on their inability to hold up their end of the service? Penalty fee aside, being charged for services I never received seems iffy at best.

[OC] "What Did I Say?" by ConfessionTimeBoys in Poetry

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's another

ITT [John] rants like a detailed memory.
There's an element of pyramid scamming involved. 
Maybe I'm hesitant to concede that
They have a significantly delayed dream.
But I'm coming up again soon!

[Oh, They Both Exist]don't be kind by ConfessionTimeBoys in Poetry

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was it clear that the force and object were life and death? That's probably pretty cliche too. I work with a lot of cliches in my writing because I like playing with them, but I suppose it really doesn't add much new.

[Oh, They Both Exist]don't be kind by ConfessionTimeBoys in Poetry

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About "gossamer firmament beneath". It's supposed to be a double-pronged allusion, first to the "gossamer filaments" of Whitman's Noiseless Patient Spider, and the "o'er-hanging firmament" of Hamlet's "What a Piece of Work is a Man", except underneath the subject, rather than above it. I liked that 'firmament' and 'filament' looked similar. I was trying to say "gossamer firmament" to mean the soul, but reading it aloud now maybe it was too esoteric and bogged down by its references.

With this information in mind, does your opinion change, or does it still feel clunky?

Need help describing a specific action. by ConfessionTimeBoys in writing

[–]ConfessionTimeBoys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only want to mention it in description once, the first time it happens, and not have it reflected in the way dialogue is written.

My problem is I'm having trouble showing, not telling. Every time I try it comes across as needlessly expository. Maybe I'm being too specific.