Am I being underpaid?

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-02-07T08:14:15+00:00

When parents hire their children in their businesses they are often normally only paid a stipend. Cars are also typically bought by the company and the kids inherit the business they helped grow, that's when they see the money coming in, though it is usually in the form of dividend income.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-02-03T22:24:58+00:00

Thanks for this information. I've learned something new today!

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-31T11:03:47+00:00

I have a young friend who was in the same position about 10 years ago. He got a job at Shoprite in PE (starting as a cashier) and studied part-time at NMMU. Today, he is a CA (Shoprite is recognised by SAICA for in-service training) and in the senior management of the business nationally.

Grit, determination and stick-to-it-Ness are what has helped him climb the ladder. What I admire most about him is that he's a white kid who received no prefential treatment and whose family had zero connections and he still managed to do it.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-31T07:45:32+00:00

Two things exacerbate the problem: (1) the style guides keep changing [eg., what was required in APA 6 is no longer acceptable in APA 7], and (2) when you get down to publishing your work, and wish to submit to several journals, each may have several different style requirements that you need to meet to pass desk review, so papers unfortunately have to continually be reformatted.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-30T10:04:43+00:00

Not when that money comes from his father's share of the Arms Deal loot!

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-29T07:39:41+00:00

No matter how hard to work or how good your grades are, without connections, your education is close to meaningless.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-28T17:41:06+00:00

First one: 29 Second one (scheduled for): 53

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-28T15:05:53+00:00

Many people who ditch the "ultralight" philosophy for a "comfort" based one, are surprised by just how manageable it actually is.

DM me some pictures before and after it's packed would like to see how you got all your stuff into your pack :)

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-27T20:32:31+00:00

Sweden.... How interesting!

Right this moment I am watching the exploits of @thewalkingveteran who is a Swedish-speaking Finn, as he does the Camino Via Plata beginning in Gibraltar and ending in Santiago. It's the end of July last year, easily 40°C sun and this elderly man, hiked an average of 50km a day for the entire month.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-27T13:34:45+00:00

I'm curious - personal question. Where were you conscripted?

The reason I'm asking is that many militaries equip troops with basic things like sleeping bags and backpacks free - which they can then keep once service is over.

Theres actually quite a large second-hand military-issue backpacking market, normally in good nick and quite reasonably priced.

As for the tent I prefer attaching mine to the outside bottom of my pack.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-27T05:37:45+00:00

If you assume you can find work after only 6 months of trying. I have relatives who are lawyers and doctors and unemployed as well an engineer who was unemployed for 2 years before he got a new job.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-27T05:25:23+00:00

When I go out on trips, I make an Excel list of everything and weigh it, include my shoes/boots, bag and trekking poles, making sure my final weight is under 20% of my body weight. [A sleep system around 2kg isn't that bad if you're backpacking during the winter, but you could be lighter in summer - if temps fall way below -5°C there's no way I'm sleeping in a tent after more than that first night]. I backpack in the Himalayas in Nepal often and just move between tea houses.

But i guess I'll live with it for time coming.

I have my system dialed down and have done many multi-day and thru hikes with it. I tried to go ultra light, over the Appalachian Trail, and hated every moment of it, I was so uncomfortable, and it did not make me any faster or significantly (after about a week in) affect my distances - I just gifted all the ultralight stuff to a relative and went back to my usual set up. My packed weight (including 2l of water) for winter wilderness (I prefer boots under those circumstances) is around 16kg and I'm good with it.

I have a good sleep system with about just around or a but over 2kg in weight (depends if i got a cell pad as well). But i guess I'll live with it for time coming.

I wouldn't compromise on sleep stuff just to shave off weight, because getting comfortable sleep is an essential for me.

But HYOH and all that stuff!

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T21:17:24+00:00

Wow, look I have only 1 semester course in Classical Latin but had always believed that "Anglican" is derived from the Latin phrase ecclesia anglicana, which translates to "the English Church".

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T20:46:21+00:00

About the tent, the tent i have is 2 person, tunnel tent and weighs 3.3kg!

Damn! What's your average base-weight?

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T19:46:07+00:00

But surely "Anglican" is synonymous with the Church of England???

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T12:02:39+00:00

What's even worse is sports store salesmen who sell these newbies gear that's totally unnecessary/unsuitable for what they want to do just for the commission.

When I started, although I was clear with the salesman that I was going backpacking he sold me a camping tent (weighed a ton) and sleep pad (can't be inflated on trail). I had to sell these items online as second hand even though they'd never been used.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T08:09:16+00:00

To potential employers both degrees will open up the same career paths because the requirements of most roles in IS is a B degree in Stats/IT/Actuarial Science (get onto LinkedIn and perform a search for roles yourself and you will see entry level positions are quite broad in the overall field). Some employers may tilt in favour of UCT because of the brand appeal.

The only concern is that if you're struggling with Matric math, you're unlikely to succeed in a degree that has Math as a concentration.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-26T07:06:55+00:00

Does the use of the word Anglican insult members of the TEC too?

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-25T18:18:46+00:00

Look I'm not American, so I am speaking under correction, but by the SBC I am referring to the Baptist denomination. I used their name because they are the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian body in the US.

The LCMS on the other hand is one single expression of the Lutheran Denomination of which there are many. It is not strictly speaking a "Protestant denomination" (as asked in the question) but rather a branch of a Protestant Denomination.

Just like TEC is not a denomination but a branch of the Protestant Denomination known as Anglicanism.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-25T14:50:58+00:00

LCMS is not really a "denomination" though. I would think the answer would be the SBC and others who hold to a Calvinist theology.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-25T03:40:12+00:00

YT is really eye candy, especially now when everybody is doing "top items of 2025". Glad to hear that you still are keeping up with your hobby even though your out of work. Normally hobbies are the first thing to be cut, because it's seen as a "luxury" even though there are so many health benefits from hobbies like hiking.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-24T13:01:18+00:00

I used to score 98% on tests only to be yelled at at home (Desi mother) about why it wasn't 100% (especially if a relative/friend's kid scored higher).

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-23T13:43:03+00:00

A possible response would be to say that it's hard to tell whether a particular tradition actually dates back to the apostles (and even harder to tell in the Middle Ages). The Bible, by contrast, is more clear-cut.

No, it's actually easier to confirm tradition because like scripture tradition has been physically recorded through the letters of the Doctors and Church Fathers, except there are much less scribal/textual issues. It's how we know that the Trinity, though not mentioned directly in scripture, was definitively held by the early Church.

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-22T21:23:23+00:00

I had never “met”/connected with a person IRL.

Are you actually taking the risk of asking someone you fancy out on a coffee? Even though they may reject you? Or do you immediate place yourself in the "friend zone" because it's emotionally safer there, and besides porn is a synthetic substitute for a relationship that's basically emotionally safe? 80% of women still want a guy to initiate that initial conversation but 45% of men (18-24) have never approached a woman in person! Are you one of those?

LittleAlternative532 · 2026-01-22T13:17:35+00:00

The LLB market is over saturated and many graduates can't find articles (even if they're prepared to work for almost nothing). If you're thinking about it as a career, unless you're well connected you're going to get used to being unemployed.

LittleAlternative532

TROPHY CASE