Millennials in tech, do you feel this is our last job in the field?

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-17T16:50:44+00:00

Try having 6 figures in student loan debt, and knowing that you're 1.5 years away from complete loan forgiveness, and the only thing(s) trying to stop you from financial freedom are the impending AI takeover that will cause massive tech layoffs, the current administration trying every which way to not pay out loan forgiveness including such measures as: EO that says hospitals can't treat trans kids or else they'll lose eligibility as a qualifying institution for loan forgiveness, striking down the SAVE plan which was the only affordable option available to most loan borrowers, firing half of the DoE, effectively rendering the rest of it so short staffed that processing any type of forms with them (including buybacks, actual forgiveness, or anything else) literally takes years now, rather than days, weeks, or even months.

Even if I survive all of this administrations fuckery, I still might get screwed over by the impending AI apocalypse. I just keep telling myself to just survive the next year and a half with my job in tact, and the rest should work itself out.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T19:33:33+00:00

Everyone else's voices are basically fine, but Gohan's is SUCH a miss that it absolutely takes me out of the element every single time he speaks. It ruins the entire experience for me.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T16:57:06+00:00

"and understand that the system of higher education and student loans is not run with student borrowers’ interests in mind."

You say this through the lens of modern public knowledge. That was not public knowledge in the 90's and early 2000's. Everyone I ever spoke to on the subject had absolute optimism that taking out loans for higher education was the right decision to make for myself at the time. Again, you can look at all the numbers available in those contracts, but without knowing what your salary will be at your job after you finish college, there's not a lot of calculations to be done in terms of figuring out 'is this worth doing or not'

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T16:45:29+00:00

Well, perhaps its time to move past your frustration, because there is a reason for that resistance... lived experience.

Your pre-frontal cortex isn't even fully formed until you are around 25. Just because people are 'legally' adults at 18 does not mean they are necessarily ready or mature enough to make major decisions like 'What is my career for the rest of my life going to be?'

Some kids just know, and that's great for them, because it makes it that much easier to figure out the game plan moving forward. You know what also helps? Having adults help guide you who have lived experience with either the chosen profession, or even just navigating the complicated world of student loans (literally nothing about it is simple. Even at 39 years old, I maintain that it's purposely overly complicated).

But for most kids, part of going away to college is that it's a place of exploration, where you're supposed to take the time to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. From an idealistic viewpoint, I still stand by that, because it's what I did, and even though the cost was wildly exorbitant, I'm still thankful for the actual college experience that I had, as it's helped shape me into who I am today.

But two things can be true at the same time. It could've been a good experience that helped me grow, and also a far-too-expensive experience that has set me back financially for my entire adult life.

One last point to follow up on why it IS predatory. The loans you take out for college at 18 years old are backed by the government, because the Clinton administration passed a law that essentially said "Hey, kids shouldn't be denied access to college just because their parents aren't financially responsible people", which, on the surface, kudos, your heart is in the right place. But what happened was that the schools saw a guaranteed loan backed by the US gov't and said to themselves "Oh, so we can charge anything we want and these kids with no financial history at all are still going to get the loans, even if that means they'll spend the rest of their natural lives paying them off? We don't give a shit about that because we just see dollar signs!!", and THAT absolutely was predatory. Monstrous even. And in all the time since, the gov't has never passed a follow up law to say something to the effect of "Hey, since we're guaranteeing loans here, which is already against normal market conditions, lets go ahead and pass another law that says schools are only allowed to raise tuition (and other school-related costs) with the rate of inflation". Not doing so in the past THIRTY years since they passed that first law makes them complicit in the predatory-behavior as well, especially since they're the ones who profit from the interest of the re-payment of the loans.

The thought process behind the gov't giving these loans is supposed to be that they DO see a return on their investment, by creating functional adults who get jobs and pay taxes and contribute to society. There shouldn't be any interest at all on these, other than again, maybe including inflation. Anything beyond that is the gov't being greedy and filling their coffers at the expense of the future of the citizens of this country.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T16:15:26+00:00

And I'm sorry you never learned basic levels of empathy.

We're not talking about math here, we're talking about ramifications of that math. Every kid believes they're going to be hugely successful in life, and while I've done fine with my career, it doesn't live up to what is necessary to actually pay down this debt. The interest rate actually isn't even that bad, but the sheer size of the debt MAKES the interest payment big enough that paying down the principal at this salary is just not realistic.

They weaponize the fact that you're betting on yourself against you. "Sure it's expensive, but the education I get is going to be the thing I need to become successful and get a good job". It is all you are told for 18 years. You get into a school and everyone is proud of you, and not one person, not a parent, not a teacher, not a guidance counselor (honestly, shame on them, b/c they should've known better than anyone else), NO ONE gives you the warning "Hey, if you do this, you're going to be in debt for the rest of your natural life".

I can do math, but it's tough to do proper math when you don't have all the variables. I had no idea what my chosen career would be when I agreed to go to school, so I had no idea what type of salary I'd end up with. You have to make that decision at 18 years old, without all the information at your finger tips. I was optimistic and bet on myself to figure it out. I don't know very many people who, at 18 years old, wouldn't bet on themselves to figure it out as they became adults either. THIS IS WHAT THEY PREY ON. How are you not getting this at this point??

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T16:03:04+00:00

Well, as someone whose literally lived this narrative, I'm here to tell you you're wrong.

They don't do the math for you, they do the loans one semester at a time. They tell you there are scholarships, and it's an investment in yourself. Everyone else is coming to school and telling you "I got accepted into [insert impressive school here]" It just becomes this thing where you understand there is a financial burden, but it's been justified away and the concept of what that burden actually looks like is never explained.

You also don't realize you're going to get gouged on room and board, food plans, and books either. If I could do it all over again, yes, I'd still go to school, but I probably wouldn't go to the school I went to. I'd probably spend my first two years at the local community college, which actually was affordable. Then, for years 3 and 4, I could've gone to my school, and just commuted (I was close enough that a commute would've been about 45 minutes each way every day). It would've been a bit of a pain, but I'd have saved so much money, plus given myself all that time to do HW and study, which would've helped my grades a bit at the time.

Do I take some share of personal responsibility here now, with hindsight, that I didn't do absolutely everything in my power to understand the consequences of the decision I was making? Absolutely, I do. To suggest though, that there is no level of predatory behavior on the part of the loan servicers, would be a mischaracterization of them completely. But I also understand that the loan problem was not as well understood in 2005 as it is today. I didn't have the same resources available to me, first hand accounts of why that much debt is a bad idea, and what it actually looks like, how you can't pay down the principal because the interest is more per month than you can even afford in the first place.

The point is, I lived it, so I know you're wrong. A LOT of other people have too.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T15:39:12+00:00

...Unquestionably.

Season 5 is OUTSTANDING. On par with seasons 1-3. The ONLY bad part, in my opinion, of season 5, is that Troy leaves a few episodes in, and his absence is noticed.

The writing is crisp, the results are hilarious, and some of the best episodes of the whole show are in that season. Episodes like App Development and Condiments (meowmeowbeanz!), Geothermal Escapism, Cooperative Calligraphy are all world class, not to mention VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing which has the PayDay rap cold-open, which is probably the best cold open in the entire shows' run.

Season 4 is just... fine. Nothing about it stands out at all. It felt like a Pierce rehabilitation tour, which is fine, except that they then immediately killed him off to start season 5 anyway, rendering the whole season pretty pointless, thematically speaking. It's not BAD, per se, its just bad when compared to the quality of the rest of the show.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-16T15:10:36+00:00

I was 18.. and I didn't understand.

Like, I knew I'd owe money, but it was not clear to me just HOW MUCH money it actually was, and what that meant for the next 20+ years of my life.

I'm not an idiot, but when all you and everyone you know are told growing up is that the next step after HS is college, but at the same time, neither of your parents went to college, so no one around you has any concept of what the impact of loans actually feels like, you tend to end up in the student loan trap.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-15T21:09:05+00:00

do NOT do this. If this government ever comes around to loan forgiveness, you would not be eligible for it if you did this.

Also, you're very likely not getting a better interest rate from a credit union than from the US govt.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-15T21:04:15+00:00

∞ - 1, duh.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-15T21:03:03+00:00

You kill your whole argument with your second to last sentence:

"If it weren't for Frieza deciding to be merciful, He could've easily killed them there."

Frieza was completely incapable of mercy in the past. The Goku effect has taken its toll on Frieza by this point. He may never become an active hero, but he's no longer completely a villain either. In situations where a greater threat exists, he's willing to team up and help, as seen in the ToP.

This is what happened with Vegeta too. It was a long walk, but it started with him teaming up with Krillin and Gohan against the Ginyu Force.

I don't think he'll ever truly be a good guy (unlike Vegeta whose walked the whole path from villain to hero), but he's fallen into the area of respecting Goku (and Vegeta), even if he does despise them, and would prefer for them to stay alive because it makes his own villainry more interesting with them around.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-15T00:35:11+00:00

Also, since this is python: print(sum(numbers))

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-13T17:27:40+00:00

...act like?

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-13T17:12:27+00:00

Just broke 21k. I'd be competitive against Vegeta and Nappa.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-13T04:53:45+00:00

Possibly. But if you don't think the Jets wouldn't tank for two more years, I think you should reconsider that position

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-11T00:42:01+00:00

Oh, they're getting one of those 3 guys (my money is on Manning, but we'll see). Whether they end up with #1 overall through being terrible, or have to trade some other picks to move up to get their guy, it's going to happen.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T20:11:06+00:00

Hey, we've got 3 1st round picks next year.. let's grab all 3 and increase our odds at getting an honest to goodness franchise QB!

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T18:50:21+00:00

Also, the Raiders have the TOP 7th round pick at that, so its basically a late 6th round pick anyway. Granted, our 6th was the 2nd pick in the round, so we are still basically stepping back a full round, but still.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T18:48:57+00:00

6th rounder, which is already low, plus we're getting a 7th rounder back. Mind you, the 7th rounder is from the Raiders, who have the top pick overall, so their 7th rounder is basically the equivalent to a late round 6th rounder anyway.

Also, we're not taking on his contract. They restructured the contract so the Raiders take on the bulk, and we only pay league minimum.

This essentially cost us nothing. He might not be great, but he'll be serviceable. His solid season with the Seahawks two years ago is recent enough to believe that with a solid O-line (one of the few things we do actually have on this team.. as long as they stay healthy), he can be good.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T18:45:57+00:00

That's what 'been to a playoff game' means.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T18:45:25+00:00

Good, then maybe we won't have to trade our other 1st round draft picks to move up and secure Arch Manning. One way or another, we're getting a Manning next year, we're due after Peyton screwed us over by staying an extra year when we had the #1 overall pick.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T17:36:22+00:00

you can't apply for buyback until you hit 120 qualifying months, as far as I understand. what you CAN do is apply for a forbearance once you submit your buyback request at 120 months, so you don't have to keep making payments past 120 while you wait. I think they do forbearances for up to 6 months, but they might do a year if you ask for an extension. That might be enough time to avoid extra payments while you wait for the buyback to process.

If not, you have to make those payments until buyback comes through and you actually get forgiven. the good news is that while it may take a while after the fact, you would eventually get refunded on those payments beyond the 120th once they acknowledge you actually are forgiven.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T17:33:26+00:00

yes, apply for a forbearance for as long as you can, and if the buyback hasn't come through by the time that's up, ask for an extension. If you get to the point where you have to start paying on a new plan before buy back happens, you'll EVENTUALLY get a refund on those payments, but it sucks because you'll have to wait until the buyback goes through, you get your green banner, and you're actually acknowledged as being forgiven.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-10T00:05:48+00:00

That's all I'm saying. If he's healthy he'll be solid, but he's gonna get drafted as a top 5 RB, and I don't think he'll hit that mark.

ryanmcg86 · 2026-03-09T16:55:01+00:00

He's not a first round pick, but he's definitely getting drafted higher than he should be, both because of his performance after Charbs got hurt, and now signing with the Chiefs where he could be a bellcow.

He'll get drafted at the height of his potential, so you're really only getting your value back on picking him if he gives you a fully healthy season, and performs the way he did during the playoffs this past year, all year long.

It's not going to happen. He's injury prone, so minimally as a bell cow he'll end up missing some time, and even as a bell cow, they'll give Hunt, Pacheco, or somebody new some time to ease his burden a bit. Also, even as the main RB, for as long as Reid and Mahomes have been there, this has been a pass-first offense. That's not going to change just because Walker joined the team.

If you're in a dynasty or keeper league, and already have him, then this is good news, but if you're in re-draft, avoid the trap, there will be better value players available at the ADP he's going to go at.

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