The Cellar / Off to College

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 10/05/2022 11:33 pm

So ship them off to college, they're still costing you a fortune but on the up side you might be able to have an afternoon delight uninterrupted.
But did the choose the right major? For that matter did they choose the right school..
Some have regrets on both those points...

The degrees issued have shifted by subject...

Now when the do finally graduate will they make enough to support you in your golden years?

Seems to me after 4 years studying criminology you ought to be able to steal more than 3 million bucks.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 11/25/2022 1:45 am

I heard college enrollment in the US has dropped for the 11th year in a row.
I wonder if the leaping costs, or people discovering they won't be ostracized by their peers if their kid doesn't go.
Maybe they have discovered the return on investment isn't what it was cracked up to be. Spending a fortune and/or going deep in debt then an office job at $40k is not a good investment.
As long as I can remember getting into an apprentice program for the building trades was the bulls ass at flytime.
Common to accept 6 a year from 600 applicants. But the result is now you can't find a plumber, electrician, etc, under 45. I recently read we need something like 75,000 new electricians over the next 12 years. It's not unusual for them to make over $100k.

**Posted by tw** 11/25/2022 9:35 am

Why are test scores going down? So much learning on-line. We know comprehension drops by about 10% when obtained on-line. Only do not know why.

My text books in 1970 cost something approaching $100 each. Calculator was $300. Numbers says price of college materials has gone down.

Unfortunately the left and right promoted easy college loans. That meant tuition skyrocketed. Then a student is left paying a massive debt for the next 10 or 20 years. Trying to fix anything only by throwing money at it is a classic lie promoted by both left and right extremists.

A problem is finding new construction workers. Since so many twenty somethings do not know how to use a hammer or screwdriver. Those older tradesmen also have trouble finding kids who want to do the work. Once they learn they may get dirty on the job, many refuse to take that job. Sitting at a desk watchnig a glownig screen is considered more productive. Getting dirty is for low class immigrants.

And then hate means we do not issue enough visas - a severe shortage of immigrants.

Last edited by tw (11/25/2022 9:41 am)

**Posted by monster** 12/02/2022 11:15 pm

Undertoad wrote:
My text books in 1970 cost something approaching $100 each
lol no they did not

Why not? Mine in 1988 were approaching the equivalent of $200

**Posted by monster** 12/02/2022 11:17 pm

(not all of them, but there were a couple that were more than my rent)

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 12/10/2022 1:29 am

College, we don't need no stinkin' college...

That guy at the top of the list has been a lifeguard for 30 years.

**Posted by Clodfobble** 12/10/2022 8:28 am

I imagine it's more like "coast guard" than "life guard." The guy who comes down on a rope from a helicopter to pull you out of the ocean is going to get a lot more money than the 17-year-old yelling at kids to stop running at the pool.

**Posted by Happy Monkey** 12/10/2022 2:55 pm

There actually is a big lifeguard shortage.Largely covid-related.

**Posted by fargon** 12/10/2022 10:01 pm

The Coast Guard Rules.

**Posted by griff** 12/11/2022 8:52 am

Hasselhoff can only handle one coast, it's money well spent.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 12/25/2022 10:07 pm

♫ Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be paupers...

**Posted by Clodfobble** 12/26/2022 12:13 pm

I do doubt the politics bullet point... I suspect it's more that people who are already billionaires can afford to get into politics.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 12/26/2022 9:56 pm

Maybe not Billionaires but wealthy, like millionaires, then with inside information make their money grow like Topsy.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 1/13/2024 12:50 am

Buy your kid one of these a be rest assured they'll get some kind of sports scholarship.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 1/19/2024 5:08 pm

Clodfobble wrote:
I imagine it's more like "coast guard" than "life guard." The guy who comes down on a rope from a helicopter to pull you out of the ocean is going to get a lot more money than the 17-year-old yelling at kids to stop running at the pool.

Sure, a lot tougher at the Ocean than the pool.
Just a few days ago a couple 64 and 68 from the UK got caught in a Barbados rip current.
They were rescued by two Canadian girls aged 14 and 13.
The girls had an edge in that the 14 year old's father is the coach of the swim team they're on.
The team was in Barbados preparing for the Canadian pre-Olympic trials.
=13px

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/20/2024 1:29 pm

"...the bulls ass at flytime."
Thanks, Bruce, a new one for me.
But DO NOT do an online search for it!