above 50 years old and still programming

[techgnome]

Everything would have been fine if Dickless here hadn't shut down the containment grid.
Is this true?
Yes, Sir, it's true. This man has no dick.

Sorry if that ones a bit near the AUP but it's the funniest line of the film by far.

that's one of the best lines of the whole movie... it annoys me when then then muck it up to make it "safe for broadcast" ...

I actually heard it over dubbed like this:

Everything would have been fine if pencil neck here hadn't shut down the containment grid.
Is this true?
Yes, Sir, it's true. This man is a pencil neck.

That doesn't even make sense! :S


-tg

[dilettante]

I always liked Winston Zeddemore's line, trying to get the Mayor to understand that "These things are real!" They were really pushing the envelope with that line in 1984, though to today's audience there are probably other lines that make a censor wince harder.

[techgnome]

Tell him about the Twinkie....

-tg

[dilettante]

The recession and market setback put a big dent in a lot of 401Ks and stock-fund based IRAs. I know of people who had theirs go all the way to 0, meaning there was never any coming back. I got luckier and only lost something like 35%, which left me in the game.

Some pension plans allow you to "buy" a number of years of service credit, often as many as 5 years worth. Once the market recovered I was able to roll 401K money over and do just that without penalty. This was the best investment I ever made, and would only have been better if I'd been ready to jump before October 2008. Sadly, the signs had been quite strong since at least September 2007 but I for one had no idea how housing prices fit into the stock market as a whole at that time. There were a whole lot of big "dice being rolled" on credit backed by intrinsically worthless subprime mortgage portfolios.

I did buy $2500 in 1 ounce Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coins from 2000 to 2001 and dumped them doubling my money in 2005. But the gold market was always too scary for me to attempt any major commitment there. I only wish I'd had a crystal ball because holding them until gold's recent highs would have quadrupled (or better) my modest investment. While $10K is nothing in terms of retirement funds it would have felt darned nice and made a great story. But speculation makes me nervous.

All of these issues seemed far away to me at 25 years of age. What scares me more are the people I know as old as 35 who haven't even begun to worry about them.

I'm unconvinced that rental housing is a good investment at any price on the "retail" scale of a house or two. But as long as it is working for you, good job!

[RobDog888]

Well, if you do, be sure to release your resources so you don't mess up other threads.

Now where would the fun be in that lol


Im banking on my side business getting to the point where I could sell it down the road and use that money to give a big boost to my retirement. I'll never sell my house so the kids will get it. Maybe I can build a room over the garage and they can live in the house and take care of me hahah

[TysonLPrice]

I always liked Winston Zeddemore's line, trying to get the Mayor to understand that "These things are real!" They were really pushing the envelope with that line in 1984, though to today's audience there are probably other lines that make a censor wince harder.

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Mayor: All right, all right! I get the point!

That is from here:

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000490/quotes

[dilettante]

Well I was thinking of this one:

I'm Winston Zeddemore, Your Honor. I've only been with the company for a couple of weeks, but I gotta tell you -- these things are real. Since I joined these men I have seen **** that would turn you white.

[SJWhiteley]

Most folks say they're a pretty bad investment. It's as non-liquid as you can get and the return's... ok. But it is an investment that a non-educated numpty like me can understand and I'm not looking to set the world on fire, just have a moderate income to see me through retirement. And their major downside (lack of liquidity) shouldn't really matter to me as I just want to sit them.

...

Exactly (apart from the bad investment part). Too many people see 'investment' as 'get rich'. This is not the case. To get rich, you need more than a classical investment - ignoring the outliers, of course.

Buying houses and renting them is a long term 'job' which gives you income so you can pay your own bills, and generally not have to work a job.

[FunkyDexter]

Buying houses and renting them is a long term 'job'

Yeah, that's a pretty good way to describe it.

[jmsrickland]

My guess is you are confusing tapes drives and DASD for computers. Those are what filled up the room. The computer was the tiny, dusty, innocuous little box in the corner of the room with manuals piled on top of it

What computer are you talking about. Sounds like you are referring to the PC

They were big ugly boxes with many flashing lights.

[TysonLPrice]

What computer are you talking about. Sounds like you are referring to the PC

They were big ugly boxes with many flashing lights.

IBM 360 series mainframe, circa 1980s.

[jmsrickland]

I wouldn't call an IBM 360 a tiny little box and the 370 was even bigger

[RobDog888]

I wouldn't call an IBM 360 a tiny little box and the 370 was even bigger

It was bigger by 10 lol

[3com]

I wouldn't call an IBM 360 a tiny little box and the 370 was even bigger

Sure

[dilettante]

Hard to believe any creaky old 360s were in service by the 1980s, considering S/370s came out beginning in 1970.

There was far more involved in these than just the box with the front panel on it.

File:IBM 370-145 2.png

[Gruff]

I hit 63 back in March.

Didn't start my career in programming until about 45 so I've been at it a number of years.
Before that I worked in the mechanical engineering field.
This helped quite a bit as I now write code mainly for engineering apps.

I doubt if I will ever be able to retire. I plan on working in one field or another until I drop.
The good news is I find my work very fulfilling.

All I can offer for advice when looking for work is to keep an open mind and a positive attitude.
I see so many young people talk themselves out of applying for a job when they really don't have the facts.

Preconceptions are not your friend. Apply and Interview as much as possible.
Make informed decisions.

[FunkyDexter]

All I can offer for advise when looking for work is to keep an open mind and a positive attitude.
I see so many young people talk themselves out of applying for a job when they really don't have the facts.

Preconceptions are not your friend. Apply and Interview as much as possible.
Make informed decisions.

+1 to that. I think I rose up the ranks pretty quickly and it was mostly down to being willing to apply for jobs that I wasn't really expecting to get taken seriously for. As often as not I was taken seriously after all and often got the job. My advice for life: take a punt, what have you got to lose?

[TysonLPrice]

Sure

WOW...my memories were way off on that one. My first IBM mainframe job was in 1985 and I thought it was a little box in a room that was enclosed in glass. Using Google I see I was way off. I don't know what it is I was thinking of now...an old pop machine?

[jmsrickland]

WOW...my memories were way off on that one. My first IBM mainframe job was in 1985 and I thought it was a little box in a room that was enclosed in glass. Using Google I see I was way off. I don't know what it is I was thinking of now...an old pop machine?

Maybe the IBM 4331

[namrekka]

WOW...my memories were way off on that one. My first IBM mainframe job was in 1985 and I thought it was a little box in a room that was enclosed in glass. Using Google I see I was way off. I don't know what it is I was thinking of now...an old pop machine?

The coffee machine?

[3com]

[dilettante]

WOW...my memories were way off on that one. My first IBM mainframe job was in 1985 and I thought it was a little box in a room that was enclosed in glass. Using Google I see I was way off. I don't know what it is I was thinking of now...an old pop machine?

Possibly a System/36 or System/38 box?

[KGComputers]

I often check the Today's Birthdays section and found out that there are members aged 60 and above.

[dilettante]

You can almost hear his grandfather clock ticking and harpsichord MIDIs playing!

[TysonLPrice]

I often check the Today's Birthdays section and found out that there are members aged 60 and above.

I check the obituaries every day and keep my phone book up to date

[3com]

We are close to...

[techgnome]

Developers don't die... they just GoSub with out Return...


-tg

[Gruff]

You can almost hear his grandfather clock ticking and harpsichord MIDIs playing!

The flip side is the 18 to 40 crowd that are technophobes.
I see em all the time out here in the sticks.

[TysonLPrice]

The flip side is the 18 to 40 crowd that are technophobes.
I see em all the time out here in the sticks.

Reminds me of the movie Deliverance...

[namrekka]

I have made several backups of myself. So when I crash........

[techgnome]

I have made several backups of myself. So when I crash........

Reminds me of the episode of Futerama when Bender finds out that he has a defective (actually it was missing) backup unit.

-tg

[RobDog888]

We are close to...

Why the hate for Macros? lol

[3com]

Why the hate for Macros? lol

Automating tasks is not allowed.
Medical prescription.

[3com]

I have made several backups of myself. So when I crash........

Reminds of the movie <Bicentennial Man>.
Being immortal has side effects.

[3com]

Developers don't die... they just GoSub with out Return...


-tg

Developers are like the energy, it does not destroyed, but transformed.

[RobDog888]

We are close to...

Can I go there now? Im ready to retire early but need financial aid lol

[homer13j]

...need financial aid...

Quit buying Mustangs.

[dee-u]

O sell your mustang. BTW, happy birthday Rob! You must already be 50 so you want to retire now?

[3com]

Can I go there now? Im ready to retire early but need financial aid lol

Of course you do, here are a legion of beautiful nurses waiting for us.

[ident]

This thread makes me feel like i am standing next to the Musicians of the RMS Titanic Cheer up lads.