OOC Chat

[Ramano]

This is true, cause my IRL personality is way more alligned with prince Xizor.

[Syren]

While I can concede my education did help my chances, this was back in '03 when there were jobs aplenty. However, the interview I nailed on my own. Charisma goes a long way. But you are wrong if you think I haven't lived the other side of the coin, Ramano. Like I said, my choice to leave Los Angeles was not well received by my parents. They were furious and cut my ass off. I believe my father said something along the lines of, if you want to go ruin in your life pretending to a commoner, knock yourself out but don't be surprised when you end up back here a month later telling us we were right. So supportive, right? The only thing I got to keep was my car and I drove myself out to Colorado with anything I could fit in it which wasn't much. True, I got the job but starting out, it paid barely anything and I was unable to maintain the lifestyle I once had but I was determined. Shitty studio apartment, no furniture, no weekly spa days, no shopping sprees, barely could afford food, lying to my family and friends telling them everything was great! I was not about to let my parents be right about the person they thought I was. So I suffered through it and worked my way up, got a promotion then another one then got headhunted by the firm I'm with now. Needless to say I got the apology I was looking for from my father in his hospital room before he died. So, you may think I had that silver spoon in my mouth my whole life but that isn't true. I took a huge risk because I believed I could do it. People are capable of so much more than they think they are. They just have to go for it. Stop making excuses for who you are or what hand you were dealt. Anyone can change their lives if they really want it badly enough, despite the system you so firmly believe is designed to set you up for failure.

I agree, Dem, I'm not a fan of California either for some of those same reasons. I knew an independant future there would be bleak which is why I opted out. True, I miss the ocean sometimes but then I step out on my balcony and gaze out at the mountains and feel a glorious peace.

And Ramano, I never cry. Public emotion is a weakness any clever business woman simply cannot afford. If given the option between cry and fight - I'll fucking claw your eyes out.  8)

On a different note, I believe Medivh's exam is Monday and Tuesday. Let's focus that positive energy on our friend as he goes for the glory. You got the forum behind you, Med!

[Ramano]

That is exactly my point though syren. Give me a piece of paper that says im supposed to be important and a chance at any company on earth and watch what I do, but thats exactly why they are not going to let me get that. Cause someone like me actually has the intelligence and stubbornness to change something. And also syren, dont get it twisted, its not like I live in the dirt bottom of poverty. Yes my income appears that way, but you also dont take into account I have jack squat for bills too. Mortgage, Cable, Utilities, which only come out to about 780$ a month. My wife does make about 2000 a month. We arnt broke, we just dont have the money to do ANYTHING that involves luxury. The fact is though, I have a damn genius level IQ, my wife has a degree in nursing, and all that accounts for precisely dick. Given an actual chance, most of this nation could go on to greater things, but try as you might you cant create a chance, it just falls into your lap. Yes syren, you were smart enough to jump on yours, but it doesnt change the fact of the matter you were afforded a chance most of us will never see. I mean, I wish I was so well off that hardship meant I had the money and ability to just pick up and move to a different city cause I dont like the way my life is turning out. Come on now.

And like I said, I dont honestly think your a bad person, I just like to give you shit because its fun. Im a bully, what can I say. And besides, you know you love it.

[Syren]

True, you are fun to snipe at but let me ask you to consider something. My transition took place almost ten years ago and back then, that piece of paper virtually guaranteed you a job. Jump to the present where college grads get themselves thousands of dollars in debt and no job on the other side. What employers are looking for these days is not a degree, it's experience. So if this had happened to me now, it probably would not have worked out that way. I had no experience when I left Cali, only the degree. I got the experience over the ensuing years and with almost a decade of it under my belt, I'm a far more valuable candidate in this economic climate. So really, it's not about the piece of paper anymore. That's merely another excuse to bemoan the system. And if you really are that smart, you would figure out a way to capitalize on it. It's the American way. Instead, you throw blame which gets you nowhere. Not very smart if you ask me.

[GallPizi]

So, I did not read every little tid bit however I would like to weigh in on the Gun Control issue.

Give me a mental health screening. Check my background. Require me to qualify every year with 100 rounds of ammunition at my expense. Require me to take a safe firearms course. But at the end of all that, after I jump through your hoops, let me carry a weapon concealed on my person wherever and whenever. One of the victims who shielded his girlfriend served in the Navy for 8 years and was going re-enlist to try to become a SEAL. If he, and a few others in the movie had firearms, perhaps things would have turned out differently. 

Like has been said.  More guns does not mean more crime as long as we have responsible ownership. Switzerland has responsible ownership. It works.

[Ramano]

Syren, you just re-affirmed everything I said while disagreeing with me. Ok now that takes some skill. And what you said is exactly true, right until the end. Things are even harder now then they were when you got into the workforce. At the current climate, if you dont already have experience, you are relegated to fast food or government dependence. So, had you had to go through the same experience all over again, you'd be a dock working nobody just like me. And more then likely back on your way to your parents, like it or not. Its still better then the alternative. For just a minute, try to imagine your life if that company hadn't gave you that early chance, if no matter how much drive you had you still got shot down at every interview, your charisma be damned. Every place just has a stack of resume's and your even being there is considered a waste of time. You walk into a company and get told your interview was canceled because the interviewer is tired of interviewing "3 dozen losers and he went home." Im actually quoting his secretary. Your charisma means nothing if the people wont even stay long enough to see you... When that happens to you, you come back and talk to me of the american way.

[Ramano]

Do remember, of the roughly 36,000 people in my city 28,826 of them receive some form of government assistance. My city is a shining example of UN Agenda 21 in action. Get the people stupid and dependent and you can do with them as you please. Around here, people are more afraid of eminent domain laws then gang violence and drug dealers. So please, do tell me about all the opportunities afforded to me. In wisconsin, the gov makes it impossible to get OFF public aid. Scott Walker has actually been quoted as saying "The poor should be considered an untapped resource for utilization of cheap labor." These people dont even consider us human anymore, no better then oil in their eyes. So again, do tell me all about the american way.

Edit: And I spend a LOT of time in that office. You can trust me when I say those numbers are spot on.

[SWSF Eidolon]

To Anyone, I was told/heard that there's a limit of 2 Facilities per ground grid space.  I'm trying to find that note in rules to no avail, but is this the case and if so where can I see it written?

[Ramano]

im not sure where its written but yes, its 2 facilities per ground grid, except on uncontrolled neutral worlds which really have no rules as to what they can have.

[SWSF Eidolon]

im not sure where its written but yes, its 2 facilities per ground grid, except on uncontrolled neutral worlds which really have no rules as to what they can have.

gotcha, thank ye

[Syren]

Your wife is a nurse, No? IT and healthcare are two industries that still grow within a downturn. If you don't think you can change your situation, she can. Pick any major city and she can probably score a job. Problem solved! See and I'm not even a genius. Just a sinister pal. 

[Ramano]

Wow, it must be nice. In what world can a person with 49 cents in their checking account, no savings what so ever, and only an 18,000$ house thats not paid off yet, just pick up and move to a new city? Im getting my stuff their how, im getting a place to live there how? Keep in mind, in most cities houses cost over 100,000$ and my wife and I have a combined credit rating of a 432. Have you ever tried even walking into a bank with a 432 credit rating, they wont even let you open an account there. Not to mention I cant sell my house legally, I have leans against it. I know thats probably out of your vocabulary but its what happens when you owe collection agencies thousands of $ from medical bills and your not allowed to sell anything without giving it to them.

So I understand this concept if hard for you to accept with your utopian views of america, but in certain places in this nation, you can be fucked without a hope of salvation. This is how 36,000 people live in my city. We are given just enough money to keep us operational but too little to do anything with it. People do not go to college here, people do not graduate high school here, people do not get jobs here. Your survive off what the gov is willing to give you, and if you start to get ahead the city will come take it all away from you. Its not mindless complaining, its reality here, and until you come to my city and see how the other side has to live, you DONT KNOW what its like. This is one of those places if you get here, they are NOT letting you leave. As I said, you dont believe me, come visit. Well have a party, smoke a bunch of weed, and I will show you what absolute squalor looks like. Cars burning on the side of the road, gun fire at all times of the day, hearing a police siren every 90 seconds... and I live in the good part of town. They dont call us little chicago for nothing.

[SWSF Eidolon]

 Ram, I agree picking up and moving with baggage or little means is difficult, but who made the life decisions that put you where you're at now?

 "Every bums lot in life is his own responsibility regardless of who he chooses to blame" - Big Lebowski

 You said yourself, people don't seek an education there.  And while I'm under no illusions that a degree automatically equals well paid work, it does help.  I also wouldn't expect to be paid a competitive wage or salary in small town america.  That's simply how supply and demand dynamics work.

  My parents grew up in Small Town America, and most of my extended family still lives there (Alpena Michigan) so I know very well the plight of middle America.  Alpena is same size (about 30,000 residents) and isolated in terms of urban concentration.  There's probably 30 bars and 30 churches in that town though.  The nearest "respectable" center of Academia is about 300 miles away, and most the local kids grow up "scared" of living in the city, so the families stay there and never carve out a "larger" life for themselves because they expect wealth to show up on their doorstep in rural America.    I'm not attacking small town life, I wouldn't mind when I retire, or saying it's impossible to be prosperous in a small town, but the majority of people living there will not be.

  And it's not that I care about prosperity, or I mean prosperous in terms of being "rich" or "well to do", I just mean prosperous in terms of growth, constantly striving for something better, or at least living comfortably and not having to go without.

   I could give a shit bout wealth, I just want clean clothes, decent reliable transportation, a stack of comic books every weds, a bag every other week or so, some internet access and a home with the usual furnishings in a neighborhood where if I think I forgot to lock my front door I don't have to hurry home.  Karen apparently strives for bougeois standards, but to each their own.  Whatever gives an individual a sense of fulfillment without denying another the same.

[Ramano]

Well, firstly my parents made the choice to be here. A short-sighted error on their part that my entire family line will now have to pay for as long as this nation stands. Keep in mind, when they moved here, we had money, basically as much as we needed for whatever. Nice vacations, new vehicles, nice furnishings. Not syren level rich, but quite well to do. 1985 having 120,000$ in the bank and a 62,000$ a year income was phat living. My god i'd cut off an arm to get that NOW, fuck 1985. And on top of it we had a billionaire family support structure to compensate anything additional.

However as rich people usually will do, when it comes time to have to part with even a fraction of that money, they are not going to let that happen. So by 1990 we were living in the pit bottom of destitution. Couple that with the late 80s recession where my father and mother lost their jobs, whats left. No bank accounts, credit is shot, how the hell you put kids through college with that? Do you realize I was accepted to over 100 colleges in this nation? How does it get paid for though? Student loans require a co-signer with credit, not happening in this family. No money to speak of so its not coming out of pocket. Grants, sure I could now, but I got 3 kids and a wife, I cant go out of state to go to college for 4yrs, its just not an option, dont matter who's paying for it. Back when it was time for me to go to college though, white middle america, late 90s, yeah right. They told my parents to go get a job, literally. Not black, not mexican, you shouldnt need help. My high school has metal detectors on every door, a police station located ON CAMPUS, and total lock-down policy during school hours. Seriously, im supposed to get an education in that?! The school library was a joke, didnt even have internet access. No text books to speak of, teachers that are more concerned with reading the paper and doing their nails then teaching something, and why should they, the teachers have to be escorted to their vehicles after school so some crazy mexican kid dont shoot them cause they failed english class. And for teaching in this demilitarized zone they make maybe 25,000$ a year on the high side.

Sorry Eid, my city is not rural america, it is the bad part of inner city chicago transported up to the country side to get it out of sight, and left to be forgotten by the wayside. And as I said, at any time you dont believe every word of what comes out of my mouth is true, you think there is no possible way it could be that bad in a small city in the middle of no where, I invite you, come visit me. I'll show you around. I promise by the time you leave you will have a new view on what america really is. It is a black hole from which there is no escape.

[Ramano]

And for the record Eid, no one actually "chooses" to live here. You simply get born into a family already stuck here, to which your life, your childrens lives, their childrens lives, will forever been trapped here. And if by some weird chance you actually start to get ahead, as I said, the city will use eminent domain laws to come TAKE it from you. You know how many people on my street alone paid 100,000+$ to buy houses on the other side of town where the new subdivision went in, then the city came in, seized ALL of the property, paid these people 35 cents on the $ for their houses and relocated them all back to the west side of town declaring it "An emergency situation to raise funds due to extreme falling property values and dwindling tax income."

So please, you'll have to excuse me if some of my speech borders on near terroristic. I have anger toward my gov for the way it has treated us, who never chose to live here in the first place. It is not my fault what family im born into, and my family shouldnt be punished for it either.

Edit: Oh and by the way, that whole 255 unit subdivision the city put in where all these people got duped, its a corn field now. And not corn for us either, every square inch of that 600 acre area is cow feed.

Edit Edit: Oh but fear not, we will have 75 new jobs coming next year, when they build our CASINO. A FUCKING CASINO!! Yeah, isnt america wonderful!