Software Engineer ranked #1 as Best Job in America........

[Cut-Throat]

By Money Magazine.

And I can say it still 'sucked big time', as I was one.


http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/top50/index.html

 

[cube_rat]

By Money Magazine.

And I can say it still 'sucked big time', as I was one.  


http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/top50/index.html

It still SUCKS now!!

 

[farmerEd]

I thought it was a great job...what other job can you stay at home, working from your cellar office and turn your PC into a virtual ATM ?

Sometimes I miss it.

 

[maddythebeagle]

3. Financial advisor 25.92% $122,462   

 

[wabmester]

Sometimes I miss it.

Same here.   Coding Software Engineering has been very very good to me.    I used to love programming, but I got pushed into management for several years.   I was sure that I'd start coding again as a hobby in retirement, but so far it just hasn't seemed as compelling as, say, sailing, or kayaking,  or other forms of just goofing off.

 

[cube_rat]

Yeah, the paycheck is nice.  However, try fixing ERP spaghetti crap for a living.  My job is like trying to find a faulty teeny tiny wire in a Boeing 747.

 

[wildcat]

3. Financial advisor 25.92% $122,462

My friend started about a year ago and he is doing well - probably about 80k a year. I would just have a REAL hard time taking people for my own financial gain.

 

[poboy]

Have a cousin who is a meeting/convention planner, #39, and have decided this is what I shall pursue if the urge to go back to work stays with me more than 45 seconds.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

As a result of starting out my career as one, i'm currently sitting on the back patio eating alaskan king crab and drinking sam adams in 75 degree sunny weather...on a weekday.

That would make it a pretty good job!

 

[Cool Dood]

So being a software engineer doesn't give one good taste in beer?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Sorry, I'm out of Redhook and Guiness.

Besides, the (perfectly good I might add) Sammies were $4 a six pack. Cant beat that with a stick!

 

[Papi]

Hey, I'm a SE as well and like all those brews.

But LBYM forces me to brew my own, which works out to a little over a $1 a six-pack. And it's a lot better than the bottled stuff

 

[Cut-Throat]

I just saw on the news where the retiring Exxon CEO got a $400 Million retirement package. I'd say his job was much better than mine.

Does it seem right to anyone that oil companies are enjoying record profits at the expense of everyone else? I thought monopolies were illegal?

I saw the Exxon CEO complaining that when oil was under $10 a barrel, the company was "only" making a $2 Billion profit per quarter. Now that Oil is over $60 a Barrel, he felt justified that Exxon was making $50 Billion a Quarter. Somehow he thinks his profits should increase because his cost has increased.

Can we elect any politicians that can stop this insanity?

 

[samclem]

Maybe the same scarcity of oil that causes the price per barrel to rise causes fuel to be scarce--and price at the pump to rise--and Exxon to make more money. Or maybe the inefficient market caused by the growing number of boutique fuels results in pump prices higher than they would otherwise be. Or, maybe the fact that no new refineries have been built in the US for a long time (due at least in part to environmental concerns).

Can we elect any politicians that can stop this insanity?

I hope there are no attempts to "fix" the laws of supply and demand. I was just a kid on a bike the last time they "helped" fix things in 1973, but I remember the gas lines that stretched around the block.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Just because costs go up doesn't mean profits should escalate to record levels. The oil companies have conspired to all raise prices, just like an Arab cartel. They are not only passing the higher costs on to us, but jacking up the prices for record profits.

Monopolies are already illegal! - They just need to enforce existing laws.

 

[Cut-Throat]

I hope there are no attempts to "fix" the laws of supply and demand. I was just a kid on a bike the last time they "helped" fix things in 1973, but I remember the gas lines that stretched around the block.

Well, I had been driving for quite a few years by then. I am not sure what you mean "they helped fix things' the only thing that was done was done by the oil companies. - Nixon enacted Wage and Price controls in 1972. The Arabs created the oil embargo.

The problem is that it is not a free market at all. It is a tightly controlled monopolized industry that is controlling prices, suppy and all this is leading to record profits. Normally when costs rise for a business they have a hard time passing this on to consumers and profits drop.

So please explain to us, why you think record profits are in order, just because oil costs more?

 

[laurence]

I'd be intersted in what the profit was as a %, if operating expenses went from 20 billion to 500 billion, that increase in profit would be reasonable, not saying that's the case.  Also, what is the average % profit of the oil industry over a 30 year period? I heard somewhere that it's about 10%, not bad but not crazy.  My take, extremely ignorant as it is, is that the oil companies are taking advantage of the situation, but haven't created it.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Monopolies are already illegal!

Can you say, "Microsoft"?

 

[Cut-Throat]

Can you say, "Microsoft"?

How have your computer expenses vs. your gasoline expenses over the last 15 years compared?

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

CT, my self-interest is on the other side of the table. Sorry about that.

I work in the business, you may remember. I do well when oil is dear and Mr. Exxon is spending money like a drunken sailor. When I retire, I am going to cheat him by living without a car or moving to Venezuela and enjoying Chavez's 25 cent gasoline.

Ed

 

[Nords]

I just saw on the news where the retiring Exxon CEO got a $400 Million retirement package.
Can we elect any politicians that can stop this insanity?

I think he's retiring to BE a politician.  Maybe he's discovered that he can earn more in "campaign contributions" than he can in "salary" or "pension".  Or else he's worried that Exxon is going to slice away his medical benefits over the next few years and he wants Congress' healthcare plan.

How have your computer expenses vs. your gasoline expenses over the last 15 years compared?

Well, let's see.  I waited for the computer to boot up this morning (I only use 32 of its 64 bits), downloaded the latest "extremely urgent crisis fire explosive hazard" updates, coped with Internet Exploder, and noted that there are easily another couple dozen man-hours of adjustments & fixes that I could tweak to turn this into a usable machine.  Oh, yeah, and do a set of backups before anything in there catches fire or eats its way out of the box.  Then I can go shopping for cheap RAM & graphics cards, 'cuz apparently those have to be separate items to make more room on the CPU for those 32 bits that I'm not using.

Then I went to the gas station, turned in my credit card, filled my tank, and drove.  I didn't have to reboot, fix, update, install, remove, reconfigure, defrag, backup, clean, clear, or reset anything.  I did have to remember to screw the gas cap back in.

If oil companies are making so much filthy stinkin' money, then why do they have a P/E lower than computer companies?  They're priced like commodities, not techs.

 

[wildcat]

C-T -

What is your proposed solution?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wasnt it not that long ago that the oil co's were losing money or barely breaking even?

 

[Cut-Throat]

C-T -

What is your proposed solution?

Break up the U.S. Cartel and enforce the rule brought against Standard Oil in 1911. The record price gouging of last year was criminal.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

So, buy their stocks.