So this is what got the Lefty poster all riled up this afternoon?

(04-17-2026 12:28 PM)gdunn Wrote:  So this is what got the Lefty poster all riled up this afternoon?

I knew it would. Somehow got derailed to child care.

Trump won't get credit.. One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022 and the American people had to depend on a clueless dope and the braindead President to negotiate, which they didn't or couldn't.

(04-17-2026 12:36 PM)gdunn Wrote:  One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022...

You do know trump DID sign that deal, right?

But you're right. Biden failed to get OPEC to give up on the worst oil deal in presidential history that trump agreed to, a deal that greatly benefitted them. Bad Biden!

It is quite amusing though that you're praising trump for getting the framework of a deal agreed to...even though there's still no official deal with each item agreed to and may not be for days, weeks, or even a month or more...which will open the strait back up. A strait that was open before his excursion of choice. A choice that killed 14 Americans, rose gas prices by a $1, started a hit to the global economy which is just now starting to really be felt and likely won't ease for months now, all to likely end up with the same deal Obama made with them that trump killed with no replacement...and will likely result in us giving them pallets of cash that you guys wailed about incessantly before.

4D chess. No question.

(04-17-2026 12:56 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:36 PM)gdunn Wrote:  One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022...

You do know trump DID sign that deal, right?

But you're right. Biden failed to get OPEC to give up on the worst oil deal in presidential history that trump agreed to, a deal that greatly benefitted them. Bad Biden!

It is quite amusing though that you're praising trump for getting the framework of a deal agreed to...even though there's still no official deal with each item agreed to and may not be for days, weeks, or even a month or more...which will open the strait back up. A strait that was open before his excursion of choice. A choice that killed 14 Americans, rose gas prices by a $1, started a hit to the global economy which is just now starting to really be felt and likely won't ease for months now, all to likely end up with the same deal Obama made with them that trump killed with no replacement...and will likely result in us giving them pallets of cash that you guys wailed about incessantly before.

4D chess. No question.

yesterday, it down a dime in the 'burg...

paid 3.59 vs. 3.69 ... it's gotta suck to be ewe...

I'm betting it falls below 3 bucks by the end of the month ... by June, it should be back to where it was before this all began...

yeah, this one was worth the short-term pain at the pump...

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:55 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:49 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:22 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Don't worry, I'm only going to be more miserable when I have to start paying 2k+ a month for childcare in the next few weeks.

Don't outsource parenting.

My kids have gone without me home a total of maybe 10 days their entire lives.

So far we haven't. I work from home and I've been watching our son essentially by myself for the last 3 1/2 months since my wife's maternity leave ended. I'm literally watching him right this second. We are about to reach the point though that I can't manage to actually successfully work and watch him at the same time, one of those tasks would have to slip too much. We got a quote a few months back for 3 days a week of day care, 2,500 a month. We'll try to get someone to come in the house at least a few days a week going forward so I am still there with him every day. That's my ideal scenario.

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

(04-17-2026 12:56 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:36 PM)gdunn Wrote:  One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022...

You do know trump DID sign that deal, right?

But you're right. Biden failed to get OPEC to give up on the worst oil deal in presidential history that trump agreed to, a deal that greatly benefitted them. Bad Biden!

It is quite amusing though that you're praising trump for getting the framework of a deal agreed to...even though there's still no official deal with each item agreed to and may not be for days, weeks, or even a month or more...which will open the strait back up. A strait that was open before his excursion of choice. A choice that killed 14 Americans, rose gas prices by a $1, started a hit to the global economy which is just now starting to really be felt and likely won't ease for months now, all to likely end up with the same deal Obama made with them that trump killed with no replacement...and will likely result in us giving them pallets of cash that you guys wailed about incessantly before.

4D chess. No question.

Trump did sign the bill. Remind me genius who was President when it expired in 2022? Come on you can say it... And why didn't he do anything about it? I want to hear the excuse and the word Trump is not allowed to be used.

Your side cannot talk about military precision unless we're allowed to discuss Benghazi and the Afghanistan withdrawal. So spare me.

But I would be interested in my question up top. I don't want a link. I want to hear Tom explain why Trump signed a deal, that expired in 2022, who was the sitting President and why nothing happened without saying "Thrump" from your stupid fingertips.

Looks like they've reversed course... all turning around.

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:55 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:49 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  Don't outsource parenting.

My kids have gone without me home a total of maybe 10 days their entire lives.

So far we haven't. I work from home and I've been watching our son essentially by myself for the last 3 1/2 months since my wife's maternity leave ended. I'm literally watching him right this second. We are about to reach the point though that I can't manage to actually successfully work and watch him at the same time, one of those tasks would have to slip too much. We got a quote a few months back for 3 days a week of day care, 2,500 a month. We'll try to get someone to come in the house at least a few days a week going forward so I am still there with him every day. That's my ideal scenario.

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

(04-17-2026 01:48 PM)gdunn Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:56 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:36 PM)gdunn Wrote:  One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022...

You do know trump DID sign that deal, right?

But you're right. Biden failed to get OPEC to give up on the worst oil deal in presidential history that trump agreed to, a deal that greatly benefitted them. Bad Biden!

It is quite amusing though that you're praising trump for getting the framework of a deal agreed to...even though there's still no official deal with each item agreed to and may not be for days, weeks, or even a month or more...which will open the strait back up. A strait that was open before his excursion of choice. A choice that killed 14 Americans, rose gas prices by a $1, started a hit to the global economy which is just now starting to really be felt and likely won't ease for months now, all to likely end up with the same deal Obama made with them that trump killed with no replacement...and will likely result in us giving them pallets of cash that you guys wailed about incessantly before.

4D chess. No question.

Trump did sign the bill. Remind me genius who was President when it expired in 2022? Come on you can say it... And why didn't he do anything about it? I want to hear the excuse and the word Trump is not allowed to be used.

Your side cannot talk about military precision unless we're allowed to discuss Benghazi and the Afghanistan withdrawal. So spare me.

But I would be interested in my question up top. I don't want a link. I want to hear Tom explain why Trump signed a deal, that expired in 2022, who was the sitting President and why nothing happened without saying "Thrump" from your stupid fingertips.

Clown show, you've asked this same question about 5 times now. Biden was the president in 2022. No, he was not able to change the deal. He tried. The deal was a BIG win for OPEC, why would they change it?

(04-17-2026 02:03 PM)mlb Wrote:  Looks like they've reversed course... all turning around.

Yeah, this is still FAR away from any actual agreement. And even then, it's all tenuous. If Israel start bombing Lebanon again, we'll be right back to where we were.

And there are still unaccounted for mines in the strait. Additionally, ships that have sat for a month are likely low on supplies and/or fuel. They can't all just start sailing for their original destination at the drop of a hat. Also, I think Iran is still going to try and collect some fees for ships that pass.

(04-17-2026 02:10 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:55 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  So far we haven't. I work from home and I've been watching our son essentially by myself for the last 3 1/2 months since my wife's maternity leave ended. I'm literally watching him right this second. We are about to reach the point though that I can't manage to actually successfully work and watch him at the same time, one of those tasks would have to slip too much. We got a quote a few months back for 3 days a week of day care, 2,500 a month. We'll try to get someone to come in the house at least a few days a week going forward so I am still there with him every day. That's my ideal scenario.

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

(04-17-2026 02:56 PM)Redbanksdog Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 02:10 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

Yep, it is what it is. Emory University is obscenely expensive. Also there are some weird things with the student loan rules that she falls on the wrong side of. If you started college in the fall of 2014 you can qualify for the new IBR program. New IBR allows you to obtain debt forgiveness after 20 years and caps payments at 10% of discretionary income. You can lower that total by doing married filing separately, so then it's just 10% of her discretionary income vs our joint income. Unfortunately, she started school in the fall of 2013 which means she would only qualify for old IBR. For old IBR forgiveness you have to pay 15% of discretionary income for 25 years. Even doing married filing separately it wouldn't have saved any real money and we might would pay it off before getting any forgiveness. In a way it would have been an easier decision if she actually had significantly more student loan debt vs the amount she has.

Looks like the traffic through the Strait is pretty heavy with a bright red streak indicating a high number of ships making it through. It is very narrow and the ships have to go through the North side of the opening as that is the channel.
https://www.marinetraffic.org/HORMUZ-STR...ic-tracker

(04-17-2026 03:16 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 02:56 PM)Redbanksdog Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 02:10 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

Yep, it is what it is. Emory University is obscenely expensive. Also there are some weird things with the student loan rules that she falls on the wrong side of. If you started college in the fall of 2014 you can qualify for the new IBR program. New IBR allows you to obtain debt forgiveness after 20 years and caps payments at 10% of discretionary income. You can lower that total by doing married filing separately, so then it's just 10% of her discretionary income vs our joint income. Unfortunately, she started school in the fall of 2013 which means she would only qualify for old IBR. For old IBR forgiveness you have to pay 15% of discretionary income for 25 years. Even doing married filing separately it wouldn't have saved any real money and we might would pay it off before getting any forgiveness. In a way it would have been an easier decision if she actually had significantly more student loan debt vs the amount she has.

Hang in there, you and your wife will look back at all of this one day and smile. This will probably happen when you are holding your first grandchild and the memories of those times will come to you of how you and your wife made it work. Your children will grow up fast and leave the nest. Time fly's faster than you think with children. Hang in there and keep moving forward.

(04-17-2026 10:37 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)banker Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:41 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:26 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:22 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Don't worry, I'm only going to be more miserable when I have to start paying 2k+ a month for childcare in the next few weeks.

Make your wife be a mom and you bring home the bread like a man

Your condescending retard comment aside you have no idea how much she wishes that were actually economically possible. My wife is leaving her NP job with a non-profit that serves people who fall into the category who make too much for Medicaid but don't have private insurance. She loves the job and is devastated to have to leave, but because it's a non-profit the pay is absolute trash for an NP. Her new job is going to pay 50k more than her current position, and essentially all of the post tax amount of that will end up going to childcare till kindergarten. If she had a job that only paid 50-60k then yeah it would make sense for her to just stay home, but obviously she has a job that pays a lot more than that and we can't get by without her salary. This move just gets us back to our current situation when you factor in what we are going to have to pay for childcare.

Sounds like someone prioritized lifestyle over family. Key to life - always plan your finances around one salary, not two. Not only did it allow my wife not to work when our child was young, when she did go back to work we just put 100% of her earnings into savings and investments. We went 15 years and never spent a dollar she earned. Then that allowed me to retire at 51.

I'm sure with your $400 a month mortgage payment this made perfect sense.

Again a life choice....


YOU, let me repeat that YOU, made the choice not to buy in 2014 to 2020 and from what you said on here you would have been in your early to mid 30s. You could have had a $500 to $600 dollar mortgage.

Nope YOU chose to rent, spend your money on things. On night life. On instant rewards. Don't f'ing act like these high prices are something you couldn't have avoided.


BTW Banker is around my age and our adult hood (mid 20s) was 10 to 16% rates.

You could have bought a home at 2% and 1/3 the cost just a few years ago. YOU made the life choice not to. Now you want to blame Boomers for your stupidity. Let me guess, you wanted to start out with a middle class home. Of course you did. Again YOU made that life choice

(04-17-2026 11:14 AM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)banker Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:41 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:26 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:22 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Don't worry, I'm only going to be more miserable when I have to start paying 2k+ a month for childcare in the next few weeks.

Make your wife be a mom and you bring home the bread like a man

Your condescending retard comment aside you have no idea how much she wishes that were actually economically possible. My wife is leaving her NP job with a non-profit that serves people who fall into the category who make too much for Medicaid but don't have private insurance. She loves the job and is devastated to have to leave, but because it's a non-profit the pay is absolute trash for an NP. Her new job is going to pay 50k more than her current position, and essentially all of the post tax amount of that will end up going to childcare till kindergarten. If she had a job that only paid 50-60k then yeah it would make sense for her to just stay home, but obviously she has a job that pays a lot more than that and we can't get by without her salary. This move just gets us back to our current situation when you factor in what we are going to have to pay for childcare.

Sounds like someone prioritized lifestyle over family. Key to life - always plan your finances around one salary, not two. Not only did it allow my wife not to work when our child was young, when she did go back to work we just put 100% of her earnings into savings and investments. We went 15 years and never spent a dollar she earned. Then that allowed me to retire at 51.

That's basically how my wife and I's life is. I pay the bills and her salary pays the health insurance and retirement. She is about 5 years from retirement and she will be home to take care of our grandchild (children) as we have one on the way. I can work as long as I have my faculties. All I need is internet service, a laptop, phone and scanner/printer. I have taught both of my kids to live that way. My daughter is currently pregnant and will be home with her baby for a year or so as my SIL can cover their needs and they have a ton in the bank. My son is in college in the ROTC program and a National Guardsman. He takes care of himself now. I pay for his car insurance and his cell phone only. He has had a TSP through the NG for nearly 3 years now that he has maxxed the contributions. He is 22.

My oldest child would not listen in his college years. Spend spend spend. Now he tells me all the time, dad should have listened to you. Him and his wife make decent money (158k W2 and she makes 13-16k side hustle) finally bought their first home right before prices started going up

My youngest went to work, not college, he bought his first home at age 21 (2015), his 2nd age 24 (2018) and his home home in 2019. He sold the 2015 home in 2021 and bought 2 more rentals with a net zero on those 2 homes. Never was the kid to go out waste money on "things" till he reached 30 and can afford whatever he wants without it setting him back. He did that from a 20k down payment loan (us) on that first house and paid that back in 3 years.

The sweet spot is a mixture of both of my children....

I regret always putting things off for that rainy day even when I could afforded it. I'm a happy man, both of my children have found that sweet spot. That's a worry I not longer have. Both standing on their own feet. Both great fathers. Both supporting their children. Not just money but with love and invested time. Lot of parent dont understand INVESTED TIME is the most value thing a parent can give a child.

Seems like you and I have that in common.

(04-17-2026 02:10 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 09:55 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  So far we haven't. I work from home and I've been watching our son essentially by myself for the last 3 1/2 months since my wife's maternity leave ended. I'm literally watching him right this second. We are about to reach the point though that I can't manage to actually successfully work and watch him at the same time, one of those tasks would have to slip too much. We got a quote a few months back for 3 days a week of day care, 2,500 a month. We'll try to get someone to come in the house at least a few days a week going forward so I am still there with him every day. That's my ideal scenario.

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

That’s just brutal, man. You have my sympathy.

(04-17-2026 02:23 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:48 PM)gdunn Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:56 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 12:36 PM)gdunn Wrote:  One poster still blames Trump for the OPEC deal that expired in 2022...

You do know trump DID sign that deal, right?

But you're right. Biden failed to get OPEC to give up on the worst oil deal in presidential history that trump agreed to, a deal that greatly benefitted them. Bad Biden!

It is quite amusing though that you're praising trump for getting the framework of a deal agreed to...even though there's still no official deal with each item agreed to and may not be for days, weeks, or even a month or more...which will open the strait back up. A strait that was open before his excursion of choice. A choice that killed 14 Americans, rose gas prices by a $1, started a hit to the global economy which is just now starting to really be felt and likely won't ease for months now, all to likely end up with the same deal Obama made with them that trump killed with no replacement...and will likely result in us giving them pallets of cash that you guys wailed about incessantly before.

4D chess. No question.

Trump did sign the bill. Remind me genius who was President when it expired in 2022? Come on you can say it... And why didn't he do anything about it? I want to hear the excuse and the word Trump is not allowed to be used.

Your side cannot talk about military precision unless we're allowed to discuss Benghazi and the Afghanistan withdrawal. So spare me.

But I would be interested in my question up top. I don't want a link. I want to hear Tom explain why Trump signed a deal, that expired in 2022, who was the sitting President and why nothing happened without saying "Thrump" from your stupid fingertips.

Clown show, you've asked this same question about 5 times now. Biden was the president in 2022. No, he was not able to change the deal. He tried. The deal was a BIG win for OPEC, why would they change it?

What was his excuse after 2022. You know, the other half of his cheated presidency?

(04-17-2026 05:15 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 02:10 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 01:37 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:31 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-17-2026 10:07 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

Good luck, brother!

Appreciate it! I wouldn't trade these last few months for anything, and I'm so glad I'm at the job I'm at now that I can do this. I wish it were possible for one of us to be a full time stay at home parent, but with our mortgage of 2,600 a month (gotta love 6.875% interest) and her student loans of 2k a month it's just never going to be a thing. We really are lucky that she has the option/ability because of her profession to find a new job quickly that pays 50k a year more and that will basically cover the childcare costs until kindergarten.

If one of you makes 50k or less I completely understand you should just stay home as 20-30k a year in childcare just makes that job completely pointless. If both of you make in like the 75-80k range I'm not sure what actual choice you make.

Your wife has a 2k a month payment on student loans? For how long?

About 800 a month in private student loans that will be paid off in I believe another 5 years. The 1,200 a month in federal loans 16 years or so.

That’s just brutal, man. You have my sympathy.

And really really stupid