A REALLY non-progressive solution to my money problem

[jmowreader]

As everyone who read http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5655731 knows, my wife took off on Friday while I was at work. She wrote me a letter--I guess so I can prove fault in court, 'cause that's what I'm going to use it for--put the contents of her dresser drawer in her car, took her makeup, her wool yarn and knitting needles, most of her DVDs, all of her CDs, a few changes of clothes and her boom box, and left for Tennessee. Here's the weird thing: two days ago, one of her friends gave her a car-top carrier that the friend was throwing away. Most of Lori's stuff would have fit in it, including the computer she smashed. The car-top carrier is still sitting behind the house.

Today I was talking to one of our part-timers. Asked him where he worked. 3E Communications, he said, a defense contractor. They're looking for two guys to be "liaisons." A liaison takes new guys, gets them inprocessed and sends them to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

I think I could get a bit of satisfaction from this job; I'd know I was doing everything I could to make sure these guys shipped with properly-fitted armor, a properly-fitted helmet, and all the other stuff they're given to keep from dying.

Pay? $58,000 per year. At my tax rate that's over $1700 every two weeks, as opposed to $1300 before she left, $750 to $800 of which was going into the bank depending on how much money she decided to spend on unspecified "other stuff." That would give me a thousand a month to spend on debt eradication, and some of those debts are less than a grand. Or I can try fixing up this house so it'll be salable. What'cha think, put $500 a month into eradicating debt and $500 into renovations?

If Bush is going to throw money around like a drunken sailor on shore leave, he can throw some of it to me.

[ZombieNixon]

1. Do what you have to do.

There is nothing "non-progressive" about working for a living, and like you said, maybe you can help ensure the safety of some of these guys. :shrug: Good luck in whatever you choose to do. :)

[SeattleGirl]

2. Seconded.

As I said on your thread yesterday, there is nothing non-progressive about keeping a roof over your head, food on your table, and your bills paid. If someone wants to judge you for that, it says more about them than it does about you.

All the best to you.

[mainegreen]

3. Defense contractors are not anti-progressive.

Edited to add: not inherently anyways. They will just support whatever party supports military spending. That is neither progressive nor conservative.

Defense and a military are a necessity in this world.
Republican wars are anti progressive.

Go for it. Sounds like a great job.

[billyskank]

4. It's a job. Take it.

[NoPasaran]

5. Sounds like a good job. Take it.

Somebody's going to be doing it, it might as well be you.

[lildreamer316]

6. Take that job!!

EVERYTHING happens for a reason.
You are obviously supposed to get out of debt.
Again, sorry about how this is happening to you, but sounds like to me things are already going in a good direction for you.

[politicat]

7. Take it.

And as far as the wife goes... you're in a community property state, yes? That works to your benefit, too. File for divorce, figure out the debts she incurred from which you derived no benefit, put them in the divorce proceedings, let your creditors know that she is responsible for those debts, and push back. Get a good lawyer. Yes, she'll get half of the profits after the mortgage is paid on the house, but you know, you CAN sell it for exactly what you owe on it. You don't have to make a profit. Or you can share the profit if you must.

I'm married to a nice guy who agreed to take his ex-wife's debt. She left him with over $25 grand. Five years later, there's less than a grand left until we're clear. It's been a tough row to hoe, and now that I know he didn't have to be nice, I wish I'd insisted that he make her pay for her student loans and victoria's secret habit.

[sbj405]

8. A cautionary note

"I'd know I was doing everything I could to make sure these guys shipped with properly-fitted armor, a properly-fitted helmet, and all the other stuff they're given to keep from dying."

Just prepare yourself for the possibilty that you might not be sending them with all the right equipment. That being said, if the job really does pay that well, take it. Though, I, too, will miss your customer horror stories.