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A comment on U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming Years. Parent comment

Re:U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming ... by jazzyk on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @09:25AM (#13070934)
I want to say one word to you. Just one word: Plumbing. [quote from "The Graduate"]

:-)

Seriously though: I have been begging plumbers to come and work on a reasonably high-priced project at my house. I reached out to 10+, no one is interested - they are booked for weeks in advance.

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Re:U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming ... by justin66 on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @09:27AM (#13070951)
> reasonably high-priced project

What would it pay for them?

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Re:U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming ... by jazzyk on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @09:34AM (#13071014)
The one quote I was able to get - $6K, labor only. No more than 2 days of work for 1 person. All plumbers based within 10 min drive.
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Re:U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming ... by antisthenes on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @10:23AM (#13071412)
You're not telling the full story.

$6k got me a 4 hour response of a 5 man crew with an excavator to replace a rusted section of a wastewater pipe, which involved digging 14ft down and demolishing part of my driveway (and pouring new concrete in after it was finished)

> No more than 2 days of work for 1 person.

You'll have us believe a plumber charges $375/hour for this project, based on the $6k quote?

This is not typical, so either your project is extremely difficult or you're not telling us something else.

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Re:U.S. To Forgive at Least $108B in Student Debt in Coming ... by hash-set on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @09:30AM (#13070971)
My brother is a "plumber" but he never took the exam or whatever and got his license. It's the same thing over and over--people with ambition succeed, people who lack it do not. If he had studied and gotten that license he would have been set for life, but no, always the "helper" or taking far lower paying jobs at schools and hospitals instead.
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