I have been that guy constantly following someone on the highway. I try to be safe about it though. I drive a truck, and any drafting I do, especially to semis, increases my mileage by 3-4 mpg.

I agree. It's too bad, but glad to see they at least got something. We use both NSN and Nortel switches for our network infrastructure. Be interesting to hear NSN's take on the bidding process. I'm gonna bet their available cash flow kept them out of the Nortel bid, and they only secured enough now. That and I wouldn't have predicted Ericsson to go as high as they did.

I went to private school to get my BSci., it was quite a bit more expensive than public uni. But keep in mind, the more you pay for tuition, the more you can deduct in tax. And it carries over year to year (Im in Canada). I've been out of school 4 years now, and this year I will finally be paying normal tax amounts as I've used tuition as a large deduction since I've been out. It also was used as a deduction for my parents for when I was in school, saving more money there.

Things to think about to help your debt:
- Challenge BS classes. Costs like $150 to take a test, or $1100 to sit in something bogus and waste your time.
- Be selective about textbooks (or get used textbooks). Lots of profs teach right from the book, lots don't even use the ones recommended for the class. I sold all the texts I didn't use after I was done for approx $1000 total. Probably saved around $1500 in not buying bogus texts too.
- Part time job. I bartended at a night club while I went to school. Started in a garbage restaurant that would hire anyone and worked my way up in the industry. Made tons in tips, still had a social life.
- Reduce ridiculous trips/nights out/expensive benders, etc. I know ppl who took out a loan to go to Mexico during school, or lived in an apartment that looked like the Taj Mahal. Pizza adds up. So does dropping $100 at the bar every weekend. Your a student, live like one. I found pubs in the city that had .10 cent wings for every night of the week. Thats cheaper than buying groceries. Working at a restaurant serving usually gets you staff meals and 50% off their menu too.

Using the above, 6 months after I graduated I had everything paid off.

I worked low wage entry level jobs that sucked for the first couple years. Job hopped probably 8 times since I've been out, but I found a place I liked, started at the bottom, and now worked my way up to Systems Administrator for a large ISP. Doing quite well now.

It's all what you're willing to work for, and willing to sacrifice that determines how much debt your in. Tuition is just a part of that. And the part that invests in yourself, however expensive that may be. Can you really put a price on that?