Your note was so long, I thought it better to reply to the different parts in different messages.

Rob Mccart wrote to Dr. What <=-

Possibly I misspoke.. From my own experience trying out several
different occupations through my working life I never thought of
any of them as a career, just a paycheque as long as I didn't hate
working there too much. To my way of thinking a career is more that
you are trained to do just one thing and expect to do it for life
and may be in serious trouble if that occupation becomes obsolete.

Mike Rowe should have dispelled that idea by now.

For most of us, our careers evolve over time.

I knew I wanted to go into computers at 13 and worked toward that. But computers in what? I've bopped from warehousing systems, to engine control systems, to medical systems.

Yes, it's a paycheck. That's why we work. And since we spend a good chunk of our day there, it'd be nice if we enjoyed that work. And, over time, we should get better and better. Which makes us more valuable. Which gets us a better job, and so on.

But sometimes what we originally trained for is not what we ended up with. But all through that, we should be using our current knowledge and experience to springboard into that next step.

Heck, if things go the way I think, I may end up teaching before I retire.


... Give a man an inch, and he thinks he's a ruler.
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Rob Mccart wrote to Dr. What <=-

Then they didn't do their homework. You should know that before your senior

>year of high school.

Again, in a perfect world. A lot of people just figure they need a
degree to get a lot of jobs out there,

I'm not talking about a perfect world.

I'm talking about doing your homework. Do you buy a car, or house without checking things out? No.

Why would you spend thousands on a college education for a career that
1. you hate
or
2. won't pay enough to pay back the student loans and allow you to live.?

When I was in high school we a thing called MOIS. I think it stood for Michigan Occupation Information System. But it was an aptitude test coupled with information about colleges and jobs.

Basically, it allowed you to learn what you would enjoy doing. Then allow you to research what education you needed, how much it would cost, and what the job is like and how much it will cost.

From there, you can do more research into the job to see if it's something you would enjoy.

It's called "doing your homework" and too many kids don't do that anymore.

A "perfect world" would be that everyone would know in the 3rd grade what they would like to be - but what would we do with all those firemen and ballerinas?


... You can pick your friends, but not your relatives.
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Rob Mccart wrote to Dr. What <=-

to date and hopefully marry. You can usually tell because the first
thing out of their mouth is asking what you do for a living, which is
code for 'How much money do you make?'..

The first high school reunion that I went to, one of my old classmates (now divorced) basically stuffed her... personalities... in my face while asking the questions.

The taint of desperation is not attractive.


... Don't open the darkroom door; it lets all the dark out.
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Re: Re: Screens Distract Stud
By: Dr. What to Rob Mccart on Sat Apr 12 2025 02:56 pm

A "perfect world" would be that everyone would know in the 3rd grade what they would like to be - but what would we do with all those firemen and ballerinas?

I can't believe kids nowadays feel compelled to have a major lined up when they enter college. When I entered in the mid-80s, it was perfectly reasonable to go undeclared for your first 3 semesters, take lower-division classes and a couple of classes in an area of interest, and decide after trying them out. This was mostly in related fields, like business to finance/accounting/CIS, or CS/Engineering/Math.

I had a declared major going in, but had options been available for something more IT-related than hard CS, I would have gone down that route.

...What is the reality of the situation?
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Re: Re: Screens Distract Stud
By: Dr. What to Rob Mccart on Sat Apr 12 2025 02:56 pm

The first high school reunion that I went to, one of my old classmates (now divorced) basically stuffed her... personalities... in my face while asking the questions.

At my high school reunions, all of the popular girls seem like they peaked. I went to mine with a high school buddy of mine, and 3 or 4 beautiful women came up to me, hugged me, was glad to see me... my friend had no clue who they were.

He asked me where they were in high school. I replied "The library"; I worked there in the afternoons, where I grew a fondness for the Dewey decimal system and learned to loathe the library of congress system.

It seemed the less popular girls came into their own once they graduated.

Dewey Rules.
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Possibly I misspoke.. From my own experience trying out several
different occupations through my working life I never thought of
any of them as a career, just a paycheque as long as I didn't hate
working there too much. To my way of thinking a career is more that
you are trained to do just one thing and expect to do it for life
and may be in serious trouble if that occupation becomes obsolete.

For most of us, our careers evolve over time.

This is true, but in a lot of cases, you are doing just a basic
job and there's nowhere to go from there. You do it well and you
keep the job but if that job is suddenly replaced by some AI Bot
you may find your training to now be worthless.

I knew I wanted to go into computers at 13 and worked toward that. But

>computers in what? I've bopped from warehousing systems, to engine control
>systems, to medical systems.

That's training in the use of a tool that can be used in many places
though so you'd have options to move to another employer easily.

Heck, if things go the way I think, I may end up teaching before I retire.

Ha.. I was once offered the chance to teach computers as well. By that
point I wasn't looking for a 'regular' job anymore so I didn't get
involved. I probably could have gotten the position since it was my
sister who offered it to me, and she was a former teacher and now
the head of the teacher's union.. Friends in low places.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * !@#$%*: the most widely used computer term worldwide
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Then they didn't do their homework. You should know that before your

>senior year of high school.

Again, in a perfect world. A lot of people just figure they need a
degree to get a lot of jobs out there,

I'm not talking about a perfect world.

I'm talking about doing your homework. Do you buy a car, or house without

>checking things out? No.

Why would you spend thousands on a college education for a career that

>1. you hate
>or
>2. won't pay enough to pay back the student loans and allow you to live.?

But it gets beaten into our heads that if we get a Univrsity degree
then you'll get a good job. So those who don't know what they want
to do for a living yet still think it's smart to stay in school and
get a BA degree or something. Unfortunately a lot of people with
those degrees spend much of their days asking, Would you like fries
with that?..

When I was in high school we a thing called MOIS. I think it stood for

>Michigan Occupation Information System. But it was an aptitude test coupled
>with information about colleges and jobs.

Basically, it allowed you to learn what you would enjoy doing. Then allow yo

>to research what education you needed, how much it would cost, and what the j
>is like and how much it will cost.

I'd heard we had something similar here but it was never actually
offered seriously in the school I went to. You got appointments
with a Guidance Councellor but they didn't push too hard to get you
to choose one thing, or didn't with me anyways. In my case he just
went on and on about how with my I.Q. I could do anything I wanted
and to make sure I went on to University, and how easy it should
be for me to win academic scholarships to pay my way.

A "perfect world" would be that everyone would know in the 3rd grade what the

>would like to be - but what would we do with all those firemen and ballerinas

Yes, I wanted to design aircraft and be a fighter pilot in the airforce
and maybe become an astronaut some day until I discovered that most
people with the engineering degree I needed to head that way ended up
doing mickey mouse jobs because there were so few openings.

It didn't help when I discovered that my eyesight wasn't quite good
enough to be a pilot anyways..

---
* SLMR Rob * I can't be bought! But make me an offer anyway...
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

to date and hopefully marry. You can usually tell because the first
thing out of their mouth is asking what you do for a living, which is
code for 'How much money do you make?'..

The first high school reunion that I went to, one of my old classmates (now

>divorced) basically stuffed her... personalities... in my face while asking t
>questions.

I always wondered what I'd have found if I went to a highschool reunion.
They were never so organized that you got invited to one specific to
your class here. They had a few 'general' reunions where all the classes
over a set number of years (5?.. 10?) could come to the event and hope
you found some other people there you knew.

I wondered where a bunch of those who figured they'd be super successful
ended up. Myself, nothing I'd done would impress people too much other
than maybe me buying a house at age 21.

That was another thing that impressed a lot of women, if you owned
a house. But there was a lot of disappointment when they discovered
you weren't rich so, after paying for that house, you didn't have a
lot of spare cash left over for them to blow.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Found God? If no one claims him in 30 days He's yours!
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

At my high school reunions, all of the popular girls seem like they peaked. I

>nt to mine with a high school buddy of mine, and 3 or 4 beautiful women came
>to me, hugged me, was glad to see me... my friend had no clue who they were.

I spent so little time around school outside of classes that the girls
I dated all lived far away, closer to where I worked after school.

Plus I had a bit of an unearned reputation in school with my custom
motorcycle and muscle car. One time I started talking to a cute girl
who was with a couple of people I was chatting with to at lunch and
I asked her out. She looked at me all wide eyed for a few seconds
and then said, "I'm scared to death of you!".. and then she ran off..

That might be what got me hunting my women elsewhere.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Pentiums melt in your PC, not your hand
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Re: Re: Screens Distract Stud
By: Aaron Thomas to Dr. What on Sat Apr 05 2025 08:33 pm

Didn't BBSing help you turn into a faster typer?

No, but High School typing class did make me a fast *typist*.

But there was never more pressure to type fast than when you were pulled into chat with the sysop and they could watch your every keystroke and mistake (and you were all too aware). So typing class paid off there and through-out my career. I keep telling my college-aged daughters: use the correct fingers! Don't look at the keyboard! They type faster than many, but could be so much faster.
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #35:
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Rob Swindell wrote to Aaron Thomas <=-

Didn't BBSing help you turn into a faster typer?

No, but High School typing class did make me a fast *typist*.

Same. My high school offered a Personal Typing class (i.e. typing for people who weren't going to be secretaries). I took it knowing that I was going to go into computers. And it's paid big dividends over the decades.


... My other computer is a TRS-80 Pocket Computer 2.
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