Mario First Class
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm >> General.Tum-a-tee-tum, cho-co-late syrup, on-a my tongue!
Anyway.
It’s September now. Sarah and I have been married for over a year. It’s funny, though, it feels like we’ve always been married. Maybe I just block out too much of my life. I wonder what it would be like to remember things…
We’re going on vacation from the 15th to the 26th. Except, we’re not actually going anywhere. We’re just taking off work for two weeks. Earlier this year we decided our vacation would be buying a Wii and taking time off to play. I think that means we need to buy some new games in the next few weeks. I wish somebody would pawn their copy of Super Mario Galaxy so we could buy it cheap, like how we got Super Paper Mario. I don’t really want to pay fifty bucks for a video game.
Sometimes I wonder if my life would have been better had I gone to college. And by better, I mean, um, in the future, as I would have only just graduated a few months ago… ugh. Horrid idea. I don’t know why I hate school so much, but I do. I’m smart, I like learning, I write well, and for what classes I did take I have a 4.0… but the idea of taking classes all day and having papers and projects due, and getting loans and having to work part-time jobs instead of having one full-time job… it was too much for me.
Of course, the big thing was picking a major. I have no idea what kind of job I want. I work with computers right now, but I don’t know if that’s the kind of career I would want to study for. What does a Bachelor’s degree in computer science get you, anyway? If my brothers who had theirs at 19 are any indicator, the answer is debt and a Pizza Hut car topper.
I’ve considered joining the army, but the idea of the army I’ve had for so long doesn’t really fit with who I am. I’m not much of an out doors person, and I don’t really want to shoot anyone. I mean, yeah, only a fraction of the armed forces actually is in combat, I could easily be support troop, but somehow it seems like it would be wrong to join the army with the intent of not being a soldier. Then, of course, there’s the issue of it being a giant pay cut.
Sigh.
It’s not like we’re having money problems or anything. Sarah and I have no debt, we’ve got plenty in savings, and we’re both working steady jobs. But, we want to buy a house and have kids. Buying a house isn’t really a problem, as we would just switch from paying rent to making payments on a house. But, having kids would mean we would need to get medical insurance, which neither of our jobs supply, and Sarah and I both want her to be able to stay home with the kids until they’re old enough for school, which would mean less income.
Sometimes I wish we had state-provided health care like in Canada… but then I remember that I really don’t. Ok, ok, revised wish: I wish all our local downtown businesses would form some sort of a union so they could provide health benefits at a reasonable rate. If that would work. I don’t know.
Well, back to work I go.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I know what you mean except for the marriage part. ;)
I also agree about college. I went for a long time and I’ve been out now for around 4 or 5 yrs and I don’t really think I ever want to go back. My gpa wasn’t all that great but i just didn’t like the way it was set up. I got my job on campus as a full time gig so I’ve been working there. Otherwise I know I’d like to do art full time if I thought I could sell my stuff at what I know it’s worth. But yeah… and a house would be grand too if it wasn’t 50k ;)
Have a good vacation… all this wii talk makes me feel like buying one… although I’m tempted to get a PSP too.
~L~
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:28 pm
From the sound of things, I think you’re doing well! A big part of me would like to be where you’re at right now, really.
I don’t regret getting the extra education, but I do feel college has set me back from getting my life together in many respects. A part of me wishes I had waited until I was somewhat more secure.
Some things are much better to learn from experience. Have a great time off; maybe you’ll learn something. ;)
September 4th, 2008 at 1:51 am
I’m going to say right now that I think college is a colossal waste of time… I mean, the degrees are nice to have to get your foot in the door, but I constantly keep hearing that experience trumps a degree. Plus, in computers, I keep running into people who say how great it is that I have CompTIA and Microsoft certifications, even if I don’t mention something fancy like a BS in Computer Science. I remember when certifications were new… Lots of people outside the industry were talking about how they were worthless, but they really sprang up as a result of computer degrees at different colleges being nothing alike, so employers really had no idea what graduates actually knew.
Long story short… I’ve put my college endeavors on hold. I’ve got a few certifications in my resume, and that’s it. It costs so much money… It’s incredibly stressful, and the college I went to was incredibly incompetent in signing up. I would have to do everything myself most of the time… Not something I was looking forward to experiencing yet again. Plus, I keep hearing of people who DO have degrees in Computer Science getting menial tasks. From what I’ve seen, something like CS degree will guarantee you a position, but the degree will most likely be overkill for what you’ve actually been assigned.
I think that if you have stable jobs with no debt? You’re doing VERY WELL. In fact, I personally avoid debt as much as possible… I think if you don’t have the money at the moment, then you’re not supposed to have it. But anyway… I agree with you. I think it’s far better to have no degree and no debt, than a degree with a debt you’ll probably be paying off for half your life. Since you already have a job, I think going to college is less of an issue now. Unless you want to be a scientist or a teacher or something…
Then again, that’s what I’ve done and I’ve applied to a job and haven’t heard anything back from them… So I could very well be completely wrong and just gave you advice that’ll ruin both our lives, hah. That’s just what I’ve thought lately… I don’t know. I really don’t enjoy the stress of college… I love learning, but… My gosh, the process they insist upon is just insane.
September 4th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
College is the way to go. You’ll either be doing it now, or as an “older” student, possibly an older student with kids. I can’t see you selling yourself short. Sure, every person is different, but all the stats are right. College is your investment in your future. You are doing fine, for now, except for the scary “no health insurance” part. Also, aside from the “being married” part (marrying that young is part of the values of your community, something not shared by many other communities in the US), you strike me as being like a lot like other young people I know - intelligent, interesting, creative, and still figuring out your future. That’s OK, great actually, there’s time. I would not sacrifice short term “we are doing OK”, with long term having a future.
No health insurance, that’s so sad. I know that many people don’t have health insurance, but that’s so very scary. It’s not quite so bad when you are young (a lot of young people are healthy), but anything could happen. I won’t get into politics here (odds are we won’t agree), but aside from politics, my suggestion is to figure out the health insurance thing, don’t give up on it. College will help with future employment propects, including ones that provide health insurance.
Good luck and take care.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:49 am
you might check Amazon.com they have the “used & new available from []” link that has sellers offering items for considerably less.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000FQ9QVI/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1221065180&sr=8-1
I’ve purchased merchandise through alternate sellers that way, and have almost always been 110% happy, with only one case where I was only 96.7% happy.
Just a thought.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:54 am
here’s one on ebay going for $15.50:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Mario-Galaxy-Wii_W0QQitemZ200253285145QQihZ010QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
still 8 days 17 hours left tho..
this one is only at $4.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Mario-Galaxy-Wii_W0QQitemZ120303923714QQihZ002QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
with only 6 days 11 hours left.
one of those might turn out to be a good deal maybe?? I mean even at $25 that’s half as much as you’d have to pay for it new?
September 25th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hey… Just in case you aren’t aware, but I have heard word that there is a new TV show on over there you might be interested in, called “Spaceballs: The Animated Series” (official website here). Apparently it’s absolutely hilarious. ;p It’s on G4, if you can get that station. Feel free to give me a buzz if you want me to hook you up with the “yarr-me-hearties” versions of the episodes that have aired thus far. :) (contact details for me are still available on http://www.riumplus.com/contact.html )