"I trust Jews and not Mexicans to prepare my food. Have you ever heard of Hebrew tamales recalled for Listeria contamination? " - Some Atheist Jew on why she keeps Kosher
i am uninspired at work. each day seems like a little suicide. five times a week i end my life for 8 hours...i sell my soul.. and at the end of the day it is returned to me dirty and used and tired. i think i will go teach english in japan.
milky [email] said at 12:36 AM 07-31-2001: They're unrolling remakes of the originals this fall. As of now, I think the reproductions are selling heavily in Hawaii.
Mary said at 11:36 PM 07-30-2001: Wait till he gets to Japan and realizes they just sit at their desks, committing little suicides, almost as much as Americans do.
mary [email] said at 10:57 PM 08-01-2001: Interesting factoid: Despite the Japan's reputation for constant work, there is only one industrialized nation that takes less vacation time than they do: the United States.
heather said at 12:07 AM 07-31-2001: this is what i am hoping to avoid through academics but boring pedantry can be mind-numbing as well. a change of pace seems like a good idea.
milky [email] said at 12:22 AM 07-31-2001: You're a Republican, grabbing for the wealthy brass ring, and now you're feeling disenfranchised. Have you learned anything yet? LOL...
Ian said at 12:26 AM 07-31-2001: If you don't like you're job man, do something else. But don't expect things to change if the problem is you. Japan might bore you too, unless you dig sushi more than the average American.
anotherben said at 12:35 AM 07-31-2001: the problem is not me. i dont like my job, my car is falling apart, i am poor, and most of my friends live several hours away by plane... and still i am having a great time and enjoying life (save for the brief expanse where i am at the office each day). the people i work with are nice enough.. its just that there is something terribly unfullfilling about designing landfill gas recovery systems that has been grinding me down..attrition of the soul.. i want adventure. danger. the unknown. i am not grabbing for any "brass rings".. merely seeking the right path. or at least a new one that will lead me away from the trash heap for a while.
milky [email] said at 7:21 AM 07-31-2001: So my question is this: why the fuck did you study engineering? Did you think you'd wind up someplace else? That's like people in physics who think they'll win the Nobel. Life's ALL a pipe dream. I'm just sorry you're figuring that out now.
College lied to us. Our teachers lied to us. Our parents lied to us. We just have to stop lying to ourselves...
anotherben said at 8:45 AM 07-31-2001: i wanted a challenge. certainly all ones choices in life should not be based upon the end result.. and whats wrong with thinking you are going to win a Nobel? i dont think anyone lied to us. ok..maybe lsu.. but they were trying to sell something so you cant really hold it against them because we should have known better. i think you too need to vacate the sleepy state and dispel this somewhat troublesome attitude towards lifes possibilities.
milk said at 12:56 PM 07-31-2001: I'm leaving in December. I'm tired. I've gained nothing from either curriculum I've studied...nothing practical, even though LSU's taken my money and promised otherwise. I just got a poor education. I keep hearing they'll shape up in all the other non-science areas, but it's pretty doubtful. This community stinks.
Good luck though, Ben. You'll be fine. Take a breather if you need it.
anotherben said at 1:02 PM 07-31-2001: my guest room is not yet booked for december.. would you like to reserve it? its fully furnished and has a nice view of the Timmings' yard.
josh [email] said at 12:46 PM 07-31-2001: Yeah, whatever. You were fooling yourself if you were thought you were guaranteed some dream job, like Astronaut or Movie Star or prize-winning Scientist. Things like that are achieved with hard work, talent and/or great luck. If you want to do something more than what you are doing, get out there and do it.
milk said at 1:11 PM 07-31-2001: Yeah, I understand. But you just don't learn much in college anymore. I didn't realise I was wasting my time. I'd have been better off learning a trade, in retrospect.
anotherben said at 1:19 PM 07-31-2001: i agree with you there. i think college has its benefits.. but not so much as where they are traditionally thought to lay.. or is it lie? anyways.. my education was not worthless, but i learn more engineering crap each day working in the field than i did in my entire tenure in academia. i think a liberal arts education coupled with an apprenticeship in your chosen field would be the ideal.
milk said at 1:40 PM 07-31-2001: But it's like the only things left are "3-5 years experience necessary." They still have apprenticeships? My friend Damon said they're being phased out in most places.
kiche [email] said at 2:28 AM 07-31-2001: hey, if you want to do the japan thing go for it. although you will be making about $24k a year with a very high cost of living.
i would still love to do it though. you wouldn't be teaching students either but businessmen...
by the way, we all have to work mindnumbingly dull and soul killing jobs. and where the hell did you find the above photograph?
anotherben said at 8:36 AM 07-31-2001: actually..the pay is ¥3,600,000 which comes out to roughly $30,000/yr at the current exchange. the cost of living is highly dependent upon which prefecture and ken(sp?) you wind up in. i think i would request one of the smaller northern cities in the mountains. and the JET program is for students. 2 of my close friends are veterans of the program and they both taught jr. high classes. the photograph was taken by dave robertson in the sleepy hollow cemetery.
Kathryn said at 9:30 AM 07-31-2001: Well well, Go grab the oportunity Ben!! If you have a good gut feelling about this don't let trivial things stop you. But before taking the job.. do your homework. The Japanese take Education very seriously, they go to school six days a week! and do you like kids??? can you relate to them well??
Sounds like you are planning your next ADVENTURE :) WHOOOOOOO
jeni said at 12:08 PM 07-31-2001: go for it. friend of mine went to japan to study block printing, while there she picked up a job teaching english to make ends meet. she said it wasnt difficult to find housing (so long as you didnt mind sharing it with a dozen other american 20-somethings) and she picked up all her appliances (microwave, rice cooker, toaster oven, coffee maker--all working) out of the trash bins before collection day.
anyway, she said it was possible to live comfortably, if frugally and she really enjoyed her time there.
Axl Rose said at 6:23 PM 07-31-2001: Yeah, do that. The pay is great, you can date supermodels, and 10 years later you can reform with none of the original members and still get money.
Brian bibbly said at 8:48 PM 07-31-2001: You guys went about this school thing entirely the wrong way. Too many people think that school is this wonderful experience that will leave them ready to conquer the world with all the useful knowledge it provided them, only to realize that the real world doesn't work like that. School is a racket filled with a bunch of mindless bureaucrats foaming at the mouth waiting for your money. I thought of school like a battle. A necessary evil where I needed to get in, take my licks, and get the fuck out....quick. So I hauled ass through LSU, then kicked the shit out of Tulane Law School. Now I make more money than I know how to spend and have all day to sit around and post messages on websites! I grabbed the brass ring and proceeded to shove it directly up LSU's ass. Point is, school is just another chink in your armor that you can use to further yourself in the real world, nothing more. Don't make it more than it is. That way is becomes neither hard nor that important. A means to an end, thats it. Now that I'm out, I couldn't ever imagine going back. There are too many cool and important things to do in this world other than spending my precious time and money in a god-forsaken classroom. So there is my school spiel. Time to go drink!
heather said at 12:30 AM 08-01-2001: yeah, that sums up my sentiments on frustrating days.
on good days i just think: study with the good teachers, hang out with the smart and fun kids, take as many vacations as possible and make the school pay for all of them.
kiche [email] said at 3:58 PM 08-01-2001: yeah brian, but not everyone wanted to know what they wanted to do when they were 18 and started college. and as i pointed out to all my friends who decided not to go to college back then fucking around at college and trying to figure out what you want to do with your life is better than working at a minumum wage job and fucking around and trying to figure out what you want to do with your life.
Daniel said at 4:08 PM 08-01-2001: i have to take exception to what you are saying. i agree that a school's main motivation lies less with the student and more with generating revenue, either for research or to improve the standing or quality of the school. the thing is, college IS a wonderful experience, whether you manage to learn anything from the classroom or not. many 18 year olds would get eaten up in the real world if they were thrust into a work environment straight out of high school. going away for a few years, away from the envoirnment in which you were raised, lets you grow and mature. it's a unique time where you can experiment and explore things you wouldn't have had time to do otherwise. unless you are one of the exceptions, you've become a different person by graduation, hopefully matured and slightly better equipted to handle what life throws at you. i really didn't take much from the classroom that applies to anything in the outside world, and i was an engineering student. i did manage to take my time and enjoy the experiences which living the college lifestyle affords.
Brian bibbly said at 7:03 PM 08-01-2001: Kiche, yeah fucking around in college is better than working a minimum wage job if you can afford to do it. I didn't have that luxury. It was get in, get out now or forget about it. Personally, I think if you really want to get a push in finding out what you want to do with your life, try working a shit job that pushes you to your mental and physical limits for awhile. That'll get you thinking right quick. Scraping grease off of the floor at 2 o'clock in the morning will make that Math class you've been dreading look like a fucking dream. But thats just my opinion, and I think we already know I'm not much the intellectual type.
kiche [email] said at 12:00 AM 08-02-2001: ummm... brian i worked at mcdonald's the summer after i graduated from highschool. that pretty much convinced me that fucking around in college was a better idea than fucking around at a minimum wage job. pretty much all o9f my freinds decided to fuck around at minimum wage jobs which they are still fucking around at.
i worked food services for almost my entire career and it just further solidified that i should be in college instead of not in college.
that i was working a shit job was actually the sole factor that convinced me to go to graduate school. still didn't know what i wanted to do with my life but damn, being in school beats the FUCK out of a shit job.
now that i think about it i have to seriously disagree with your statement that school is just another chink in your armor in experience. sure, i learned jack shit when i was in school; but i go on interviews now and they want a photocopy of my degree to actually make sure i went to school. i think that's their mistake, but it's a little more than a chink.
but more importantly you say you aren't the intellectual type (now here i want to say that i am not flaming or yelling at you, but i have to say this), if you have a college degree you are an intellectual. if you don't believe me go to mcdonalds or the dmv. 5 minutes in any of those places and you will figure out that you are part of the smartest 20% of america at the very least. welcome to the intelligensia.
mary [email] said at 10:58 AM 08-02-2001: Not only did he go to college, but he went to law school. and I think Brian might be one of the most verbally gifted people I've ever met. He is definitely an "intellectual." *lol*
Brian bibbly said at 6:41 PM 08-04-2001: I'm confused, am I being complemented or insulted?.....brain overheating....must stop thinking.....whirrrrr.......buuzzzzzz.....pop!
loren [email] said at 8:49 PM 08-01-2001: All i know is this:
I'm doing exactly what i wanted to do since middle school. I work at a place half the nerds on earth would kill to be at, i get incredible opportunities all the time, i'm paid more than i probably deserve, I've got more crap than i know what to do with, and not a day goes by that i don't wonder if i should quit and go wander the world. I have no point, so don't try and find one. There's a bigger picture than work or school or whatever you do. I'm starting to think more and more about how the only people who end up truly happy are the ones who quit whining about shit and go out and do something, anything different. Experiencing anything challenging, or just actually doing something you think about doing but have doubts about seem to be the fruits of life. What a retarded ramble that means nothing. Ignore me, i've been staring at this screen for 8 hours.
Brian bibbly said at 10:00 PM 08-01-2001: Ditto loren on the babble. Maybe we should form like the Wonder Twins or something. But I don't want to be the dude who could turn into any of the 3 phases of water. What a useless power. And where did that guy come up with the bucket when he turned into the bucket of water? did he carry a bucket around with him all the time? Whats up with that? I send a dollar to the first person who can give me 10 good superhero uses for turning into water vapor( other than fog ). Ready.....Set....Go!
loren [email] said at 4:39 PM 08-02-2001: 1. fog up your enemies glasses/winshield
2. steam can get pretty hot... burn stuff
3. make the humidity so bad it seems like the dirty south and the enemy just gets fed up with the heat and leaves.
4. you could get up in their sinuses and reak some havoc
5. vapor lock the bat mobile's engine
6. make their socks all clammy causing athletes foot
7. you'd come in handy for keeping those super hero tights all crisp and wrinkle free
8. mystify people by spinning around really fast and making a little steam tornado thus distracting them long enough so your partner can knock em out.
9. instant purified water!
10. Did i mention humidity?
kiche [email] said at 10:36 PM 08-02-2001: nor did he bring up all the useful ice items one could become. if other superheroes should get injured he could supply them with ice to rap up in his cape for them to put on sprains and other minor injuries...
Rickled Pink said at 3:36 PM 08-05-2001: Ice is a good way to keep amputated organs fresh one your way to the hospital. Just do not allow the amputated body parts to come into direct contact with the ice.
Afterwards, ice may be used to keep the keg kool while you celebrate a job well done.
It is also fun dumping ice down people's pants when they are not suspecting it.
amy said at 4:58 PM 08-02-2001: I am working at an anthropologist's dream job-archaeological and cultural tours-making no money and my boss is a nutbag. I have decided it would be better for me to waste my 40 hours a week in a job that makes enough money for me to do the things I want to do rather than sit around waiting for my job to send me.
MBA here I come.
I will visit you in Japan to see the cherry blossoms.
Rent The Pillow Book.
Cheer up, you are living some people's dream of New York.
mary said at 8:30 PM 08-02-2001: Ha ha. Except he doesn't really live in New York. I think Ben might have been too scared to take the city plunge.
Also, I think at least part of your frustration, Ben, might be that you chose a career that you thought would result in financial gain over something more creative and (you thought) lower-paying. And it has turned out that the supposed good-paying route doesn't provide you with any more income than following your heart would have. A good writer makes more money than a bad, unhappy engineer.
I always thought you would be a writer. You still could be, if you wanted. And writing requires experiences. Even an unsatisfactory experiment with an engineering career qualifies.
Don't be scared. What's the worst that could happen?
amy said at 5:08 PM 08-02-2001: Sellout is a word people use when they need an excuse for not taking care of their own business. If sellout means I take a job in corporate America that allows me to take care of some of the charities I care about, travel, and take pictures until my eyes fall out, don't let that intimidate you.
