Yes, I could definitely add a college education (Bachelors Degree) to the “make me more happier” list. Unfortunately, that won’t happen now. I did go to college, but didn’t even finish my first year. My GI Bill even paid me monthly to go. That Degree should would have helped me in a higher salary. The highest salary I ever made was when I was 51 and that was my last job.
@Holly Saunders "Is there, or was there something ( anything ) you always wanted, and never got, and if you did get it?... did it live up to expectations" Yep, there was, and still is; always wanted, never got it, which weighed very heavily on my day-to-day existence. I have always wanted freedom from the syndrome I call "allegiance to the clock". During our working lives, our existence is controlled by the clock. Think about it. The clock DICTATES when you must show up at work, the most important facet of your early adult existence, WORK. So, you must adhere to the code demanding meeting the dictates of that clock. Late? Even one minute? Lose 30 minutes pay, plus earn a reprimand. Independence from the clock was a far-off dream when I started out. Now, finally freed of it, a new contingency has popped up, one I never thought about before! Now, the clock is ticking.......ticking away the last and final heartbeats, no matter how many remain, hopefully millions, but now the inevitability of the clock finally stopping, has "hit home". This is the most difficult thing confronting me in "old age". Frank
Speaking foreign languages. At grammar school I was always near the top with French and bottom with Latin. Fast forward to today, and French is passable, German could be better and Polish the bottom of the ratings. Wish I could speak and write all three fluently, despite watching satellite channels in all three every week....
@Kitty Carmel - yes agree, such a shame we don't realise our potential We need guidance of course which I didn't get, although a couple of teachers were very inspiring, the problem was I attended so many schools, not in one long enough
Same as me @Patsy Faye .. I had 6 seperate school... the longest was 3 years... so although I did fairly well in my studies, there was never time to get totally immersed with any one teacher before I was moved onto a different school... French was a nightmare for me..I hated it, and still do to this day, and never wanted to learn it... however I can speak Spanish , as well as a smattering of rusty Italian, simply because I lived in Both places.. I also lived in Germany , but not really long enough to pick up more than a few basic phrases...but school...?..I still feel to this day that our language teachers, didn't really know much more than us tbh.
Thing is Frank, not everyone is on “the clock” (hourly wage). There were a few jobs I had where I wasn’t and my wife never has. “Salary” type people aren’t on a clock, that I know of. One job I had, and I was an hourly employee, I could be 7 minutes late clocking in without a problem. This was a 7-7 thing. I could clock in 7 minutes before starting time or 7 minutes after starting time.
@Holly Saunders - agree ! I detested French, they talk back to front anyway And, my French teacher was vicious with the ruler and she was French, so I didn't want to learn it for her ..........
Heavens yes! I am a dreamer and have been since I was a lad. There probably isn't anything (legal) I haven't wanted to do and some things I actually set out to grasp those things which were within reach and some things I found were beyond probability into the nearly impossible. Most things that I have achieved can only be marked as just that, an achievement but hardly measured up to the dream and didn't make me any happier than I was prior to it's physical realization. There is one though. I tried an failed on several occasions and finally had enough of it until the dream found me. My wife. And yes, she is the epitome of everything I dreamed of and more.............................
Back when I was a kid my mother saved Green Stamps, and soooo badly did I want a doll they featured. It was child size and could walk and talk and in my imaginative mind I could see us going on walks together side by side. I got the doll, but the walks turned into me dragging Betty sideways on her heels. Conversation was a few phrases and that doll sometimes repeated the same phrase twice or three times in succession. Good conversation was not her strong suite. I can remember asking if we could trade her in for an easy bake oven.