In high school I did the hardest thing, took both the courses required
to get into university plus I took all the Technical courses as well, things like automotive repair, metal working, carpentry and drafting..
In my final year, which was for university prep only, I took 3 maths,
2 sciences, history, english and (briefly) a health sciences course.

Some countries (not the USA) are smart about how they get high school students ready for life after high school. All that stuff you took in high school is stuff that I consider to be very useful. The high school kids in Panama take college prep courses too. But here in the states, where the left has way too much control over education, they're preparing our kids for idiotic things like segregation, civil rights protests, and irrational fear.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

I see.. that's interesting.. If you mean convictions in general, not
just sex crimes, I'd have expected the reverse to be true since Republicans are usually the Money people, and they often break laws
making that money.

I'm not a fan of the Republican party, and I don't have much energy in me to defend them, but I think this is a misconception based on recent news about "Trump, the Republican, guilty of a felony."

Wikipedia has a list of politicians convicted of crimes, and I scrolled to the bottom of the list to the crimes that occurred in my lifetime, and it's mostly Democrats, and it's mostly Democrats taking bribes and/or misappropriating campaign funds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of _crimes

Both parties have a lot of bad actors, but the Democrats not only have more than their share of sex crime convictions, but they're also the party who has (in many instances) pushed for legislation that is geared towards protecting sex offenders.

https://tinyurl.com/fidoguy
https://tinyurl.com/fidoguy2
https://tinyurl.com/fidoguy3

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

I'm glad that electives (liberal arts/gen ed, etc) were useful for you. They probably are more useful to me than I realize, but I just don't
see it yet.

It depends on your career and classes. A class in Internal Engine Combustion

>Chemistry isn't worth much if you are an electrician. But a class in solderi
>would be very useful.

In college, I took a humanities class in Logic that covered boolean logic. A

>a computer scientist, it was a very useful class. But a chemist wouldn't fin
>much value in it.

Part of the problem is you don't know ahead of time. Even though I was exceptional at it I figured Algebra (and Calculus) would be a total waste
of time in real life, but later found myself writing computer software
with as many as 20 levels of parenthesis.. Run-away Algebra.. B)

But taking Automotive Repair and Electronics came in handy too..

---
* SLMR Rob * Help me look... I've lost my damned innocence again
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Rob Mccart <=-

But can you credit any 101 courses with giving you job skills? I can't, but I've never held a job that requires a college education.

I studied computer science and took business classes in the summer time. Accounting 101 got my foot in the door at my college bookstore. I later
took a job supporting their computer system and writing code, and it jump-started my career.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/1)

But can you credit any 101 courses with giving you job skills? I can' but I've never held a job that requires a college education.

I studied computer science and took business classes in the summer time. Accounting 101 got my foot in the door at my college bookstore. I later took a job supporting their computer system and writing code, and it jump-started my career.

Accounting 101 sounds like a useful course to take. And I think a college bookstore manager could easily understand the value of it.

But would people outside the college understand how good that course is? (I doubt it.)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Yes.. welcome to Spring.. We got 4 inches of new snow this afternoon

>> and it is being followed by a fair amount of freezing rain again,
>> later turning to just rain. Tomorrow it will be up to near 50f.
>> But a week from now they predict some daytime highs back down below
>> freezing. It's all over the place this year.

With the severe weather here last night, I was doing a lot of radar and map

>watching. One of the local TV station weather apps shows the watches and
>warnings for Ontario, too. It was pretty interesting seeing that one town
>was getting heavy rain and under a thunderstorm watch, while another town
>that looked to be about 20-30 minutes east was getting winter precipitation.

Yes, my sister still doesn't have power back on. It is supposed to be
back on by late Sunday if they are to be believed..
They said mine would be out for 10 hours and it turned into 27 hours.

But that freezing rain was in a pretty band, maybe 25 miles wide
(and hundreds of miles long), and everyone above or below that strip
got different weather that was a lot easier to deal with..
---
* SLMR Rob * Teeth were not made for stripping wires
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

In high school I did the hardest thing, took both the courses required
to get into university plus I took all the Technical courses as well, things like automotive repair, metal working, carpentry and drafting..
In my final year, which was for university prep only, I took 3 maths,
2 sciences, history, english and (briefly) a health sciences course.

Some countries (not the USA) are smart about how they get high school student

>eady for life after high school. All that stuff you took in high school is st
> that I consider to be very useful. The high school kids in Panama take colle
>prep courses too. But here in the states, where the left has way too much con
>l over education, they're preparing our kids for idiotic things like segregat
>, civil rights protests, and irrational fear.

Yes, there were crap courses here as well that people took just to
get enough credits to get into a university or college but the one
of those I tried out I couldn't hack. I was bored silly..

We had 2 major different course sets in high school.

A 4 year course to grade 12 where you took those technical courses
like auto repair and electronics..

Then there was the 5 year course to grade 13 with more complex maths
and sciences to prep you for University.

Normally you didn't take classes from both of those but I decided
I wanted to and they cursed me trying to sort out a schedule that
would let me do it, but it was worked out in the end..

---
* SLMR Rob * You can't let her drive! She's legally blonde!!!
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

I'd have expected the reverse to be true since
Republicans are usually the Money people, and they often break laws
making that money.

I'm not a fan of the Republican party, and I don't have much energy in me to

>end them, but I think this is a misconception based on recent news about "Tru
> the Republican, guilty of a felony."

Wikipedia has a list of politicians convicted of crimes, and I scrolled to th

>ottom of the list to the crimes that occurred in my lifetime, and it's mostly
>mocrats, and it's mostly Democrats taking bribes and/or misappropriating camp
>n funds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_

>_crimes

Both parties have a lot of bad actors, but the Democrats not only have more t

> their share of sex crime convictions, but they're also the party who has (in
>ny instances) pushed for legislation that is geared towards protecting sex of
>ders.

I guess we can't trust any of them too far.. It seems most of the 'crimes'
we hear about our politicians doing in Canada are not really serious.
As you mentioned, a little misappropriation of money for things it wasn't intended for or getting holiday trips from people trying to swing the
vote of someone in gov't..

---
* SLMR Rob * I don't have any trouble parking... I drive a forklift
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

But can you credit any 101 courses with giving you job skills? I can't, but I've never held a job that requires a college education.

I studied computer science and took business classes in the summer time. Accounting 101 got my foot in the door at my college bookstore. I later
took a job supporting their computer system and writing code, and it jump-started my career.

I initially felt like I didn't learn anything practical in college, even
though I graduated with a BSBA in Management/CIS. Looking back, I am
pretty sure that if ~18 year old me had continued in the workforce without
it, things would have been much different. At the very least, it allowed
me 4+ years to mature a little more.

My eventual "career job" did require a degree in order to be hired, even
though the degree didn't really qualify me for the job. It did allow me to
get my foot in the door at a higher pay grade than I otherwise would have,
and gave me an opportunity to show what I could really do, whether I
learned it in college or otherwise.

I also sometimes believe that the job I had while going to college...
working in the college library... helped prepare me more than the actual
degree did. I could not have worked there, though, if I was not a student.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * "I didn't know chicks in videos wore underpants!"- Beavis
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Mike Powell wrote to KURT WEISKE <=-

I initially felt like I didn't learn anything practical in college,
even though I graduated with a BSBA in Management/CIS. Looking back, I
am pretty sure that if ~18 year old me had continued in the workforce without it, things would have been much different. At the very least,
it allowed me 4+ years to mature a little more.

I studied "hard" CS, and it taught me what I didn't want to do. :)
While I studied, I worked at the university bookstore managing a
minicomputer, Mac desktops, the network and all of the apps that ran
the business, from inventory to sales, to accounting.

I realized I enjoyed working with systems and seeing my work make
positive changes in the way people worked on a daily basis, and I
didn't get that from programming. Sure, if I'd hung around long enough
to to work on a Windows or a Netscape, that might have changed.

My accounting classes taken in summer got my foot in the door doing
data entry. Being able to speak accounting and computers got my foot in
the door in IT. Running a P/H/A/C-adjacent board got me a job in
telecom. Telecom begaat networking. Funny how that works...

My eventual "career job" did require a degree in order to be hired,
even though the degree didn't really qualify me for the job. It did
allow me to get my foot in the door at a higher pay grade than I
otherwise would have, and gave me an opportunity to show what I could really do, whether I learned it in college or otherwise.

I also sometimes believe that the job I had while going to college... working in the college library... helped prepare me more than the
actual degree did. I could not have worked there, though, if I was not
a student.

Mike

* SLMR 2.1a * "I didn't know chicks in videos wore underpants!"-
Beavis --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/1)

Rob Mccart wrote to Dr. What <=-

Part of the problem is you don't know ahead of time.

Yes. And no.

When you go into college, you should have a pretty clear career choice by then.
So you should have a good idea what classes would be beneficial to your career. Anything questionable should be easily explained by the department heads.

Ex: I had to take a class in programming in machine code (the real "it's all 1's and 0's programming). But I would never do that in my career simply because it's too expensive for a company to produce software like that.

But the dept heads said that was helpful to understand how things work at that level. And they were right.

But no one could explain how the Economics classes would help me in any way.

Even though I was exceptional at it I figured Algebra (and Calculus)
would be a total waste of time in real life, but later found myself writing computer software
with as many as 20 levels of parenthesis.. Run-away Algebra.. B)

I took math all the way through Differential Equations. I even took an elective in Celestial Mechanics (now **that's** some complex math). And never used anything more than the Algebra that I learned in the 8th grade.

About the only thing the higher level math helped me with was getting more through Bruce Schneier's books on cryptography. But that's more of a hobby.

But taking Automotive Repair and Electronics came in handy too..

Certainly. But like you said above, we don't know what the future will bring. I took classes in both auto repair and electronics later in life. But more for hobby use and never used them in my work.


... A lawyer's opinion is worth nothing unless paid for.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-

Accounting 101 sounds like a useful course to take. And I think a
college bookstore manager could easily understand the value of it.

But would people outside the college understand how good that course
is? (I doubt it.)

Back when I was in high school, I already knew I wanted to go in to computers. Learning to type would be a big benefit. My school had Typing classes but they were geared toward secretaries - so even the first class probably wouldn't have been too useful for me.

But they had a special class called "Personal Typing" which was geared toward those of us who needed to know how to type, but would not be secretaries.

We need more classes like that but in other subjects. Accounting. Economics.

Side note:
With all the practice that I got programming through high school, by the end of my senior year, I could out-type the ladies in the regular Typing classes.


... Bathroom scale: Something you stand on and swear at.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Hello Rob!

** On Saturday 05.04.25 - 01:39, Rob Mccart wrote to AARON THOMAS:

We had 2 major different course sets in high school.

A 4 year course to grade 12 where you took those technical courses
like auto repair and electronics..

Then there was the 5 year course to grade 13 with more complex maths
and sciences to prep you for University.

Normally you didn't take classes from both of those but I decided
I wanted to and they cursed me trying to sort out a schedule that
would let me do it, but it was worked out in the end..

That's pretty clever actually. I took the "normal" route of
classes to gr 13 to qualify for university, but I squeezed in
one tech/electrical course which I thought would be fun - and
it was!


--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

I guess we can't trust any of them too far.. It seems most of the 'crimes' we hear about our politicians doing in Canada are not really serious. As you mentioned, a little misappropriation of money for things it wasn't intended for or getting holiday trips from people trying to swing the vote of someone in gov't..

I love Canada. Try to preserve its innocence the best you can!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Side note:
With all the practice that I got programming through high school, by the end of my senior year, I could out-type the ladies in the regular Typing classes.

Didn't BBSing help you turn into a faster typer? That's what did it for me.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Dr. What <=-

Didn't BBSing help you turn into a faster typer? That's what did it for me.

By the time I "discovered" BBSs, I had already been programming for 4 years.


... I'm easy to please as long as I get my way.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

I studied computer science and took business classes in the summer time. Accounting 101 got my foot in the door at my college bookstore. I later took a job supporting their computer system and writing code, and it jump-started my career.

Accounting 101 sounds like a useful course to take. And I think a college boo

>ore manager could easily understand the value of it.

But would people outside the college understand how good that course is? (I d

>t it.)

Not entirely related but in my earlier working years, working for bigger companies rather than self employed, I often took any job I could get
to get into a company and usually within a few months I was doing
something else at higher pay after showing them what I could do.

Not at all a comment on you guys but the number of people I've run into
over the years with university degrees that were total idiots is amazing.

Too often all a company will look for is a university degree. This is
how we end up with so many twits working for the government.. B)

Ha.. On a somewhat unrelated line.. I once applied for work at
the post office when they had a hiring blitz going on. I figured
it was a relatively stable job with good pay and benefits, but
the hiring process was pretty extreme with I.Q. and Psyche tests
required. I later heard back from them and was told that I was not
suited for the job because I'd scored too high on the I.Q. tests.

There was probably a message in there somewhere.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Coming to you directly from Somewhere Out In Left Field
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Not at all a comment on you guys but the number of people I've run into over the years with university degrees that were total idiots is amazing.

This probably depends on where you end up working. My wife works at a place where everyone has an associates degree or higher, and this seems to be the most respectful and most professional group of people she's ever worked with (according to her, and according to what I'm hearing about it.)

Ha.. On a somewhat unrelated line.. I once applied for work at
the post office when they had a hiring blitz going on. I figured
it was a relatively stable job with good pay and benefits, but
the hiring process was pretty extreme with I.Q. and Psyche tests
required. I later heard back from them and was told that I was not
suited for the job because I'd scored too high on the I.Q. tests.

I had the opposite experience. I took a test to become eligible for a postal worker job and I failed, bigtime. It was a memorization test, and I couldn't memorize the stuff. They gave us like 5 minutes to read and try to memorize addresses, and I couldn't do it. (But I swear that I could deliver mail just as well as the next guy if I were given the chance.)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Rob Mccart <=-

This probably depends on where you end up working. My wife works at a place where everyone has an associates degree or higher, and this seems
to be the most respectful and most professional group of people she's
ever worked with (according to her, and according to what I'm hearing about it.)

I see the same.

I work in a place where we have mostly professionals. The whole environment is respectful and peaceful.

My wife, however, works in place where are mostly non-professionals and the whole environment is controlling, backstabbing, catty, etc. Management does its best to reign things in, but they need to get the work done.


... Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/200)

Hello Rob!

** On Sunday 06.04.25 - 01:43, Rob Mccart wrote to AARON THOMAS:

Ha.. On a somewhat unrelated line.. I once applied for
work at the post office when they had a hiring blitz going
on. I figured it was a relatively stable job with good pay
and benefits, but the hiring process was pretty extreme
with I.Q. and Psyche tests required. I later heard back
from them and was told that I was not suited for the job
because I'd scored too high on the I.Q. tests.

There was probably a message in there somewhere.. B)

I think they are factoring in likelyhood of turnaround with
that one. If the candidate scores higher, that probably means
they will get disatisfied with the job sooner and quit, which
would cost the company downtime and expense to hire a
replacement.

So.. for basic, repetative, meanial jobs that don't require
critical thinking, they want people who are satisfied with
routine and doing same-old stuff every day without complaints.

I worked at the post office as a summer student in my last year
of high-school. When minimum wage was around $6, I was getting
$11.01 (yep.. there was an extra $.01 !!! in the contract!)
First, I was intended to be part-time, and on-call. But after
a couple of weeks I was in there every day.

I don't remember if there was an IQ test.

My main task was running the watermark machine for standard
letter-size mail, and stashing the mailboxes. But when things
got less busy, there was always something to keep tidy or
sweep, or help load and unload the vehicles at the loading
dock. I didn't mind the work, but I couldn't see myself having
a "career" doing that stuff for the rest of my life.





--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

When you go into college, you should have a pretty clear career choice by the

> So you should have a good idea what classes would be beneficial to your
>career.

That's one of those 'in a perfect world' situations. Many people going
into University have no idea what they want to do after graduation.
Hopefully they figure it out on time to take some courses that will
be of use. It's courses like for doctors or lawyers or business where
students know exactly what they need to take. And college is generally
more for learning a job than a general education, although I guess you
can't speak for all students.

Ex: I had to take a class in programming in machine code (the real "it's all

>1's and 0's programming). But I would never do that in my career simply
>because it's too expensive for a company to produce software like that.

I bought University text books on programming and taught myself. I didn't
stick with it long enough to get into learning the newer programming
langauges though so I became obsolete other than doing it for my own use.
But, knowing those basics of programming helps you better understand
how computers and software works which is helpful too.

But no one could explain how the Economics classes would help me in any way.

Depending on exactly what they were teaching it could be handy just in
your everyday life, coping with balancing spending and best ways to
save for the things you want or need. There are far too many people
out there who can't balance s check book.. B)

But taking Automotive Repair and Electronics came in handy too..

Certainly. But like you said above, we don't know what the future will bring

>I took classes in both auto repair and electronics later in life. But more f
>hobby use and never used them in my work.

Being able to do a lot of stuff like that was the only way I could
afford, early on, my custom motorcycles and muscle cars, and later
how to keep an old house I bought fuctioning without having to call
a plumber or electrician for every little thing.

---
* SLMR Rob * Dial a wrong number in the middle of the night - twice
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

A 4 year course to grade 12 where you took those technical courses
like auto repair and electronics..

Then there was the 5 year course to grade 13 with more complex maths
and sciences to prep you for University.

Normally you didn't take classes from both of those but I decided
I wanted to and they cursed me trying to sort out a schedule that
would let me do it, but it was worked out in the end..

That's pretty clever actually. I took the "normal" route of

>classes to gr 13 to qualify for university, but I squeezed in
>one tech/electrical course which I thought would be fun - and
>it was!

Yes, it can come in handy.. I also took Machine Shop and while the
rest of the class were making a Vice, I kept talking the teacher
into letting me make custom parts for a motorcycle I was building..
Then one day I realized the term was nearly over that I had barely
started working on the Vice that we were to be graded on..

I went to the teacher freaking out over maybe getting a zero for
the term and he laughed and said I was there to learn the machines
and I was using more different devices than the rest of the class
and not to worry about it.. He gave me a mark in the upper 80's..

---
* SLMR Rob * When you meet people, make it clear you're sizing them up
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

I guess we can't trust any of them too far.. It seems most of the
'crimes' we hear about our politicians doing in Canada are not really serious. As you mentioned, a little misappropriation of money for things
it wasn't intended for or getting holiday trips from people trying to
swing the vote of someone in gov't..

I love Canada. Try to preserve its innocence the best you can!

Right.. I hope that's what it is, and not just well hidden.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Split the bill only when your meal costs more
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Side note:
With all the practice that I got programming through high school, by the end of my senior year, I could out-type the ladies in the regular Typing classes.

Didn't BBSing help you turn into a faster typer? That's what did it for me.

When I was still in grade school and my sister was in highschool she
took typing classes and I used to type all my assignments for school.
My 4 finger typing got fast enough that my mother said she could
never tell if it was me or my sister she heard typing on the manual
typewriter we had..

This was long before computers though. I'm probably a lot faster
now than I was then after decades using a keyboard.. B)
---
* SLMR Rob * Do Quarter Horses have only one leg???
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Not at all a comment on you guys but the number of people I've run into over the years with university degrees that were total idiots is amazing.

This probably depends on where you end up working.

Actually, my most memorable experience with that was a woman I dated
for a year. I figured having a University degree was no guarantee of
high intelligence if she was any example.. B)

Oddly, during one long day when at the family home I met her brother
who was about to graduate university and he started off talking
down to me because he'd heard I didn't have a degree, but then we
got into talking computer programming and other complex issues and
he ended up changing his thinking about me..

He was a lot smarter than his sister though.. B)

Ha.. On a somewhat unrelated line.. I once applied for work at
the post office when they had a hiring blitz going on. I figured
it was a relatively stable job with good pay and benefits, but
the hiring process was pretty extreme with I.Q. and Psyche tests
required. I later heard back from them and was told that I was not
suited for the job because I'd scored too high on the I.Q. tests.

I had the opposite experience. I took a test to become eligible for a postal

>ker job and I failed, bigtime. It was a memorization test, and I couldn't mem
>ze the stuff. They gave us like 5 minutes to read and try to memorize address
> and I couldn't do it. (But I swear that I could deliver mail just as well as
>e next guy if I were given the chance.)

That was so long ago I don't even remember what was on the tests but
it took a couple of hours to do it as I recall.. But there was a
whole room of people taking the tests. Maybe they were opening a
new post office branch or something.

In more recent years I wrote 3 hours of tests for a possible job,
the tests supplied and marked by an outide agency at a cost of
$300 to the place wanting to hire you. In the end I didn't get the
job because someone in head office decided to give the job to an
existing employee instead, but when they called me back to explain
that to me, the guy who was there when I did the test, laughed and
said he shouldn't probably show it to me but he got out the test
results and the two main comments on it were that I would have to
be careful because I might be too friendly with the workers which
can make giving orders a challenge..
But the funny part was, they said that I had scored so high on the
Math and Physics parts of the I.Q. test they *highly* suspected
I had cheated. Since the guy who gave me the test was sitting
there with me the whole time he knew that wasn't possible.

As for memory, I'm not sure I was really great at that, although
in school I never studied for tests or did homework that wasn't
going to be marked and still managed to get through.. But later
I went into Real Estate for a while and the college courses for
the licensing involved a bunch of long, complex, legal phrasing
to draw up a legal sales document. In real life you can just
copy that from somewhere in the office but not when taking tests.

You needed 80% to pass the test, and I got 89% I recall, but after
the final class where we were given our marks the teacher pulled
me aside before I left and said that I had all the legal phrases
in my clauses that were required but my wording was quite a bit
different than what they had given us to memorize and he asked
where I'd gotten them. I told him that I didn't memorize the
clauses, I just learned what they had to contain and then wrote
them from scratch on the exam..

So.. still memory work I guess but not empty memorizing that a
lot of people might do without understanding why it was required.

---
* SLMR Rob * Four out of five herrings that smoke get bagels
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Rob Mccart wrote to Dr. What <=-

That's one of those 'in a perfect world' situations. Many people going into University have no idea what they want to do after graduation.

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

students know exactly what they need to take. And college is generally more for learning a job than a general education, although I guess you can't speak for all students.

"Career" is probably a better word than "job", but yes. We are spending lots of money (mostly in room and board, BTW) to get an education in our chosen career. Anything that takes us away from educational focus is a waste of money and time.

But, yes, that's not all students. I had a cousin who went to college to get her MRS degree (i.e. find a husband). Others go to take some feel good classes that are worthless in the real world.

I bought University text books on programming and taught myself. I
didn't stick with it long enough to get into learning the newer programming langauges though so I became obsolete other than doing it
for my own use. But, knowing those basics of programming helps you
better understand how computers and software works which is helpful
too.

Yup. My first class was in FORTRAN. Worthess? Nope. It got me a summer job fixing FORTRAN programs at a large auto company. Another line on my resume.

After that, it was all Pascal in college. But that was to teach us good programming habits. Which served us well when we got to C.

I did take a class in COBOL (which was offered by the business school) and that got me a decade of paychecks. And more experience. And more resume lines.

Depending on exactly what they were teaching it could be handy just in your everyday life, coping with balancing spending and best ways to
save for the things you want or need. There are far too many people
out there who can't balance s check book.. B)

And I would agree with you if that was what the Economics class was about. But it wasn't.

Balancing a checkbook and such was taught to me by my parents.

Being able to do a lot of stuff like that was the only way I could
afford, early on, my custom motorcycles and muscle cars, and later
how to keep an old house I bought fuctioning without having to call
a plumber or electrician for every little thing.

Yup. We gain skills. We use them. We gain experience. Get better jobs. Gain more skills and experience. Get better jobs. Etc.

It works great until the worthless people decry the Meritocracy.


... You're not old, You're chronologically disadvantaged
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: bbs.CabanaBar.net:11123 (1:142/999)

on. I figured it was a relatively stable job with good pay
and benefits, but the hiring process was pretty extreme
with I.Q. and Psyche tests required. I later heard back
from them and was told that I was not suited for the job
because I'd scored too high on the I.Q. tests.

I think they are factoring in likelyhood of turnaround with

>that one. If the candidate scores higher, that probably means
>they will get disatisfied with the job sooner and quit, which
>would cost the company downtime and expense to hire a
>replacement.

Yes, they actually mentioned that at the time. I don't know if
I would have been able to do a simple job all day for years or
not. Maybe I could and I'd have more challenging things I'd get
into after work. At the time a reliable paycheque and good
benefits sounded great to me. I figure you don't have to like
your job, and probably the number of people who do are in the
minority of workers. Most I think just do their jobs and can't
wait to get out of there at the end of the day.

That said, virually all jobs I've ever had that lasted for any
length of time, I usually ended up being moved or promoted into
a different job before too long, and usually the new position
was more challenging.

---
* SLMR Rob * Strive to be politically perfect, not just correct
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

That's one of those 'in a perfect world' situations. Many people going
into University have no idea what they want to do after graduation.

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, like working for the gov't,
but it doesn't matter what the degree is in. I know that's stupid but
that's how a lot of places work. They are willing to teach you what
you will be doing but I suppose they figure if they reqyire a degree
then the applicant is less likely to be a total idiot, which is how
they end up hiring so many idiots.. B)

students know exactly what they need to take. And college is generally
more for learning a job than a general education, although I guess you can't speak for all students.

"Career" is probably a better word than "job", but yes.

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.

But, yes, that's not all students. I had a cousin who went to college to get

>her MRS degree (i.e. find a husband). Others go to take some feel good class
>that are worthless in the real world.

Yes, I've run into women like that before. They go to these meeting type places, in my case it was a guided hike and I was there for the hike, but
I met a woman there I ended up dating for a year or so. But it became immedietely obvious she was there 'fishing for a good catch' 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?'..

I bought University text books on programming and taught myself. I
didn't stick with it long enough to get into learning the newer
programming langauges though so I became obsolete

Yup. My first class was in FORTRAN. Worthess? Nope. It got me a summer jo

>fixing FORTRAN programs at a large auto company. Another line on my resume.

We started off with Apple computers, actually clones that we built ourselves that were better built and much upgraded from the genuine Apple systems.
Within a couple of years I was writing software for a company I worked
for and games and utilities for myself and others.

Depending on exactly what they were teaching it could be handy just in
your everyday life, coping with balancing spending and best ways to
save for the things you want or need. There are far too many people
out there who can't balance a check book.. B)

And I would agree with you if that was what the Economics class was about. B

>it wasn't.

I see..

Balancing a checkbook and such was taught to me by my parents.

That only helps if your parents can balance a checkbook.. B)

My parents were break-aways from their family, the only ones to get
a better education and better jobs and be able to afford to buy a
house, what their relatives referred to as 'being lucky', the
relatives that paid the rent and then estimated how many cases of
beer they could buy with what was left.

So we were taught to be careful with money and avoid bad habits
which is how I survived in life without having to work full time
for my whole (much of?) adult life.

I think the younger people coming up are somewhat spoiled though.
They are given lots of money so they don't need to get part time
jobs in school to learn about working and intelligent spending.

They were recently talking on the news about a lot of 'careers'
where these days there are more workers in, say, a car plant than
in the past, but they are putting out less product.

---
* SLMR Rob * The Harris economic plan failed: I still have $3 left
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

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.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: bbs.CabanaBar.net:11123 (1:142/999)

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.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: bbs.CabanaBar.net:11123 (1:142/999)

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.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: bbs.CabanaBar.net:11123 (1:142/999)

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?
--- SBBSecho 3.23-Win32
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/1)

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.
--- SBBSecho 3.23-Win32
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/1)

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
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

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:
Jeanine Pettibone: You don't do heavy metal in Dubly, you know.
Norco, CA WX: 69.9øF, 53.0% humidity, 14 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
--- SBBSecho 3.24-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

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.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: bbs.CabanaBar.net:11123 (1:142/999)