Tundras live: Dumb Dad Jokes, Incorrect Opinions, and Relationship Advice.

in my field, Accounting, I needed the piece of paper to "get in the door".

That was my plan.

I knew my superpower was process improvement via numbers. so, accounting it was.

My biz partner, barely got out of high school. but his dad (ops mgr)put him to work....AT THE BOTTOM.

that dude learned everything he could. hands-on college.

he's the prez now. and engineers refer to his knowledge before their own.

was he lucky? No.

He was eager & persistent. those 2 skills are nearly absent these days.


how often do you see folks that hustle? really?

it's rare. damn rare.





and...folks that say money does not buy happiness........are wrong.





something I tell my kids...there is a universal equation that is definite.
You gotta Work Hard to Play Hard

that equation has stood the test of time.

 

Not going to college was not an option for me. My parents made that very clear. I have two STEM degrees, which I think are actually worth achieving (provided the jobs in your field aren’t all outsourced or given to visa holders).

I think people in general trusted the university system to actually provide something of value for their money. But the bureaucratic bloat took over, and now your course tuition pays for multi-million$ facilities and more $300k+ salary Deans (of student life, of dorms, of student activities, of admissions, of athletics, of campus safety, of the cafeteria, of arts and sciences, of engineering, of diversity, etc etc etc) than ever before. So you go tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt for what—an English lit degree? Social studies? That isn’t working. The system is nearly completely broken, and it got this way because people didn’t understand the sheer amount of cost that was being added to their tab—these are federally subsidized loans after all. You don’t start to feel it until you’re done with school.

I would rather just pay for the learning, but it doesn’t seem that universities offer that part anymore. You have to pay for all the bloat and social conditioning that comes with it.

 

Preach!


I reckon over half the folks coming out of USA colleges are worthless.
The skill set they acquired provides ZERO value to the tribe.


and that, my friends, is a condition that will need a major, painful reckoning.

 

watched Marc Andreesen on Lex Fridman youtube channel.

watching that guy talk is like someone tearing the fabric of reality in front of your eyes.

it's awesome to finally hear smart, successful folks tell you how the cow is eating the cabbage.


what's even more amazing is that we can now see/hear these conversations.

it used to be the only news we got we legacy media.

and I think we now see what was happening.


to hear someone talk with historical facts is rare these days.

everyone tends to speak with emotion instead of facts

 

i blame technology and a loss of critical thinking skill. the social experiment we're all in sucks and the noise of everyone having a microphone is giving me a headache. i do believe most responses are emotional because that is all time allows for before the next world shattering topic comes through (choose your media platform and device). it used to be you'd hear or read something, then have quiet discussion as you were researching and formulating an educated or informed opinion. that time just isn't available in today's "right now" culture.

 

and.....and...there are only a handful of decent humans I know that can have a genuine discussion of a topic.

most/all of today's yutes get all balled up as soon as you broach a topic.

Most/all adults are scared to talk at all...for fear of getting fired.



however....things appear to be changing.

As it relates to all the changes you are beginning to see....I reckon we are where the orange mark is....it's gonna get mucho spicy, then, we start to normalize.

 

oh, given we (as a society) have been around for a minute or two, i really hope you are incorrect about where we are on that chart. listening skills can be taught and learned through practice. showing some grace is easy enough to do. both take commitment. the acceptance that neither are required is where "storming" becomes a cul-de-sac we can't break out of.

 

@Azblue

 

all true...and I agree.

however, these days cell phones/social media appear to be way more powerful then face to face mentorship.

 

I couldn't agree more that this is the biggest misconception about college. That the degree itself will award you with opportunity. When in reality it's the drive, work ethic and hustle is what awards the opportunity for growth.

 

spot on.
This is why degrees aren't working for the right now culture as a whole. Sure some are winning at life, but many lack the self awareness to facilitate growth within themselves. They are too busy being in the social experiment rather than working towards a life goal of achieving success. Neither college or OJT can help when one has this entitlement mentality.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDowpCaR4oJ/?igsh=NTljdGs3dDRlcnFv

And we here we are circling back to our favorite topic.

 

I’ve got some new meds for my dog’s hips. Got this one too to help her with the nail gun I’ve got going in the house, replacing the trim. The funny thing is, the door is still removed, so she keeps stealing the bag of dope and I find her somewhere licking the bag. Yeah so I moved the basket, lol.

 

Not all degrees are the same. There are way too many degrees in fields that do not provide practical job opportunities for someone out of college. I know way too many folks with degrees in Psych, Art History, Political Science, Sports Nutrition, and the list is a mile long who basically work entry level jobs anyone can get.

Bachelor degrees have turned into high school diplomas of the 70's/80's. Now if you want stand out from an education perspective you need a masters/MBA etc...and even then you get people with a masters degree in Psych, Art History, Political Science, Sports Nutrition that still aren't working in their respective field and decided to go back to school when they realized the jobs weren't out there.

In those situations where people have useless degrees, I would advocate that trade school would have been a better choice.

 

Having $$ removes obstacles in life, but being happy deep down inside yourself cannot be bought with any amount of money.

 

What year Cobra is that dude runnin'??

 

<I am not arguing.>

Being happy, in and of itself, makes you more successful.

success brings money.

now...how do you get happy? chicken or egg thing.

work your ass off to achieve whatever it is you decide will provide for you and your family.


sure, if you want to be a zen Buddhist, you won't be rich, but happy.
but, I'm talking about the folks under the bell curve.

 

Happiness....I'll add another tweak.

Children.

they make me happy.

I can't imagine my life without them.

I reckon I would still be happy without them, but knowing what I know now....I would have missed 99% of life.

 

I don't have instagram, so I can't really get beyond the first couple of videos, etc....

I was thinking somewhere in that area though

 

It seems they’re more worth more the same these days than they ever have been. We thought that certain merit-opposed programs would never come for the STEM fields, but we were profoundly wrong. We are simultaneously telling American STEM graduates there are few to no jobs available while entire sectors are posting jobs for a fraction of the pay to visa applicants only. Visa body shops import 10-20 of these guys to live in a single apartment together, taking a portion of their meager pay that undercuts American workers, and set them up with coding jobs that Americans were told didn’t exist or not to apply for. That’s probably as far as I can take it without getting political.

The trades are great. I would never denigrate the trades. But I wonder if lots of people who tell us our kids don’t need to go to college are definitely not telling their kids that.

 

My kids are too young to have any idea about their interests and aptitudes yet but, if they're not interested in a degree in a STEM field (including medicine), I'm going to try to encourage them to get into a trade.

Also, tangent, but I get balled up when people try to add Arts and say STEAM, as if the arts are equivalent to the other 4.

 

100% agree.
My girls are really into STEM programs right now in school. 3rd & 5th grade

 

Just wait until they discover boys.

 

As someone with a degree directly on point to @JMB picture there, I won't pretend I did not learn anything from college, BUT, my first month out of school I learned more than the 4 years I was there

 

We are presenting it in the way of choice and outcomes.

 

I agree, and I also want to make it very clear, I don't hate on anyone wanting to go to college and get a degree. Personally, It wasn't really an option for me. I had no financial support and I was so fearful of taking on that amount of debt. And, as I mentioned earlier, I don't do well in a classroom. As I get older, I realize I likely have a learning disorder and maybe slightly on the spectrum. But that's all undiagnosed.

There's no way I would want a doctor or surgeon working on me without a medical degree. But, just remember this. What do you call a person with a D average for their PHD? They're still a doctor.
Several years ago I was interviewing mechanical engineers for an entry level job and I was appalled by how unprepared and, honestly, stupid (or maybe naive) these kids were. These kids have no real world experience so I would ask them questions about their classes etc. I actually had one kid tell me he barely passed all his classes and did the absolute bare minimum. And he was proud of that. That interview ended before it started because he was 30 minutes late and showed up looking like he rolled out of bed. I actually let him know he wouldn't even be considered for the position because of the things he did and said. And I wanted to help coach him a little so he didn't make the same mistakes at the next interview. He was not interested. He wasn't cocky, he just didn't care.

My story. As I mentioned earlier. I can't learn in a classroom. I am a visual hands on learner. I can understand anything as long as I can learn by doing. My whole life I would sit in a classroom and literally not have a clue what the teacher was talking about even seconds after them saying it. I really had to learn how to listen. I would retain that info, but then never knew how to use it. So I basically trained myself to memorize everything. I'm really good at trivia because I have a library of useless information in my head. I did ok in high school and had a B average. I really excelled in art, shop classes, and drafting/design. After high school I tried community college and it wasn't for me at all. Sitting for hours in a lecture hall was completely lost on me. So I quit going and dropped out. I went to work in the machine shop I had worked in during the summers while I was in high school. I was very interested in becoming a machinist. I did that for about a year and in that time got several promotions. I was doing my own setups and writing programs on the CNC machines. Then one day a job was posted on the bulletin board in the lunchroom for a drafter. I decided to apply for it even though I didn't have the qualifications. I interviewed with the engineering manager and they hired me the next day. He saw something in me and helped me realize a lot of my potential. This new job gave me a huge confidence boost. Over the next several years I worked my ass off and received several promotions. I had the Sr. level engineers mentoring me and soon I was doing design/engineering work. Long story short. I've worked as a mechanical engineer now for over 20 years. I have designed machine tools that have been used all over the world in the semiconductor, oil and gas, military and power generation industries. I have designed several machines that have been used in nuclear power plants. The last group of machines I did before changing jobs were made to cut all the nozzles off of the main reactor vessel at the Vermont Yankee power plant that was being decommissioned. I've done some very high profile jobs for the military and I do not have a college degree. For some people college isn't the right path. And I just wish that society as a whole would embrace the trades a little more or on the job training because without that, I honestly have no clue what I would be doing.