Why bother with university?

POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Monday, July 13, 2026 16:08
VIEWED: 472
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SIGNYM

Monday, June 8, 2026 3:47 AM

Yanno, hubby never thought he'd live to 50.
At 50 he was dx'd with aggressive prostate cancer.
He never thought he'd live past the age that his parents died.
Then he thought he'd never live past the average USA male lifespan.

Another story.
Many years ago, my family and I were standing in a hospital room watching my mother die.
My uncle, who was easygoing, and who I thought was just naturally healthy and happy, started telling me this story
"Yanno honey" he was saying as he started pulling a paper out of his wallet "Yanno when you go to a hospital and they always ask you what drugs you're on?" He was unfolding the paper. "I always carry this with me and just hand this to them" He handed me the paper and I kind of goggled at what seemed to me a VERY long list! I recognized a few heart failure meds and blood pressure meds and diabetes and arthritis meds.
He's 99 and still walking around.

Take good care of yourself, SIX. You've got more time than you think.
And, there's no time like the present
The only things I regret are not starting things sooner.
What will you think in 30 years when you look back on your life?

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, June 8, 2026 4:05 AM

I appreciate your kindness, but I'm on borrowed time.

I can't even count the amount of times now I should have been dead. When I was younger I used to fool myself into thinking that there was a reason I was still here. That maybe I had some sort of purpose that had yet to be carried out.

Heh... No.

It's just random luck amidst the chaos. Could have happened to literally anyone and likely has a million times over.

I don't mean nothing, and I never have.

And that's fine.

I just want to live the rest of my life being left alone.

So it's really unfortunate I have to go back to work part time at a thankless minimum wage job working with and for garbage people.

Oh well...

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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

SIGNYM

Monday, June 8, 2026 5:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I appreciate your kindness, but I'm on borrowed time.

I can't even count the amount of times now I should have been dead. When I was younger I used to fool myself into thinking that there was a reason I was still here. That maybe I had some sort of purpose that had yet to be carried out.

Heh... No.

It's just random luck amidst the chaos. Could have happened to literally anyone and likely has a million times over.

I don't mean nothing, and I never have.

And that's fine.

I just want to live the rest of my life being left alone.

So it's really unfortunate I have to go back to work part time at a thankless minimum wage job working with and for garbage people.

Oh well...

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

Hubby thought he'd never live to 25. He took an insane number of personal and job risks. Repaired pin setters in bowling alleys at 15. Worked dangerous construction and factory jobs... digging out unreinforced ditches and basements, punchpresses without emergency stop buttons, repaired motorcycles for the Hell's Angels. Raced motorcycles in the dirt and cars on the street. That's not including walking thru a minefield at 8 y/o and surviving an abusive dad. He has OFTEN said he should have been dead many times.

You both sound very similar, you're both oppositional and very bright.

He's still here. You will be too, count on it. Depressing as that may sound to you!

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Monday, June 8, 2026 12:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
So it's really unfortunate I have to go back to work part time at a thankless minimum wage job working with and for garbage people.

Oh well...

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

I thought you were going to not work.

A freind of mine started working at Home Depot. Entry level job, but it is the highest hourly rate ($19) in the store. Called "Freight Team" - which is unloading the trucks and putting the merch on the store shelves. Mostly at night, some positions aree 20 hours per week, others 40 hours. Sounds like that would be up your alley. A decent workout, i guess.

Another guy I know does "lumber reclamation" or worn wood recovery. Which means taking old wood off old barns and such. Claims they pay upper 30's per hour, for DIY people. Pretty sure he is stomed all the time, and nobody seems to care, plus he works when he wants, or not. Here the company is called Board and Beam, but I assume they are all over.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, June 8, 2026 1:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
So it's really unfortunate I have to go back to work part time at a thankless minimum wage job working with and for garbage people.

Oh well...

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.
I thought you were going to not work.

A freind of mine started working at Home Depot. Entry level job, but it is the highest hourly rate ($19) in the store. Called "Freight Team" - which is unloading the trucks and putting the merch on the store shelves. Mostly at night, some positions aree 20 hours per week, others 40 hours. Sounds like that would be up your alley. A decent workout, i guess.

Another guy I know does "lumber reclamation" or worn wood recovery. Which means taking old wood off old barns and such. Claims they pay upper 30's per hour, for DIY people. Pretty sure he is stomed all the time, and nobody seems to care, plus he works when he wants, or not. Here the company is called Board and Beam, but I assume they are all over.

I appreciate the info.

Yeah. If I had my way I wouldn't be going back to work, but I knew eventually I'd have to for one reason or another. Even if I don't lose my insurance that I can't be without anymore, I'm going to eventually run out of money. And prices haven't gotten any better so, yanno...

If I get this house ready to sell and move into a nice small house down by my brother, I could probably live off of that for the rest of my life pretty easily, but I don't have enough liquidity to wait for the Bears to build a stadium and start playing here before I run out.

And the worst thing was I found out if you didn't work in the last 5+ years, you don't get to file for Social Security Disability. I really screwed myself there. I need to start working at least a few hours every quarter for the next 5 years before I become eligible for it again.

I'll look into those things. If I can't get back into my old job or find out that it's not at all like it used to be, I'll try anything that I can to ensure I'm not doing any type of service job where I need to be coming into contact with customers. Just point me in the direction of the physical labor you're sure isn't going to get done by the end of the night and get out of my hair for 8 hours and you won't be disappointed with the results.

Thanks again.

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, June 8, 2026 1:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I appreciate your kindness, but I'm on borrowed time.

I can't even count the amount of times now I should have been dead. When I was younger I used to fool myself into thinking that there was a reason I was still here. That maybe I had some sort of purpose that had yet to be carried out.

Heh... No.

It's just random luck amidst the chaos. Could have happened to literally anyone and likely has a million times over.

I don't mean nothing, and I never have.

And that's fine.

I just want to live the rest of my life being left alone.

So it's really unfortunate I have to go back to work part time at a thankless minimum wage job working with and for garbage people.

Oh well...

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

Hubby thought he'd never live to 25. He took an insane number of personal and job risks. Repaired pin setters in bowling alleys at 15. Worked dangerous construction and factory jobs... digging out unreinforced ditches and basements, punchpresses without emergency stop buttons, repaired motorcycles for the Hell's Angels. Raced motorcycles in the dirt and cars on the street. That's not including walking thru a minefield at 8 y/o and surviving an abusive dad. He has OFTEN said he should have been dead many times.

You both sound very similar, you're both oppositional and very bright.

He's still here. You will be too, count on it. Depressing as that may sound to you!

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

I wonder if he's like my grandpa.

He had a great sense of humor, but he was definitely my mom's dad as much as I'm her son. And it only gets worse the older you get.

ETA: Is your husband Polish too? My grandpa was, 100%.

Maybe we're related.

--------------------------------------------------

Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

SIGNYM

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 3:41 PM

Nope!

I'm Polish, he's Hungarian.

Poles and Hungarians historically haven't gotten along. There's a tongue in cheek Hungarian saying "May the Hungarian- Polish border grow ever longer!" It's funny bc the two countries don't even share a border.

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 11:54 PM

I knew you were Polish, but I think that's probably info I gleaned off of arguments you were having with others here.

My grandpa was 100% polish, and I know I got a lot of my personality quirks were handed down to me from him. He taught me ever Polack joke I know.

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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

JAYNEZTOWN

Monday, July 13, 2026 4:08 PM

At The University Of Chicago Law School, Socrates Is In, Laptops Are Out
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2026/07/11/at-the-univers
ity-of-chicago-law-school-socrates-is-in-laptops-are-out/

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