I've finally reached a point in my life where I feel like I know who I am, what I want, and what I'm willing to do and sacrifice to get there. What I didn't expect, though, was this weird feeling that a clock is ticking somewhere.
Like, as soon as I figured it all out, it was like an invisible hourglass begin running down. I have no idea where this comes from or what to do about it, so I figured I'd ask around to get some new perspectives.
I am about to get my drivers license, and hopefully after that a job working as a school lunch helper in some public school. I'm actually pretty happy with how things are going so far. With this job (If I get it), I get about the same amount of vacation time as the students do, which gives me free time to pursue my interests, while also having the ability to work on other things and save up money for any investments. I live a peaceful life where no one bothers me for rent or noise complaints. I don't really care for college at the moment, since I don't wanna get in debt. Besides, I'd go to college to either study philosophy (something you can't really get employment from) or something in computers, which is a field that is replete with the do-it-yourself spirit. Everything I could want to learn about computers in a college, I could learn on my own. I don't have that tick-tocking feeling you have, but that might be because I have a rather odd view of life. I have hopes and dreams like everyone else, but I don't mind if I never achieve them. I came into this life with nothing. I didn't even ask to be brought into this world, and I get to experience all the joys and horrors this world has to offer at no discernible cost. There seems to be no purpose to life, so all I want to do is make myself happy, and it turns out that doesn't require fame, fortune, a lofty position or anything really. I have tons of books on my bookshelf, perhaps 50 years worth of books and many more I don't have but want, and I'm sure I'll never be able to read them all while I'm also listening to tons of great music, playing tons of neat games, watching tons of interesting videos, and doing lots of cool stuff. My only regret is not being able to experience all of it. And that regret goes away when I realize I experienced at least some of it. I'd like to one day create something really great, be it a game, or some music, or write some long novel or play, or do some poetry, or maybe all of the above, and release it in the public domain one day. I don't know what it is, but I want people to experience it and really feel something they've never felt before. I want it to be something that really makes you feel human. But if I don't ever get a chance to do that, well, no harm done. The only thing in life I'm particularly melancholic about is my love life. That's the one thing in life I feel really nervous about. It's even hard to explain what makes me so nervous, but I guess the best way to explain it would be a low self-esteem towards myself and being in a relationship with someone I love. I'll deal with that when it comes, if it comes, if I let it come. Aside from that, everything is just fine and I wish for life to remain in this same easy-going mode, which, given the fact that it's life, is no guarantee. It takes one war and draft and I'm in prison (Because I don't want to fight in a war and hurt people) or hiding in some foreign country. I haven't decided which one I'd do yet. Who knows what life has in store for me? I sure as hell don't.
some day we'll all be able to say "we knew you when". you've got some good stuff figured out.I don't know what it is, but I want people to experience it and really feel something they've never felt before.
doesn't require fame, fortune, a lofty position or anything really
Oh, don't count on being able to say that anytime soon. I haven't even decided what I'd do and what I'd want to say. Perhaps it'll be about this trouble! I love the encouragement though. I hope I do... I'm often unsure of myself. Some people think they're the only thing in the universe that exist--solipsists--and that everything is just a fabrication of their imagination. I'm the opposite; I often wonder if I don't exist and am perhaps some automaton created by the collective wills, hopes, dreams, etc., of everyone else, and the reason I can't ever seem to understand anything is because everyone elses ideas and thoughts amalgamated into the container I call myself and now I have to jumble all of these contradictory positions and form something like a coherent perspective...some day we'll all be able to say "we knew you when".
you've got some good stuff figured out.
I've heard of Mr. Watts, but I haven't read anything by him yet, since I'm still on Plato on a very long list of Philosophers to read, and that's just Western Philosophy. I did watch the two videos that thenewgreen linked to, and I sense a certain kind of eastern flair to his philosophy that's pretty neato. I quite like the little bit of Eastern Philosophy that I've read, sometimes fancying it greater than most Western Philosophy, letting it influence my worldviews quite a bit more than Western Philosophy. In any case, whenever I do get around to him, I'll make sure to read everything he's ever done.
Do you want to live off the land with me one day?
Not sure if serious; I'll assume so: I've often fantasized about living "off the grid" or even being homeless, and I mean I seriously considered it as an ethical position to take. Especially the homeless part, as I often admire Diogenes and his homelessness as an act of rebellion against what he saw was a corrupted society. My reasons for doing so would be less for the criticism of society and more for a personal need for simplicity and consequently a reduction of waste and suffering to others. So yeah, one day I might take you up on that offer. Not now, because filial obligations tie me to the grid. But one day. I might just save up just enough money to attempt self-sufficiency in the future. This reminds me, I really do need to read Walden...
It was serious. As soon as my student loans are paid off I'm going to live off the land.
My life is great, but not some things are different than I expected. I'm 31 now, but in my mid twenties never could have imagined I'd have the life I do now. Wasn't planning on kids or marriage anytime soon, wasn't really interested in home ownership, loved living in the city, and was happy with my good IT job that I had with no interest in management, ever. Now, I am a low level technical manager in the IT world, make more money than I thought i would, own a large house, am getting married in October, and planning on having a child sometime after that. I also don't live in the city anymore, and live in the burbs now... but I totally love it. I used to love being near the bars, and allmy friends, and at the heart of the action here in the Twin Cities... but now I couldn't really care less. I like my quiet neighborhood, I like my nice and friendly neighbors, I love my house, I like mowing my lawn and taking care of my house, and I like the idea of finally settling down and getting married. It's all incredibly comforting and relaxing in a way I never thought possible. But when I was younger I never really saw myself being this successful suburbanite, but it happened and I love it. It's not about the money either, it's about the pride in what I've done to achieve my success, and my home, and my land, and the work that goes into maintaining my property and career is what's made me happier than anything. It beats playing video games, or sitting around being lazy, and the rewards and confidence I get from it are far more fufilling. In my free time I juggle, I play guitar, I read books, cook with my fiancee, go out for cocktails, play a lot of darts, and sometimes when there's nothing else going on I'll still maybe do a little video gaming or watch some TV shows on Netflix. All of those things make me happy in different ways, and that's all that really matters. A lot of these other comments in here, about "figuring it out", and "looking for answers" would have been what I said 5 or 10 years ago. But at this point in time, I realize that stuff is mostly pointless. Being comfortable with never knowing everything, and being comfortable with never "figuring out my life" completely are things I've just become comfortable with and accepted... and it's made me a much more relaxed, happy, and productive person in life. I'll never have it all figured out, or know what I'll feel 5 years from now. All that matters is "today" is a good day, because that's all there ever will be.
I am, kind of. I have plenty tied up in 401k/Roths. But bought a house last year, getting married this year... so not a lot of "folding money" to be had lately. All money well spent though, in my own personal opinion. There's more money to be made out there everyday. ;)
Often, the wedding can lead to some money of the "folding" variety. We took all of our wedding money and put it in various mutual funds and then forgot about it. 7 years later we had turned it in to a substantially larger amount. I think many people (I'm not suggesting you) forget that the reason people give money to you at weddings is so that you can use it as a "nest egg", not so that you can spend it frivolously. It sounds like you are off to a good start. My advice is to max out all of the obvious long term investments: Roth, 401k, perhaps a flexible College fund for those kids you're likely to have. Congrats on the house and a BIG congrats on the upcoming nuptials. Good luck with everything, it sounds like you have a lot to look forward to.
My fiancee and I don't spend money frivolously. I make great money, but I drive a Subaru, buy my clothes at Kohls, don't eat out a lot, etc. We're really not into designer anythings, or spend a lot of money on stuff we don't need. I know people who make half what I make and have houses twice as big and drive 5 series BMWs. We're pretty good about money, for me, I work hard now so that I don't have to later (IE; I want to retire sooner than later). We're actually having a pretty low budget wedding, but I blew most of my liquid cash on the down payment for my house a few months ago. I put plenty away right out of my paycheck into 401k/Roth, so my take home, even if I DID spend it all, still wouldn't be dipping into retirement, college funds, or emergency funds. I am fully vested at the company I work with and put it almost 20% of my paycheck between my 401k and Roth, and my company matches 7% up to 10k a year which I'm contributing well over. Our wedding is going to be under $10k, which is relatively cheap for most people (where I'm from anyway). The good news is, my house is already valued at 50k more than I bought it for, as we bought at the bottom of the market in our area. I waited and waited and waited to buy a house until the right time, and feel like we got a steal for the neighborhood we bought into. My father was founder and CEO of a truckline out of Minnesota for his whole life, and despite that, he still doesn't spend more than $10 on a shirt or pair of jeans. He raised me well, and taught me how to make a lot of money, but not spend any of it. Any cash we get from the wedding will go into savings, or maybe towards a honey moon. We don't even have a honey moon planned because we are both stingy and don't want to spend the money on it right away. :) Saving come first! I don't want to work my whole life. But I totally get what you are saying. Many people spend too frivolously this day in age and it's kind of sickening. I'm a manager, and people who work FOR me have nicer cars, houses, and things than I do... but I could care less. That's not what I'm working for.
I'm in my 20's, unemployed, and live in my parents house. Although my last job sucked, I did get to enjoy some parts of the country I've never been to. That being said, I am getting very close to getting an unrelated, "just to pay the bills" full-time job and moving out. I have a degree and have been making progress in networking with professionals in the industry. I love my girlfriend and we've been dating for a year. We are different but also share hobbies and interests (makes life interesting). She is just as anxious to move to a new city as me. I have been learning and growing in my hobbies and passions (amateur astronomy, mapping, music, etc). I just started volunteering and have found it to be enjoyable. I just brewed a batch of beer and can't wait to do it again. Best of all, I've been making an ambitious bucket list to enjoy life a bit more. I can't wait to delve into it and travel across the country some more.
My kids are grown and out of the house, I have no hope of "retiring", as my parent's generation called it, and I'm working hand-to-mouth. That said, I'd pretty happy. I can take care of my wife, I can keep the pets fed and healthy, and I have NetFlix. As I just turned 50, I have given up hope of making my mark on the world, but as long as I can find work that's fun and challenging, I think I'll be okay.
I'm invested in college and currently at the front end of a bachelor's degree and that will hopefully finish with a PhD in neuroscience. I'll make ground breaking research or not, but it'll be something I fall in love with. I hope. My social psych professor said something today that I dismissed as obvious, but I'm now interested. He said we compare ourselves to peers so that we can rationalize how well we did. Thinking you did poorly on a test and you asked a classmate her score, you felt at ease because it was lower than yours. I feel like whenever I do this in any situation, I have settled with my reality... too content with what is now. It cheapens your progressions and attempts to just trying to impress people because it shouldn't just end there. "Well I tried." isn't making me content anymore. I want to succeed so badly, but I can't define what success is. I feel like the gold is rarely found without taking a risk first, but I don't know where to start looking. May be I have to say, "Fuck it!" and jump into the cold water.
I'm still trying to figure out what path I want to take the future. Two things fascinate me: human potential and the secrets of the world. Let me explain: I'm interested in how we can maximize human greatness, how we can become as good or skilled as possible. I don't know why, but this has always fascinated me. I want to see how far I could go in life by developing "virtue"(in the Aristotelian sense)and skills. Eventually, I want to work with education and others to see how far society can go as well. Maybe it's because I'm still young and hopeful, or maybe it's because I read a lot of self-help books, but I truly think that every human can achieve so much with education if they have the right motivation. Not with the current public education we have, but through learning about science, philosophy and self-development(kinda vague, but I hope you get the point). It be fascinating to see how far individuals--society--can achieve. Second, I want to discover secrets, to figure out how stuff works and create something from that knowledge. In a grandiose sense,use that knowledge to change the world. A conflict arises: On one hand, there are the infinite secrets of the natural world that we use science to discover and utilize it to create. However, there are also secrets inside the other world of business and government--society's history. I think discovering secrets like that would be satisfying as well and could be used to create something better. But whatever I eventually want to do, it seems to always come down to Money. As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to think that money drives this world, whether it's applying for grants for research and of course, in all the business and government that runs this world. I want my independence in the future, and I want my curiosity to be free. And its seems like money inextricably buys that freedom. I don't know. These are just thoughts. TLDR: I'm coming to the realization/belief that wealth is tied to many things in life, and my future will be inextricably linked to attaining wealth. But not for showing off or buying fancy shit though. More so for somehow "changing the world" and liberating myself. Just some thoughts for now.These ideas are still ruminating but that is the general outline.
Grad school, and I know where I want to go (Human-Computer Interaction and... some related stuff) but I'm not sure how to get there. It's more than just that general topic though, I know I never want my own kids, but that I DO want to be an aunt or mentor. I know where I want to live, how I want to live... It's like I'm done "finding myself" and need to figure out what to do with that knowledge.
I feel a lot of the same things. I'm stimulated by an intense curiosity. I want to explore the universe and human society in the same way you described. I also feel like an activist at heart. I want to effect change in the world. I want to help people. I'm not sure how to.
I'm in my fourth semester at an Ivy League university in a Computer Science program. I'm thinking grad school is a likely path. I do well in school, but I do not have a good work ethic and waste a lot of time. Would you like to know more about any specific aspect of my situation? I'm also curious about yours. I kind of assumed you're in university too.
I'm in Binghamton, same semester as you. Ithaca is gorges...ha.
Cornell. It's big. The classes are large and often impersonal. But Ithaca is great, the campus is beautiful, and they have many really great programs. I like it here a lot. I went into CS because it excites me. It's fun to be able to easily plan, build, and use tools that actually work, which is easy to do since it takes nothing but a computer to build a program. And analyzing problems algorithmically is interesting to me. However, I am definitely not going the standard route of the Cornell CS major. Most of my peers are going to go work at some mature internet startup as a software engineer. They'll get paid handsomely to build tools that most likely will not involve effecting meaningful change in the world or exploring or learning about the world or universe. I need to do those two things. I hope I'll figure out how to during grad school. But until I know what my first career will be and I'm done with school, I don't want to sit around doing nothing productive except school like it's all I'm good for. I need to get involved with something meaningful now.
Hm. A lot of my friends finish undergrad and head into finance or consulting--two huge brain drains from Ivy League schools. CS seems to have a lot of potential though. It's definitely going to be the future of a lot of stuff and the next big things are falling into the category of CS. I don't know how your financial situation is, but I feel like that's always a burden as well to some extent. Maybe you could start your own startup? Or apply to internships at facebook,google, etc.? I think that's what some of my friends are doing. I don't think they intend to stay there their whole lives, but I guess it's a starting point and they can learn from it. It just depends on what you want in the future. If you have a vision of effecting the world,I think it'll happen. Many people want to find love,start a family,be "happy"-- effect another type of world.Which is fine too. Depends on what you find fulfilling in life. I rooting for you man. Too often do we get trapped into cynicism or get ridiculed as naive "idealists." I say,you only live once: mind as well see what you're capable of doing, what your capable of effecting. You'll never know unless you try.
I'm trying to get an education that will get me a tolerable job for me to have a stable and secure life. I want to live a quiet, happy life and not have to worry about tomorrow. I just want to make enough money and have enough free time that I can listen to audiobooks while doing my hobbies.
I thought I had reached the point that you're at, isla_es, but then these past couple of weeks happened. I'm on the verge of 6 straight months of co-operative employment, but don't even have a job lined up yet. As a Chemical Engineering student, in a field where jobs aren't supposed to be this hard to find, it makes me question if this is really the right field. I might end up using my degree and experience to try to get into Science & Technology policy, or to work for an agency such as the EPA, as opposed to your traditional Chemical Engineering jobs. At this point it's so up in the air. At the same time I've been having a lot of thoughts about institutions and bureaucracies as a whole, to discern if any of them really care about an individual person to the capacity of being able to help them. At the same time it's caused me to question who I am, and who I want to be. Though much of this is derived from reading Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus. It's been a tumultuous past couple of weeks.
The same as any other engineer really, apply to a lot of places and hopefully one hires you as a student. I can do anything from Mechanical based work to Environmental work. The disheartening thing is that I've applied to >50 and have only had one interview, despite a decent GPA, good extracurricular and work experience. I really don't know. It's essentially an essay on suicide and absurdism. Suicide is, admittedly, something I have thought about a lot in the past. The absurdism part though, that's what is getting to me. It's really making me question everything, and the general absurd nature of life. You live maybe 80 years, and within a fifty of dying you're probably long forgotten. So the question arises is it really worth working 40 hours a week for ~40 years? What is the real value of money past the point of survival and some comfort? Would I be happier packing up and taking a while to see the world, maybe change my career? Is the world really as cold of a place as it makes it out to be? Am I with a girl that I can spend the rest of my life with, and can we make it through the long distance (another entirely absurd thing)...just...so many questions now. It's overwhelming.
I've actually been to Europe twice already. One for ten days (3 days in Switzerland, 7 days in France), then again for a summer study abroad in France. I've found that I get the itch to go back every 2-3 years.
I'm 27 now and just started school again. I wanted to finish "high school" so I could start at my local engineering college. My music is going well, and I've found things I really enjoy and want to do. Working out, typography, design, music and math/physics. I can't wait to finish college so I can start earning som proper money and get a nice appartment for myself :) What made me start school again was actually the fact that my fiance of 5 years left me and I got a proper kick in the ass to go do something to get by... I suffer from high anxiety and depression, but this makes me feel A BIT better and hopefully helps me recover and get better with time. I've learned a lot this past year about myself and about life in general. I'm starting to get content.
I'm a programmer at a nonprofit. I was working on a PhD in math for a few years, but I didn't have time to do both and family obligations demanded more money than I could get as a research assistant, so I stuck with the job. It's not interesting work, and I get paid a bit less than I would at a for-profit tech company, but I have enough to help out my family, and enough time and money left to study math as an avocation. I'd rather be doing math full-time, but I'm content enough. I did feel like there was a clock ticking when I was younger, after reading Hardy and internalizing the idea that I had until I was 30 to do anything that mattered. I'm not quite 30 yet, but I stopped believing that in graduate school and sometime after that stopped feeling like there was a deadline looming over me.
Regarding the invisible hourglass, I can definitely relate to that. It doesn't help that I work in an area where you could potentially put in infinite time and still get a good return for your efforts; how can I help but feel like I'm not doing enough at any given time? However, I've come to realize that ambition, bettering myself, and recognition--while all good--aren't really vital to my happiness. I could see myself being happy if I were to completely withdraw from all those things and just live simply in a place I like. Furthermore, I've given up the notion that my life will have a "peak", as in my best years will be now or yesterday or something like that. I won't be the same person in a few years, and as I change I'll stop fitting-in certain groups and ages, but I'll have opportunities I didn't have before and I know I'll be a better person. So I don't worry too much about the ticking clock. I don't think I would change anything if I could.
Awesome. I'm at a point in my life where I'm pleased on a day to day basis, but am apprehensive about the distant future - 10 or 20 years from now. Much of that stems from a fear of being alone or isolated, watching friends get paired up and settled down. As much as I'd like to be in a relationship, I've never actually wanted to be in one with anybody I've met. I know that there's more to life than that, but part of me wants somebody to go through life with - a constant across the various stages of life, a best friend. Assuming that having a significant other would alleviate this concerns is optimistic, and I imagine that continuing to focus on the present, doing things I want to do and with people I want to be around, is a better course of action. It's not a completely rational fear, but I don't think humans are completely rational. In general, it doesn't bother me too much. It sometimes fills my mind when I'm alone and contemplating life, random weekdays when my roommates aren't home or before I go to sleep. I know I am capable of meeting new people and making friends, but it's not something I want to do every few years - it's draining to be outgoing, and I get the sense that people are less inclined to look for good friends as they get older, although I know that that's not necessarily true either. This stuff gets to me more than job and career concerns. I'm finishing up a master's degree in the spring and have a plan for after graduation, and I am comforted by the flexibility I believe I'll have on the professional front for the foreseeable future. Sometimes I feel like I know who I am, and sometimes I feel comfortable or uncomfortable with it. I waver between wanting to change certain aspects of myself and accepting that I am like I am. My friends say that I think too much, so I try to keep busy and enjoy life as much as possible. Seems to be working pretty well so far.
Currently I am in a minimum wage job that I hate, and I want to get out of as soon as possible. In the meantime though, I am trying to start my own business and work for myself. However, I feel trapped with money because I can't seem to earn enough to fund my business prospects. So alas I am stuck in a never ending cycle of working and looking for another job, because the only way I would be able to start my own business is if I earn more. Sigh Other aspects of my life are just peachy. My girlfriend and I just signed a lease for an awesome apartment in a great part of town, and we are stoked about it. Just made a terrarium, proud of that. Finances aren't bad either. Paying my bills and I'm not in too much debt, well besides school loans. That's another story for another day. Overall A-
I've tried to start a few businesses already. Here is the list: - Computer Consulting
- Animal Sitter
- Car Detailing Shop Currently I am trying my hand at importing and starting an E-Commerce business. It is quite slow right now. Might try personal concierge in the future. Who knows?
I'm living day by day. No worries that I can't handle. And I feel fine!
I'm 22 and I just finished school in December. I have a BA in English with minors in Anthropology and IT. In 3 weeks, I'm moving to New Zealand from the US to live with my fiance. I'm really excited and happy to finally move (been with him for 3.5 years). But I'm nervous too. He lives in a small town and I feel like maybe my nice shiny new degree is worthless in a small town like that. I don't feel like I wasted the past 4.5 years getting it, but it doesn't feel right somehow. I'm hoping that I'm wrong and will be able to use my degrees in a a job there somehow. I think part of this is a general pressure that exists to get a degree based on the job you want. I've always firmly believed in getting the degree you enjoy the classes for and the career will follow. Now that I'm pushed up against that wall though it seems daunting Generally, I'm trying to keep very open minded about everything and not make "in 5 years I will be ___" type plans. My plan right now consists of: Move to NZ, try not to stress out, get married in July, apply for Residency. Then we'll see what happens. But I'm a perpetual worrier.
Heh, didn't expect a follow up :P I kind of dropped off the face of hubski for a few months but I'm getting back into it again lately. Things are good. I don't have a job (yet), but like I said in the above post I'm trying not to stress out about that too much and I think it will be easier once I have residency rather than the visa I have now which only lets me take contract/temp jobs. My fiance makes enough for us and we just bought a house about a month ago - very exciting to finally live in a house again after so many years of apartment living. I've been spending my time looking after the house, taking care of our cat, and learning new things like how to make and edit videos on my computer.
Good luck. We have one resident Kiwi on Hubski, as far as I know. His username is briandmyers. He has written about the process of getting residency there in the past. You should contact him; could be a helpful resource. He always seems like a friendly sort.
Ask away! But it has been a long time since I got residency (1998). Look me up when you arrive and I'll buy you a coffee. My mobile number (NZ) is 021 170 7071.
I live in Auckland, quite a ways from Gisborne. No worries mate.
I'm 19, currently attending a pretty good university for an undergrad in economics and accounting (or finance, haven't made up my mind). I eventually want to go into politics and am also taking a lot of time reading about world history, politics, policy and philosophy to prepare me for it when I do try to step up to some sort of position. Unemployed and worried about getting a job in the summer. Really worried. My parents paid for my first year rent and residence, I don't think they can afford another. I feel like I'm on the right track, I'm doing better than many, but at the same time I'm feeling a bit empty as in... how do I stack up? All these presidents and senior execs and senators all went to some Ivey League school, I'm not somewhere even 1/10 that, don't have 1/20 the connections, and I see people around me who are ramping up for internships and scholarships, and have jobs lined up.
Although connections give one a great headstart, they aren't everything. The person is what matters the most. For example, a former president of the american college of surgery is a friend of mine. He is from a small town and went to a medical school no one has ever heard of. But he's really talented and dedicated. That's what is really important. We live in a meritocracy, fortunately. Chin up.
Right now I'm in school. I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing, and I guess I'm good at them. I have a lot of ideas that I'd like to make into realities, basically projects that have been kicking around in the back of my mind. Thinking about those things generally takes up my spare thinking cycles. So I guess I dream a lot. I'm not very good at jumping between dreams, though. I like to get enveloped in something and have nothing else distract me. So where does that fit in with my current state? I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't see any window in the future where I can just pursue what I want to pursue. I have tons of things I'm working towards, but jamming them into the little time windows that I am given to work with is inefficient and frustrating. I want to just be able to fuck off and do my own thing for a couple months. I definitely understand the ticking clock feeling. Not sure how to deal with it, to be honest.
I work in a pathology laboratory as a lowly lab assistant. I may hopefully get a job in Toxicology, that will make things look up. Other than that I'm still at uni at 22, my friends have graduated. I decided to avoid a full year of unpaid internship, which would have been painful to go through for no promise of a job at the end of it. I changed to another biomedical science degree minus the accreditation. Essentially I'll just have to work on getting the accreditation through other means, and eventually become qualified to be a medical scientist. Once that happens I can start my normal suburban life, which at this point I would hope that I still play video games and various other tabletop games like Battletech.
I currently work in the backroom of a well known toy store. I'm happy with it, but the pay/hours could be better. I'm hoping to have a second job at some point. I'm not really sure where I want to be in life right now, but I'm glad that I'm at least making progress.