**DPER'S--What did all of you do after high school or college? Regrets or Advice?!

Turn to God. Although we here can give you a thousand different ideas and many of them are great they ultimately won't matter. Turn to God, read the bible, follow Him and your paths will be straight. I am not saying it will be easy but you will be on the right path and going in the right direction. Here is my story in a nutshell which may help you.

1. Graduated High School.
2. Went to college (UNLV and then ITT).
3. Moved around out west looking for something (wasn't sure what).
4. Got depressed.
5. Got more depressed after 9/11.
6. Moved back home to Indiana.
7. Started a job.
8. Joined a rock band and began drinking heavily and being very promiscuous.
9. Did this for several years and finally hit rock bottom.
10. Came back to God after meeting my wife.
11. Depression gone.
12. Drinking gone.
13. Love abounding.
14. Extremely successful businesses, I have two of them.
15. A wonderful loving family and children and a wonderful church family.
16. An absolute sense of direction in my life.
17. Salvation.

So, maybe that will help you.
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http://www.jabronitools.com

you can always live the poor life in burlington Vermont
get a working mans job like building or insulating and do freelance tech work and become a part-time Liberty activist... and wear big snow boots

you can play poker with all of us on Tuesdays

The Marines was my college of hard knocks what I should have done. Stay in school.

I wound up at ground zero with 10,000 other Marines for WW III, October 1962, Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The Russians had 47,000 fully battle dressed troops and 230,000 enemy Cuban troops. When my artillery battery was flown in by jet from California, we were the first 1,000 to arrive.To make things worse, the Russian General had Moscow's permission to use his 14 tactical nuclear missiles on attacking troops. His missiles were 1 1/2 megaton FROG, Luna's, each 1/2 megaton bigger than Hiroshima. The American attack was canceled 1/2 hour prior to "H" hour on October 27, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

August 1964 I was with the first Marines sent to Vietnam, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, seven thousand Marines.

I missed the Dominican Republic Invasion of 1965 by a technicality, less than sixty days of active service left on five years. I and another Marine had individual orders from my outfit to go. The other Marine was killed in action there.

I was stationed (home base) in Okinawa, Japan for two years with the 12th Marine Artillery Regiment on Camp Zukeran. I met and married my Japanese wife of 45 years there (the smartest thing I ever did). She waits on me hand and foot. Highly recommended ;)

I was in all 3 active Marine Corps Divisions, and on more Navy ships that I can count or remember. I've been all over Asia, Canada, Mexico, South America, all the Hawaiian Islands and swam in the lake in the middle of the Panama Canal while aboard the USS Iwo Jima (Helicopter Carrier). I'd love a trip to Europe, but the wife has family in Japan and got to keep her happy, so we go there.

I became a maintenance electrician after the Marines and after 15 years of that I became an entrepreneur for 13 years and retired at 53. Now 66.

My hobbies/sports are/were marksmanship, weightlifting, gymnastics, judo, karate, surfing, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, and gardening.

I go to the gym everyday now, weightlifting, cardio and swimming.

Favorite food, sushi and sashimi (raw fish).

I hardy used any of my 5 years of Federal G.I. Bill for college and the same for my Illinois G.I. Bill. Never used my VA Loan either (it ain't worth the paper it is written on).

2006 I spent a month in the PRC, Beijing and Japan and Okinawa. Going back to Japan and Okinawa later this year. I love deep sea fishing in the South China Sea.

I have two children (boy 40 and girl 44) and five beautiful grandchildren. Also a new all white toy poodle puppy, "Nitro" (he's eccentric and can go off at any time).

Everyone,
Thank you so much for all the advice. I appreciate it so much and have taken each and every word to heart.

I went into the military. Don't do that.
Then I went to University which is a good idea if you can get someone to pay for it. Study engineering or computer science or maybe something in healthcare.

I got married and I stayed married, and we're coming up on our 29th anniversary. I raised a family. I home schooled our offspring, who also graduated from a university.

I would do it again. Highly recommended! No regrets.

Traveled the world, became a scuba diving instructor, taught English in Japan, and now run my own Financial company in Singapore.

Don't let the doom/gloom get you down. Grap the world by the balls and take it with you.

http://scottishkyle.blogspot.com/

i went from the east coast in 78 to aspen co. got a job in the kitchen at the holiday inn with free housing and meals. skied by day and worked by evening. did it for twenty years. made a ton of cash under the table in various ways. had a blast and bought property in mexico beach in the late 80s and am now a landlord beach bum with million dollar income property . never had a loan or debt. always bought used cars,trucks,bikes for cash and best of all never filed with the irs. man i need to right a book!!!!!!!!

i went from the east coast in 78 to aspen co. got a job in the kitchen at the holiday inn with free housing and meals. skied by day and worked by evening. did it for twenty years. made a ton of cash under the table in various ways. had a blast and bought property in mexico beach in the late 80s and am now a landlord beach bum with million dollar income property . never had a loan or debt. always bought used cars,trucks,bikes for cash and best of all never filed with the irs. man i need to right a book!!!!!!!!

after going to public and private schools growing up, finally getting my HS Diploma in 2005 from a private school in Virginia, I left Virginia (Which is growing too much) for Davie/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to go to community college and party my ass off! I Did that for 2 years and got a girlfriend, and eventually got mono and was sick for 4 months! Then I moved to a country area of east Bradenton, Florida on the west coast. Still going to college, and I will get my AA Degree this summer. Then transfering to a 4 year college for a business degree, maybe Auburn University or Clemson Univ. I got accepted to Auburn already. I want to learn a lot about economics and finance. I'm taking accounting and business calculus right now, hard stuff. Ron Paul has led me to have an interest in economics and finance. After college, I plan to travel europe, maybe go into the Marine Corps like my uncle and my dad.

http://scottishkyle.blogspot.com/

My biggest regret is that I didn't buy more Apple stock earlier after leaving high school, and also that I didn't dump it last year before it sank with the rest of the market! Oh, man!
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"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists actually believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is chaotic..." —Alan Moore

Up-front investment on a used rig isn't too bad.

I know well drillers and they are always making money. In slow times and in drought, they are always busy. Everyone needs water.

Many drillers make $1-$2k per day profit.

Water is becoming the new oil. Plus, only those permitted to drill wells have an absolute monopoly on the industry.

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“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds” - Sam Adams

And here is my advice.

If you go on to college, make sure it's in a field that you know will be solid for a long time to come (i.e. healthcare). Truth be told, a college degree has about as much worth as an FRN. Why? The government has made it so everyone with 1/4th of a brain can get one. When everyone has a degree, the value goes down exponentially. Not only that, they've devised a way to load the average college student with a mountain of debt along the way.

Don't be pushed into going to college. One of the things that has destroyed our economy is the notion that blue collar workers are second-rate citizens. That is not true. We need people to work at factories right after high school, to make things, to learn trades. These skills are extremely valuable to our economy's overall health, as we're learning now. This country needs to go back to making things.

http://federalfallacy.com

I'm 25 now, and will shortly be enrolling in law school, provided there are any stupid enough to let me in, and provided there remains an economy from which to draw some credit.

If you don't already know, learn now how to WORK toward something.

The only advice I can give you is to make sure you do something productive, add something to yourself, acquire some skills, make and attain some goals. You will have fun anyway, but you won't add to yourself without deliberate effort. And in the absence of a sense of purpose or attainment, fun and frivolity will begin to feel like leprosy eating away at you.

Do some small thing everyday to better yourself. I recently made a list to remind myself everyday to be mindful of and work toward:

1) God
2) Freedom
3) Beauty

Needless to say, there's some overlap, but not without, first, the work.

The most valuble things to learn I feel are real skills basic carpentry, plumbing, welding etc... then apply those to becoming self sufficient,off the grid lifestyles, it being the need of the hour of sorts, may not be glitzy, but to get you and your family through tough times you will need it.

Cows think they are free, this is no bull, the beast must be Fed, with pitchfork instead
Follow the Water Walker the fishing is great, another reason is I forgot the bait.

After graduating HS in 1979 I joined the USAF and spent my next 20 years traveling the world and serving my country and getting my Bachelor Degree in Business. During those 20 years I took the oath to "Protect and Defend the Constitution" around 6 times. Those words meant something to me every time as they still do today. Since joining the soul-less corporate world since I got out 10 years ago, I continue to wish I had stayed in the AF. It was probably one of the best decisions I made in my life. I miss the lifestyle.