Are you a self-made man?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Me? Definitely.

I was born poor, so I had to scrape to make it to the top of the heap.
Tony Montana style, yo.


You?

[Tom In VA]

Not at all. Doesn't mean I haven't worked hard. There appears to be a cycle of hard work opening up another opportunity. But if it wasn't for the people willing to take a chance on giving me that opportunity, well, there it is.

Is that what you mean ?

[BSmack]

Without billions of people before us figuring out everything from the structure of the atom to how to master FUCKING FIRE, we would be no better off than apes. We all stand on the shoulders of giants.

[Tom In VA]

Without billions of people before us figuring out everything from the structure of the atom to how to master FUCKING FIRE, we would be no better off than apes. We all stand on the shoulders of giants.

Well said.

[smackaholic]

I thought this was a GYJO thread. :?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Not at all. Doesn't mean I haven't worked hard. There appears to be a cycle of hard work opening up another opportunity. But if it wasn't for the people willing to take a chance on giving me that opportunity, well, there it is.

Is that what you mean ?

I have no idea of what you said there.

:?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Yes.

[Go Coogs']

Self-made how? You mean like building your own business and earning a living by being self-employed without any assistance from loved ones? Or just making it on your own regardless of an employer writing your paychecks or you writing your own?

I need to clarify before answering the question.

[Tom In VA]

Not at all. Doesn't mean I haven't worked hard. There appears to be a cycle of hard work opening up another opportunity. But if it wasn't for the people willing to take a chance on giving me that opportunity, well, there it is.

Is that what you mean ?

I have no idea of what you said there.

:?

No I am not self made.

[R-Jack]

To avoid pissing on the efforts of those that raised me, took a vested intrest in my progress and kicked down some beer and pot money along the way, no.

[War Wagon]

I was born poor, so I had to scrape to make it to the top of the heap

You made it to the top of what heap?

Me?

I'm a white man in America, the product of German and Scottish ancestry. I'd have to intentionally fuck this gig up... not that I haven't tried.

[War Wagon]

Dad wanted me to be an engineer.

You should've heeded your Dad. You will regret that, if you haven't already.

Lawyers are scum.

[War Wagon]

You may be an exception, 88... but in the grand scheme of social heirarchy, lawyers are slightly above payday loan clerks.

[H4ever]

You may be an exception, 88... but in the grand scheme of social heirarchy, lawyers are slightly above payday loan clerks.

I think the douchebag attorneys are the exception. I've dealt with plenty testifying in court and I always try to keep in mind that they are merely doing the best they can for their clients, no matter how much a degenerate said client is.

For my personal affairs, my attorney charges just a "bit" more than most attorneys in this area for his services but the guy is very good at what he does and is well-respected in the courthouse. He saved me a bundle when I divorced a few years ago from my first wife. He's also the kind of guy who will occasionally call me up for a round of golf and always stops and bullshits with me when we see each other in passing. He is far from arrogant. Very cool dude who is funnier than hell. He is also a Husker fan...and that's good enough

[smackaholic]

My problem is not with individual lawyers. My problem is with the convoluted system lawyers have put in place that creates artificial very lucrative bidness for them.

As for self madeness. I'd say I am somewhere in the middle. More self made than a Kennedy/Bush type. Less so than the child of crack addicts that worked his way through med school. Got a very small amount of financial help from my gramps and a shitload of wisdom from him, a good bit of which I refused at the time. Also got some of both types from my father in law.

Unfortunately, neither are with us anymore, so I guess I need to get off my ass and do something for myself now.

[Go Coogs']

My parents divorced shortly after I graduated high school and they pretty much told me I was on my own during my first semester of college. My dad moved to Phoenix and my mother moved closer to work in downtown Houston and put their house on the market. I didn't have very much success in obtaining a job that paid more than $5.25/hour, so I found three jobs that paid the same shitty amount. I worked at two golf courses and Blockbuster Music for a little over a year while splitting rent with a couple of friends in a below average apartment.

I got pneumonia just before the holidays and was admitted to a hospital for a couple days and ended up missing work for a couple of weeks. I was told if I couldn't fulfill the schedule, then I'd lose my job(s). Sure enough, my lung collapsed on Christmas Eve night while I was shooting some pool with some friends who were home from college and I was back in the hospital. Shortly after, I was relieved of my duties at two of my three jobs. I couldn't afford rent, so I was forced to move into my brother's trailer which was parked behind a bar in hickville located northeast of Houston. It was God awful there. People I met while living there ended up being arrested for possession of crack. It was so surreal to me, but I managed to stay away from the trouble. Once I regained my strength, I caught a break and was offered a job as a rush driver for routes in rural areas. The only setback was having to quit school because the gig was 14 hours a day Monday thru Friday and a few hours every other Saturday. The job did pay $680 a week which was a huge increase from what I was making pre-lung collapse. I saved up enough money to put a deposit down on a nice apartment in uptown Houston (aka Galleria Area).

After doing the rush delivery thing for nine months, I realized I was working a dead end job and had to find something with benefits and a future. I applied for a nighttime position at the Federal Reserve Bank and was hired shortly after my bad ass interview. I received full medical & dental benefits, 6% matching on my 401k, subsidized lunches & breakfasts, paid for tuition, paid vacation, paid Park n' Ride, etc... It was a great job. By the time I finished school a black cloud started to form over the fed and talks of layoffs were swirling through all departments. It was going to be based on seniority, so I bailed before I was going to get the axe.

I spoke with my father-in-law about my options and he said I could test the market or come work for him. I applied to a few mid-level corporations and received a couple of offers, but they could not match what my father-in-law was offering, so I chose to keep it in the family. I worked for him and completely restructured his back office and compliance department. I worked on all sorts of other projects for him before I settled in as the Rep training coordinator. It was fun for a while, but reps/advisors can be such crybabies, so I decided to try something new.

I enrolled in a JUCO and received a technical degree in Process Technology within a year (took 45 hours in fall & spring semesters and two summer sessions). I went through a bevy of recruiters looking for jobs as an operator at a chemical plant. After weeks of searching I received one response. It was a chemical plant in Beaumont (75 miles away from Case de Rumps)...oh why the hell not. I took a Wonderlic test and a Mechanical Aptitude test and passed with flying colors. I was called for and interview a few weeks down the road. Two months later, I was hired in as an operator. It was a far cry from what I had ever done before professionally, but I loved it the minute I stepped foot on the plant grounds. Great job and great people. Oh, and the money ain't bad either. :wink:

INRAT

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

I worked for him and completely restructured his back office...

Is that how you people refer to...



...these days?

[Goober McTuber]

Dad wanted me to be an engineer.

So you went ahead and broke his heart. This could have been you:

[M Club]

My problem is not with individual lawyers. My problem is with the convoluted system lawyers have put in place that creates artificial very lucrative bidness for them.

is "lawyer" now code for elected representative?

[Goober McTuber]

My problem is not with individual lawyers. My problem is with the convoluted system lawyers have put in place that creates artificial very lucrative bidness for them.

is "lawyer" now code for elected representative?

Well, the vast majority of elected representatives are lawyers.

[Terry in Crapchester]

None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.

I agree.

[M Club]

Well, the vast majority of elected representatives are lawyers.

i counted 36% of us representatives, which is definitely a vast majority.

http://library.clerk.house.gov/referenc ... awyers.pdf

[Dinsdale]

"Vast majority," "minority" ... what's the difference?


Dude ain't exactly known for being bright.

[Goober McTuber]

Dude. I got like 31 out of 33 on the civics test.

Sorry, I misspoke. Lawyer used to be the most common former occupation for congress, which of course does not necessarily constitute a majority. Now it's like neck and neck with the business background. Former lawyer is still a majority in the Senate, though not to be considered vast. A thousand apologies.

[Dinsdale]

A thousand apologies.

Seeing the number under your screen name, I'd say 13,819 apologies would be appropriate.

[Goober McTuber]

A thousand apologies.

Seeing the number under your screen name, I'd say 13,819 apologies would be appropriate.

Maybe 13,818. I'm not about to apologize for an apology.

[Bizzarofelice]

nope.

went to public schools including public university 90% of which was public scholarship and the other 10% was my parent's paying for housing. My job while at school was at a TV station owned by the state of MO and only paid enough to get me drunkon the weekends.

ate a lot of government subsidized corn to make me 6'4''. and a lot of government subsidized something probably made the beer that has since fattened me up.

[mvscal]

nope.

went to public schools including public university 90% of which was public scholarship and the other 10% was my parent's paying for housing. My job while at school was at a TV station owned by the state of MO and only paid enough to get me drunkon the weekends.

ate a lot of government subsidized corn to make me 6'4''. and a lot of government subsidized something probably made the beer that has since fattened me up.

So, the system managed to produce a fat, drunken, ignorant and utterly useless piece of human refuse. Well obviously things are going just swimingly. No need for any changes at all.

"Carry on."

[Bizzarofelice]

nope.

went to public schools including public university 90% of which was public scholarship and the other 10% was my parent's paying for housing. My job while at school was at a TV station owned by the state of MO and only paid enough to get me drunkon the weekends.

ate a lot of government subsidized corn to make me 6'4''. and a lot of government subsidized something probably made the beer that has since fattened me up.

So, the system managed to produce a fat, drunken, ignorant and utterly useless piece of human refuse. Well obviously things are going just swimingly. No need for any changes at all.

"Carry on."

good morning, mvscal.

[mvscal]

good morning, mvscal.

Day....night. Don't mean shit. Let's go get a drink.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Holy shit, is this place ever mean...

:o

[Cuda]

that's why I've stayed the hell out of this thread, comrade

[Atomic Punk]

that's why I've stayed the hell out of this thread, comrade

Yet you've posted anyway. Hey, I hear smackaholic needs help mowing his back yard. There must be a few square feet of sporadic grass that the mower needs to trim up... if you 2 can figure out how to fill a gas tank, and pull that handle to start it up, that is.

[poptart]

Nobody is a self-made man, imo.
And if you think you are, just wait, because it won't be long until your shit gets fucked up.

[Bizzarofelice]

At birth - I was a negro.

I've heard this sentiment elsewhere, but expressed differently.





and poptart gets it

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

At birth - I was a negro.

I've heard this sentiment elsewhere, but expressed differently.

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey?


:?

[Bizzarofelice]

My parents divorced shortly after I graduated high school and they pretty much told me I was on my own during my first semester of college. My dad moved to Phoenix and my mother moved closer to work in downtown Houston and put their house on the market. I didn't have very much success in obtaining a job that paid more than $5.25/hour, so I found three jobs that paid the same shitty amount. I worked at two golf courses and Blockbuster Music for a little over a year while splitting rent with a couple of friends in a below average apartment.

I got pneumonia just before the holidays and was admitted to a hospital for a couple days and ended up missing work for a couple of weeks. I was told if I couldn't fulfill the schedule, then I'd lose my job(s). Sure enough, my lung collapsed on Christmas Eve night while I was shooting some pool with some friends who were home from college and I was back in the hospital. Shortly after, I was relieved of my duties at two of my three jobs. I couldn't afford rent, so I was forced to move into my brother's trailer which was parked behind a bar in hickville located northeast of Houston. It was God awful there. People I met while living there ended up being arrested for possession of crack. It was so surreal to me, but I managed to stay away from the trouble. Once I regained my strength, I caught a break and was offered a job as a rush driver for routes in rural areas. The only setback was having to quit school because the gig was 14 hours a day Monday thru Friday and a few hours every other Saturday. The job did pay $680 a week which was a huge increase from what I was making pre-lung collapse. I saved up enough money to put a deposit down on a nice apartment in uptown Houston (aka Galleria Area).

After doing the rush delivery thing for nine months, I realized I was working a dead end job and had to find something with benefits and a future. I applied for a nighttime position at the Federal Reserve Bank and was hired shortly after my bad ass interview. I received full medical & dental benefits, 6% matching on my 401k, subsidized lunches & breakfasts, paid for tuition, paid vacation, paid Park n' Ride, etc... It was a great job. By the time I finished school a black cloud started to form over the fed and talks of layoffs were swirling through all departments. It was going to be based on seniority, so I bailed before I was going to get the axe.

I spoke with my father-in-law about my options and he said I could test the market or come work for him. I applied to a few mid-level corporations and received a couple of offers, but they could not match what my father-in-law was offering, so I chose to keep it in the family. I worked for him and completely restructured his back office and compliance department. I worked on all sorts of other projects for him before I settled in as the Rep training coordinator. It was fun for a while, but reps/advisors can be such crybabies, so I decided to try something new.

I enrolled in a JUCO and received a technical degree in Process Technology within a year (took 45 hours in fall & spring semesters and two summer sessions). I went through a bevy of recruiters looking for jobs as an operator at a chemical plant. After weeks of searching I received one response. It was a chemical plant in Beaumont (75 miles away from Case de Rumps)...oh why the hell not. I took a Wonderlic test and a Mechanical Aptitude test and passed with flying colors. I was called for and interview a few weeks down the road. Two months later, I was hired in as an operator. It was a far cry from what I had ever done before professionally, but I loved it the minute I stepped foot on the plant grounds. Great job and great people. Oh, and the money ain't bad either. :wink:

INRAT

In summary, you got some pussy.

[Dinsdale]

In summary, you got prodigious amounts of pussy, all at once.

Needed fixin'