Em Emalb's Journal: What would you do?

Time for the age-old question:

If you could go back and change one thing in your life, would you, and if so, what would it be?

Ooo a Toughie!

[krugdm]

That's one of those questions where there are a lot of "buts" attached

I'd like to say "Pay more attention in classes when I was at Wisconsin, so I didn't end up at Parkside.

But... Then I might not have gone back to work at Great America, where I met my future wife. I don't meet her, I don't have the two wonder children I have today.

It's one of those time-travel paradox thingies. I like my current situation now, but who knows what one small thing would change all that? I decide to go to Taco Bell instead of McDonalds one day, and get hit by a bus pulling out of the parking lot.

Not to mention the effect a change would have on other people...

Re:Ooo a Toughie!

[mblumber]

Have you ever seen Run Lola Run?

It's a good movie.

My life

[chainrust]

I would have not been born.

I don't think so.

[TechnoLust]

I can't think of any decisions I've made that I would change. I think the one event that I might change if I had the chance would be when I tore my ACL and broke my patella in a motorcycle accident. The bad things that came out of that are:

• A great deal of pain (obivously)
• I have frickin' arthritis in that knee
• If I've been on my feet or doing anything phyiscally demanding for a long period of time, I start to limp a little.
• I was on morphine for a while and then had to come off of it. That stuff is HIGHLY addictive, and coming off it makes you very irritable.
• I'm not a passionate about motorcycles as I once was.
• It pretty much ended me playing basketball for anything other than fun.

But, believe it or not, some positive came out of all that.

• It GREATLY increased my threashold for pain. I used to be a little wuss. I would hurt myself and you'd think it was the end of the world. After that knee injury if there isn't bone protruding through the skin, I'm like, "It's only a flesh wound. I've had worse!"
• Because the joint pain is greater when the humidity is higher, and barometric pressure is conducive to persipitation, I can predict the weather with slightly more accuracy than a Meteorologist. (Speaking of which, if a weather man is a meteorologist, what do you call someone who studies meteors? A weatherologist?)
• I learned to be careful with drugs, because I did NOT like the hold that morphine had on me.
• I guess not being as passionate about motorcycles means I don't push myself too far anymore, so I have less chance of killing myself when I actually do ride, which isn't often. It also pointed me towards Jetskiing, which I have enjoyed very much.
• I wasn't the best basketball player but I had fun doing it. Since I could no longer play for the school, I became involved in the drama and music programs, which worked out well.

I guess overall, it was a character building thing, and I did spend more time with/on computers since then, so maybe I wouldn't be where I am today with out that event. At the time I wondered why something like that had to happen to me, but now I see that it has shaped my life in many ways. I guess I should leave well enough alone.

Wait, I HAVE IT! I would have sold all my tech stocks before April 2000. :-) That's what I would change.

Call me romantic...

[red5]

... But when I was 13 there was this one girl that I had a crush on. She was practically throwing her self at me and I completely missed all the signs.

I wish I could travel back in time and tell my past self to go for it. That would rule.

Only one?

[sielwolf]

I gotta agree with chainrust, sometimes I just wish I was never born. Too much hassle.

But an actual choice I made that I never wish I did? Or that I could change? I don't know. So many little things. Like I wish I would have gone to an actual CS undergrad instead of a Systems Analysis program. Some Big Ten type school with opportunities and stuff... The original concern was that I wouldn't get the hands on attention. But then I didn't get the opportunities. Of course then I wouldn't have gotten my shoe in at the door at Compaq/HP or an interest in Genetic Programming... I'm glad I've decided to not get a PhD.

I did get accepted to Case Western and I would have been then going to school with a girl who fell hard for me in HS. But then if I went, would I have the realistic view of CS I do now? Or woudl I still be pie in the sky?

And I couldn't afford to go anyway (too white, too male, not smart enough to get any financial aid). So that falls under the "wish" catagory.

I can't think of anything right now even though I can't say that I'm 100% pleased with my life. Even 80% pleased with my life.

I guess if I could change anything it would be that I'm such an introvert... well, not an introvert per say but someone who is so easily offended by people just being... well. I always see it as "Loves humanity, hates humans". That make sense? I wish I was a little less uppity and more laid back. Maybe then I wouldn't wish I was dead. But didn't Nietzsche say "I get through many a bad night with
the thought of suicide"?

Maybe I just need a long stick to kill the bug up my ass. :p

Almost nothing

[gmhowell]

Honestly, probably nothing. My life is fairly comfortable, I'm happy with my wife and child. If my feet were held to the fire, I would have gone to Middlebury in VT like I had wanted to. Granted, it would have changed virtually everything in my life since 1991 (and I wouldn't have this particular funny nickname story;) but it's the only thing I honestly regret having done, or not having done.

Okay, okay. One more thing: I'd have broken up with my first girlfriend WAYYYYYYYY earlier. Talk about wasted time.

quit my old job sooner

[subgeek]

i worked at an independent motorcycle shop my first three years out of college because i didn't know what i wanted to do. it was cool, i learned about bmws, and i ended up building a bike for myself. but it didn't fit with any sort of long-term goal. and i paid a lot of money to college so i could make more than [my low salary from the bike shop]. sometimes i think if i'd left sooner i could have started this phase of my life sooner.

but on the other hand, i have a lot more motivation now to take steps to get where i want to be. heck, i've figured out a direction, which i didn't have a strong idea of before i quit. i have been able to grow up some so that i'll be ready to make a better husband to my fiancee. and to be honest, it was fun. maybe i wouldn't take it away, but i wouldn't want to return.

soon maybe i won't even regret the money i spent making that bike. hint for the rest of you who might be getting ideas: even with an employee discount, motorcycles are cheaper if you buy one that is already assembled. i still shop where i used to work when i need (or want) stuff for my bike. i like those guys, but it's nicer being a customer.

I don't know...

[FortKnox]

My first thought was "go back to freshman year and doublemajor in physics and education and become a high school teacher like I've been yearning to be". Getting used to a well off lifestyle, and switching gears to be paid almost half as much isn't as easy as it sounds.
But the double major would mean I might not of been in band, which means I woulda never met my wife. And I haven't even tried being a teacher, so I might not really like it and started wishing I would chose computer engineering.

I guess I'm better off just not thinking about it...

I would become an all round better person.

[eugene ts wong]

I never spent enough time excercising, studying or making friends. What weird high school life. I was basically C- in everything that I did--that's a bit of an exageration, but still.

So, basically, I would try to make more out of my life. Even though I wasn't a complete failure, I hate thinking about my past, because I feel like a failure. Don't get me wrong; I realize that I'm not failure, etc.

Em Emalb, this was a cool journal entry.