The ***Official*** Weekend Singles Thread (Aug. 25-27)

August 25, 2006 | WFTR and Rightwingintelligentsia

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Back to School

Well, it's that time of year. We're finally throwing away Fourth of July leftovers in our refrigerators; the stores are starting to put out Christmas decorations; and school is starting. (Okay, the stores don't have Christmas decorations up yet, but complaining about how early holiday decorating starts is everyone's pet peeve.) For lack of a better seasonal topic, this week's singles' thread topic will be back-to-school. We want to talk about your school experiences in general and back-to-school experiences in particular.

We'd like people to share any memories that they have of going back to school. Please feel free to post anything that comes to mind when you think of this topic.

Here are some questions to kick us off.

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Does back-to-school this year have any special meaning to you? Are you taking any kind of classes in the fall semester or quarter? If so, what are you taking and why are you taking it? How do you think you'll do? How close are you finishing whatever schooling you're doing? Do you have children in school?

When you think of going back to school, do you think of experiences you had as a child, as a teenager, or as a college student? Were you one of those people who looked forward to new friends and new challenges or were you one of those people who hated to lose the carefree days of summer?

What did you wear to school? Were you a jeans and T-shirt kind of person or did you wear the trendiest fashions? When you started back to school in the fall, were cool, crisp days just ahead or was the weather going to continue to be hot for a few more months?

Whom did you hang out with? The jocks? The artsy crowd? The nerds?

Did you go to football games in the fall? basketball games in the winter? Did you go to your prom or formal dance? If you didn't go to these kinds of events, what did you do instead?

What was the most popular song in the year that you graduated?

What was your favorite subject and why? Who were your favorite teachers and why?

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If you are heading back to school and have any subjects that scare you, please let us know. Within Free Republic in general and within this group, there are some very intelligent, very educated people. If there's some subject that could be a problem for you, maybe we can help.

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[bannie]

At least all of your degrees seem to be related.

It looks like you just can't take the engineer out of the degree.

[Rca2000]

No problem. I felt that I should. Someone needed to. Not that it made much difference to the discussion, though.

I also noticed that one of my "drive by insulters" came there--and responded negatively to one of my posts--making fun of me as they usually do.

[Gordongekko909]

This old rich guy is about to die, and he calls his priest, his doctor, and his lawyer to his deathbed.

"Listen up, guys. I don't have much time left, so I need to make this quick. You know how it says in the Bible that you can't take your money with you to heaven? Bull. I intend to. I'm going to give each of you $25,000 in cash, and on the day of my funeral, I want you to put it in the casket with me. Got it? Good." Whereupon the old man died.

The day of the funeral came and went, and the priest, doctor, and lawyer were having drinks at a bar afterwards. The priest broke first.

"Guys," he said, "I have a confession to make. I didn't actually put the full amount in the casket. I only put in $15,000 and gave the rest to the orphanage."

The doctor broke down. "Yeah, I only put $10,000 in the casket. I gave the rest to the children's hospital."

The lawyer furiously slammed his drink down on the bar. "I can't believe this. I am absolutely ashamed of both of you. What is wrong with you, betraying the last wish of a dying man? What kind of people are you? I'll have you know that I put a personal check for the full amount of $25,000 in that casket!"

[WFTR]

Well, you could buy yourself a mate, too. I guess some of the guys on here like to go to Russia for "take out" orders.

I've heard that many of the Russia "mail order brides" are really just perpetrating scams. They find a guy who has a bit of money and talk him into marriage. When they get here, they stay with him long enough to learn where all of the cash is. They wait until one day when he's at work, and they clean out all of his accounts. They then fly back to Russia where American courts can't force them to give back the money.

I don't see any point in getting involved in that situation. If I wanted to marry someone who was just looking for an opportunity to scam me out of my money, I could marry someone here in the United States. (/kidding)

Strangely enough, many of my friends in the herp world keep kidding me about finding mates for my pets and failing to find one for myself.

Bill

[pcottraux]

As always. Got Monday off, though.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

My image server is back up!

Here's a photo of our alma mater (Bill and I just found out this week we went to the same school!):

Penn State's "Old Main" Building

[WFTR]

Yep, I'm an engineer through and through.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

ROFL!

[pcottraux]

At least it gave you material for the Dinklemeyers (sp)

Hey, I created the thing and still misspell it.

[WFTR]

Thanks for posting this. It's funny, but I didn't immediately remember Old Main. I think I'm still pretty imprinted with Burruss Hall from Virginia Tech. When I lived in the dorms, I had a great view of Burruss Hall, and I passed it many times going to and from class. At Penn State, I didn't pass Old Main as often, and I had forgotten how pretty that view is.

[Rca2000]

My first college experience.

It was the summer of 1987 when I started. Grad'd in apr. 89. . It was a tech college named RETS technical school. I didn't really learn that much useful there--but I DID get an AAS degree-which did help me in future job offerings.

[WFTR]

Do others have pictures of where they went to school? rightwingintelligentsia has this great picture of where she earned her bachelor's degree and I earned my first master's degree. Seeing it brings back memories. I'd like to see others' pictures as well.

Bill

[WFTR]

I didn't really learn that much useful there

Do you think that was a problem with that particular school, with where you were in life at that time, or with the technical school model in general?

I'm very fortunate in that I feel very good about my educational experiences. I worked very hard. I spent many, many hours studying for almost all of my courses, so my earning my degrees was a real accomplishment. I think the result of that work is that I'm pretty strong on the science behind what I do in the work world. I'm often discouraged when I find so many other people who didn't give the same effort and don't feel the same way.

Bill

[Rca2000]

It was more the fact that I was already well into the electronics field and so I just need the "piece of paper", so that I could prove I "knew something" so to speak. I embarrassed one of my instructors, once--(by fixing a tv in minutes that he could not fix in 2 quarters) with near disastrous results!!

[BigTex5]

Yep still single. Trying to find a NASCAR loving women who can put up with me on race days ;) So hard to find!!!!

[Rca2000]

I don't try anymore. I just accept things as they are--and learn to make it on my own.

[WFTR]

LOL I never had anything quite like that happen, but occasionally, I'd notice something that a professor hadn't noticed. I was fortunate in that they were never bothered by those situations.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Did anyone see this?

U of Texas-Austin tops annual list of best U.S. party schools

Penn State is number two.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

I'm sure there are plenty of NASCAR gals out there. Ladies, start your engines!

[Rca2000]

I was nearly flunked by him over the incident-- it had lasting repercussions the rest of the quarter!!