Wow, you all had cars in high school?
Well 61apache10 -- Those may not be the answers you hoped for but they must have been the ones you expected, coming to a bunch of old codgers like us.
When I was in high school, I wasn't allowed to have a car at all. In fact, I didn't get my first car until I was a senior in college. It really stunk at the time. But I'm not that smart a guy, actually, and I had to really concentrate on my studies just to survive. A's and B's? Heck, I was lucky to graduate from college at all, let alone Summa Cum Laude like my daughter did (Peggy's genes, obviously).
Some folks are good at school and the grades and knowledge come easilly. Not this Marine.
But I stuck to it, hoping and trusting that the folks who told me the same things we are telling you were right. They pretty much were.
The one thing my dad always said was, "Work now, play later." Well, the harder you work now (on school and furthering your education) the better you can play later. I proved him right! I gutted it out, made it through school, got commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps, went to flight school, did 13 years in the Corps, am now a civil servant, farmer, and web site developer.
All because I gutted it out. Yeah, it would have been more fun to go drive a truck out of high school (or an amphibious assault vehicle as I almost signed up to do) like a lot of my friends did. But I kept at that school stuff, as unfun as it was. And now I own trucks just to play with.
Work now, play later. I still work, but I'm finally getting to the "Play later" part, as are the other guys. Life can be good and sweet, but only if you make it so. And the time for that for you is now.
You'll get to where we are! Probably even quicker than we got here because you're asking the right questions.
One other truth I discovered along the way -- the best and hottest chicks aren't impressed with your ride. They're impressed with your job (in that you have one)
JOhn
