262 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
262 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
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Life Sucks III: Life in the Real World
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Author: Robert A. Seace (Agrajag/AJ)
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====================================
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Published by: RLunatic/Jhayden pro-ductions
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-------------------------------------------
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Introduction
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############
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Yes, yet ANOTHER installment in the pathetic ongoing saga of
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life-loathing and random bitching... Back because YOU asked for it.
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(Well, not really... Actually, it's back just because I felt like
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bitching some more. I don't really give a rat's ass about what YOU
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want.) Yes, now there is an entire TRILOGY of bitching and whining
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about the suckiness of life! Enough to make even the most hopeless
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optimist suicidal!
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In this third book, I examine the Real World and all of the
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Suckiness therein. Other than that, it will be pretty much like the
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previous two books: lots of bitching and moaning and complaining
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about things I can't change. The only change will be the focus of my
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complaints...
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The Real World
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##############
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No, I'm not talking about the brainless MTV show where they
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get a group of idiots to live together in some loft for a few months
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until they kill each other... I'm talking about that especially
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sucky portion of life that comes after we are all grown-up and out of
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school and actually earning money at some sort of job... Now, to
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some of you this may actually sound like a GOOD thing. Well, if it
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does, then you obviously haven't actually experienced it firsthand
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yet. It is NOT a fun thing. Sure, you are actually out on your own,
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no longer controlled by your parents, and are free to do basically
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whatever you want. However, if you do the wrong thing out here in
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the Real World, the consequences are MUCH more severe than they used
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to be back when you were living with your parents or going to
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college...
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If you didn't feel like going to classes for a week at
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college, no one gave a shit, and it wouldn't really do you any major
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harm since you could likely just catch up by reading a few chapters
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in a few books (hell, I've had classes where I only showed up in
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class to take the tests, and STILL aced the class)... However, in
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the Real World, if you don't feel like going to your job for a week,
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you will be in some SERIOUS trouble. If you are lucky enough not to
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lose your job, you'll likely at least lose a week's pay. And, while
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that may not sound that serious, believe me, you need each and every
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last CENT of the money you earn just to survive. The loss of even a
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DAY'S pay will completely screw up your entire budget for the next
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month or so...
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When you were living at home with your parents, and you ran
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out of cash because you blew it all on something unneccessary, the
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only thing you had to worry about was not being able to buy more
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unneccessary things. You were still assured of being able to have a
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place to sleep and plenty of food to eat. However, out here in the
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Real World, if you blow all of your money on something unneccessary,
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you may very well find yourself going without such things as food and
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shelter until your next paycheck...
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So, in general, there is very little allowance for screw-ups
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in the Real World. Certainly a hell of a lot less than there is in
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college or at home with your parents...
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Finding a Job
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#############
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Ok, the first thing you have to do to become part of the
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Real World is get a job. Sounds easy enough. It isn't... You may
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think you will have no trouble at all finding a job. After all,
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you'll have a degree in XXX from YYY College, so there should be TONS
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of companies knocking down your door to try to snatch up you and your
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skills! Heh. Nice delusion, but nothing near reality... Jobs are
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very difficult to locate. And, a GOOD job is damn near impossible to
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find. So, if you are still in college, start searching now. Don't
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do like I did: wait until after you've actually graduated and then
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begin searching.
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I fully expected to find a fantastic computer programming job
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that was close-by and payed me an ungodly amount of money in a matter
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of a few weeks... After 3 months and hundreds of resumes, I luckily
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stumbled onto a good job in Boston (I lived in northern New Hampshire,
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some 3 or so hours drive away), which payed a moderately low salary...
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But, it was definitely the best thing I had seen or was likely to see
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anytime soon, so I snatched it up. Luckily, I've grown to love it,
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which is a very important thing. If you don't like your job, you
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should definitely be hunting for a new one as soon as possible.
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There is nothing worse than being stuck your entire life in a shitty
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job that you hate. Life is bad enough on its own without the added
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suckiness of working at a job you don't enjoy...
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Finding a Place to Live
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#######################
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This sucks... It's generally not too hard just to find
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available places to live, but it's definitely hard to find one that
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is within your price-range. And, any place that is cheap enough to
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afford is generally a dump. So, to find a really good place may take
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a consiberable amount of time; probably as long or longer than
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finding a good job... The problem is, you usually don't have that
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much time to find one. You usually will need one RIGHT NOW, and
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won't be able to predict that you will need one a few months from
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now. When you get a job, you will need to re-locate there (assuming
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you aren't one of the extremely lucky people who finds one close to
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where they already are). And, there is no way of knowing in advance
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where exactly "there" will be until you actually get the job (unless
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you narrow down your job-hunting vicinity to a single place, which
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would be truly stupid). So, when you finally get a job in East
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Timbuktu or wherever, you need to move there NOW. So, the result is,
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the first place you live in will generally suck or will be so
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expensive as to completely drain all of your money... Or, both...
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And, of course, there will likely be a lease, so you can't move out
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if you happen to find a better place once you are there. So, the
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trick becomes finding a good place, with a rent you can afford, and
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timing it so that you can move in there as soon as your current lease
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is up...
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Getting to Work
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###############
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So, you've got a job and a place to live. Chances are that
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one is not within a reasonable walking distance of the other, so you
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will need some method of transportation back and forth between them.
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Either you can have a car and all the bills and troubles associated
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with them, or you can do the public transportation thing. I'm not
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sure which one is worse...
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Cars are fine if you've got nice cheap, reliable beast, and
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live/work in some small town where the people don't drive like idiots
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and there aren't a lot of car theives waiting to swipe your vehicle
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(or you have an old, ugly beast that no one would want to steal).
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But, for most people, this isn't true. And, even if it is, you still
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have the normal maintenance costs, and gasoline to buy (especially
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important if you DO have an old, reliable beast of a car), and the
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occasional major repair. It adds up pretty quickly...
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Taking public transportation, on the other hand, is pretty
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cheap, compared to having a car. However, there are other problems
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associated with it Mainly, having to deal with the other people who
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are taking public transportation. Some of these people (and, for
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some of them, that is using the term "people" quite loosely) are just
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plain strange... I've seen more weird people on Boston buses and
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subways than I've ever seen anywhere else in my entire life (and,
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I've lived my entire life in New Hampshire, which is loaded with tons
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of strange people). On buses, I've seen people who just start
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randomly singing and/or talking to no one. I've seen others who look
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like they belong to the special effects department of some science
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fiction TV show. I've seen others who look mean enough to chew
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through lead pipe. I've seen others who just come up and start
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talking to you like they've known you your whole life (and the really
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scary ones actually know things about you)... There are some truly
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STRANGE people who take public transportation...
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And, aside from the problem of weirdos, public transportation
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is also slow as hell and not very reliable. There seems to be little
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relation between when a bus is scheduled to arrive and when it
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actually does. And, the time that it takes to get where it is going
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seems to vary greatly with each trip, which makes predicting when to
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leave so as to get to work on time next to impossible. There have
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been days where I get to work an hour early, and others where I get
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there an hour late, but yet I left my apartment at exactly the same
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time, both times...
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Paying Bills
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############
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This truly sucks... How I hate paying bills. It is a truly
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sucky experience to see the money you've just worked so hard all week
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(or two weeks in my case) for disappear in a matter of a few minutes
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as you pay various bills... Rent, phone, electricity, gas, cable TV,
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student loans, credit cards, etc., etc., ad infinitum... There just
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seems to be no end to them. You just pay one, and another one
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arrives to suck away a bit more of your money. And, after paying
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them all, you MIGHT just be lucky enough to have enough left over for
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luxuries like food... In fact, in order to pay them all, you may
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find yourself resorting to using things like credit cards, which will
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just put you further in debt and increase your bills each month. A
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truly vicious circle...
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Socializing, Dating, and all that Jazz
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######################################
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Well, this sucks whether in the Real World, or in college,
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or wherever. But, at least at college, you could find time for some
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socializing (if you wanted to; I had plenty of time to, but just
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never wanted to). Here in the Real World, there just isn't much damn
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time for anything except work. My average day consists of: get up at
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5:00am, shower, drink coffee, play on the Net for a while, get to
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work at about 8:30am, work straight through the day usually taking no
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lunch break whatsoever, head home at about 5:30pm, eat (finally),
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watch TV for a bit, then go to bed around 10:00pm or 11:00pm... Not
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really too much time for socializing of any sort. Then, on the
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weekends, when I do have time, I'm usually dead tired, and just want
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to sleep and/or relax to make up for working so hard all week. Of
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course, even if I DID have the time, I probably wouldn't do anything;
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socializing is not my favorite activity, and I'm too damned shy to
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ask out any women I'd want to go out with... But, that is an
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irrelevant side-issue...
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The Things that DON'T Suck
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##########################
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Is there any part of living in the Real World that DOESN'T
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suck? Sure. You are after all on your own, free to do pretty much
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whatever you please. You are making your own money and are
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responsible for keeping yourself alive, which can be a pretty
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satisfying experience. (Though, in a split second, I'd trade in that
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bit of satisfaction for a free and clear few million dollars...)
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Plus, you are now out there doing something important, and
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contributing to the society as a whole, and making a global impact on
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the world... Or not...
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Conclusion
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##########
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Well, I'm not sure what the message or point of this book is.
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But, I'm sure there is one in here somewhere... But, basically, I'm
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just saying that life sucks; and, even more so when you are out in
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the Real World. But, as usual, for all its Suckiness, life is
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still worth living. Even though it is quite often painful and
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hateful and completely unfair, it is still far better than the
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alternative...
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So, if you haven't yet entered into the Real World, enjoy
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the comparatively easy life you are currently leading... You may
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think you have it hard now, but be thankful that you aren't out here
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where life is a whole hell of a lot harder...
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And, if you are here in the Real World already, then you have
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my sympathy and understanding... But, don't think that you are the
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only one this is happening to; everyone goes through it. Your
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troubles aren't any worse than mine (not many people's troubles are
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worse than mine) or most others. So, stop whining and feeling
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sorry for yourself, and go out there and live the least Sucky life
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that you possibly can... And, when life comes up and kicks you
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square in the crotch, just remember that no matter how bad you've
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got it, at least you are alive... And, at least you aren't me...
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Send comments, complaints, gifts, flames, bombs, : Rob Seace
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threats, money, food, naked pictures, body parts, : Agrajag
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source code, jokes, quotes, alcohol, etc., to... : ras@world.std.com
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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"Life, loathe it or ignore it. You can't like it." - Marvin
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