If I were doing it all over again, I would be...

Taller.

The_Jed wrote: Taller.

Which part of you?

Given another shot, I'd like to have not berkeleyed up in college and actually finished some kind of a degree. As it is I'll be trying to finish a degree while enlisted. Honestly though, I'd probably make all of the same mistakes.

Even though I would still choose the same general path, I wish I would have joined up with the ME's and the SAE formula car. Even though I was a geophycist I still could have joined and helped out. I even knew guys who worked on it but I didn't join in. Missed opportunity for some fun and learning.

I wish I hadn't dismissed a military 'career' as stupid. I could have been retired by now.

I'd have gotten a job with the railroad out of high school. Similar reason to the above, plus I'd be running big pieces of equipment that spew diesel fumes.

I'd not have resisted BMW ownership for so long.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

The_Jed wrote: Taller.

Which part of you?

Either way, I'm not picky.

The US Air Force wanted me to become an instructor in radar school. This as back when radar was in its infancy. No way did I want to be an instructor. I wanted to work on airplanes. So they made me an instructor on airplane inspections. So many life choices I may have screwed up. Getting married young was one.

Lesley wrote: and here I is, a crazy cat lady with a fleet of busted old cars.

Stop it!

I can do sub-q fluids on kidney kittys like a champ - so's you know...

No Stalk-o!

I would have told my friends who committed suicide that somebody gave a berkeley.

Born richer.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Born richer.

I could live the exact same life, no problems, but this times a billion.

I can think of a lot of social things I would do differently if I were more mature in high school, and I would certainly try harder and not be so lazy, but I don't think I would change where I am right now. I mean, other than trying HARD not to move to Boston, but this is where the (or I should say a) great program is.

I could be working for my dad and making more money, but he always taught me that loving what you do is worth more than any amount of money. I have never once dreaded going in to work. Unhappy? stressed out? sure, rarely, but never miserable.

I was a geologist, MIS now.

I would have ended up with an STD for sure.

But seriously, I would have gone into hurricane forecasting down in Fl. I have always loved to track and research them.

For the future, I seriously might put my Bar and Grill plans into action. Picked out the location/theme/menu already.

friedgreencorrado wrote: I would have told my friends who committed suicide that somebody gave a berkeley.

Yes, this too.

not discovered credit cards.

If I could actually do it all over again, I imagine it would be like that episode of the Simpsons where time travel causes the donut never to have been invented or something...

But I think I mostly wish I'd understood that I could do stuff if I just did stuff. When I was younger I was a terrible procrastinator (still not totally cured), and I think it stemmed from the notion that I didn't think I could ever actually build cool cars or be a race driver or... I'm pretty sure that if I'd gone into sticking pieces of metal together in a more gung-ho fashion I'd either be closer to what I wish I was doing now, or I'd have figured out I didn't want to get there.

OTOH, as a software developer, I have a job that can be engaging, pays well, and when I'm doing it right (occasionally), leaves a bit of time and brainpower for pursuing the other things I wish I was doing (which are legion). And the rest of my life has a lot of awesome people in it, and who knows where a different path would've dropped me in those terms.

Toyman01 wrote:

JFX001 wrote: I wouldn't change a thing...because I wouldn't have what I have now.

This.

+2. I'm thinking I would have chosen the same career path anyways. Don't regret any choices I made so far, good or bad they got me where I am today.

I would do everything pretty much the same, right up until 1994 or whenever they decided to open commercial registrations of domain names. At that time I would buy beer.com, sex.com, and porn.com, which I would then sit on until right before the dot-com bust in 1999, when I would sell them for multi-million-dollar sums. Each.

I suspect my life would be pretty different in impossible-to-predict ways after that.

Jay wrote: I would do everything pretty much the same, right up until 1994 or whenever they decided to open commercial registrations of domain names. At that time I would buy beer.com, sex.com, and porn.com, which I would then sit on until right before the dot-com bust in 1999, when I would sell them for multi-million-dollar sums. Each. I suspect my life would be pretty different in impossible-to-predict ways after that.

I would add GRM.com to my list, which I could then sell to this magazine for the price of a lifetime subscription.

Hmmm... I wouldn't want to lose my kid, so that's a tough call. OTOH, her mom... Had a couple of friends do themselves in too, I let them know I cared but it still didn't help, dammit.

There's one girl I let go who I now know I should have held onto.

Would have put a LOT more effort into my motorcycle racing career. I even had an 'in'; I used to ride with Jeff Ward occasionally way back when.

I think I would have pursued an engineering degree, too.

Firefighter or teacher. There would be little to no money difference, but less work, and way more time off.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Woody: Single.

ironic...I was going to say, "I'd be more social, less bookish, so I didn't end up middle aged and single." I suppose it is a case of the grass always being greener...a friend of mine told me about the wonderful weekend he had, how his wife let him spend the whole afternoon doing whatever he wanted without interruption. I realized that every day is that way for me.

Gone into the sprinkler fitter union in Chicago when I just turned 18 and my dad had an in for me with the union head.

I dropped out of consideration for a spot with the US Marshals because the job I had at the time was going pretty well. That job no longer exists, and I wonder if I made the right decision.