Lacking the ability to fund my happiness

So they say, "Money can't buy happiness". First off, who exactly are "they"... The mysterious source that seemingly everyone sites for the standard issue cliches? That being here nor there, again "Money can't buy happiness". I contend this is wrong. Well, at least partially wrong. Money can't directly buy happiness, as if happiness was a commodity. It can, however, buy... stuff. I'll be the first to say that as a whole, society has too much "stuff". Conversely, having stuff can be a good thing. Yes, I am a study in contradictions... It's part of my charm, appeal, curse... I have the ability to see the whole picture... the good, the bad and myself... I mean the ugly. So, with this ever elusive, at least in my case, money... I can buy happiness! That's right, I can. I can buy iPads, My Little Pony©s, fast pitch softball equipment and lessons, emerald encrusted jewelry, tools(!!!!) and all the little things in life that make my family and friends... wait for it... HAPPY! That being said, the single most important thing that money can buy... Time! I know, I know... it appears as if I have lost it (hard to lose what was never there to begin with!). Just keep reading... it'll come together... maybe... Anyway, yes, money can buy time. Having money would allow me to be more selective about my employment options. This would allow me to find something that would keep me from having to constantly be out on the road, away from my friends and family, just to make a living. See... money would buy me some time and happiness by way of allowing me to take care of all those annoying bills that are required to function in today's society while being able to spend time with family and friends which makes me and at least some others, happy. So there it is... money CAN buy time and happiness!

Now that y'all have been infused with some of my twisted logic, on to my rant about college degrees and the fact that more merit is put in a piece of paper than the actual person that is bearing it...wait... no... not today.

So, yeah... Not go off on a tangent, today... Instead, I'm going to spread my dream a little. So... I want to do THIS !! Not go to one... well yeah... go to all of them, but I want to build one... run one... enjoy one... right here where I live. Without getting too in depth in all the particulars, I can see in the "normal" part of my twisted little mind, how things could pan out and allow me to not have to travel, by embedding knowledge, experience and happiness in the local educational infrastructure and the community as a whole. Just imagine... a class field trip... 20 or so 3D printers and an instructor... the result would be a classroom's worth of customized Mother's Day gifts and interest in all the things that could by laying down heated plastic in a programmed order. See what has happened there? Not only have a bunch of children designed and created a physical object for their maternal guardians, but they have been shown that the things in their head CAN become a reality. They have been exposed to computers as the tools that they were designed to be, to programming, to science by way of how a 3D printer extrudes the plastic, to design... to technology! So, here is where money would have bought some more happiness. Happiness outside my little (and I do mean LITTLE!) social group, as well as for me. There's nothing greater, in my opinion, that seeing that breakthrough moment in a child, when they realize that the sky is the limit. This is what I want to bring to my community, my friends, my family and myself! Being closely tied to the educational community, it saddens me to see the lack of support for technology. Albeit, it's necessarily the fault of the educators, but more so of a society that is increasingly supporting the religion of sports and neglecting those that do not excel at them. I want to bring that spark, that hope, the realization that just because you can't catch a football or hit a baseball or shoot a basketball, doesn't mean that you can't do awesome things in life. I want to help, not only my, but all the children I can, to see how technology and creativity can enrich their lives. THIS is the tool that I want to use to launch careers in engineering, design, art, computer science, education! Here's where money can again buy time and happiness. Now, if I could just find the funding for my happiness...

Piece

The Uneducated Box

Yeah... So I haven't exactly been a prolific poster... The job I currently possess keeps me out on the road... CONSTANTLY. It's a pretty good job, if you don't have anything resembling a home life, because you are rarely at home. Since I have 2 of the most awesome girls... my job kind of sucks. I love spending time with my girls, can't move past that and I feel like I am missing out or letting them down by being gone ALL the freakin time. I hear it over and over how I should be thankful that I do have a job... yeah... I know, BUT... if it is sucking your soul out through the smallest orifice it can find... You have to contemplate the value of it. I have. So now I find myself scouring the job sites in search of something more conducive to me spending time with my girls. Once again, I find myself constantly irritated by the "necessity" of a college degree. I find myself torn between an overwhelming hatred for the fact that a piece of paper (most are very nice pieces of paper, but paper nonetheless!) can keep me from getting a job that I am more than qualified for and motivating my soon to be 13 year old to work towards a degree. So I play the perfect example of why you should get a degree. All the while boiling inside over my paper thin blockade. I think society puts too much value in "higher education". In my experience, most (note I said MOST!) folks gain very little from a little extra book learnin. It's sort of like the new religions of Sports and Entertainment, looks all shiny and awesome on the surface, but when you strip away the clear coat... it's just lacking in substance. I've stood fast in my reasoning (or excuse, depending on how you look at it)for my poor performance in high school, show me HOW I am going to actually use all this crap you want me to regurgitate! Albeit, things are looking up for my girls, but it seems too late for me. Oh sure, "Just go get a degree"... yeah... hard to take online courses working 65 hours a week with close to a third of that time riding the shitty... I mean... wonderful ribbon of interstate running across this great land. Besides that, all this "Free WiFi" being touted by all the major hotel chains is shit! I've had rooms sitting within 20 feet of the hotel's actual connection/broadcast node and got better access on my mobile phone's data connection. Sure... it sounds like a bunch of excuses... it's reality... I feel like I have been shoved into an uneducated box and put at the curb for pick up. Only it's not in the recycle bin. The biggest problem I have is that I am "undocumented"... as in many of my skills are self taught and cannot be "proven" by a piece of fuckin paper! Hmmm... fuckin paper... now there would be an interesting marketing campaign... anyway... Just balling up my frustrations and tossing them in to the massive bin that is teh internetz. Maybe next time I'll have something more interesting to say... Maybe not... piece