In 1971 I went back to college after working in the computer field and buying myself a brand new 1968 Camaro in 1968 because I was making a whole lot of money working as an operator and programmer of mostly IBM Business computers of various kinds like the IBM 360, before that the IBM 1620, and later in conjunction with a Univac Optical Scanner for a business that did automated accounting for just about all the car dealerships then in California. So, we would optically scan into the Univac which would convert all the information into punched cards and then by sorting these cards various ways we could then print out the accounting for most car dealerships in California.
But, I was working at age 20 midnight to Noon 7 days a week and this didn't work for me because I wound up not getting enough sleep and got into a fender bender with my 1968 Camaro basically falling asleep at the wheel without enough sleep. So, after a couple of months of this I realized I couldn't go in the direction of Artificial intelligence with my ongoing career so I was severely disappointed to realize that technically speaking it likely was going to be 50 years or more (like now) before I could do what I actually wanted (something like in the Star Trek TV series) in the 1960s. So, since I was trained as an electrician from 12 to 17 summers working with my father I was also able to ferret out technically what was missing in the technology then for building artificial human beings "clones" like I was interested in then.
So, though I was very disappointed to learn this I changed careers and by 1971 I started to study to be a psychologist instead. However, by 1973 I was 25 years old and had met my first wife and she got pregnant and I had to drop out of school to support them both. Which looking back was a good decision because it kept me alive by keeping me from being an extreme risk taker that I was still then. I immediately stopped Rock climbing with hundreds to thousands of feet exposure while one of my friends died on a free climb and another one pulled a multi-pin zipper as he fell when the pitons ripped out of the rock wall. At least he survived but got a concussion in the process. Most people didn't wear climbing helmets then by the way because everyone was too macho then. Also, no seat belts were required by law until at least 1987 in most places in the U.S. either.
So, getting married and having a son saved my life in many different ways because I couldn't just think of my own selfish needs anymore I had to think of the three of us so we could all survive then. And I had to stay alive to raise my son to adulthood. He is now in his mid 40s by the way and has a bachelor's of Science degree from a California state university.
Studying to become a psychologist was a way for me to save my own life while helping save the lives of others. I joined at that time Operation Share which was designed to help tutor underprivileged kids who needed help understanding their homework. This I found very useful for those I tutored as well as it helped me better understand myself and my place in life. Many things I learned helped me to be a better father and husband, especially from 1980 to 1985 while home schooling my own children until the oldest was 12 years old when we moved from Mt. Shasta to the SF Bay area to buy another business so we could support out children there going to a really good public school system near the ocean.
Looking back now I can see I'm not the best listener so likely not becoming a psychologist was good because when someone is speaking to me I'm thinking about what I want to say back which is not really the best way to be as a psychologist. First, you need to be a really good listener who is looking for ideas to help your patients but also many things are worked out just by letting your patient talk out their problems so they can verbally find ways (with your help sometimes) to find ways to stay alive and survive their lives despite their very real problems which everyone tends to have.
It's sort of like we are many different people along the way and we need to be able to adapt enough to all the changes we endure to make it to the next stage.
For example, the people most popular in High school you might find the boys working at a gas station or the girls being waitresses eventually because they just couldn't do anything really but high school and never made it beyond that.
So, being able to adapt first to college then to dating and then to marriage and children (if that is what you want in life) is really really important each step of the way to even wanting to go on another day in your life.
So, surviving from 18 to 25 when I first got married was almost impossible for me. But, I did it all because of my son who I had to stay alive for after he was born when I was 26. So, I couldn't really completely save myself until I had to save myself so I could raise my son to adulthood.
By God's Grace
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