TRUERockyTop

I was born in 90 and these posts always come off pathetic to me. I'm not saying there's not some truth to it, but blaming an entire generation feels like such a whiny, weak thing to do as a man.

I've been over in Germany for the last few weeks visiting family. I can promise you while the numbers are already way too high in places like NYC, etc. It's nothing like what they're experiencing across Western Europe. They're going on their 7th decade of Muslim importation in Germany and they are everywhere over here. The big cities, the mid sized cities, the small towns, etc. I was driving around a town of about 7k people in Southwest Germany yesterday and the amount of women wearing hijabs in these rural towns was unreal. Middle Eastern Muslims, African Muslims, South Asian Muslims, etc. This would be comparable to places like rural Tennessee and Alabama having large Muslim populations all over the state. Can you imagine? We are far from that and I refuse to let it happen.

We have pockets of them of varying sizes across certain big cities, but they have literally infiltrated every aspect of their life out here.

The only saving grace for continental Europe is that it's mostly concentrated in Western countries. The Eastern bloc countries are resilient from everything they had to go through with communism. They don't suffer from the suicidal empathy that's plaguing Western countries because they have been victims in most cases. They're very strong in their Catholic and Orthodox faith and it permeates through their countries. The Southeastern Balkan countries in particular remember what the Ottomans did to their ancestors and all the Christian children that were stolen and enslaved to fight for the Ottomans. Everything East of Germany from Poland in the North down to Greece in the South (with the exception of Albania and Bosnia) don't play that shite.

Example of how Muslims are treated in the East (This is from Poland specifically) & what we will have to do here. The Eastern men are throw backs & warriors that don't put up with that shite.

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We're not in the same stratosphere with what France, England, Germany, etc. are experiencing on the whole, but if we don't get smart about it then we're only a couple decades behind. I'm passionate about this after living it and not just watching it through a screen on my phone or the computer. Having to think about my children living through something like that is sobering.

It was one of, if not the largest culture shock of my life witnessing what they're going through. Words can't do it justice what it feels like walking down a busy street in a big city over here and having to worry about the huge groups of young Muslim men roaming around at night. Drunk, cat calling the women, harassing the natives and making everyone uncomfortable. And as much as I hate to admit it, they aren't pussies like a lot of the Western European men. They'll talk shite and hit you for talking back. A huge wake up call is needed and it was needed a decade ago.

Just donated

The Neckar during the summer was incredible. Same thing with the Rhein. We spent a ton of time catching sunrays and day drinking in the grass along the river. One of the cool perks about marrying a girl from Heidelberg was getting to know all the local spots & activities to get the authentic German experience.

Did you guys ever go to O'Reillys pub across the river? It was one of the first buildings to the right as soon as you crossed the bridge from downtown. Right where the stairs were so you could access the river. I loved that spot. A lot of the Americans would go to The Dubliner on the hauptstr. but O'Reillys was where it was at.

I was only able to catch a Eurocup while I was stationed out there, but I've been back post Army for a Worldcup and it's absolutely something every person should get to experience. I can still picture everyone walking through the city drinking with their countries flag tied around them like a cape :lol: -- Peak experience

We had a little flat over off Schmitthennerstrausse (I don't miss pronouncing that) in Kirchheim. We got married at St. Peter's Catholic church right around the corner from our flat so that area will always hold a special place for me. We also stayed off of Langgarten St. right by the train station that divided Kirchheim & Rohrbach.

Those were some of the best times of my life. We're heading back to Kirchheim this summer to visit family and I can't wait.

Glock 45 for the full size frame with the compact slide

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the Sweet 16 banner is yours.

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This coming from a fan of a program who went on a recent 25 year drought with 0 S16 appearances. And only have a total of 4 S16 appearances over the last 30 years. You've been a bottom third to middle of the pack SEC program this century.

Bonus points: Arkansas has an all time losing record to Tennessee & Calipari has an all time losing record to Rick Barnes.







Arkansas basketball in their own minds:











Arkansas basketball to the rest of the country:

Vols&Shaft
RobertGoulet
InVolnerable
DavidRicky
NorthGAVol
PhatPhil

Tldr incoming, but I hope it helps a little bit.

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I would not go help desk. Those jobs suck, barely pay money and you work a lot of hours dealing with grumpy people and their problems.

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This. At minimum you'll want to try and find a Desktop Support or Infrastructure Support role if you completely get out of finance. Like another poster mentioned, if you can blend your financial experience with software and find a niche so you don't have to start over from scratch that would be ideal. If you do start from scratch, try to start past an entry level Helpdesk position given your age, family size and financial obligations.

At the most basic level - IT is divided into two broad buckets. Software & Infrastructure. There's a million different roles within each of those buckets.

I started on the Infrastructure side with roles like Desktop Support, Infrastructure Support & Jr. Systems Admin from the time I was 20 until my late 20s. I was then offered a QA Analyst role in our QA Dept and transitioned to the software side of the house. I did QA work for 1 year and soaked up as much as I could on the software side of IT. I got lucky & networked with my former companies Salesforce team after QA'ing one of their big projects. They offered me a Salesforce Admin position where I did that for 6 years. Fast forward another 2 years & I'm managing a Go To Market stack for a software company where I admin/manage our CRM, Telephony, Scheduling, Sequencing, Lead routing software, etc for multiple sales teams. All from starting at a Desktop role. I'm sure a lot of the guys without and maybe with degrees have similar stories

I say all that to say this - if you do start over, give yourself time to learn as much as you can about the various specialities under the IT umbrella. Remind yourself that these entry-mid level roles are just you paying your dues along your way until you figure out what you want to do. Come up with a game plan for a position that you think you'll enjoy and is going to pay a salary that will allow you to give your family a good life. Then aggressively go after it. There are amazing earning opportunities within IT with the right roles. Overtime and after exposure, you'll find that you'll gravitate towards specific specialties. If you can find a niche within IT (believe me, you can and will with enough time) that has a mix of what you're good at and what you enjoy (relative) that's of course the sweet spot. Don't be afraid to explore different areas after you have some equity built up with what ever company gives you a shot.

Don't forget that there are tons of non building/configuring/developing roles within IT that pay well too. Roles like Business Analysts, Scrum Masters, Quality Assurance Analysts, Financial/Revenue Operations Analysts, Change management, Coordinators, Project managers, etc. that are vital for Software & Infrastructure teams to function. That's on top of the Admins, Devs, Engineers and Architects that do the heavy lifting. If you're looking to go on the Infrastructure side, you're probably going to want to shoot for a System Administrator, Server Admin, Network Admin/Engineer, Security Analyst/Engineer, Cloud Engineer, etc. type role. All of the positions listed above are going to pay well and give you a comfortable life, but you're typically going to have to pay your dues before you get offered them just like any other industry. Good luck my friend

I appreciate the kind words.

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Btw, my wife and I have always taken the position that the kids need to do 1 sport/physical activity. My oldest bounced around from baseball and soccer but it was the same story with yours. This past fall, we put him into golf lessons and he enjoyed the hell out of it so you could give that a try. Look up Operation 36.

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That's awesome to hear. This is exactly where we are with sports. His mother and I want both of the kids to be active and moving. In this world where children are consuming screen time at unhealthy levels - we want them to have a balance. That's awesome to hear you bring up golf. He's mentioned it multiple times over the last year and at first we thought it was just a fad, but he's been consistent in wanting to give it a shot. My wife and I are talking about surprising him with lessons. We've got a golf course less than half a mile from the house which would be great for him to grow up at if that's what he enjoys.

For those saying we are trying to force him to live through us. I get it, but that's also not the full picture. He's in the Beta club / future leaders club at school & is a straight A student and has been since Kindergarten. We have tried to really set the precedent with both of our children at how important both intelligence and emotional intelligence are. I have done my best to encourage them with confidence through intelligence and let them know how important that is in life. I'm very proud of him for what he's been able to do academically. He also just started working out with me in the gym on his own volition and loves to play video games. I probably game with him more than his friends. I do my best to be a very involved Father and do everything I can to spend time with him and try and guide him. I'm human though and didn't think kids sports would be something I got hung up on. I'm learning though and doing my best to adapt as I go.

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have you done a paternity test yet

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He's my clone. There's no doubting he's mine :lol: