Vig- I won't bore you with the details, but my pops grew up during the Depression and was broke as a joke as a kid so he didn't think it was a god idea to let me have anything just cause I asked for it, and I did have to work my ass off to earn a buck. I got a paper route at 11, added landscaping and car detailing when I was 13, ran the drive-thru at Hardee's when I was 15, worked a 1200 degree grill at a steak and rib joint and loaded heavy ass things in a warehouse when I was 16- full time hours for crappy pay. Watched all my friends and classmates work 10 or fewer hours per week and get nicer cars than I had, just because they got good grades or something. I couldn't trade a good grade for cash with my pops cause it was expected that I perform to standard and bring home straight A's. Got bitter about that. Was heading for becoming a career criminal when I was 18 while trying to get myself an apartment and a few pieces of good ass but managed to turn away at the last moment to go to college. ROTC paid for my first two years, I left to join the Army and finished after I left active duty and the GI Bill paid for it. If my dad hadn't been tough on me I'd have never made it through some of the shit I saw in Uncle Sam's service. I had four jobs at once early in my present career pulling 35 daytime hours a week in DC then 30 weeknight hours in Baltimore and weekends in Philly and NYC. I put some miles on my cars and racked up some Amtrak points in those days, but I wouldn't be where I am now (working less than 35 hours a week, getting paid a lot more than I did when I worked 100+ per week), if I hadn't pulled some long hours and done some hard work.

I'm sure Juan and Don will agree with me- any day is a cake walk when I'm not running around in the sand and getting shot at!

__________________
JV

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know...it's what we know for sure that just ain't so