# When I joined the Dope...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 24, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987 "2012-11-24T15:31:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/41 "2012-11-26T09:59:04Z")

</div>

Sounds fun (and depressing).

When I joined in November 2000…  
_Then:_ I was a mere lad of 28.  
_Now:_ I’m that plus 12 + 1 because I had a birthday between my join date and today.

_Then:_ I was living and working for a large US auto company in Mexico.  
_Now:_ I am currently living and working for a (different) large US auto company in China.

_Then:_ I was excited about my dual-channel ISDN line for internet.  
_Now:_ My 50 Mbps fiber service is frustratingly slow unless I only want Chinese websites.

_Then:_ I was driving a rental car in Mexico, but my own car in Michigan was a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville.  
_Now:_ I have a 2004 Ford Expedition garaged in Michigan, but am driven around in a 2011 Ford Mondeo.

_Then:_ I was contemplating marriage to a person I didn’t really love, but I thought it would always be that way.  
_Now:_ I’m contemplating divorce because even after all these years, I still don’t really love her.

_Then:_ I smoked a pack a day.  
_Now:_ Maybe, sometimes, when at a bar, I might light one up. But I’m declaring myself smoke-free.

_Then:_ I voted Republican.  
_Now:_ I don’t vote (but support the Libertarian party).

_Then:_ Was anti gay marriage.  
_Now:_ Support gay marriage inasmuch as governments recognize marriage, but don’t agree governments should recognize any marriage.

_Then:_ Banked at the National Bank of Detroit and shopped at Hudson’s.  
_Now:_ Bank at Chase and (don’t) shop at Macy’s.

_Then:_ My iMac DV SE had a 400 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM, ran Mac OS 8.x, and cost a month of my income.  
_Now:_ I’ve got more Macs than I can think of without counting them on my fingers, and Windows boxes, too. Computers are no longer special.

_Then:_ My Palm V was the greatest productivity tool in the world. And it had gray scale graphics to boot!  
_Now:_ Oh? Another incremental iPhone improvement? My current iPhone sucks and I can’t do my work without the new feature!

_Then:_ Netscape was my browser.  
_Now:_ Chrome is my browser, except for stupid ActiveX sites at work.

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**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/42 "2012-11-26T10:03:46Z")

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Joined in June 2009

Then: I was seventeen  
Now: I’m twenty

Then: In my final year of high school  
Now: In my second year of a nursing degree

Then: My mother had breast cancer  
Now: After chemo and a mastectomy, we don’t think she has it anymore

Then: I had two living grandparents  
Now: I have one

Then: My best friend was named David  
Now: My best friend (the same one) is named Samantha

Then: Single, never been kissed  
Now: In a happy relationship

Then: Identified as straight  
Now: Identify as bisexual

Then: I had a fish  
Now: I have a rabbit

Then: No car  
Now: A Holden Barina that’s older than I am

Then: My hair reached my shoulder blades  
Now: My hair reaches my waist

Then: Rented a crappy violin  
Now: Own a pretty good violin

Then: Only played it during lessons  
Now: In an orchestra that does 6-10 concerts per year

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/43 "2012-11-26T11:11:55Z")

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> [@jayjay](#):
>
> I THINK I joined at the tail end of Clinton’s second term, so sometime in November 2000.

**jayjay** , you thought right! Your profile has your join date at 11-15-2000.

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**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/44 "2012-11-26T15:31:17Z")

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> [@Balthisar](#):
>
> _Then:_ I smoked a pack a day.  
> _Now:_ Maybe, sometimes, when at a bar, I might light one up. But I’m declaring myself smoke-free.

I didn’t even think to include this in mine, but also true for me - except for the maybe at a bar part. Not even then, for me. I am smoke-free. Go us!

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**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/45 "2012-11-26T17:16:30Z")

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When I joined the Dope in November 2008…

Then: I was a spry young lad in my twenties  
Now: I’m a rotund creaking geriatric in my thirties

Then: The country was basked in the hope and optimism of the nation’s first black president  
Now: Half the country thinks he’s an alien/socialist/marxist/facist/communist/muslim/kenyan/anti-christ

Then: We had no pets  
Now: We have fish

Then: Tweeting was something birds do  
Now: Tweeting is something humans do

Then: The level cap in my MMO was 75  
Now: The level cap in my MMO is 99

Then: I used IE almost exclusively  
Now: I use Firefox almost exclusively

Then: Gay marriage was a conservative wedge issue  
Now: Most of the country supports gay marriage

Then: I only can make good fried rice and soup  
Now: I’ve expanded my cooking skills to dozens of dishes

Then: I couldn’t do a pull-up  
Now: I can do a pull-up!

Then: My friends were all unmarried and childless  
Now: Most of my friends are married, one has a child, another is pregnant

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/46 "2012-11-26T18:43:06Z")

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This is tough because my memory isn’t what it used to be! 🙂  
Join date: 03-14-1999 (but a follower from the AOL Days)

Then: Drove 1990 Chevy Blazer  
Now: 2007 Cadillac DTS

Then: 38 Years Old  
Now: 50

Then: Working as an ActiveX/Java Web Programmer (ha ha who WASN’T in 1999?)  
Now: Database Administrator

Then: 2 years away from going back to school to get finish my undergrad.  
Now: 4 years past getting my Masters degree.

Then: Not knowing I’d be laid off 4 more times over the next 2 years.  
Now: At the same job for over 8 years. Education, Education, Education.

Then: 4 years away from being a Widower at age 41.  
Now: Married to an awesome woman for 6 years now.

Then: Both parents still alive  
Now: Not so much.

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/47 "2012-11-26T20:20:16Z")

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When I joined the Dope in May, 2000

Then: I was a 4th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo  
Now : I am a 6th Degree Black Belt and a candidate for Mastership

Then: I was an application developer  
Now : I still do some application development, but I’m primarily a database administrator.

Then: I was 51  
Now : I turn 64 next month

Then: We were battling my stepson’s drug addiction  
Now : He is clean and sober and becoming successful in his career

Then: My stepdaughter was still in jr. high  
Now : She’s finishing college and has been out on her own for several years

Then: I was deliriously happy that SWMBO chose to spend her life with me  
Now : Even more so

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/48 "2012-11-26T20:48:46Z")

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Joined May 2003

Then: 48  
Now: 57

Then: High School Teacher - APEuro, AmGovt, Forensics  
Now: High School Teacher - APEuro, AmGovt, Forensics

Then: In love with a woman I met on a _Buffy_ site  
Now: Married to the above and still madly in love with her

Then: no pets  
Now: Owned by 4 cats

Then: Drove a 2000 Nissan Frontier pickup  
Now: Drive the same truck

Then: Disenchanted Independent ex-Republican  
Now: Frothing at the mouth Lefty Pinko Communist Democrat

Then: fat  
Now: fatter

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**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/49 "2012-11-26T20:49:27Z")

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When I joined the Dope in October 2000…

THEN: I was 38  
NOW: I’m 50

THEN: Was a Webmaster  
NOW: Am a Web Director

THEN: Had a BS  
NOW: Have my MPA

THEN: Had a two year old.  
NOW: My soon to be 15 year old is graduating high school in the spring and taking college courses next fall.

THEN: Happily married.  
NOW: Even more happily married.

THEN: Had a desktop and a laptop  
NOW: Have three desktops, two laptops, one netbook, two android tablets, two Rokus and an iPhone

THEN: I drove a 1998 Oldsmobile 98.  
NOW: 2010 Nissan Versa, but it gets great mileage.

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**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/50 "2012-11-26T21:59:53Z")

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When I joined in June 2009, I wasn’t really feeling the whole forum thing.

When I came back three years after that, I was 33. Now I’m 34.

I was working part-time as a paid blogger. Now I’m working part-time as a paid blogger, but I just had a job interview, and I’m waiting to hear back (there’s an actual reason I’m going to have to wait a while).

I was in an eight-year relationship. Still am.

I lived in Brooklyn, near the cemetery. Still do.

Yeah, it’s like that pretty much all the way down.

(I think I was a member before that, under a different handle, but I the username/password combo I would have used doesn’t work and I suspect I’m can no longer access that e-mail address)

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**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/51 "2012-11-27T16:24:49Z")

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**Join date: May 1999**

_THEN_:  
Age 35  
_NOW_  
cough49cough

_THEN_:  
Married to first husband, mother of an infant and toddler  
_NOW_:  
Married to second husband, mother of daughter about to turn 18, 15-year-old son with feet bigger than my head 😃 … AND an 8-year-old son (see second husband).

_THEN_:  
Drove a minivan  
_NOW_  
Drive a Prius

_THEN_:  
Writer for television programs 🆒  
_NOW_  
Marketer for television programs :mad:

_THEN_:  
Wore birkinstocks  
_NOW_  
Wear cowboy boots

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/52 "2012-11-27T20:35:04Z")

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Sept 2000, though I had lurked for a bit beforehand.

Then: 25  
Now: 37

Then: Computer Operator  
Now: Accepted a Jr. Server Administrator position today, after 16 years of working as a Computer Operator.

Then: No license, no car.  
Now: legally drive a 2004 Dodge Neon

Then: Open Marriage, 2 kids  
Now: Closed 2nd marriage, 3 kids, happier mostly

Then: Pagan  
Now: Athiest (but a friendly one)

Then: Rancho Cordova, CA  
Now: Vandergrift, PA

Then: pudgy  
Now: Fat

Then: Accepting I wouldn’t belt in Kuk Sool  
Now: will test for Orange belt in some TKD next month

Then: Outwardly happy, inwardly miserable  
Now: Outwardly mostly happy, inwardly only kinda unhappy

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/53 "2012-11-27T21:45:02Z")

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July 1999

Then: Married 10 years  
Now: Married 23 years

Then: No children  
Now: Two children

Then: Looked younger than my age.  
Now: Look my age, visibly graying. (See above).

Then: Optician in small O.D. office.  
Now: Technology assistant for small school district.

Then: 4 dogs.  
Now: 3 different dogs and one cat.

Then: About 9 years since I’d played in a band.  
Now: About 9 years since I’ve played in a band.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/54 "2012-11-27T21:58:08Z")

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> [@Pabitel](#):
>
> THEN: Was a Webmaster  
> NOW: Am a Web Director

> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#):
>
> _THEN_:  
> Writer for television programs 🆒  
> _NOW_  
> Marketer for television programs :mad:

Those two made me smile. 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/55 "2012-11-27T23:50:52Z")

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When I joined the Dope in May of 2005…

THEN: I was married to my first wife, who _introduced_ me to the Dope.  
NOW: I am married to my second wife, whom I _met_ on the Dope. 🆒

THEN: I was working for a law firm that had 11 attorneys.  
NOW: I am working for the law firm that absorbed the first law firm, which has roughly 500 attorneys.

THEN: I drove an 1999 Ford Thunderbird, white, automatic, rear-wheel drive.  
NOW: I drive a 2005 Nissan Sentra, silver, stick, front-wheel drive.

THEN: I hated the Valley, and swore I’d never live there.  
NOW: I hate the Valley (albeit slightly less than before), and now I live there.

THEN: I had never bowled a 300 game.  
NOW: I…oh, right. Nevermind. :mad:

THEN: I owned a fish.  
NOW: Two cats own me.

THEN: I had seen Major League baseball games in 5 different stadiums.  
NOW: I have seen Major League baseball games in 11 different stadiums.

THEN: I had never had facial hair.  
NOW: I have begun sprouting the first grey hairs on my facial hair.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/56 "2012-11-28T00:35:48Z")

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Missed the edit window – by a good 20 hours or so – but I somehow wrote 2009 when I meant 2010. Except for age at the time, most of it’s the same anyway, though I guess that means I joined after I worked the census.

That supports my theory that I’ve been a member under a different handle, though a search for handles I would have used came up blank.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/57 "2012-11-28T20:26:55Z")

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> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> Those two made me smile. 🙂

Yeah? It makes me weep.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-joined-the-dope/641987/58 "2012-11-28T20:30:15Z")

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> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#):
>
> Yeah? It makes me weep.

Sorry…blame the smilies!

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