When I joined the Dope...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I joined in Dec 2002 it says.

Then: I was 53
Now: You can figure it out

Then: I was happily married with one son.
Now: Ditto

Then: I was a college professor.
Now: Ditto

Then: One dog – a standard poodle
Now: Two dogs – both standard poodles

Then: I drove a 1995 VW Golf
Now: I drive a 2003 VW Jetta with < 37,000 miles

Then: Waiting for the Cleveland Indians to win their first World Series in my lifetime.
Now: Ditto, and prospects looked much better then.
That’s not to say nothing has happened in between

Then: < 160 pounds
Now: > 185 pounds

Then: Both parents were living
Now: Only my mother is still alive

Then: My son was single
Now: He’s divorced

Then: I didn’t have cancer
Now: I hope I don’t after seven operations and a series of radiation treatments.

22

THEN: I was 38.
NOW: I’m 49.

THEN: I was QC supervisor (read: ran QC) for a small pharmaceutical company.
NOW: I’m a QC specialist (validation) for a very large pharmaceutical company.

THEN: I was married.
NOW: I’m not.

THEN: I had a young dog and no children.
NOW: I have two children, and I see them and the old dog about once a week.

THEN: I rode a motorcycle most of the time.
NOW: I drive an '06 Honda Civic.

THEN: I was at the top of my game, had a growing presence in my field, and had a comfortable future in front of me.
NOW: I’m restarting my career, have almost no social or professional ties outside of work and family, and I’m scared to death of getting too old to work.

23

That’s pretty cool. Hopefully the Drill Sergeant School has taught some updated phrases to “motivate the privates”…when I was in Basic in Fort Knox in 1988 the drills were all recycling “Full Metal Jacket” references. If it hadn’t cost me so many damn squat thrusts and pushups, I might have laughed at their lack of creativity a little more often.

24

Yep, I agree with Mr. FoieGrasIsEvil, very cool. Drill Sergeants / Drill Instructors have a huge responsibility to mold, motivate and discipline our young troops. I went through MCRD in San Diego, over 30 years ago now, where I spent plenty of time and sweat learning discipline in “the classroom”.

“Bends and thrusts, BEGIN!!”

25

Joined in 2002

Other than living on my own, my life hasn’t changed at all! (If anything, it’s worse)

26

I had been lurking on the SDMB for a few months before I decided to join. However I ended up deliberately delaying joining for a few weeks in order to reduce the likelihood of being inadvertently associated with a certain historical event.

27

I joined in August 2010, I’d been lurking for about 5 years prior to that though.

Then: Just graduated from college
Now: Uh…still am a college graduate

Then: Living in a brownstone in Brooklyn that was kind of like a dysfunctional commune
Now: Living in an apt in Manhattan with two roommates

Then: Had a cat
Now: Cat lives in Virginia with my mom

Then: Working for a women’s outerwear company, supplementing income with a crappy retail job
Now: Manager of two bakeries

Then: Ate a lot of meat
Now: A Vegetarian for over a year now

28

When I joined the Dope:

You didn’t have to pay, then you could(and I do!) but don’t have to.

Each morning, between 4:00AM and 5:00AM Central US time, the Dope had to shut down. You young whippersnappers don’t know how good you have things. shakes cane

There was no Games, IMHO, or Elections forums.

29

Joined in Dec 2001.

Then: Was 26
Now: Am 37

Then: Drove a '98 Ford Ranger
Now: Drive a '13 Dodge Grand Caravan

Then: Unhappily dating a chick
Now: Happily married to another chick

Then: No pets
Now: Cat

Then: No kids
Now: Two kids

Then: A reporter
Now: A union rep

Then: Renting a two bedroom apartment
Now: Own a three-bedroom home (well, paying a mortgage on it)

30

One I forgot!

When I joined I was just another Doper.

Now I’m the DeathMistress!

31

When I joined in June 2000:

Then: Had been laid off the month before from the payday loan company, and June 1 I’d started a new job as an internal auditor for an apparel company
Now: An academic librarian, working at a public university

Then: Living in Atlanta since the previous fall
Now: Back in Atlanta, having lived in Knoxville, Youngstown and Tucson in the meantime

Then: Wasn’t even considering more school
Now: I’ve had my master’s for 8 years and am considering a second one.

Then: Driving a 1993 or 1994 Suzuki Swift.
Now: Driving a 2006 Ford Focus

Then: Was in my born-again Christian phase (which is actually what brought me here)
Now: Agnostic, leaning strongly toward atheist.

Then: Single
Now: Still single

Then: 27
Now: 39

Then: Thought I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted
Now: Ha! :slight_smile: Someday I’ll figure it out.

32

The SD was just about the first thing I came across when we first got a computer - it was on AOL and there was a blinking picture, and I was just thrilled to death because: I already had the books! I was very eagerly awaiting further compilations and now I could read the columns that showed up in the alternative rag in Chicago…

Well, let’s say I joined up in 2000:

Then: Had a great big HP PC that took 5 minutes to fire up, was full of viruses, got stuck all the time, and had to be strapped into the car seat and driven to Computer Outlet for “fixing” about 3 times a year. (We would keep a SD book or Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader at hand, waiting for the computer to un-stick itself, or reluctantly turn on.)

Now: We all of us have our very own Apple MacBook Pros. The difference is like that between a Model T Ford and a Ferrari. And no waiting!

Then: Drove a 1998 red Chevy Blazer with 4 wheel drive.
Now: Drive a 2011 paprika Subaru. Haven’t driven it in the snow - yet!

Then: SAHM, house in 'burbs.
Now: SAHW, house in 'burbs.

Then: Snooty Himalayan cat, other cat (big old polydactyl barn cat who caused great damage to house in competition with Himmy.

Now: Laid back and friendly new Himalayan cat (other cats passed on, both had to be put down, one to extreme old age, the other ghastly bladder/kidney problems. Himalayan was cremated and buried in a tin, out by the birdbath.)

Then: daughter going into high school, bright future ahead of her!
Now: daughter a college graduate with a rather crappy job. There’s nothing out there. Nothing.

That’s about it. Nothing has really changed with us. My worries have increased exponentially, which I feel is unfair because we are in the next-to-the-last-lap of life. But nothing has really changed. In the next 10 years, I’ll check back in.

33

Joined in July 2000:

Then: 24
Now: 37

Then: SAHM with a three-year-old
Now: Customer Service Representative at the company my husband worked for back then, mother of 16-year old

Then: Married
Now: Nothing’s changed there

Then: Apartment-dweller
Now: Homeowner

Then: Windows 98
Now: OSX Snow Leopard and iOS

34

I joined in August of 2009.

Then: Single.
Now: Dating someone exponentially busier than I am. As a result, largely single.

Then: Two cats.
Now: One cat, one dog (miss you, Bee!)

Then: Unaware that my mom would become ill.
Now: Acutely aware of and exhausted by my mom’s illness.

Then: Height/weight proportionate.
Now: Height/weight proportionate.

Then: Thirty-five (35) years old
Now: Thirty-eight (38) years old

Then: Owned a home and was beginning my third year of law school.
Now: Renting a beautiful carriage house and am a corporate lawyer.

Then: Shitty HP laptop.
Now: MacBook Air.

Then: Pink razor phone (What was wrong with me?)
Now: iPhone4.

Then: Strictly Coors Light.
Now: Anything of quality that you place in front of me.

Then: Intensely irritated by words like “veggie” and “tummy”.
Now: Irritation intensifies with age.

35

Joined in June of 2000.

Then: 27
Now: 39

Then: married
Now: divorced, for a second time.

Then: no kids
Now: two girls

Then: working for a private company
Now: working for the feds, I started two months after joining here

Then: going to concerts all the time
Now: haven’t been to a concert in two or more years

Then: 2000 Kawasaki Concours, motorcycle
Now: 2012 Suzuki V-Strom, I only just sold the Concours

Then: not swimming, or any kind of exercising
Now: swimming two or so times a week

A lot of things changed the fall of 2000 for me. Maybe it was this place. :eek:

36

Joined in March 1999

Then: 29 years old
Now: 43 years old

Then: Refugee from the AOL boards
Now: Still have my 15 year old AOL email address

Then: Picked up dead bodies for a living
Now: Embalm dead bodies for a living

Then: No college
Now: 3 weeks short of an AS in Mortuary Science

Then: 1996 Chevy Corsica
Now: 1993 Toyota Camry

Then: Rented an apartment in North Hollywood
Now: Renting an apartment in Whittier

Then: 2 cats (Miss Furley and Pauz)
Now: 1 cat (Go-go)

Then: Single and out there
Now: Single and staying indoors.

Then: Had cable
Now: Have rabbit ears

Then: Had a Walkman
Now: Have an iPod

Then: Wondering if I would go bald
Now: Not wondering anymore

Then: “I don’t need a cellphone”
Now: “How the hell did I survive without a cellphone?”

37

There really is such a degree? That’s long been the one I’ve used when I needed an example department to use at work and didn’t want it to be one my workplace actually had. I never bothered to see if there was such a thing, though it makes sense that there is. Interesting.

Also, congrats!

38

I THINK I joined at the tail end of Clinton’s second term, so sometime in November 2000.

Then: I had two legs.
Now: I have one.

Then: I was a clerical temp working for random clients.
Now: I’m an 8-year employee of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Then: I was miserably single.
Now: I’m happily partnered for 9 years.

Then: No pets.
Now: 3 cats, a dog and a rabbit.

Then: I had two parents.
Now: I’m an orphan.

39

Oh! Thanks (I know what Usenet is, but never did it).

Fingers crossed!!

Does that mean you were living on your own then, or that you’re living on your own now?

40

Misnomer-I live on my own now. (Lived with parents in 2002)