[Kevin]

35 - 40 years old is about middle age. We are reaching a point where we have more time behind us then we have in front of us.

What are some of the things you regret doing or not doing?

I regret not going into the military. When I was 16, 17, 18 years old I wanted to go into the Army. Instead, I got married and had a family.

I regret not putting more time and effort into furthering my education. Maybe I should have gone to some kind of trade school instead of going into computers.

When I left high school I went to work in a welding shop. From 1986 - 1999 I worked in various pressure vessel and heat exchanger shops across southeast Texas.

Welding is an honest way to earn a living, but its hard on the body. Knowing how to weld allows me to build stuff, such as bar-b-q pits.

What I really wanted to do with my life was anthropology and do something with the outdoors.

I wish Bridge City Texas high school would have had some kind of career placement department. All I remember being told is to go to college. There was no real guidance from the school.

If I could do it over again, I might have gone into the military, then gone to college, rather then go into welding.

 

[pukindog]

When I was headed toward 40 I probably could have given you a fairly lengthy list of things I regretted, but now that I am headed toward 50, I am not so sure I regret any of it, because everything that happened got me to where I am at today.

I could say I wish I had done this or that on speculation things might have worked out better, but for all I know it could have gotten me killed. At the same time I have come to realize unless someone invents a time machine, dwelling on it is an effort in futility.

Right now I am alive, relatively healthy and surrounded by good people, and I have become strangley content with that.

 

[cmm8946]

Buying to many new cars/trucks over the years.

 

[old grump]

Not going sky diving. Getting married to the wrong woman. Not making it to the Olympics as a shooter, Thank you James Earl Carter. That's about it.

 

[dh1633pm]

I regret about everything, but I am working hard to make it all better.

The 1974 Dodge Dart with the robin's egg blue paint and the three on the floor.
The time I tee'd (Golf) off and hit someone in the head.
That the CPR I performed on my dying wife didn't work. She'll be gone seven years tomorrow.
The house I bought, don't live in and can't get sold.
The 1896 Mauser that I sporterized in 1986.

But there are many more things that I could mention. There are even more that I wouldn't trade for anything.

 

[medalguy]

Well heading towards 70 there are a few things I regret but not many. Not taking better care of my body when I was 20. Those hard knocks take time to start hurting but they eventually will.
Selling a bunch of machine guns in 1984. Who knew the Hughes Amendment was right around the corner? Matter of fact, selling almost any gun is a regret.
Not taking a little more time to travel when I was younger and more able to do pretty strenuous things. I'm helping my own kids travel now and making them realize there's a lot more to the world than the USA.
Not taking advantage of Betty Sue that time.....well that's another story altogether.

 

[XR750]

Not taking my education seriously, Not staying in the Army, Marrying the wrong woman to get my teeth fixxed, Not spending more time with my Dad before he died, The years I wasted stoned on Drugs & alcohol, Not saving any money & lossing the family home, Smoking Tobacco, Not being a better a Husband Dad & Friend, Selling My H-D 66 FLH Shovelhead fatbob chopper,.And much more!
Joe R

 

[karlsgunbunker]

My first marriage, to the psycho witch from hell.
All the money I Drank and pissed away and the Money that went "UP IN SMOKE".

Not investing said money in stocks or CD's.

Not going to college when my parents were willing to pay for it.

Not getting Busy with DONNA when I had the chance.

 

[NorthernSoutherner]

35 - 40 years old is about middle age. We are reaching a point where we have more time behind us then we have in front of us.

What are some of the things you regret doing or not doing?

I regret not going into the military. When I was 16, 17, 18 years old I wanted to go into the Army. Instead, I got married and had a family.

I regret not putting more time and effort into furthering my education. Maybe I should have gone to some kind of trade school instead of going into computers.

When I left high school I went to work in a welding shop. From 1986 - 1999 I worked in various pressure vessel and heat exchanger shops across southeast Texas.

Welding is an honest way to earn a living, but its hard on the body. Knowing how to weld allows me to build stuff, such as bar-b-q pits.

What I really wanted to do with my life was anthropology and do something with the outdoors.

I wish Bridge City Texas high school would have had some kind of career placement department. All I remember being told is to go to college. There was no real guidance from the school.

If I could do it over again, I might have gone into the military, then gone to college, rather then go into welding.

My regrets are almost identical to yours, and I too graduated high school in 1986, but I had gotten a job in a machine shop as a machinist. So I busted my butt, went the extra mile, dropped weekend plans if I was asked to come in and work to get caught up, etc. As a result, the owner took me off the "line" and put me into more administrative functions. He expanded into a larger building and I became the "production coordinator", and my job was to liaise with the office to see what needed to go out that day, then I'd determine what parts we had and what we needed produced, and I'd go tell the machinists and the welder what parts I needed produced, so I could fill the orders, then I'd test the product when it was done(torque converters for hot rods and drag cars), and I'd make sure they were packed and sent. I was 17 when I was given that job.

I was promised my own office soon, and I was to become the overall shop manager, but then the owner's 28 year old son lost his job with the post office, and he was hired and given the manager job! That was my 1st big life lesson on careers!

I took the Marine ASVAB test and scored highest in that group of over 50 people, and was offered the highest career for a non-college graduate, which was air traffic controller, but right before I was scheduled to go and sign in, my new girlfriend talked me out of it. I shouldnt have listened to her, and I shouldve gone...

But I too wanted to be either an archaeologist or anthropologist, and work outside, but then I found out that most of the people who choose those occupations are also professors, and I had no desire to be stuck in a classroom teaching!

But I was and am very disappointed that I didnt "further" my education. However, for our generation, careers dont have the absolute, lifetime guarantee they had for our parents and their parents. In other words, if you got out of college from around 1974 and earlier, you were pretty much guaranteed a career with a company that paid well, with great benefits, etc. You were also guaranteed very cheap housing prices compared to the past 25-30 years, and inexpensive cars, etc. Things were just easier for them from a money and career standpoint, but for our generation, there are no guarantees! You get a good job, and lose it 2 years later when the company either moves to China or gets bought out by a bigger company!

I work for myself, but have almost no money saved for my "retirement"... I definitely regret that! But life is just more expensive now than it was in the 50's, 60's, and 70's....

 

[Ice]

Most of my regrets are things I did not do. I did not buy a H&K 91/93 for $1,000 on 1984.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Selling my 1956 Chevy Belair Two Door Sedan, V-8, 3 speed w/overdrive and 4:11 rear gears for $100 when I went to Vietnam.
All the money I wasted on booze.

 

[BoydS]

Unloading my 1950 HD FL back in the 70's that cost me $200 in the 60's.

 

[GAMEOVER]

1990 New Years Day - woke up naked in my drab apt. and not remembering coming home from the party. Went outside and my car was parked sideways in the nearby woods and mud covered. Called my buddy and found out that we owed $10,000 to our bookie for lost football bets. By then I had been married 3 times and 4 kids and had blown through more $, whiskey, and snatch than Richard Pryor. Sold the car the next day to pay off the bookie and bought a Pinto. Took me another 10 years to recover financially. If I had met my current wife 30 years earlier, my life would have been much different.

REGRETS - Married too early and too often.

POSITIVES - All of my children must have watched their old man and learned from his mistakes because they are mature, responsible, and hard working. Youngest one starts at LSU next year in Petroleum Engineering and says he'll make enough money to take care of me in my old age.

 

[AABEAR]

I am 72 and hate the way we have let are government do away with are freedom!! They have done more for the 5% of the people that hates GOD & guns!!

 

[Ric]

Wish I had found "Survivalist Boards" sooner so I could have come to your meet and greet. Then we could have discussed all this face to face.

Any firearm used for self defense is OK with me; as long as it begins with a 4 and ends with a 5.

 

[philobeddoe]

I spent a lot of money on booze, women, motorcycles and guns, but I regret the rest of it which I just wasted.

 

[shootnpoot]

I spent a lot of money on booze, women, motorcycles and guns, but I regret the rest of it which I just wasted.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[Twigg]

As one approaches sixty, one learns to look of the bright spots in one's life.

All the rest don't mean nothin'

 

[bill97024]

I wish I'd had the foresight to stay in school a bit longer than I did, but I don't really regret much else that I've done. If I hadn't done the things I did I wouldn't be who I am today and I'm pretty content with who I am and how life has treated me. I'd have to say I'm pretty lucky actually. I have a good job that won't make me rich, but keeps me reasonably comfortable, I have a good woman who loves me despite my faults, I haven't had any major injuries or illnesses, I have a roof over my head and everything that I truly need and some of the things I want just because. I can't really complain.

 

[Twigg]

I wish I'd had the foresight to stay in school a bit longer than I did, but I don't really regret much else that I've done. If I hadn't done the things I did I wouldn't be who I am today and I'm pretty content with who I am and how life has treated me. I'd have to say I'm pretty lucky actually. I have a good job that won't make me rich, but keeps me reasonably comfortable, I have a good woman who loves me despite my faults, I haven't had any major injuries or illnesses, I have a roof over my head and everything that I truly need and some of the things I want just because. I can't really complain.

Then you are a wealthy man bill. The things that count, money cannot buy.