anytownUSA

He was one of the first to engage me and help me out when I first joined this site years ago. I knew I would always see many posts from him any time I came here. I recall him and I both giving career choice advice to a younger member not too long ago. I will miss his contributions for sure. Will be praying for his family.

Hope you have a merry Christmas as well Belfastsocrates.

Every car accident is not reported in the news. Thats because they are so common. These shootings are reported because they are so uncommon. The statistics that I have seen clearly show that violence of all kinds is becoming less and less common. For example the murder rate has come down drastically over the last 200 years. While these kinds of things are discouraging I am very encouraged by the general trends in history.

It is not routine. If it were routine the news media would not report it. While it is horrific and very sad, the fact that the news media reports it is a sign of just how rare it is.

Thats the best way to grow, slowly.

Looks beautiful.  Great work!

Beautiful work!

Your little towns are so beautiful.  Very creative too!

Check this out. This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Laniakea supercluster of galaxies

I've seen all the data on global warming, and decided not to worry about it in the least. I've always thought it was pretty arrogant to think that human civilization has more effect on the climate than the sun and the oceans.

I studied civil engineering. If you love to put things together I'd recommend some type of engineering for you. Its challenging but you will not have to worry too much about finding a good job close to where you want to live. Kind of along the lines of what Moose is saying, I think you should take at least one course per semester of something that is outside of your major. One semester I took Survey of European Civilization, another semester I took a class on how to use Photoshop, then Ballroom Dancing, I audited Anatomy. I would personally start out with some kind of major but make sure to branch out at least a little bit every semester. And I completely agree, if there is any way that you can take the next couple months before college, or even 1 year to live in some other part of the world I would highly recommend it. You will grow so much as a person, it will definitely help you to find out what career path you want to choose. I know this seems challenging but its not too hard to find a seasonal job and a room to rent just about anywhere. And you will meet tons of people doing this. In the end, your life is way more important than your career. But work certainly does take up a lot of time out of your life. There are plenty of days where I think to myself, man work today has been a lot of fun. So look into Civil Engineering. Its pretty close to city building. And the profession is definitely a business that you can learn later on. Budgeting, zoning, and policy have everything to do with what you decide to build.

I walked across that pedestrian bridge just this past weekend, bought a record at one of those shops in the lower right of the image. Then we had lunch just past the museum in the left of the image. It was such a great day. Chattanooga doesn't look like much but it's fun place in my experience.