(1) Have you ever re-evaluated the course of your life? If yes, how did you go about re-evaluating it objectively? What was your process?

I was kind of forced into re-evaluating it.

(2) What was the outcome?

Well it has been good. I was a bit worried that the job I chose to settle for fired me, but I relaized that I had no more job security at the local plants or engineering firms than I would have answering phones. Just that if I lost that job I would only be out $12,000/yr and not $50,000/yr. I was fired last week, but hey it looks like I got a much better job in the works as a tutor.

How did you tell your family and friends about the change?

My firends are happy about it. It amounted to a lot less griping about not being an engineer or never being a husband or a father. My Mother on the other hand is a bit cross that I won't do anything with my life, settle down, marry and provide her with grandkids.

Were you happy with your decision?

I am a people person. I love working with people, and well let's face it I would not have the opportunities to work with interesting people if I was an engineer. No offense, but most engineers are boring.

(3) Any advice, based on what you learned?

Don't ask me for advice on your life. I have no idea what I am doing.

I find I'm getting more and more tired of making money for someone else and not giving back to my community...

That is precisely the reason why I was becoming enchanted with being a chemical engineer. I would work what 50 hours a week, but what would the end result be? A nice fat paycheck, but when the times get down, the price of crude oil skyrockets and/or it jsut becomes cheaper to move the entire petrochemical industry to Iraq, then what is there to do? I have some ideas on how to run a business, but since they put intangible things like social justice, employee morale, customer loyalty first rather than money, I would never become head of any corporation. If I did it with a company I started, then it would interfere with my addiction to sleep and food.

Well, that's is for now. I forgot where i was going with this and I need to get on the road soon.

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Well sir that seems to be someone else's problem.