My dad gave me some cool advice at lunch today. It's really interesting to hear his philosophies, once you can start to pick apart his brain. I'm too tired to write anything decent tonight, though, but I don't want to forget today's activities so I'm going to go the shorthand way. The jist of these thoughts was our conversation regarding the thought of my working for the government, as something like an intelligence analyst.
-"People who can think are constantly in demand. And this Plan II thing of yours works perfectly for that. They don't want guys who are trained in just the computer science shit. They need people who can see how two little separate things are related. You're one of the few who can think like that."
-"You should work for one of them.. they put you in an office building in Langley, you wear jeans and a t-shirt every day and drive your Porsche into work in the morning (or night, since you can make your own hours because intelligence comes in at all times of the day)."
-"We're in a new world order. Afghanistan, Iraq, now the sabre's shaking in Syria. This is a historical time where the U.S. is going to be the big dog. We're going to say 'Don't fuck with us, or we'll kill your people.' And this is going to continue for decades, Blake, for decades." Quite an interesting lunch it was with Dad. It would have been amazing to see us from an outsider's perspective, probably the most serious looking people who've ever set foot in an Olive Garden. We even looked mad as the old man expounded his philosophies in a hushed voice. Yet it was really thought-provoking. So, working for the man is a new option that opened itself up for me. Instead of being paranoid about reading 2600s by lamplight in the wee hours of the morning and covering up my craving for pure truth from my family and the police, who are all paranoid that 2600 harbors terrorism, I can join the guys I can't beat and play with the big toys. Engage in warfare with the smartest men nobody in the Western Hemisphere have ever met. I can play mind games all day in a jeans and a t-shirt, all under the guise of working at a think tank in Virginia. I'll finish it off with his more user-friendly advice:
"The one thing that I knew my whole life, but couldn't put a label on for the longest time, is that the things that are supposed to happen come so easily it's like magic. If you've got two doors and one magically opens for you, career-wise, take it. Don't just sit there at the other one banging your head trying to get in."
-"You should work for one of them.. they put you in an office building in Langley, you wear jeans and a t-shirt every day and drive your Porsche into work in the morning (or night, since you can make your own hours because intelligence comes in at all times of the day)."
-"We're in a new world order. Afghanistan, Iraq, now the sabre's shaking in Syria. This is a historical time where the U.S. is going to be the big dog. We're going to say 'Don't fuck with us, or we'll kill your people.' And this is going to continue for decades, Blake, for decades." Quite an interesting lunch it was with Dad. It would have been amazing to see us from an outsider's perspective, probably the most serious looking people who've ever set foot in an Olive Garden. We even looked mad as the old man expounded his philosophies in a hushed voice. Yet it was really thought-provoking. So, working for the man is a new option that opened itself up for me. Instead of being paranoid about reading 2600s by lamplight in the wee hours of the morning and covering up my craving for pure truth from my family and the police, who are all paranoid that 2600 harbors terrorism, I can join the guys I can't beat and play with the big toys. Engage in warfare with the smartest men nobody in the Western Hemisphere have ever met. I can play mind games all day in a jeans and a t-shirt, all under the guise of working at a think tank in Virginia. I'll finish it off with his more user-friendly advice:
"The one thing that I knew my whole life, but couldn't put a label on for the longest time, is that the things that are supposed to happen come so easily it's like magic. If you've got two doors and one magically opens for you, career-wise, take it. Don't just sit there at the other one banging your head trying to get in."