Comments by "Thump Er the Sweaty Fat Guy" (@SweatyFatGuy) on "THIS IS WHY It's Impossible To Date, Have A Relationship Or Get Married As A Man In The Modern World" video.

  1. I'm gen X, and I struggled my entire life. I left the farm as soon as I graduated high school in 1987, because any money I earned was taken by my parents and I worked every day for nothing growing up. Not work like an office paper pusher or fast food job, it was bench pressing 265lbs at 17 when I weighed 175-180lbs, and spent no time in the gym kind of work. Joined the military in 1988 and got worked beyond imagining in Desert Shield/Storm, then the draw down in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviets meant I got kicked out. It got worse from there, but I kept going. Worked in a factory, and also put in 50 to 70 hours every week to make a living on $11 an hour. In summer the factory was 120F to 135F, in winter it was 80F to 95F even when it was below zero outside. I never worked fast food, stocking shelves, retail, or any other service type nametag/hairnet min-wage job. All my jobs were technical, and I learned them by doing them. OJT. I was a machinist and CNC programmer when it was a very steep learning curve. I worked on cars and trucks, rebuilt transmissions after I learned how to do transmissions at a VoTech. Never bought a new car, I have always driven old cars and trucks. The newest thing I ever bought was a 1998 in 2004 and it had 80k on it. I am VERY good at working on and repairing vehicles, and there is a reason I don't buy anything newer than 2007, and thats because I need several different scanners and diagnostic systems to make all the various parts talk to each other on newer stuff than that. I can take a $500 rolling shell and turn it into a reliable daily driver for less than $5000, oh and it will be about as fast as a new Hellcat. The first house I bought was $37k in 1995, because it was built in 1910 and was actually two additions on a single room shack. Ex wife screwed that up and I lost it when she got 71% of my gross pay in child support. She was the worst mistake I ever made. Had to go back to the military in 2000 because all the factories were packed up and sent to Mexico in 97-99. Just in time for my second major conflict and getting worked until my body gave out at 35 years old. Final divorce was in 2013, I don't even date anymore. Left me living in my car, but I bought some land by selling some old car parts and my parents loaning me $2000 for the down payment. I built my house and the shop by hand, while being crippled and on a fixed income of $2000 a month. Paid off the land and building loan in 8 years, that was February 2021. I saw all of this coming, and got out from under all debt. The land was under $30k, because its in the woods of northern Michigan, the building loan was $30k, because doing it yourself saves you on labor. I turned $30k into a 32x48x12 shop with a concrete floor and a two post lift to work on my cars. Contractors wanted $90k to put up a 24x24x8 garage after I cleared the trees for the foundation. I can build that garage right now for about $6k, the largest expense is trusses and the steel roofing. I am still working to get what I want, building old cars from rusty heaps. There is no way I can afford to buy the cars I drive, have to build them. Buy a new car and you have the loan, the interest, full coverage insurance, taxes, and plates/registration is thousands of dollars. Build an old car you have a few weeks of work, a low cost of entry, plates are dirt cheap, and you can drive it around on crash and burn minimum insurance, and never have to take out a loan. 20 year old half ton trucks are the cheap way to go right now. All my life I have known that if I wanted something, I had to work to get it, and usually I had to work harder than most people, because my family or an ex wife was taking most of what I earned. Its like I have been pulling a weighted sled my entire life and I fought to keep up with everyone else as much as I could, and it made me incredibly strong.. but not rich. There are very few things I cannot do competently, because I have never been able to afford to pay someone else to do it. If you think people were buying houses and new cars on min wage during my lifetime, you are delusional. The boomers had it better than I did, but they still had to do more than the bare minimum of showing up to a nowhere job. You cannot imagine how much work I put in during my life, but at 55 I can bench over 500lbs, or pick up 500lbs and carry it. None of that strength came from a gym or juice/gear, it was eating a lot and being worked an insane amount for months on end. You don't get that kind of strength in a soft hands office environment. I can lift like that, but man does it hurt for a lot longer as I get older, so I usually use something to lift heavy stuff. It keeps the muscles attached to bones that way. Bootstraps? No.. LEARN HOW to do things, the more you know the more valuable you are... and NEVER get married.
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