Ask Lemmy

That I'm a runner. Never in my life did I imagine ever enjoying running. Aiming for my first marathon in spring!

That I stopped playing Zelda AND Pokémon

That my parents passed away.

That I work with metal forming headed towards engineering instead of woodworking with a goal of fine joinery.

That at 47 the hardest thing in life was keeping relationships. Everything else is a cakewalk.

How much I've improved with my art.

10 year old me didn't have much expectations about the future but I'd say 15 year old me would be most surprised about the fact that I have a girlfriend. If you were to then tell me that not only do I have a girlfriend but I also have a house and the truck I've always wanted it would literally blow his mind.

That I'm not disappointed in him.

this is a great question. for me, it would be going to bed at a responsible time.

I actually had that thought yesterday. my younger self would be so sad about me cutting out precious video game time, but I literally can't focus on my job if I get tired halfway through the day.

but my younger self would not understand how lucky my life currently is, and that "sacrifices" need to be made to do the best that I can in life since many people do not have the opportunities I have. I got very lucky.

I guess how much I'm still the same person. Sure, I have a house, a job, I'm an adult. But I also still play video games, including stuff like RCT which I lived back in the day. My brain still switches from interest to interest, and my brain is still completely obsessed whatever interests me at the moment. Ultimately I'm still that slightly weird nerdy kid, just grown up.

12 y/o me would probably be amazed that his fancy new Nintendo DS is still alive and kicking almost 20 years down the line. In hindsight it's not too surprising though, because I always treated it with the utmost respect and care.

Fourth grade? I don’t think I really thought about my life 30 years later. Maybe finding out I have ADHD; I’m not hyperactive so not the kind really diagnosed in kids.

Why the fuck do you have so many kids?

The fact that I work with IT with a niche skill set that is highly sought after in my industry. I was 10 in 1993, and at that point I didn't even know how to turn on a computer.

What I did use a lot, on the other hand, was my NES. And 10 year old me would probably make a jaw drop induced crater upon seeing the kind of games I can play nowadays. Hell, my brand new laptop is fancy on its own.

That I didn’t grow up to be Indiana Jones

My dick didn't grow.

So many things! But mostly that I have a lot of wonderful friends. I was a pretty lonely child, awkward and uncool.

Life gets worse. Much worse. And you will survive and even find happiness. And everything you needed, you had it all along.

"Still a fat loser I see. And a weed smoker? But, our D.A.R.E lion? 🥺"

That I live in a small car with my wife and a cat. lol Never would have ever guessed that.

At least it’s temporary as we are buying land and will soon get an RV and build a house.

1. That I'd rather go outside than play video games all day.

2. That I no longer care about becoming a software developer and work in a huge corporation (fuck 'em)

3. That I still have no girlfriend.

How amazing computer games look now.

I mean, I'm impressed now, on behalf of ten year old me I suppose.

The entire world of personal electronics and the cloud.

I got in early and my entire life is digital. I used the first mass market personal computers and was on several precursors to the internet before most lemmings were born. I’m a software engineer: I play video games and do home automation for fun. I don’t have much of a lab but only for lack of time. Seriously, my entire life.

When I was 10, I was still a couple years away from joining my first computer club (IBM mainframe), learning my first computer language (APL - I’m a math nerd too). There were no mass market personal computer yet, and even the first kits probably weren’t out yet.

When I was 10, my life was skating through school, playing out in the yard with my brothers, or in the woods. I loved building and fixing, whether with my father’s tools, or model kits, or Lego. i loved camping, sports, visiting my grandparents farm. My interest in technology was mostly reading history. I would not even recognize most of my adult life

That's I've been working 2 jobs for twenty years and am still married to this asshole who I am grey rocking so I can get through my 12 hour workdays.

10 year old me would be extremely disappointed in my Christmas lights.

I should have Clark W. Griswold level lights, but with colors and blinking lights.

Instead I put up all plain white lights along the windows and doors and a wreath like a reasonable person.

It's so much work as an adult with adult responsibilities to find time to hang lights, and even worse when you have to take them down.

I am ashamed.

Honestly, probably only that I like dogs more than cats now when it used to be the reverse.

My life has been crazy, in a mostly unpleasant but not entirely unpleasant way, but I don't think 10-year-old me would be surprised by any of those parts. It's the more mundane stuff that surprises.

You got to touch a girl's boobies.