In fact, I'm retired and therefore useless ... a strain on the system. Do I care? Not particularly. I used to treat persons with a certain type of pathology that they resented having in the first place, couldn't or wouldn't pay me to treat because they felt that the system should pay for it, whether it was the government or the insurance plan, which means I never made a meaningful income despite my education.
I got interested in astronomy when I was a teenager but at that time the telescope hadn't yet been invented, at least that's what my parent told me when I asked for one. I took a course in Astronomy and Astrophysics at university because I figured that I could squeeze them in with all the biology courses. I soon realized that Astrophysics was all math. The final exam was oral, in a seminar room with the proff and a blackboard. I immediately recognized the advantage of that because I had a minor in BS. A concomitant interest in geology (heaven and earth as it were) also dates back to the Carboniferous Period when leaving a gynormous carbon footprint to do whatever you felt like doing was par for the course. I've had lots of interests and hobbies over the millennium but walked away from all of them due to lack of a sufficient income to pursue them further. Yes, I realize that gynormous is not a real word. That's one of the perks of being retired, I can finally use stupid words and not give a rat's ass about always acting like a professional. That, my dear lady, is why you wonderful people have to put up with me. Forgive my long-winded reply. Let's face it, I'm liable to do it again ... cuz I'm retired, without benefits.
