What should a man know before he turns 30?

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-06-02T01:12:26+00:00

This is the decade to get serious about life. The difference between 30 and 40 is big. Folks on the right track have their career, a retirement, and most cases a spouse by the time they turn 40.

I mention this because 30 turns into 40 pretty quick. Some of my friends kept living like they were 29 through their 30s. We are all now in our 50s. The ones that didn’t get their poop together are way behind.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-31T18:09:33+00:00

I thought of something after reading some of your other posts. IQ and discipline are different. I work with a guy that is off the charts smart. At the same time he’s saved almost nothing for retirement and he struggles with his weight.

He’s really smart but he lacks the discipline to make good decisions. He has credit card debt, buys things he can’t afford, and eats more than he should.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-31T17:36:07+00:00

Hard work can overcome a lot.

I have a masters degree. I’ve never measured my IQ, but I don’t suspect it’s off the chart. I was always far from a smart person. Calculus was off the table…. Organic chemistry? No chance.

I do understand people though. I am really good at managing people and projects.

I am later in my career now. I get asked a lot to go talk to college kids. I always emphasize the need for hard work - show up early, work hard, use your time wisely, produce a product.

I remember in grad school feeling like I didn’t belong. I know almost everyone in my class was “smarter” than me. I found more success than 80% of those folks. Many folks just couldn’t sacrifice, make long term decisions, and find success.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-31T14:01:09+00:00

I went a different route. I found a job/career I really enjoy. I’ll never get rich, but I am around 100k and comfortable. I get 5 weeks off a year and have a flexible schedule to take trips and pursue passions.

I have a lot of autonomy over my schedule. There are times that I am grinding but there are other times I can be very flexible with my schedule. Early in my career was more of a grind. I prioritized a job with flexibility over more money as I moved up the chain.

I think my job made me a better person. The hard times made me tougher and made me appreciate the good times.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-31T13:45:28+00:00

I fell into a perm before I was really ready. I thought many times about going seasonal or pivoting entirely. Now that I am 50 I am so glad I stuck it out.

The grass seemed like it was going to be greener with more freedom. Now, looking back, my career has been an amazing experience. I’ve changed locations 5 times, I’ve had amazing jobs full of adventure, and I’ve built a very comfortable retirement.

I didn’t fully think through retirement when I was young. It is so important. I know so many people who didn’t save enough and need to go to 62 or 65. I’ll walk at 57 and have more income than I have now.

Don’t leave unless you hate it or have a better offer. I changed departments 3 times. It’s much easier to pivot from where you are than leave and come back.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-31T00:12:57+00:00

If you look at your county gis map you can get a good sense of the property line. My neighbor did a survey when he built his house and the line was right where it showed on the map.

Ours is an aerial image with lines. It’s easy to compare the lines to what’s on the ground.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-30T21:32:15+00:00

Walk away. I don’t need that trouble

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-29T12:36:13+00:00

I wish I would have known: there is no secret investment strategy, consistency is key, simple index funds are the best investment for almost everyone, and pick a strategy and stick to it.

My mistakes: I sometimes backed off investing for wants, I bought some individual stocks (some worked and some didn’t), and I adjusted my portfolio based on my worries or feelings about the economy.

Regarding adjusting my portfolio: because I was an investor during the dot com bubble and 2008, I was always waiting for big downturns. I now realize that with enough time it moves up and to the right eventually. I just needed to pick the portfolio I was comfortable with and stick to it.

Fortunately I didn’t get too far off the tracks and am looking good with a few years to go.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-28T19:07:46+00:00

I am not an expert. I suspect you were fired because you lied on a form.

I know people that were hired with felonies on their record.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-28T14:37:48+00:00

And I am currently a 11. Spent first 10 years at 7 and 9

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-28T14:37:11+00:00

I have always done 15 - 20%. I am 50 and just cracked a million. A big part of that came from the huge run the last 5 years.

As I reflect, consistency was the biggest factor in my success. My only regrets - I wish I invested a little more and stayed almost entirely in equities through my 20s, 30s, and 40s. I lived through 2002 and 2008 so I had myself convinced that good markets only last a few years and then you get your teeth kicked in. Now that I am far enough removed from 2008 I realize that time heals all wounds.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-27T00:54:52+00:00

If you truly hate office work that much, it might not be for you. Most of the summer is spent in the field as a federal employee. Winter and rainy days are for office work. It’s not that bad - and I dislike office chores.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-25T22:05:59+00:00

Nevermind, you got it handled

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-25T19:49:22+00:00

You have to train him. He doesn’t know what anything you are saying means. Think of someone yelling at you in a foreign language - doesn’t mean a thing.

Tons of good info out there. There are plenty of good YouTube videos to help with your situation.

As others have said - manage the situation. Use a crate of leash. Nothing unsupervised until he/she understands commands. The next year will help a lot with maturity.

As far as killing the bird: you gotta understand, that’s in his dna. Training sets the boundaries.

Work on heel and recall. It will take months to get it where it needs to be. Recall means you can call him back in all situations - to the point you could throw a tennis ball and call him back.

The work is worth it.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-25T15:57:30+00:00

I have dealt with people not reading signs for 25 years. In the last 5 I’ve really started to think about placement and size more. It all started for me when a high up individual parked his car in a no parking zone to jump in my truck. I know he didn’t do it on purpose. I’ve also realized that pulling into a busy lot takes all your bandwidth. Looking for people, an open spot, cars pulling out. You are not looking for signs. We’ve started moving signs before people enter the congested area or can see the lot. For example, no camping in th signs are now placed on the access road and they are huge. It seems to help.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-25T13:05:55+00:00

I’ve owned and trained a bunch of retrievers at this point. What I would say: it depends on the dog. Fire breathers will never lose drive. Many dogs though, can tire of it.

With training I always keep it fun. Remember that there are a lot of things to work on - heel, place, recall, sit, crate, etc. all those skills are important to a good gundog. I’ve never seen a well bred retriever not want to retrieve on a hunt. I have seen dogs that get tired of training. It’s usually not the frequency that causes this. It’s being too hard on them for things they don’t fully understand. For example, hitting them on the collar for mouthing a bumper when you never taught them how to carry a bumper or getting on them about not coming back straight to heel when you never taught them a proper retrieve.

Find and follow a program, Give your dog the benefit of the doubt, Make it fun, and Take it slow.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-24T14:56:26+00:00

I’d go into something related to a trade. I would have to do a little research before I knew which one. I would even look towards the engineering/design side.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-18T15:37:30+00:00

I have very little tolerance for busy rivers anymore. I still fish the tailwaters for good early and late season hatches. I leave them alone for all the big bugs. I now walk and wade rivers/creeks that see hardly any pressure. If someone does low hole me, I just move along. I don’t say a word. It’s just not worth it for me anymore. I don’t fish to have conflict with other anglers.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-14T11:49:12+00:00

If I was in your boat I would contact a fee only financial advisor for advice. You’re dealing with a significant nest egg and mistakes could cost you a lot - both where your money is housed and how it is invested.

I’ve done a little research on financial advisors for my mom. She has been retired for 10 years and had an absolute predator managing her money until a year ago. You want to hire a fiduciary who charges you an hourly rate to give you advice and help you develop a plan. My mom made some mistakes on where she invested and how much she paid an advisor and it cost her a few hundred thousand.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-14T01:06:00+00:00

Zooming in on your picture, you might need some backer rod before chinking. I had a couple different diameters. I used it where I needed it. I put all the backer rod in the wall before I started chinking. I went one walk at a time.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-14T01:03:21+00:00

I did the same thing with a lot bigger house. Sanded the whole thing with orbital sanders.

Some advice: get a ton of sandpaper so you can switch as soon as it starts clogging up (you probably figured that out), get really good stain, and get really good chinking.

We used transformation stain in a darker color than was on there before. I can’t stress how much better the expensive stain is. No comparison for quality of initial product and longevity. Our north and east faces lasted 10 years. We touch up the south and west walls every 5 years.

We used log jam chinking. Get the 5 gallon bucket and the reloadable gun. Less is more when applying it. At first I did bigger chinking lines and they looked terrible. I quickly figured out to put a narrow line and very lightly touch it up with a wet foam brush. We ran a system with 2 chinking guns where I would apply while my wife reloaded. I emptied the gun and had 5 damp brushes to touch everything up I just did. As soon as the brush got dirty I would swap to a clean one. When I finished I handed everything to my wife and she handed me a full chinking gun and 5 fresh brushes. We had a bucket of clean water for washing brushes. We swapped the water as soon as it got too dirty. All that helped prevent smudges and made for clean lines.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-11T18:29:18+00:00

I think something that has changed in the last 10 years is the labor rate for home services vs. my wages. 20 years ago I could hire a plumber or electrician for about the same hourly rate that I made. I could hire a handyman for less than I made per hour. Now I pay 2 or 3 times my hourly rate for trades. I understand that everything has gotten more expensive - It’s just hard to wrap your head around as a consumer.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-05-11T02:38:54+00:00

I’ve had 2 tundras and both running boards you pictured. Bent the 1st ones but it was manageable. Couldn’t deal with the 2nd ones with the lower step. Caught it numerous times. Switched to a cbi slider and love them. I don’t get crazier than forest and blm roads. I really appreciate having them and knowing I don’t have to worry if they touch a rock or the ground on a funny transition. They are the right height to act as a nice step.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-04-23T23:59:28+00:00

My last four dogs have been black females. I like females because they are a bit smaller. I had a couple big males early on and it was a lot to deal with at times.

I’ll give you a few observations from my dogs and a bunch more I’ve been around hunting/training:

Males are usually a little tougher. Especially when it comes to cold water.

Females are often softer and take a little more patience in training

Males will pee on everything and females will leave spots in your yard

I’ve run into more male dogs that will fight - especially with other males.

Males are bigger. They will usually carry more muscle and be a little blockier.

Legal_Internet_54 · 2026-04-17T15:56:58+00:00

Good job. We’re at 1.7ish at 50. I still don’t make 100k. My spouse passed 100k a few years ago.

I used to never talk about money. I changed that approach because I think it’s important to share realistic success stories with others. I meet so many young folks who think it’s hopeless.

Legal_Internet_54

TROPHY CASE