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Getting a Mexican Law Degree, or Similar Pointless Stuff You Sort of Started to Do


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Posted

This thread is about doing complicated pointless shit. Maybe you did it, maybe you just thought about doing it. Maybe you're still doing it. Obviously, we all do ordinary pointless shit-- we're on Surly. Talk about the really good stuff.

Posted

So my buddy The Canadian Pirate was taking Law classes in Mexico. This is not pointless shit for him, because he lives there, stays on the ragged edge of the law, and has had opportunity to quote Mexican Law to actual Mexican officials who tried to jack with him.

It was pointless shit when I, living 1,000 miles from Mexico, decided to take online Mexican Law classes from the Tec de Monterrey. The Canadian Pirate said that Mexican Law is mostly about writing long pretty papers that entertain the judges with ornate florid phrases, so I figured, hey, that could give the cooler verb tenses a workout. Plus, I could put on a wifebeater and sit around mumbling about the Napoleonic Code.

On top of that, even Tec de Moterrey tuition isn't all that bad for a US salary, or even a drunk-ass Alabamian salary. There would probably be an inperson visit required to get diplomas and tequilazos with my Mexican Lawyer classmates.

But the the Tec de Monterrey website crashed when I tried to enter a US address. Provincialismo.

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
Posted
23 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

But the the Tec de Monterrey website crashed when I tried to enter a US address.

Pinche gringo

Posted
1 hour ago, RPM said:

Pinche gringo

That's gonna be the name of my band when I sing at fiestas. Crowd will roar our name.

Tec de Monterrey is funny. Their culture is to put every damn thing online, but their IT support must be the boss's brother-in-law.

Posted
Just now, BurntEyes said:

Sad thing is, I'm about a semester from a geology degree too.

The whole elective thing that didn't count towards my actual, you know, degree, really got out of hand.

You know, if they ever get the server running, you could complete 90% of a Mexican Law Degree online?

Posted
On 2/21/2020 at 4:11 PM, RDCanecutter said:

So my buddy The Canadian Pirate was taking Law classes in Mexico. This is not pointless shit for him, because he lives there, stays on the ragged edge of the law, and has had opportunity to quote Mexican Law to actual Mexican officials who tried to jack with him.

It was pointless shit when I, living 1,000 miles from Mexico, decided to take online Mexican Law classes from the Tec de Monterrey. The Canadian Pirate said that Mexican Law is mostly about writing long pretty papers that entertain the judges with ornate florid phrases, so I figured, hey, that could give the cooler verb tenses a workout. Plus, I could put on a wifebeater and sit around mumbling about the Napoleonic Code.

On top of that, even Tec de Moterrey tuition isn't all that bad for a US salary, or even a drunk-ass Alabamian salary. There would probably be an inperson visit required to get diplomas and tequilazos with my Mexican Lawyer classmates.

But the the Tec de Monterrey website crashed when I tried to enter a US address. Provincialismo.

Ex-A-Tec holla!

I majored in cerveza.

  • Like 1
Posted
15 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

Sad thing is, I'm about a semester from a geology degree too.

The whole elective thing that didn't count towards my actual, you know, degree, really got out of hand.

I recall when Zonker Harris actually got a degree and was forced to graduate college, much to his dismay. He apparently wasn't paying attention and accumulated enough credits across all of his varied endeavors to earn hisself a diploma. Sad banana. 

  • Haha 2
Posted
5 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Ex-A-Tec holla!

I majored in cerveza.

I mostly just worked there, but come to think of it, they put me in a Spanish class, an HTML seminar, and some other kind of professional development that I probably would have benefited from if I hadn't been a smart-ass.

Dunno if my students learned English, but I sure as hell did.

  • Like 1
Posted
5 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I mostly just worked there, but come to think of it, they put me in a Spanish class, an HTML seminar, and some other kind of professional development that I probably would have benefited from if I hadn't been a smart-ass.

Dunno if my students learned English, but I sure as hell did.

Actually I only did two semesters of Preparatoria there in ‘60-‘61.

Posted
10 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Actually I only did two semesters of Preparatoria there in ‘60-‘61.

I taught your classmates' grandchildren in Prepa. A couple of duds (ie normal teens), but one class was the best group I taught anywhere. Just jaw-dropping how much extra creative work they did without being asked.

Posted
4 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I taught your classmates' grandchildren in Prepa. A couple of duds (ie normal teens), but one class was the best group I taught anywhere. Just jaw-dropping how much extra creative work they did without being asked.

Ing. Garcia Roel was the rector at Tec back then. 

  • 1 month later...
Posted
I'm 3 hours from a BFA in theater from UT.
It's served me well my nearly degree.

Take an online class. Boom! Done.

(That is if the classes you took still count toward major)

I left UT with 6 hours left. 9 years later it was 9 hours. Diploma makes it look like I was in college 14 years.
  • Haha 1
Posted


Diploma makes it look like I was in college 14 years.


You say that like it’s a bad thing. Junior college was the best 6 years of my life.
  • Like 4
Posted
20 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

And bum around a different part of the world every single summer.

This post reminded me of when I read Michener's "The Drifters", I was in the Navy and by chance in Torremolinos - a locale which plays some role in the novel. I was probably 15 years removed from the time captured in the book but it struck me then how a person could while away years there as an ex-pat.

Anyway, does joining the Navy qualify for this thread?

Posted
8 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

I've started my MA from Nebraska-Kearney Online about 5 times, but not finishing a Mexican Law degree sounds like my kinda plan.

You're already half the way there.

Posted
5 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

I've started my MA from Nebraska-Kearney Online about 5 times, but not finishing a Mexican Law degree sounds like my kinda plan.

Given your username, Universidad La Gran Colombia seems more appropriate.

Posted
48 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Given your username, Universidad La Gran Colombia seems more appropriate.

Man, they don’t even have a football team, or t-shirts for the casual fan.

  • Like 1
Posted
10 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

At least we can all agree it's not as worthless as a history degree from Baylor.

rimshot-o.gif

Or one from St.Edward’s University in Austin.  🤗

Posted
14 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

Man, they don’t even have a football team, or t-shirts for the casual fan.

Clearly they don't care at all about the starving kids in Africa who depend on those shipments of t-shirts with the names of runner up teams from America every few months.

Posted

I got an MBA. Not sure it really made any difference as to where I am. I'm certain I'm not worse off, and I worked for the university to pay for it. But it has no bearing as to how I got this job or how I've kept it for 16 years.

  • Like 1
Posted

I knew a guy for a while that quit law school in Mexico to come to the USA illegally and he did foam roofing....I ask him WTF and he explained that he and his family had enough money to send him to law school, but they did not really have big connections and without big connections in Mexico your law degree is worth shit and he was making better money doing foan roofing in the USA than he would have with his law degree on Mexico

he also had an ID card that made him a state police officer in his state (he showed it to me) and told me that it was pretty much bullshit except that he really could pull people over with it in his state and pretty much shake them down for all they had if he wanted to.....but if he left his state and went to another he either had to leave it at home or hide it really good because if he was caught with it in another state he would get the shit kicked out of him and they would take everything he had and leave him beat to hell and naked on the side of the road.....because the assumption was that he and others with those IDs were constantly shaking people from other states down and if they caught someone from another state with one of those IDs they would kick the shit out of them and take all they had

this was back in the mid 90s so before the cartel shit was way out of control like it is now, but when it was just gearing up

  • Like 3
Posted
21 hours ago, ButtFumble said:

I knew a guy for a while that quit law school in Mexico to come to the USA illegally and he did foam roofing....I ask him WTF and he explained that he and his family had enough money to send him to law school, but they did not really have big connections and without big connections in Mexico your law degree is worth shit and he was making better money doing foan roofing in the USA than he would have with his law degree on Mexico

he also had an ID card that made him a state police officer in his state (he showed it to me) and told me that it was pretty much bullshit except that he really could pull people over with it in his state and pretty much shake them down for all they had if he wanted to.....but if he left his state and went to another he either had to leave it at home or hide it really good because if he was caught with it in another state he would get the shit kicked out of him and they would take everything he had and leave him beat to hell and naked on the side of the road.....because the assumption was that he and others with those IDs were constantly shaking people from other states down and if they caught someone from another state with one of those IDs they would kick the shit out of them and take all they had

this was back in the mid 90s so before the cartel shit was way out of control like it is now, but when it was just gearing up

The 80s and 90s in Baja was shakedown central.  I probably paid off a half dozen Mexican cops back then.

Posted
On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 8:17 PM, Sbbruin said:

The 80s and 90s in Baja was shakedown central.  I probably paid off a half dozen Mexican cops back then.

TJ, '83-'84, I paid my fair share of Mexican LEO's for a variety of transgressions but mostly it was for being Gringo South Of The Border. Fuck those people.

  • Like 1
Posted
41 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

TJ, '83-'84, I paid my fair share of Mexican LEO's for a variety of transgressions but mostly it was for being Gringo South Of The Border. Fuck those people.

One was so blatant.  It was for running a stop sign that didn't exist.  I started to ask where exactly the stop sign was, but knew I was better off just sucking it up and paying $60 to just move the fuck on.  I wasn't going to prevail in a debate with the guy.

Posted
2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

One was so blatant.  It was for running a stop sign that didn't exist.  I started to ask where exactly the stop sign was, but knew I was better off just sucking it up and paying $60 to just move the fuck on.  I wasn't going to prevail in a debate with the guy.

Well damn. In 2003 I ran an actual Mexican stop sign and rammed an actual Mexican truck, and didn't get any kind of ticket. It helped that nobody was hurt, and that I had pre-memorized the Spanish phrase "nobody's hurt." Probably also helped that I had a sticker on my windshield showing I worked for a local company at quasi-local pay rates.

I did manage to drive around for most of a year without a mordida. My friends and coworkers got them, but not me. I talked to a ton of cops and Army checkpoints too-- I think I put off some sort of derelict Tom Waits vibe, like I might carry lizard eggs or fried butterflies, but not money.

Posted (edited)

I went to massage therapy school about 20 years ago and I'm tempted to add it to the list. My tuition paid for itself in the bedroom over the years so it's not a total waste but without a good bit of advanced training there's a pretty hard earning ceiling you run into if your thumbs, hands, forearms, what-not don't give out on you first. Much like chef school there's the idealization of the profession vs. the hard reality and a lot of folks aren't ready for that. I would say 90% of my class had gone on to other things and weren't doing massage as a profession even a year after we graduated. This made for a great foot in the mouth moment when, at a restaurant I was managing, I ran into one of the owners of the massage school I'd attended some 18 or so months earlier. 

She asked how the restaurant business was and without a moment of self awareness I bleated, "Great! We have some problems with turnover in the kitchen though. I feel badly for all these people that get into debt going to chef school only to find out they're going to be pulling mats and cleaning fryers for $10 per hour. The weed out rate is unbelievable and like massage therapy school, the people who are actually making money on this are the ones who own the school.".

She never came back. 

Edited by Marfa Low Crown
  • Like 1
Posted
On 4/11/2020 at 8:17 PM, Sbbruin said:

The 80s and 90s in Baja was shakedown central.  I probably paid off a half dozen Mexican cops back then.

I paid one 50 Pesos to get out of the drunk tank in 1961.

  • Haha 1
Posted
16 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

I paid one 50 Pesos to get out of the drunk tank in 1961.

That was 4 bucks American in 1961, with inflation, not too far from $35 USD right now.

Probably worth it.

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