My first computer was a TRS-80 my family bought in 1979. I didn’t really do much with it other than play a few text adventure games. A few years later, in high school, I started programming in one of the first classes ever offered by the school. We used Commodore PET systems as I recall and programmed in BASIC.

The years have rolled by. In my first career adventure I used my programming skills to pay for flight training. I was going to follow in my father and grandfather’s footsteps in the airline industry.

Then I dreamed of success as a programmer. Maybe even being an entrepreneur. Over the years I have continued to stay active in technology. Whenever I needed a cash infusion programming was always there to fill my piggy bank.

Though not without cost.

Turns out I am maladapted to cubicle life, corporate politics and related agendas. Not to say I didn’t bang my head against the wall of that insane asylum more than a few times. But, no, it was never to be.

Life long bouts of depression didn’t help. Cubicle life just made them all that much worse. Thankfully, I figured out the mental health puzzle. Finally. On the plus side, those struggles probably kept me from getting too deep into the jaws of the corporate machine.

Personal opinion from hard won experience? Never sacrifice your mental health for anyone, anything, or any amount of money.

Whether for money or fun, one of the nice things about computers is there is always something to learn. Experiments to do. Problems to explore with the tools they provide.

I hope you enjoy and get something helpful from what I am sharing here on HexTxt. Feel free to say hi! My email.