Fwiw, this is the path I chose.
I wanted to write this program for my entire career. It took decades to develop the skills to do it and I'm still learning because technology advances so quickly. It has driven me for years. It's all I want to do most days. If I was created to do anything; this is it.
Paula and I could save a ton of money by shutting it down now, immediately, without wasting another moment. We are comfortable and old enough to coast from here on out. We wouldn't have to work another day in our lives.
But that just isn't us. We are workaholics and we know it. Our hard work paid off and we were fortunate in life. Does a runner stop running after they win a few races? No. They run harder than ever before.
As a programmer, running is writing ten thousand lines of code a month for a year straight. Try it some time. It's exhilarating. It's not a sprint; it's a marathon.
I spent a lot of years writing programs for other people, forced to add illogical features at their every whim. Perhaps I could make more money if I was a better manager; I'm not a great manager. I do think I am a great programmer though, probably not the best but definitely one of them.
Career wise, I finally get to do what I want to do, which is fun. If I only cared about money, I certainly wouldn't be doing this. I do this because I love it.
I wanted to write this program for my entire career. It took decades to develop the skills to do it and I'm still learning because technology advances so quickly. It has driven me for years. It's all I want to do most days. If I was created to do anything; this is it.
Paula and I could save a ton of money by shutting it down now, immediately, without wasting another moment. We are comfortable and old enough to coast from here on out. We wouldn't have to work another day in our lives.
But that just isn't us. We are workaholics and we know it. Our hard work paid off and we were fortunate in life. Does a runner stop running after they win a few races? No. They run harder than ever before.
As a programmer, running is writing ten thousand lines of code a month for a year straight. Try it some time. It's exhilarating. It's not a sprint; it's a marathon.
I spent a lot of years writing programs for other people, forced to add illogical features at their every whim. Perhaps I could make more money if I was a better manager; I'm not a great manager. I do think I am a great programmer though, probably not the best but definitely one of them.
Career wise, I finally get to do what I want to do, which is fun. If I only cared about money, I certainly wouldn't be doing this. I do this because I love it.