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>>I went to two quarters of community college but majored in pinball. I then spent ~$2,300 for ten months of Cobol school. That was in 1982. It took me to a healthy six figure income.<<

Mine was sort of the opposite. I went to a very expensive school (scholarships and grants) and got a degree in Business but while I was there I discovered the Computer Lab (1978) — 2 Hazeltine 300 baud terminals, a Decwriter II and a DTC 500. That was the whole lab. I started playing games in all my off time (”Turn 90” “torp”) and got interested in what makes them work. Taught myself BASIC, then COBOL and then got a job as a programmer in my Sr. year. I have never been unemployed since (although I did try to start a few businesses).

I am also in the decent 6 figure range, but programming is no longer very lucrative (we offshore it for $8/hr). I am a IT project manager but I always keep my hands on. It helps me make better decisions than thoretical managers.

HAHAHA! I hate project management, but I’ve been a BA for about ten years. ;-)

The move was quite intentional. I figured I needed to focus on a position that was “communication intensive”. Being very much a sanguine personality type and a good “people person”, the fit is like a glove.

The kool thing is even though we are an MVC 4 and Oracle (Peoplesoft) shop, the developers very much appreciate that I can relate to their issues, having been one for over two decades. The job is also a lot of fun. Still...

BTW, one of the guys I graduated from Tech school with, and worked with at three different companies, has been the CIO of Nordstrom for going on a couple of decades. We sorta lost touch when I moved to KY, but my daughter is a Sr BA there now. :-)