Best of luck Dan, and I envy you. Military history takes a good chunk of my reading.
We didn't get a chance to go to the shooting range together, but maybe next time when I am in Houston... :)

>Seasons' belated greetings, everyone! For those unfortunate few that ever wondered where I went, here's an update. After nearly twenty years in the slave-cubes of IT, I’ve finally had enough. Yesterday I officially re-enrolled at the University of Houston to attend a couple of history classes, the first step in my pursuit of a Master’s of Military History degree.
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>A lot of things had to come together to allow me to do this. First, my wife has landed herself a great job with an oilfield products company, as a project manager for Oracle installations. Not only is she really enjoying the work, but they are paying her well for it too, which makes it easier for me to cut back on my hours.
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>Second, it took my stubborn self a while, but I finally realized that programming just isn’t the challenge that it used to be. Even just trying to focus on my favorite part – database development – meant I still had to put up with way too much political nonsense, poorly-spec’ed projects, and all of the other carp I hate about software. And at the end of the day, I got nothing out of it. Frankly, mowing the yard gave me much more satisfaction. And I absolutely, positively, hate .Net.
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>Third, the State of Texas, in its infinite wisdom, has something called the Hazlewood Act, which provides for funding (tuition and fees) for up to 150 credit hours at any state-sponsored institution for honorably-discharged Texas veterans. I still have to pay for books, parking, etc., but that is a huge chunk of money I don’t have to cough up myself. And yes, despite my best efforts, I did get an honorable discharge...
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>So, with all these planets lining up, I’ve decided to take the plunge and go for a career change. Since you can’t get a degree in Fireworks Planning and Design, I opted for my next favorite subject, military history. Sam Houston State offers a master’s program, and apparently most if not all coursework related to it is available online. However, I have to have at least 18 hours of previous history credit before applying, hence my enrollment back at UofH for the next year.
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>The plan right now is to take classes on a part-time basis, which will allow me to do short-term contract work during the semester as well. The long-range plan is to get a PhD in history, either military or otherwise. Heh...with my first two initials being “DR”, friends have occasionally called me “Dr. LeClair” over the years...it’ll be funny to make that a reality. But getting the Masters is the immediate goal. The first two courses I’m taking are “Western Civilization to 1450”, and “Barbarians and the Birth of Europe.” Heh...barbarians, them I can relate to...
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>Eventually I hope to teach at the collegiate level, but who knows where things might go...you might even see me interviewed on the Military Channel. Better than seeing my photo in the post office, that's for sure. I have a couple books in mind to write, so perhaps those will become reality. Regardless, I’m hopeful that this change will finally give me the chance to do something meaningful, and not just slog away on projects destined to be re-written by some cut-rate offshore house because of the dim-witted decision of accounting trolls.
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>It is possible I will do an occasional report for the UT, but other than that it's g'bye, mate, at least for now. It has been interesting hanging out here, and I wish you all well - friends and foes alike. Any of you regulars, if you find yourself in Houston, give me a shout.