Tc,

These are good words. When a young Navy enlisted man showed me what he was doing with FoxPro 1.02, I asked him, "What is this?" He answered, "FoxPro 1.02 for DOS!" I had been using dBase III and IV at aerospace companies back then. I said to the young man, "How do I get this product? He told me that the company was located in Ohio and that I could call them. Remember, this was 1988 or 1989. Not much Internet access back then. I found out that I could buy the product at a store near where I lived and ended up with FoxPro 2.0 for DOS. And, there were lots of FoxPro books at the book stores back then.

I took FoxPro and my own 386 computer into Douglas Aircraft Company (now Boeing) in Long Beach and showed my boss what we could do with it. My boss was excited about it and had me get things done that the then mainframe MIS department took weeks to do. Suddenly, he was the only manager with the fastest reports. I was extracting COBOL data and using FoxPro with it to give him the data he needed faster than the mainframe guys could. I then met Ken Levy at a D-Day Fair in Woodland Hills and was totally amazed at what he was doing. I joined up with the Orange County (California) Fox User Group, the LA Fox group and even the San Diego Fox User Group, and the rest is history.

I had great enthusiasm back then and can regain it again. I've got to get with the .NET group in Orange County. Some few of the members are former FoxPro developers.

Cecil

>There is a real economic situation going on right now as to jobs. I know a company that hired 50 folks during the previous 3 months and a large percentage of them came from businesses that downsized. Excellent programmers, all and yet they were all let go due to downsizing (and all from different companies). Each one is panicking right now simply because they have been let go and know the terror that goes with it. There are also jobs out there. Sometimes it is more about attitude and drive and ambition than age or skills. Many have the same skills but what makes one more desireable than another? As you yourself pointed out, it could simply be that drive to learn and know more and succeed and the energy. A positive attitude and energy - a good team player. Get that all back like you were when you were excited and demonstrate that when you interview...