Jeff,

>Your comments are well stated and you have made some compelling points.

See, now you made me blush :) Actually Jeff, it was your comments that even led me to think about it, so you should get the credit--and your right, it IS an important dimension to "success" I just hadn't thought beyond the whole VB vs. VFP thing that we were talking about before. IMO its always good to widen the focus on opinions (which is what this whole thread is about really) even if they are compelling, because it makes us see more clearly sometimes. Thanks for the feedback--and the compliment.

>Indeed, embracing new technologies requires a constant learning curve ride and the constant reallocation/realignment of personal resources.

A wild ride at times at that *s*

>As such, there are tradeoffs as well as wasted time learning technologies that are replaced before they are even implemented in the real world. We are the "real" front-line testers. To an extent, I have a problem with this and MS >has even admitted this as a problem. I have no clue as to the solution - it's part of the game. Unfortunately, it's this part of the game that makes me wonder just how many more years I can keep up with it.

Definitely, that is why I think the most important thing is that you really gotta like the learning part. For me, that is what steered me into programming--the idea that I would never run out of new stuff to learn. Its a bonus that I can make some money at it (although paying the bills on time now IS nice). If I burn out? Well I was watching the guys prepping planes at the Airport in the snow today from a client's window, and said that I wanted to try that for 6 months when I burn out, so who knows? hehe

Later,
Bill