Just type something..

I've been creating "stuff" for nearly 55 years. I draw, I paint, I design, I learn, I fail, I learn how to fail. I learned to fail "faster".
I grind, my brain bleeds, my heart races. I get frustrated, I power through, I find _something that works. A technique, a phrase, a pace, a sentiment, a habit(?) << I hate that word. A routine? << equally loathsome word.
I love to create, I love the Zen of creation. How could anyone only spend 6 days on it I'll never know. (I know it was cheap, but it was just sitting there)
I'm irreverent, I'm inappropriate, I'm serious, I'm carefree, I'm privileged, I'm a tinker, I'm..... restless.

My world crashed in March 2020. I'm not alone in this. This I understand. My "work life" smoldered, little wisps of smoke could be seen, I pointed these out and said "fire". I was told it wasn't a fire, I was told it would be fine. The first tiny, cute flame appeared to me years ago, "the math" of the situation told me this was not sustainable. Again I said "fire". No, they shook their heads, they laughed quietly to themselves at my panic.
The underpinnings, the foundation was now corrupted, the flames grew slightly larger. Again I said "fire". I didn't say it with the same energy as before, I was tired of the fight.
A pandemic was the wind that blew those small flames into a raging storm. A wall of fire that engulfed my "work life" I stood on the sidewalk, my little garden hose in hand and watched it burn to the ground. I don't even remember if I tried to turn on the water.

So I began anew. 40 years gone. (not really I still 'know things') I've still learned what I've learned. So where to? So where do I do now?
I found #codenewbie by listening to the podcast. (on the recommendation of another podcast) I starting listening from the beginning. (Oct 4, 2014) I stuck with the first year of recordings, I am mesmerized by @saron's pacing, her POV as she asks questions. Not many people know how to conduct an interview. (I've interviewed THOUSANDS of people in my "work life")
This was a revelation, this was amazing... I've skipped around since those first few ZEN-like days of listening to the first year. And I enjoy the "fill in the blank" portion of the show.

The first thing I ever did with a computer.... (this will date me beyond your imagination....)

I wrote a script, on my Mac SE, that would...wait for it... "dial the phone" ☎(told you I was old)
It then connected to a GE Branded AOL type service to download Box Scores from MLB and NHL games. This had to be done in the middle of the night after games had finished, and nobody was using the phone. Oh, the script also printed them out before it turned off the modem and the Mac.

All the tinkering about with computers, cameras, spreadsheets, databases, video, audio... has never been something I got paid to do. This was about curiosity, this was about not being restless...

But now I want to choose this as my "work life". So I've studied, endless hours of MOOC... I've taken apart computers and put them back together... I've learned about operating systems... I've studied spreadsheets, databases, programming languages.... And I've learned ABOUT learning.
It takes a village to be successful within the Tech World. It takes a people willing to "reach back" and help others through the door.
And so I'm here now, at this time, at this place, hand raised, knocking on this door.