[iguanayou]

This is me exactly. Started in the tech field, burnt out and became a teacher, returned to tech for the money, and I'm currently in another burnout period. I agree with everything you said about learning being exciting when you're new, but not after you've been doing it for a while. Also agree with the bit about corporate bullshit and just not being a career-oriented person.

I really think this time I'm out for good. I'm approaching that age where it's hard to get programming jobs anyway. I've got some side businesses doing OK; I'm working on ramping them up, and trying to get some teaching gigs to fill the gap in the meantime. And if all that fails I'm considering getting back into the lawn care business like I did when I was a student.

I used to be very passionate about programming: I started in 4th grade, started my first software business in college, and was always doing side projects.