At the moment, if you want to work for a company or clients, your best bet is to learn one of the two big "ecosystems": Java or .NET. Most of the jobs you'll see posted are in one or the other. And, most of the people working those jobs don't know any C/C++ any more.

If you just want to learn to program for the sake of learning how to do it, or for your own startup company/project, I'd go with one of the more "modern" languages like Python or Ruby. If you're looking to learn to speed your sysadmin tasks up, Perl or a shell scripting language (including the newish Windows Powershell) might fit the bill better.

My appendectomy cost $17,000. Again, not made up.

Exactly. The full/comprehensive coverage on my 2006 Chrysler 300 is only $35/month. The rest of my car insurance bill for that car is liability.

For routine care, you're right. That's why the $5000 and $10000 deductible plans are a great option for paying cash for that prevention/routine stuff while still having coverage for the big stuff.

If you do come down with cancer or have an accident that puts you in physical therapy for 2 years, you'll be amazed how quickly you can go from $200 or $2000 in health care costs to $2 million.

Most people who cite the cost of "benefits" have never priced them on the open market. Yes, the COBRA price is high, but companies like Assurant offer short-term insurance for a family of 4 in the sub $200/month range (with $2500 deductible and 100% coverage beyond that).

Longer-term insurance is more in the $400-$500/month range for that same family. (just priced at eHealthInsurance.com)

Yes, those are high-deductible policies. So are many employer policies at this point.

The point is that most companies present the "value" of the health insurance as much higher than what you could get on your own.

I work as a self-employed contractor and pay my own health care costs. I'm 33 and the most my health care is going to cost me in any one year is $4000. That's less than my car payment.