I don't get it (Score 1)

i never planned on making money coding. it's just what i know i love to do... ever have, since the first Compute! adventure game I keyed into a timex-sinclair 1000 when i was a kid. high school pissed me off, as i had to listen to 'guidance counselors' that insisted that i needed calculus to code... despite the fact that i'd already been hacking for 4 years... i decided that college wasn't for me, as i already knew how to code. so i joined the USAF, and worked with COBOL for four years. this is where i learned some of the things that you never learn froma book or a class- how to deal with irate users, how to balance a quality product with time requirements- but most importantly, the very simple lesson of 'Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing'. your life, family, and happiness are key, and no job is worth spending 16hrs a day (ok, ok, i've pulled my share of long days, but i'm not talking about the occaisonal all-nighter here), typing your fingers to stubs, killing your eyesight, and packing on 20 pounds from the crap in the vending machine. i have friends who took positions as contractors coming out of the air force, and they email me all the time and tell me how miserable they are... i took a job that paid less, but was... 'better'. you know what i mean. i value working with quality people, who are good coders & also functional human beings much more than an extra $15 an hour.

sorry for all the rambling, but someone who gets into coding just for the cash is going to fuck everything up. if you don't love it, please stop.