I think I was probably inspired because I knew my dad was a programmer. But also we had computers in the house when I was a child and if I remember correctly they seemed like the most interesting toys available.

I was lucky because we had an Ohio Scientific and not long after a Vic-20 and Color Computer 2 and C64 and Texas Instruments and of course various PCs. I don't actually remember the details of when those things arrived very well.

But to me computers were like toys that you could play with infinitely because they could be programmed to do anything. And also they seemed very complex so that meant there was always something interesting to learn about them or explore.

I highly recommend this book for kids "Getting Started With Extended Color Basic" https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Extended-Color-Basic/...

I followed along with books like that which were basically tutorials. And I tweaked the BASIC programs to try to create my own variations.

By doing simple experiments I was able to teach myself the basics of programming (in BASIC) before I was say 9 years old. I remember doing more actual programs when we had a PC. I spent many hours in GW-BASIC and remember creating a simple Space Invaders-like game among other things.

Also around middle school age I was getting into Turbo Pascal and starting to teach myself object-oriented programming. I recommend the book Turbo Pascal Disk Tutor by Werner Fiebel which I had a late edition.

When I was around maybe 8th or 9th grade we had started learning algebra and I also my dad had bought this little second-hand 1960s math/engineering reference handbook. I used the equations in there for rotation to create a very simple system for displaying 3D wireframes using Turbo Pascal. And made it into a really basic type of 3D modeler.

In high school I got a later edition of C++ How to Program by Deitel & Deitel.

Also my mom was really into reading and brought home a ton of science fiction books many of which I read. So I think that science fiction also inspired me a bit.

College was hard for me, aside from the programming classes which were easy, and some basic courses that mainly just tested literacy. And I was not really able to make and keep friends so I ended dropping out. I actually drove across the country and moved to New York where I hoped I would be able to get a job doing trading in C++ or something. I feel like I was close to scoring a job with a few interviews but ran out of money and got into data entry and then legal word processing for a few years. I remember building a workflow/job tracking system for one of the offices I was in using Access and VBA and then failing to sell it to the programming department head who felt everything needed to be coded in C++.

But anyway it was quite difficult for me to get a career in programming. I put a lot of time into things like Rent-A-Coder and eventually got a temp job that was semi-technical but not quite programming. I created a system to help automatically compare multicolumn PDFs which was one of the primary jobs in that department. That helped me land an actual programming contract.

To be honest, I think my lack of a degree or charisma and also a few health problems has all hurt me a bit and I have not really flourished as a computer programmer aside from a few more lucrative contracts.

The last several years I have focused on work that I can do remotely and that isn't always the highest paying thing. I have also been focusing more and more on startups and as much as possible my own startups or side projects.

Right now I work for a tiny startup for little money and live somewhere cheap. It is at least not a very stressful or demanding job and it leaves me some energy and time for side projects. Right now I am focusing on learning about ML/AI/ a little robotics with the dream of someday building a household robot that can do dishes or even cook.