I am 48, heading to 49 in March. Have yet to program a PIC, but I am working on a solar powered lawn mower that will run autonomously with a 17C44 as the controller. As some others have mentioned "the golden days of the 70's", I started off with an 1802 ELF built via a Popular Electronics series. Programming was done via 8 toggle switches that you entered op codes by. I was really uptown when I added a hex keypad - it was easier to use than the toggle switches. Ran that computer for several years. Then got my big break when, as electronic technician for a reference lab, I built a data collection box that cost about $6K less than what they were buying a used unit of older technology for. I got my first 1802 assembler then, and thought "gee - this thing slows me down!" I knew the op codes well enough that I could write code faster than writing assembler and compiling the source. Eventually I did switch. I stayed with the 1800's series through my last design job. Most all of my prototypes were done with a Vector wire wrap pencil that uses a #36 wire with a special insulation. You wire the board, and then solder the connections. The insulation evaporates a 750 degrees, leaving bare copper that soldered nicely. They quite marketing this after a few years, but I bought enough wire to last me a while! David V. Fansler Network Administrator AutoCyte, Inc. 800-426-2176 Ext. 261 dfansler@autocyte.com <mailto:dfansler@autocyte.com> Now Showing! www.mindspring.com/~dfansler Opinions Expressed Within Are Mine And May Not Reflect Those Of My Employer