I joined the Army, got out after four years, worked shit jobs for a year or two, went to college for a year, then became a programmer, did that for 10 years or so, then bailed on that around the time of the dot com bust. I'm currently doing some writing, while I help restore the house (it burned down last year). There's no rush to do much, really, since the woman wants me working on the house, and she makes a fairly hefty salary anyway; not $100k/year or anything, but pretty close.