My motivation to learn Java is to start a new career. I taught science for eleven years at a private school and didn't get a contract for this year. I see this being jobless business as an opportunity, I accomplished what I wanted with the teaching and while there were a lot of great times, I'm glad to NOT be working with kids for a change.

As I'm learning Java I have also started an addition on our house and figure I will save way more than I would have made working during the same period of time. I enjoy the work, especially with spring coming. My 20-year-old helped me today, we got the floor joists up over the new basement and half the plywood in place.
Besides reading the recommended Java books as much as possible, I am doing the assignments, now on the Java Say(b) assignment. I have it working fairly perfectly and now I get to try different ways of getting it working perfectly!

So I'm very fortunate as I have a loving wife who is making it possible for me to pursue the Java. She only bugs me about getting a job maybe once or twice an hour. We have an old dog with tumors and a funky skin condition, I get to take him to the vet tomorrow. He is very healthy, even with the above maladies and with my luck he will live another twenty years.
All the people here at Java Ranch are my motivators and encouragers. I hope we hear from others. The best to all...

~Ed