25 years ago I began my real foray into software. 

I say real because I did learn how to program when I was in college but that was disaster.

Yes, I will confess that not only did I hate programming, I failed quite a few of those classes.

I learned to program on a Univac 1108 using punch card and chads. The first language I learned was ALGOL then it was FORTRAN-IV and COBAL.  I could do the logic diagrams that were required as part of our assignments; I could write up what I thought the program should be but being dyslexic and having to type out punch cards did not help either. 

But all those strange problems to be solved (Imagine a bull in a circular field 12 feet diameter and is fenced. The bull is teathered on a 6 foot chain to the fence. What is the area of the pasture that the bull can eat?) had no relevance to anything I was actually doing and so I just "did not get it".

I gave up on programming.

Advance 13 years in time to 1991; I had a programmer working for me and she was modifying the ERP software at the company where I was the manager of manufacturing engineering (a medical startup). Once day I was looking at the code and I was "reading the code" and I realized there was a bug staring me in the face.

WHAAAAA??!!!

I was reading code and I "couldn't do that". Over the next few weeks I realized that even though I had failed those programming classes, I really did know how to program. 

I then came across Visual Basic 1.0 and got a copy to play with plus a teach yourself to program in 21 days type of book.  I went through the book in one weekend and tt was then that I realized that "I GOT IT". 

I never looked back. 

I then went to work at the company that produced the ERP software because we had modified it to meet certain FDA requirements and the software company wanted to go after the medical manufacturing business and what better way than to have a Biomedical Engineer as one of their consultants who had not only worked in that industry but had experience with the software. 

Then I earned my Microsoft certifications and moved into Big-Six consulting (Coopers & Lybrand, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, BearingPoint); then software and engineering consulting and then full on software engineering and software development at various other companies. 

And here we are, this is the 25th anniversary of the release of VB and I have seen it in all it's variations. 

It has been a fun and wild ride. There have been times I have questioned if moving into software was the right move and should I have stayed in manufacturing engineering. BUT, then again maybe not as I have been able to learn so much, traveled so many places, and it has paid me really really well.

When I tell people that I will be moving to Texas I am asked this: "Texas? Really?!!, why Texas?"

Thus I figured it was time to tell you why.

It is not only because I be retiring in a few year but I am really hating California right now and I want to FLEE from it. Yes, I agree that Texas comes across as a “conservative right-wing” state but in my mind California is turning into an extreme "LIBRAL wack-o” place and I am more of a libertarian centrist. 

It all started several years ago when the Great Recession started.  Erich was already retired and so with the crash of the housing market, we realized that it would be a great time to find a place to retire and buy a house in that location since we could probably save money on the purchase price; rent it until we were ready to move; and over time it would eventually appreciate in value. SO the hunt began. oh, and I wanted TREEs and Rain!

We stared by looking at states that had NO state income tax. This was in case we moved early and I still worked, we could keep more of what I earned. We also looked at cost of living, weather, and if there were jobs where I could work without long commutes since we all know that the theory of tele-commuting still is not fully realized so I could not rely on that as an option.

So where did we look? We looked at Idaho, Spokane and Palouse Washington, Pueblo Colorado, Albuquerque New Mexico, and Texas Hill Country.

We took road trips to all areas. On two trips I even lined up some job interviews and on another we came home after being there only 2 days but we had fun driving there and back. Other places I considered while visiting for metal workshop and then ruled out when we looked at our requirements.

It was on our first trip to Texas that we made the choice to move there. 

Now, let me point you to some more reasons why Texas vs. California

1. NO State Income Tax
2. Cost of Living is much less than the national average where California is higher, much higher 
3. Environment (a.k.a Weather) - yes Texas is more humid but I won’t have the heat and NO SNOW vs. other places AND they HAVE RAIN!!!
4. TREES!! THEY HAVE TREE’s
5. NO earthquakes in Texas. Yes they have Hurricanes but where we are moving, will just get lots of rain and we are NOT in a flood or tornado zone
6. Personal Freedoms - this covers a wide range of subjects. Yes, I agree that Texas comes across as a “conservative right-wing” state but in my mind California is turning into an extreme "LIBRAL wack-o” place and I am more of a libertarian centrist. 

So let's look at the numbers shall we? I am going to point you to TWO websites - Sperling's Best Places and Personal Freedoms.  Sperlings uses many data sources including the U.S. census. Personal Freedoms is a website done by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University which is a well known and respected free-market Think Tank.  There are many other websites that will also tell you the best places to retire but I leave that to you, the reader to go find since there are so many.

If you don't want to go read, I will sum it up here: 
For personal freedoms: Texas is ranked at 16 vs California ranked at 49.
For more info follow this link: http://freedominthe50states.org/

Overall Living: It is 28% less expensive to live in Canyon Lake,  Texas vs. Murrieta, California. and housing is  46% less.  Compared to the National Average Canyon Lake comes in at 97% and Murrieta is at 136%.
For more info follow this link: http://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/murrieta_ca/canyon_lake_tx/costofliving 

And this picture which has been going around sums up my feeling about the two states. 

I bought a new camera last week so I can take better pictures of my metal work. You can read about it here. 

Which means I can now take better pictures of the wee kitty known as Boots, Princess Fluffy, El Cato Rancho, Boots-si-kins, etc...