I wanted to work with boats when I was a kid, and then by the time I went to uni I think I wanted to work with computers, but had no idea what type of work. My parents talked me into doing a 'real' degree instead. After dropping out of a Physics degree I worked in various warehouses loading and unloading lorries. Tried to get a place on a course as a trainee dental nurse (potential £15k salary tempted me), and eventually ended up getting a office temp job in a finance department. 2 years later I had convinced them to sponsor me whilst training as a CIMA accountant. Which lasted right up to Y2K when all the panic meant major changes to the accountancy systems, which somehow ended up my responsibility. Quick job suffle later and I was a systems admin. Not much fun, eventually left so that I could get a job at an ISP. That was the bottom rung as a DSL support phone monkey. Worked up to Managed support position, looking after customers managed servers, and CPE. 5 years later worked my way into Network Engineering, which I'm still doing quite a few years later, and plan to keep doing for the next 2 years, until IPv6 is fully deployed and integrated into all our systems. After that I'll have a little bit of a think about what I want to be doing, and whether I'm enjoying it.
Erm, so no. Not really. Didn't have the money to get a mortage till I was 35, but I did leave home for Uni and just rented for the next 17 years.
