Nice post, very inspiring. I have been dabbling with Ruby and other languages for a year, but have never had this sort of discipline. For a couple years I have

Nice post, very inspiring. I have been dabbling with Ruby and other languages for a year, but have never had this sort of discipline. For a couple years I have wanted a programming job but have always had serious doubts about whether I can really "hack it" as a professional. I don't know any programmers personally (well, one friend on the other side of the country in SF, heh), and I look at job openings and their requirements / desired experience all seem so intimidating. :-/