I've been around about the same time as the OP. I've had ups and downs, but honestly this is a GREAT time to be a software developer. I can't remember a time w

I've been around about the same time as the OP. I've had ups and downs, but honestly this is a GREAT time to be a software developer. I can't remember a time where there has been such a large number of truly interesting technologies around. And there are open source solutions to everything. You can pretty much pick a new thing every week and you'd be still learning something new next year. And with the way the job market is these days, you don't have to settle for that boring tech job either. Get out there, get yourself into a job that lets you work with exciting stuff.