That is a long story. But in short, I was just an average gamer/jpop/anime fan like all my college friends. We all fantasied about getting to Capcom & SquareSo

That is a long story. But in short, I was just an average gamer/jpop/anime fan like all my college friends. We all fantasied about getting to Capcom & SquareSoft. A lot of them worked at places like Gamestop, from there a few ended up making connections to get into Namco and SONY as beta-testers. I wanted that too but my parents drilled it into my head that I must go to school first. I ended up getting a BSCS hoping it would help me get into beta-testing. From here, a series[1] of events happened that I don't necessarily believe I earned. I was just at the right place at the right time and it led me to the tech scene of the bay area. None of other college friends were able to stay in the gaming scene; layoffs took 'em out and they lost their connections to get back in. I run into them from time to time. They either work at a gas-station or unloading trucks for major grocery store chains. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8245217 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8245217 I didn't do anything amazing to get that job in at&t in 2001, stepping over way-more-qualified people who just got laid off in the dotcom meltdown, other than knowing the right guy at the right time. I didn't do anything special to get my 4 bedroom house other than the economy was giving away houses around 2003 and AT&T was a big enough name for them to give me a house. I had no business expecting Pixar to call me when they have a huge[2] stack of resumes touting superior trained digital artists and that Pixar event changed my whole life. I still have the email. That Pixar recruiter has no idea the energy & hope she sparked in me; how it's immensely benefited my family as a result. I thought if I could get Pixar to look at me, I could do anything. I refinanced my house to take all the equity out so I could pay for my soon-to-be wife's nursing school. A few months later, 2007 happened and everyone else lost their equity and/or house. I still had mine sitting in the bank. When it came time for a private school payment for the nursing program, it was going to be like 40k-50k or something, instead my wife somehow got into a public college program. Over 900 people apply and they only take 40. She got it. That ended up only costing like 6k. I have plenty of money left over, then some kind of law was passed and I was notified that I could refinance my underwater-interestOnly house loan. So now I pay less on my mortgage and it's a 30-year fixed paying principle+interest. At the end of the day, I just like computers & gaming like all my friends... but somehow I'm the only one with a crazy salary, a job I love, a house, etc. Money & opportunity just fall out of the sky for me. btw, this is why I play the lottery. I figure enough crazy things have happened in my life that I might actually win. 2. ">>It’s perhaps no wonder, then, that the interview process is harsh. With an estimated 45,000 applications received for each new position, only a chosen few make it." --- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10144531/Monsters-University-whats-it-like-to-work-at-Pixar.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10144531/Monsters-Un...