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As far as making money from a hobby, there's certainly no contradiction there. My neighbor makes Chinese pottery. Some of these he sells. For a long time I made most of my money from buying and restoring cars, another hobby. In fact, I have no real job - just hobbies. I created a piece of digital artwork. I don't charge much - 20 bucks, the price of one dinner at a cheap restaurant. Judging from several hundred-thousand emails over the past four years, many consider it their favorite program at any price. As long as it continues to pay the bills, there's no urgent monetary reason to do another. It's a matter of what's fun for me. Doing more of the same is not fun. Breaking new ground is fun.
Not sure if this stuff is of any interest to Forum members, but computer work is actually a very small part of what's going on in my life right now. A good portion of my time is spent chauffeuring my daughter around (a High School Senior and no license yet!) and flying to different cities to visit colleges. Once she's off becoming a director, I should have more time. But then there's the Empty Nest syndrome.
I'm just finishing a 31-year project building this house in Southern California, and am remodeling another small house in Oregon. But the majority of my time is currently spent planning the Big Construction Project (also in Oregon) - the Sachs estate, our dream home, the last house I will ever build, my final resting place, etc. This is extremely difficult for me because it's so important to get it exactly right. Over a half-century of ideas all incorporated into one property. Think Disney World, only on a Grand Scale. OK, I'm kidding, but not by much - at least in my own mind.
This property will also include the movie studio where I hope to produce digital feature films, the financing of which is one of the main reasons I'm writing and selling these programs. So it's all connected, just like the seemingly disparate parts of everyone else's life.
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