I am not in any way near the intellectual status as you and your members of realNEO, but I appreciate the assistance.  When I went into the 2nd grade at Chesterfield Elementary school, the teachers reported to my Mom that my attention span was very short and that I fidgeted a lot which disturbed the class.  I always did my work really fast and correct and then when left idle, that's when the fidgeting would start.  So they put me in an Enrichment Program which was similar to the Major Work program and that's how I met Henry - I was transferred to Parkwood Elementary where they had Enrichment studies which included a program called IPI.  Not sure now as an adult what that stands for but everyone was on a different level and continued to stay busy because of these levels.  They went something like "A,B,C,D, etc." going across the top columns and then 1,2,3,4, etc., down the side - similar to an Excel grid.  You started out by getting a lesson book marked  A1, then A2, then, A3 and when you finished the A column, you went on the the B column and so on and so forth.  I could alway get thru a column and a half and 10 or 15 of those lessons a day!  During that time, I played the violin - but.... I couldn't read music!  I played in the orchestra and everything, but couldn't read a note.  I played by ear and just knew where to put my fingers and when to use the bow.  I also sang in the choir - still, not reading music.  I could never learn to read music even in high school. They told my mom they were going to let me work in the nurse's office.  I then failed algebra three times and the last time he passed me with a "D" so I could graduate.  He said I just didn't have it in me and I would hard to try to comprehend it.  Fast forward to now... I just met a math teacher who Tudors and she said that between the music and algebra - there is also "dyslexia" with seeing and deciphering "symbols."  That made a lot of sense to me and to even some degree of learning when I tried to go to college.  I just couldn't sit in room full of people and learn.  I do better by myself or one on one.

Around 1984 or 1985 my old employer Arthur Young & Co. (Now E&Y) got their first computer and my office got it.  I taught myself how to use that computer just with one book.  Then after I mastered that, I started fiddling around with Bulletin Board Systems and would dial up to the county to get listing of houses, and also HUD had a BBS too.  Any place that had a BBS, I tried it.  Then came CompuServe.  I was the first in the office to have that too.  Then AOL... and all were DOS based. I still have just a little DOS skill left.  Then on to Windows.  I've taught myself EVERYTHING about the computer - and without a book (except the first one) - NO BOOKS! The only books I've ever bought were for Microsoft Access.

Give me something to try and I can master it. Give me a business to start and I can start it.  Looking for someone? I can find them.  I found a friend's daughter's father in about 30 minutes. She hadn't seen him in 20 years. That's a story to tell you, as is the one where I found my friend's father.

I say all this to say... although I don't have a college degree... I am still kinda smart, except NO ONE is using the SMARTS and talent I have in a productive way.  They say "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." Well, "I" don't want to be a waste.  I have two financial goals I need to achieve, both pertaining to my Mom. 1) I gotta get her an Urn... she's still in the PLASTIC box they gave me.  I couldn't afford a traditional funeral. 2) I am saving up to get this $2,000 marble 16x16 marker to be placed in the garden at the Hospice of Western Reserve. Those are the only two goals I am focused on achieving right now.  Everything else can wait.  My last goal is to work on my own from home.  I hate working for other people and with other people.  I like working by myself - just leave me a lone with Buster.  I don't need co-workers.  I want to work from home.