I never intended to end up this way.

The meager skills I've acquired and have used to build my character come from stealing ideas. I can't claim any originality. I try them out and see how they feel. I keep those that feel good and jettison the rest. Those that I kept have molded me into the creature I am today. The building of my character has been undirected by me. It has been a slow process with many detours and dead-ends.

It wasn't my plan to become the way I am. It just happened, without me noticing the changes as they progressed incrementally. They piled up like a train derailing in slow-motion, culminating in a mangled, unrecognizable stack of rubble.

Okay, that was a little bit of overdramatization. I don't think I have turned out to be a "mangled stack of rubble." Yet for as much thought I put into planning my day, I confess there has been little forethought into a plan for life. I stumbled into a great career with a super boss who fostered my talents. My most extraordinary stroke of luck was 30 years ago meeting Mary, who's still my sweetheart.

Life just happened, I've been lucky.