No, not delusional in general. Let me be a bit more specific. But first, some background.
A Little About Me
If you want a fairly-concise-but-mostly-complete biography for me (at least regarding my experience with computers and programming), take a look at my “About” page. TL;DR – I have a BS/CS that’s a bit on the older side, I’m retired from both a W-2 job in the national defense arena and an IT Management and Support business for which I was the owner and sole proprietor.
Boot.dev
…is excellent! A little over a year ago, I signed up for Boot.dev’s annual plan (with a decent discount). Since then, I have done at least one lesson – or pushed at least one commit to one of my repos that I’ve connected to Boot.dev’s GitHub app – every day for 393 days (as of the day I’m writing this (which is December 31, 2025)).
So far, I’ve completed the first 13 courses in order, including my “First Personal Project,” and I’m currently almost finished with Course 14, “Learn HTTP Clients in Go.” I should be able to finish that tomorrow. And, yes, I’ve signed up for another year of the annual plan (I hope to be finished well before Thanksgiving in 2026).
The courses have been well thought out, with excellent pacing, and (as advertised by Boot.dev) include a lot of coding. I learn best by doing, so this has worked really well for me. I think my favorite course so far was Course 13, “Learn Go.” The “Learn Object Oriented Programming in Python” and “Learn Data Structures and Algorithms in Python” are tied for a close second place. The only other specific course I’ll mention here is “Learn Memory Management in C,” which I thoroughly enjoyed, because I’m an old C programmer and I fell in love with the language again.
One last thought about Boot.dev (I should write a full review one of these days, but that’s not what this post is about): the curriculum is turning out to be very reminiscent of the curriculum for my B.S. in Computer Science, which I earned in 1983. And, of course, it has all of the best stuff that’s been added over the years, such as Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), Git/GitHub, Linux, and Internet-related goodness.
Check out Boot.dev if you’re interested in learning back-end development.
HackTheBox (HTB)
…is also excellent! In June of 2024, I signed up for the “two parts of Hack the Box.” I first signed up for the “HTB Labs” which offers computers (aka “boxes) running in virtual machines that users try to hack (or “pwn”). There is a recommended introductory series to help newbies get oriented to the platform and to get familiar with the process of “hacking” the boxes. The labs are both great fun and (for me, anyway) very challenging (and I’ve only done a few of the “easy” ones).
Soon after I started enjoying the labs, I signed up for “HTB Academy,” which is a structured approach to learning Cybersecurity. There are both “Skill Paths” and “Job Role Paths,” and anyone interested in a career in Cybersecurity will likely find something of interest. I’ve completed skill paths for “Cracking into Hack the Box” and “Information Security Foundations,” and I’m currently working my way through the job role path for “Junior Cybersecurity Analyst.” Progress thus far has comprised an 80-week streak (again, as of December 31, 2025).
I highly recommend HackTheBox.com if you want to learn about Cybersecurity, particularly Ethical Hacking.
Can I Reasonably Expect to find Paying Work?
Now for the question at hand and the reason for this post. When I finish one or the other or both of Boot.dev and HackTheBox Academy, is there a reasonable chance that I’ll be able to find some paying work? A few constraints need to be considered before making any conclusion(s).
I’m in my late 60s, and there isn’t anything I can do to change that (well, other than die, I suppose). I’m in good health, and, given my family history and current lifestyle, I think I should have, maybe, eighteen to twenty-five productive years left.
I’m well settled where I live – we own our (quite comfortable) home outright, have doctors, lawyers, and a dentist that we like, and I’m married to a grandmother (how did that happen?) who does not want to move away from the grandkids. And all that’s not even considering our network of friends or the Church where we’ve been members for decades. The bottom line of this is that it would take an extraordinary opportunity for me to move to another area.
Having been retired for a bit, I’ve gotten accustomed to not having to wake up before the crack of dawn, get myself publicly presentable, and commute to an office. Returning to that type of life would be doable, but would not be my first choice. I keep a consistent routine, and could easily dedicate required hours and days to working. Something part-time would be great, or maybe something freelance.
Remote, part-time work as part of a team is really what I’d like to find. Does that exist for someone like me, or am I delusional?