1) I am a computer professional with over a decade of experience. I
first started out in BASIC, and did some Turbo Pascal, Quick BASIC,
Visual BASIC, and C programming. My strong points right now are Visual
BASIC and Active Server Pages.

2) I am dirt poor, cannot afford any books. I am trying to work my way
out of a hole. The economy is bad, and I lost three jobs in the past
two years doing Microsoft technologies. I want to try my hand at Java
or C++ and see if the Non-Microsoft shops will treat me better. For
now I was just acceppted for disability because of all of the
illnesses I have, but I don't get paid until June of 2003, have to
wait five months. The Microsoft based IS shops treated me really bad
and caused me a lot of stress and well let's just say it is a long story.

3) I am not really sure. But JSP would complement my ASP skills. Maybe
Swing and EJB to complement my Visual BASIC skills.

4) I got all the time in the world, almost. Nothing better to do
besides eat, sleep, and spend time with my family and friends. I just
have a problem concentrating at times, due to my disability, and
sometimes it takes longer for me to learn  something.