OP has no idea how lucky he/she is. I've had some really shitty jobs before I started my programming career and being able to write code for a living is like winning the lottery in comparison. You need some perspective in order to appreciate things.
There is also the odd view that "years ago" the OP would have been involved with computers. Don't get me wrong, there is a chance, but statistically speaking very very few people were involved with this sort of stuff years ago. Even if I had had the opportunity, I have very little aspirations that I would have actually been as good as the forerunners were. I mean, I can hope, but since I'm not even the best at learning from their teachings, not sure I would have been among the best to discover these things. :)
Agreed wholeheartedly - I'm a Marine grunt, stuff gets pretty stupid in the military, and Marine Corps infantry? Yeah, I'll take programming any day over infantry life, much less complaining that practical programming doesn't interest me.
