Hi Christoph,

You should KNOW that you are always welcome here.
You were a POV-Ray user before you took on the mantle of being a developer all
on your own, and you can decide what you want to or don't want to do.  I can
tell you from my [vast] experience what a tremendous shitshow life can be, and
how all manner of nasty surprises can come out of nowhere and T-bone you.

You haven't burned any bridges, and you shouldn't let the inertia of not being
here set in and - grow.  Take a break, find your balance, and know that you have
_friends_ who care, give a crap, and want good things for you - whatever they
might be.

I've experienced a lot of hard losses, and I am truly sorry for yours.

Sometimes things just knock you out of - the track of your life - and you wind
up finding a different way.


> Most of all though, there's one thing this line of work does _not_ do:
> It does not _captivate_ me. And I found out that's actually not a bad
> thing. Not for my well-being anyway. While I did still find myself "in
> it" while teaching, at the end of the day I could easily set it aside. I
> can't remember ever having done that as a software developer. Not unless
> I had just happened to have cracked a particularly tough nut at the end
> of a day.

Right-o.  I've put in 114-hour weeks, and having a simple job with no after-work
responsibilities is exceptionally liberating.

> With that lesson learned, I have decided for my own sake to never go
> back into software development as a career. And I've also become wary of
> picking it up as a hobby again.

Yeah - I probably wanted to be a chemist since I was 5.  And now, well, that's
over and done with.

> For now, I just want to say "hi". Let you know that I'm alive, and
> reasonably well. Try to explain a bit why I left so abruptly without a word.

Thanks for that, buddy.   There were a lot of people worried about - and for
you.  We had some data that indicated you were "alright" - but the circumstances
indicated also that something was not alright.
For a while, I was actually betting that it was a girl...   ;)  :P


> I think in the near future I'd like to once again pick up communication
> with you folks. Chime in here and there in the newsgroups. Maybe answer
> a few questions now and then, maybe even give a few thoughts about the
> programming side of things.

You are ever welcome to come and chat and play - just make some pretty pictures
for no other reason than that.

> Whether I'll get back into active POV-Ray development I really cannot
> say at this point. What I can say is that it hurts not to.

Yes.  There are things that are difficult to return to - but you need to make
your own decisions, on your own timeline, and you need to just take the time to
wrap your head around everything about your life that is different --- and that,
my friend, can can a substantial amount of time.

> Hi everyone.

Hi again, Christoph.  It is truly a treat just to see you here and know that you
are - all things considered - ok.

Best wishes, and I hope you find happiness and success going forward.

- Bill

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