I’m two classes short of getting my associate degree in computer programming at San Jose City College. The plan was to take one class at Mission College in the fall semester and the other class at SJCC in the spring semester. The registrations numbers at either campus don’t look too good that I’ll get those classes.

When I started going back to school five years ago, I couldn’t get the classes I wanted because there were too many students. Now I can’t get the classes I need because there aren’t enough students. Never mind the long-term trends of the Baby Boomers retiring en masse over the next 20 years, and that technology growth in for India and China will require keeping their I.T. workers at home, the United States won’t have enough people to fill the technical jobs in the future.

I’m not sure yet what I’m planning to do next semester. I could take a class that I don’t need like finite math or photography, complete my Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) certification, work on becoming a published writer sooner rather than later, or all of the above. Decisions, decision, decisions. That doesn’t get any easier when you get older.

Speaking of which, I recently had my 37th birthday. I got myself two sticks of 1GB memory and a brand new Windows XP OEM disc for my MacBook. I had more trouble trying to get the memory modules out of the packaging than putting them into the MacBook. I did the upgrade at work because I didn’t have the extra small screwdrivers at home. Going from 512MB to 2GB made a huge difference—no more waiting on the beach balls! Installing Boot Camp and Windows XP was just about as easy, but the post-install of Windows took forever. Now I have the best of both worlds by running Mac OS X and Windows XP on the same laptop.