in reply to My experience learning Perl

...and retire at fourty.

First of all, it's forty. :) Secondly, if you're THAT good and THAT enthused about it, you will not WANT to retire at age 40. You will want to keep going, keep meeting new people, keep learning new things, keep contributing to the computer industry, et cetera. It's a very groovy thing. Best of luck to you in your endeavors!

Alakaboo